Newsletter of the California Pacific Conference – Thursday, 23
January 2014 - Introducing Companion Magazine
"The Companion" (www.calpacumc.org/companion) is the
official online magazine of the California-Pacific Annual Conference with the
latest stories, reflections, and announcements for the faithful life in Jesus
Christ.
"The Companion Weekly" replaces the "Cal-Pac
Update" as the weekly conference-wide bulletin with selections from The
Companion.
To send story ideas or announcements for The Companion, contact
the Cal-Pac Office of Communications (cpco@calpacumc.org)
Honest to Greatness - Part 1
Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Hundley, Executive Director of Connectional
Ministries
Pulling the cap off of the marker, Rev. Dr. Stephen C. Hundley
looked up from his hand at the Connectional Ministries staff huddled in a small
conference room and asked, “How are we going to do this?”
Next to him was a blank “post-it” posterboard and the goal was
to come up with a covenant of how the Connectional Ministries staff would serve
the Conference and each other. By the end of the day, the posterboard would
have on it words such as, “integrity, truth in love, fun, and excellence.” It
became a great beginning to a new chapter in the life of the California-Pacific
Conference, solidifying the commitment of the staff to effective conference
leadership.
Rev. Dr. Hundley is the Executive Director of Connectional
Ministries. Officially, he is the chief steward of the vision of the annual
conference, reporting to the Bishop, whose responsibility is to resource the
local churches of the annual conference to health and growth, working together
with all Essential Ministries Teams and leading and supervising the
Connectional Ministries staff.
Unofficially, he is the guitar-playing, Mustang-driving
Virginian who has pastored in the local church for 24 years and served as a
District Superintendent for 8 years. From rural, to town, to downtown and to
suburban, he has embraced all different kinds of people. “You would not believe
how effective committed, broken people could be,” he says.
Rev. Dr. Hundley is a member of the General Council on Finance
and Administration. Every once in a while, he will be in his office wearing a
phone headset on a conference call on Council matters. His experience has led
him to appreciate the value of financial transparency and efficiency because of
how such honesty helps focus resources into areas of health in the church.
Thus, he has asked the Cal-Pac Navigation EMT to take an earlier look at the
programming budget for successive years. “If funding is not getting to the
places where we need it to be, then we are failing at being good stewards of
what God has provided,” he says.
The Executive Director of Connectional Ministries has also been
the primary staff person assigned to the Leadership EMT this year as there is
currently no Director of Leadership. His first meeting with the Leadership EMT
was about raising the difficult, but necessary, question: “Can the Leadership
EMT make a difference in Cal-Pac or not?”
The meeting was impactful in shifting the conversation from
being about what a committee cannot accomplish to what it can for the cause of
Christ, as the Leadership EMT has increasingly focused on resourcing the local
church in a variety of ways. Rev. John Shaver, Chair of the Leadership EMT
says, “Rev. Dr. Hundley’s Christ-centered leadership is a gift to our EMT and
the Cal-Pac Annual Conference. In a few short months, we have become excited
about the possibilities of our Leadership EMT.”
When asked about his contact with the local churches of Cal-Pac,
Rev. Dr. Hundley says, “I have had nowhere near the kind of deep relationship
that I want with our leaders in the local church. It is not just about meeting
people, but about praying with people and listening to each other. This is what
I am looking to do because, without it, we will never be the church God wants.”
He and the Connectional Ministries staff will be leading workshops
at the upcoming North District Training Day on January 25, 2014. His workshop
will involve the work of local church trustees as well as matters of
stewardship. For all those wondering what they should expect from his workshop,
he says, “Real talk.”
The Latest
When is Annual Conference 2014?
Nominate a Lay Person of the Year (Laity Council)
Children's Disaster Services Training (JCEMT)
La Plaza UMC Assembling Joint Praise Team
Planning a Mission Trip? Get help!
Can't Find Tables I, II, III?
In Addition
MLK Jr. Celebration - Rev. Dr. Barbara A. Holmes at Claremont
School of Theology
"Dancing to a New Tune" - Brian McLaren at Claremont
School of Theology
"Has Christ Been Divided?" - Bishop R. Guy Erwin
(ELCA) at Southern California Ecumenical Council Prayer Service (January 26th,
3-5PM @ Caruso Catholic Center)
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California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church
PO Box 6006
Pasadena CA 91102-6006 United States
110 South Euclid
Pasadena CA 91101 United States
(800)244-UMCC
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