Northeast GMC Connection Jan. 19, 2024

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Northeast GMC Connection
…updates from the Northeast Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church

New Years Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! I pray the beginning of this new year has been blessed and fruitful!

Welcome! Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that, “To everything there is a season…” On January 1, 2024, the Northeast Region became a Provisional Annual Conference (PAC) of the Global Methodist Church (GMC). After over one year of praying and planning, a group of 31 gifted leaders from every corner of the Northeast Region approved and submitted a proposal to the GMC Transitional Leadership Council (TLC) to launch the Northeast PAC. When one season ends, another begins, for the glory of God and the Methodist movement in the Northeast.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. We know that some who are reading this are fully- aligned with the GM Church, others are in the process, and still others are watching and hoping to someday be Global Methodists. This letter is for all of you in any season.

The Northeast PAC is now just over three weeks old, and the mission and vision of the region are beginning to come to life. This Connection serves as a way to communicate and inform congregations, leaders, and pastors in the Northeast, and to encourage and inspire this movement that has begun to gain momentum. If you have questions to ask or topics you’d like to discuss, you can send those to [email protected] and we’ll address those in the coming months.

In this letter, I am providing a brief update on some of the first steps we’re taking as a new GMC Annual Conference. As we move forward together, we will provide regular updates so that information is available for all.

Below is a list of efforts that are already underway. Much more information will be coming that gives more details to the many efforts currently being started in the Northeast PAC. Please stay tuned!

BACKGROUND ON THE FORMATION OF THE PAC:

• The Northeast PAC includes 12 states and Washington, D.C. We are a large geographic area, bound together in mission to worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.

• We are in the process of registering the Northeast PAC in all 12 states in the Northeast and Washington, D.C., as we extend our reach in the states where we currently have member churches, and those we don’t yet.

• Church planting will soon become an organized effort within our Conference, and we are seeking to talk with those who are interested in church planting.

• Our Conference bank accounts and financial management policies are in place and will soon be ready for us to use.

• The first meeting of the Appointive Cabinet took place on Wednesday, January 17.

• The first meeting of the Finance and Administration Team took place on Wednesday, January 17.

• The first meeting of the Board of Ministry took place on Monday, January 22.

• Future meetings are planned for the Conference Leadership Committee, the Nominations Team (Leadership Development Team), and the other teams formed at the outset of the Conference.

HOW TO STAY INFORMED AND CONNECTED:

• We have a new website: www.northeastgmc.org On the website, you can find a map of our Northeast PAC churches, a list of leaders, information about Connectional Funding, and a sign-up link for our email list. Our Conference Leadership is listed on the website, so you can be praying for us.

• We also have a Facebook page with lots of information and updates! Check it out:
www.facebook.com/northeastgmc

• We currently have 23 Presiding Elders serving the Northeast PAC, each caring for 4-12 churches in their districts, while also leading their local churches. Congregations and clergy (appointed and assigned) will be hearing from your Presiding Elder soon, if you haven’t already. We’re excited for the new connections that are already being made!

APPOINTMENT PROCESS:

• The Appointment Process was cared for well by a Team from the Transitional Conference Advisory Team, and will now be the responsibility of the Appointive Cabinet of Presiding Elders.

• We have already fixed 12 appointments and have approximately 20 more to make throughout the region. We covet your prayers. If your church is waiting to hear from the Appointments Team, we ask for patience as we make the transition to the Appointive Cabinet.

CONNECTIONAL FUNDING:

• Churches in the Northeast PAC are invited to begin giving Connectional Funding to the Annual Conference and to the GMC denomination. The TLC approved our Connectional Funding rate of 3% of operating income to the Northeast PAC. The GMC also is asking each church to give 1% of their operating income to the denomination. You can submit that GMC denominational connectional funding here: https://globalmethodist.org/connectional-funding/

• Soon, a brand-new page on the Northeast GMC website will be launched to give all the information you will need to submit the Annual Conference Connectional Funds each month, including a worksheet, remittance form, and online (using Realm) and check giving instructions.

• As of December 2023, the Northeast PAC has received over $58,000 in Connectional Funding and has now had that transferred to our PAC bank accounts.

THE NORTHEAST CONVENING ANNUAL CONFERENCE:

• Our Convening Annual Conference will be held April 11-13, 2024 in Camp Hill, PA! Registration for Annual Conference will be live on the website around February 1, 2024.

• We have a great line-up of speakers and many times of worship. The Ordination Service will be held Saturday, April 13 at 9am and our bishop, Mark Webb, will preside. We will have some brief times of the business of the Annual Conference, Clergy and Laity Sessions, and times to get to know each other across the Northeast.

• The Convening Annual Conference Sessions will also be livestreamed.

• Those being ordained will be contacted soon, and if you believe you are an ordinand and don’t hear from the Board of Ministry, let us know at [email protected].

• At our Convening Annual Conference, we will be electing GMC General Conference Delegates from the Northeast. More information will be on our website soon, but there will be a self-nomination form and process to be on the General Conference Delegate ballot at our Annual Conference session.

It is an honor and privilege to serve as the President Pro Tem of the Northeast PAC. I currently am serving in this role part-time as my wife, Stacy, and I make the transition to full- time in April. We ask for patience as we all grow together into this new movement of the Spirit in our region. If you have questions or ideas, please feel free to email me. On behalf of Bishop Webb, our leadership teams, and those ministering together with us in this region, welcome! We can’t wait to see how God will use the Global Methodists of the Northeast for His glory and the good of the world!

Blessings,

Steve

Mr. Arthur Kendall

Chief Financial Officer

Art Kendall Bio

David Watson

David F. Watson is Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has authored or edited a number of publications, including Key United Methodist Beliefs (with William J. Abraham), Wesley, Wesleyans, and Reading Bible as Scripture (edited with Joel B. Green) and has written a variety of articles and book chapters. His most recent book is Scripture and the Life of God: Why the Bible Matters Today More than Ever (Seedbed, 2017).  At present he is working on a book on Methodism and the Bible. He serves as Lead Editor of Firebrand and is one of the hosts of the Firebrand Podcast. 

David is an elder in the Global Methodist Church and serves on its Transitional Leadership Council. He and his family attend Stillwater Church in Dayton, Ohio.

Ms. Emily Allen

Emily Allen is the Coordinator of Worship at Asbury Theological Seminary where she is a current MDiv student, planning to graduate in 2025. She is a 2020 graduate of Houghton University with her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and a minor in Biblical Studies.

Emily is passionate about worshiping Jesus and raising up leaders in the church to do the same. Her favorite part of her job is working collaboratively with the 15 person Chapel Intern Team, as together they learn the theology of worship and plan Chapel services. She also has interest in the fields of spiritual formation and discipleship, church music, outdoor leadership, and all things British!

Emily currently resides in Wilmore, KY but calls Penn Yan, New York home. She is “To Be Ordained”Deacon in the Northeast Provisional Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church.

Rev. Steven Taylor

Rev. Steven Taylor serves as the President Pro Tem of the Northeast Provisional Annual Conference. Steve has been a follower of Jesus his whole life, but felt Gods call on his life when he was 12 and again at age 28. He’s been a Methodist pastor for over 20 years, ordained as an elder in 2011. In March 2020, Steve became a founding member of the GMC’s Transitional Leadership Council, helping to shape and steer the new world-wide Methodist denomination.

Steve grew up in Lancaster, NY and was baptized, confirmed, and heard his call to ministry through the Methodist Church and Christian camping. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from SUNY ESF and a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. Prior to answering the call to pastoral ministry, Steve worked for 10 years at an international consulting firm as a professional environmental engineer. He has served on The Confessing Movement Board of Directors, the regional Wesleyan Covenant Association board, and multiple leadership teams. Steve and his wife, Stacy, have two grown and married children, two grandchildren and one due in May 2024, and now reside in Syracuse, New York. Steve enjoys flying his drone, disc golfing, hiking, archery hunting, motorcycle riding, and spending lots of time with family.

Dr. Leah Hidde-Gregory

Dr. Leah Hidde-Gregory currently serves as the President Pro Tempore for the Global Methodist Church’s Mid Texas Annual Conference. After 30 years in the United Methodist Church, she became an Elder with the Global Methodist Church in June of 2022. During her ministry she has served as a laywoman in the Oklahoma Conference, as a pastor in the North Texas Conference and the Central Texas Conference.  Before leaving the UMC, she sat on the Central Texas Cabinet of the UMC as a District Superintendent for six years, including serving as Dean of the Cabinet for five years.

Leah has a heart and a passion for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  She has spent much of her ministry in church revitalization, revival and church growth.  She is excited about the Global Methodist Church and the orthodox witness which is being awakened within our congregations as they discern their next faithful step.

She holds a Doctorate in Ministry in Church Leadership Excellence from Wesley Theological in Washington, D.C.; a Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology; and a bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from Texas A&M Commerce.   She is married to partner in ministry, Stan.  They have two daughters and sons-in-law and a son Will who is still at home.

Rev. Dr. Steve Cordle

Rev. Dr. Steve Cordle is the founding and lead pastor of Crossroads Church, a cell-based congregation with four locations in the Pittsburgh metro area.

He is also the Executive Director of The River Network International, a non-profit dedicated to starting and strengthening churches around the world. He also coaches pastors and church planters.

He is the author of three books: The Church in Many Houses; Hear It, See It, Risk It; and A Jesus-Shaped Life.

Steve was named Outstanding Doctoral Alumnus at United Theological Seminary and is a winner of the Denman Award for evangelism. He chaired the Church Multiplication Task Force for the Wesleyan Covenant Association.

Cordle is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended high school in Brussels, Belgium. It was there that he came to faith in Christ and sensed a call to ministry.

In his spare time, Steve likes to play softball, run, play classical piano, and cheer on any Pittsburgh sports team.

Cordle is a graduate of Wittenberg University (BME), Asbury Theological Seminary (MDiv), and United Theological Seminary (DMin).

Steve and his wife Linda have three grown sons, three daughters-in-love, and five grandchildren.

Bishop Mark Webb

Mark J. Webb currently serves as a bishop in The Global Methodist Church.

He was elected a bishop in The United Methodist Church and consecrated on July 20, 2012, at the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference. Mark served as the episcopal leader of the Upper New York Area of the United Methodist Church from September 1, 2012, until December 31, 2022. On January 2, 2023, he was received as an elder and bishop in The Global Methodist Church.

Mark holds a M. Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Shippensburg University. He also holds a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Connecticut.

He served pastorates at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Mechanicsburg, Pa. from 1994-2007, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Wormleysburg, Pa. from 1991-1994, and Linglestown United Methodist Church from 1989-1991. He served as District Superintendent of the York District of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church from 2007-2012.

Mark currently serves as a Trustee of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

He received the Harry Denman Evangelism Award in 2002 and in 2018, was named as one of the top 100 leaders by the John C. Maxwell Transformational Leadership Award.

Mark encourages clergy and laity to work together in the development of discipleship pathways that will point people to Jesus Christ and bear fruit for the kingdom of God. He has a passion for Christ-following leadership development, new faith communities and ensuring existing congregations grow in vitality and fulfill the mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly and witness boldly”.

He is a native of Williamsport, Pa., and is married to Jodi. Mark and Jodi live in Lititz, PA and have two sons, Tyler, who is married to Lyndsay and Benjamin, who is married to Mary.

Bishop Emeritus Young Jin Cho

Young Jin Cho (Bishop Emeritus) graduated from the Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul, Korea (Th. B. and Th. M.) and came to the United States in 1979 and continued to study at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. (M. Div. and D. Min.). He was transferred to the Virginia Annual Conference in 1983 and served the Korean UMC of Greater Washington in N. Virginia for 22 years.

During his tenure the church grew into the largest United Methodist congregation in the Virginia Conference measured by worship attendance. In 2005 he was appointed to District Superintendent of the Arlington District, serving in that capacity for 7 years and overseeing the planting of several new faith communities. He was elected and consecrated as Bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 2012. He served the Virginia Annual Conference for four years and retired in 2016. His consistent message had been “No Spiritual Vitality, No vital Congregation.”

In retirement Bishop Emeritus Cho remains engaged in ministry and mission. From 2019 to 2022 he helped three Korean congregations as an interim pastor and has been serving as a co-mentor of the Bishop Cho Scholars (D. Min. Program) at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is also involved with Durihana Mission, which works with North Korean refugees in the United States.

Bishop Emeritus Cho has been married to Kiok Cho (Retired Deacon) for 48 years, and they have three adult children, Grace, Sophia and Chris and two grandchildren, Luke and Lily.