Links to Ted Smith's video toursJuly 2019
Hello, Virginia Conference and all of our faith friends, In November of 2018, Bishop Sharma Lewis announced I would be appointed to serve as the Director of Connectional Ministries (DCM) beginning in July 2019. I'm discovering that many don't know what a DCM is or does. The very short answer is the DCM is very similar to a chief of staff in the secular world. In accepting this assignment, two top priorities for me are: ♦ to establish a close connection across the 16 Virginia United Methodist districts and our 1,500-plus congregations; and ♦ to be sure the Connectional Ministries office exists to resource the Virginia Conference (not the reverse!). One way of engaging these priorities is the 2019/2020 DCM Preaching & Teaching Tour. This means I've offered my services as a guest preacher and seminar teacher. The response has been amazing in that I have been invited to worship and preach in 21 churches between July 2019 and February 2020. I've also been invited to lead training seminars on two districts before 2019 ends. As a bonus, I'm conducting laity interviews at each preaching site; asking laity to share their thoughts on the topics of unity in The United Methodist Church and the value of The United Methodist Church being a global church. I invite you to tune in at the end of each month to hear what our conference members think about these two topics. I also welcome more 2020 invitations (extended by the pastor) to worship, preach, and teach in your ministry setting. Pastoral invitations should be emailed to BevMyers@vaumc.org.Blessings!Ted Smith