Our brothers and sisters in Venezuela are reeling. On June 24, a powerful pair of earthquakes — a magnitude 7.2 foreshock followed seconds later by a 7.5 mainshock — struck the country, collapsing buildings and leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured. The need is immediate, and many in our churches are asking the same question: how can we help? If your church already has a trusted avenue for giving, wonderful — please use it. But if you're looking for a way to come alongside this relief effort, we want to point you to Venezuela Now, Inc., an approved Global Methodist Church partner headquartered in North Georgia that has served in Venezuela for years. They are working hand in hand with GM Church leadership on the ground, and they are already moving to get help into the hardest-hit areas. We can verify their work and trust their stewardship. Sometimes we want to help and simply don't know where to start. This is a resource you can lean on with confidence. To give, visit VenezuelaNow.org and designate your gift "EARTHQUAKE" so it goes directly to this response. Would you join us in praying for the people of Venezuela, and in supporting those who are walking alongside them? Together we can bring hope and help — and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
KINGDOM ADVANCEMENT TRAINING COMING TO GREAT LAKES CONFERENCE - SEPT 22-24, 2026 PATHFINDER CHURCH – PORTAGE, MI Equip your churches to carry out the mission of Jesus. ENGAGE is a two-day interactive training in the best practices for Acts 1:8 local & global missions. Sponsored by the GMC Kingdom Advancement Commission, ENGAGE provides a unique opportunity to equip, connect, and empower local churches, and strengthen our collective witness. Through ENGAGE, local churches and annual conference leadership will be equipped in the foundations of effective missional outreach as we pursue our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread Scriptural holiness across the globe. Registration $25.00 (Includes dinner Tuesday and lunch Wednesday and snacks) Hotel suggestions : Delta Hotels, 711 Washington Ave., Kalamazoo, MI Staybridge Suites, 9575 South 27th Street, Kalamazoo, MI This training is for: Conference Superintendents Connectional Officers and Presiding Elders AC Mission Committee leaders & members Pastors and local church mission leaders What does ENGAGE include? An introduction to “GMC Missions”: Identifying Biblical Foundations of Missions Equipping participants to share God’s Story, and their own ‘Rescue Story’ Structuring for Mission Mobilization Building Healthy Partnerships Understanding the roles of annual conference and local church mission leaders There will be opportunities to discuss how churches and conferences are engaging in mission, discuss challenges, and share best practices. We will come together in praise, worship, and intercessory prayer. Additional tools and resources: Learn about the process of becoming an Acts 1:8 church Access the GMC Kingdom Advancement portal for tools to equip leaders in evangelism, disciple-making, missional engagement, and prayer for the nations; discover how your churches can connect with proven Strategic Partners and the GMC online multi-language Resource Library. The Engage event provides a ‘train-the-trainer’ experience for participants. Participant-leaders, “take back” what you learn; share it within your annual conference, districts, and local congregations. Registration is open. SCAN TO REGISTER:
The theme that echoed all week — multiplying disciples — ran straight through the last business session of the Great Lakes Annual Conference. After opening in heartfelt, bilingual worship and prayer, the body turned to the work of forming leaders, stewarding resources, and caring for one another, all with an eye toward multiplication. Rev. Shane Frederick, Board of Ministry Chair, was the first to present with their vision for raising up the next generation of clergy. As the Conference has grown — adding new churches and new candidates at a remarkable pace — the question, leaders explained, is no longer simply how to process candidates, but how to form healthy, faithful, Spirit-led leaders for the long haul. Their answer rests on three convictions: regionalized mentoring, where calling is discovered locally and nurtured in relationship; centralized formation, where candidates learn alongside peers under shared, high expectations; and a common mission across the Conference. The board announced its first-ever ordination retreat in early 2027 and named the heart of the work plainly: healthy churches depend on healthy leaders, and healthy leaders are rarely formed alone. Bishop Webb then gathered those preparing for ordination to answer John Wesley's historic questions — "Are you going on to perfection? Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?" — reminding the body that these questions, first written for laity in the class meeting, are meant to be asked of one another again and again. The Conference also paused to honor Aaron Kesson, who recently returned from serving overseas for eight months. Kesson serves in the Army Reserves as a chaplain and GMC pastor. Bishop Webb expressed gratitude for Aaron and his leadership and presented him with a Great Lakes challenge coin in recognition of his service to our country's fellow military chaplains and service members. Generosity and transparency marked the Finance and Administration reports, brought by chair Don Wolfgang, who opened with Malachi 3:10 and a word of gratitude for the conference's faithful giving. With reserves having grown to roughly $973,000 — well beyond what the fiance policy intends — the committee proposed lowering the connectional asking rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent, introducing a sliding scale that adjusts the rate automatically as reserves rise or fall, and drawing down reserves to fund ministry now rather than letting them sit idle. The 2026–27 budget, built for the first time on three years of real data, projects about $1.9 million in income, including the drawdown of reserves. "We've heard all week about multiplication and church planting," Wolfgang said, "so we want to put our money where our mouth is" — and the budget did just that, nearly doubling church-planting support from $55,000 to $80,000, strengthening conference staff, and expanding clergy development. Members also adopted a new clergy moving policy built on a shared "sandwich" model among the receiving church, the incoming pastor, and the Conference. The nominations report turned the focus back to gifts and people. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 12, leaders invited members to turn to a neighbor and say, "You are a gift," then thanked the many who serve on boards, committees, and teams, and introduced a new leadership discovery tool to help connect people to conference service. Even the leftover books became a lesson in multiplication, as members were invited to carry extra copies home and become "multipliers" in their own ministries. Looking ahead, the Conference will return to Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana, next year.
