Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson is excited to announce the theme of the 242nd session of the Virginia Annual Conference is A Conference in Three Movements. This theme emerges from the belief that there are three principal movements of the Holy Spirit taking place in the present era of the church:
These movements build upon each other, intertwining together to demonstrate what has been, what is, and what will be as God continues to move amongst God’s people.
The Annual Conference logo is designed to be an embodiment of this powerful theme. The three flames joining as one light are a reminder of the three movements and the connection they share. The placement of words and font selection are meant to evoke an imaginative sense of movement and the constant motion of the Holy Spirit. The color family of reds, yellows, and oranges is meant to offer a sense of fire that is sparking and burning within the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
As we prepare to gather in Hampton this June, we hope members of the Annual Conference will begin to consider the role of these three movements in their lives, the lives of their churches, and the lives of the communities we are called to serve.
Highlights from the video include:
Upcoming Dates:
• Sunday, June 8 : Virtual Laity Session begins at 4:00 PM
• Wednesday, June 11, 2025: Clergy Session begins at 2:30 PM
• Thursday, June 12, 2025: AC Call to Order at 9 AM
• Housing voucher: To offset costs for the extra day of Annual Conference session, churches who might be impeded by this cost can apply for a voucher (for up to $100) for housing relief. More information will be released soon.
• Voting: This year at the Annual Conference session, members will vote on constitutional amendments supported by the 2020-2024 General Conference.
• Badges: Clergy are asked to ensure they have their clergy badges given out at Annual Conference last year. To request a new one, please contact ChrisMalak@vaumc.org.
• Book of Reports: This year, to be good stewards, no copies of the publication will be printed. It will be part of the Official packet. Members can take the electronic file and print it on their own as they see fit.
Theme:
“Movement of the Heart”
The focus on how God transforms us and how God molds and shapes us and allows us to be agents of change in and around our community.
Speakers:
Rev. Dr. Candace Lewis, Dean, Gammon Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Dean, Duke Divinity School
Scott Erickson, “Scott the Painter”
Preachers:
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, Opening Worship
Rev. Dr. Candace Lewis, Memorial Service
Bishop Ken Carter, Ordination Service
For any questions, email JonathanPage@vaumc.org.
If there is a change to your district’s elected Lay Member at Large, please print out and complete the linked form then bring it to the Registration Help Desk at Annual Conference 2024 in the Hampton Roads Convention Center.
If there is an elected alternate for your church (or charge), please print out and complete the linked form and then bring them to the Registration Help Desk at Annual Conference 2024 in the Hampton Roads Convention Center.
Minutes Committee Breakfast
6:00 AM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Room 207
Contact: Katie Mueller
Church and Society
7:30 AM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Ballroom C
Come join the Conference Board of Church and Society for breakfast on Friday, June 21st! We will be recognizing churches who have put in the work for their commitment to caring for God’s Creation through earning the Green Church designation and hearing from our committees: Creation Justice, Peace & Non-violence, and Poverty & Human Rights.
We will meet at Hampton Road Convention Center at 7:30 AM. Cost is $35/per person, and the deadline to register is Monday June 10th. Register online.
For any questions, please contact Board of Church and Society Vice Chair Amanda Holmes at amandalholmes@gmail.com. We would love you to join us to start your day with a hearty breakfast and time of fellowship!
General Conference Information – Coffee
(UMC Constitution Amendments)
7:30 AM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Ballroom B
Contact: Grace Han
Virginia Conference United Methodist Men’s Breakfast
7:30 AM @ First UMC Fox Hill, Hampton
1 Salt Pond Rd., Hampton 23664
Contact: David Collins
Register HERE
Lay Supply Gathering hosted by Clergy Excellence
7:45 AM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Room 103
Contact: Crystal Sygeel
Register HERE
Lunch Lab – The Heart of It All: United Methodist Theology of Mission 101
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Conference Room A
Contact: JoAnn Batteiger
Register HERE
Lunch Lab – Who is My Neighbor? Reimagining and Transforming Community
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Conference Room B
Contact: JoAnn Batteiger
Register HERE
Lunch Lab – Taste and See: A Lunch Church Fresh Expression
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Conference Room C
Contact: JoAnn Batteiger
Register HERE
Lunch Lab – Follow Thee More Nearly: Advocacy as a Foundation for Faithful Living
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Conference Room D
Contact: JoAnn Batteiger
Register HERE
Candler School of Theology Alumni Luncheon
12:00 PM @ Park Lane Tavern
4200 Kilgore Ave., Hampton 23666
Contact: Clark Cundiff
Wesley Theological Seminary Luncheon
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Ballroom B
Contact: Jim Driscoll
Register Here
Union Presbyterian Seminary Luncheon
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Room 203
Contact: W. Clay Macaulay
Register HERE
VAUMC Fellowship of Licensed Local Pastors & Associate Members Lunch
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Ballroom C
Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. Jason Stanley, Incoming Director of Call and Candidacy
Contact: Bill Greer
Register HERE – deadline: June 6th.
Virginia Reconciling United Methodists Dinner
6:00 PM @ Fox Hill Central UMC
501 Beach Rd., Hampton 23664
Contact: Mark Elder
Register HERE
Shenandoah River District Ice Cream Social
7:00 PM @ Wesley UMC
2510 N. Armistead Ave., Hampton 23666
Contact: Debbie Creech
Game Night Social
7:00 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Ballroom BC
Contact: Hunter Bryn
Minutes Committee Breakfast
6:00 AM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Room 207
Contact: Katie Mueller
ARMS Retirement Luncheon
12:30 PM @ Hampton Roads Convention Center: Ballroom BC
Contact: Nancy Blair
Recommended Reading for the Entire Annual Conference:
Thompson, Marjorie J. Soul Feast, Newly Revised Edition: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.
Wheatley, Margaret. Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity. Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 2017.
Leading Congregational Change :
Rusaw, Rick and Swanson, Eric. The Externally Focused Church. Group Publishing, 2004.
Rainer, Thom S. Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive. B&H Books, 2014.
McDonald, Gordon. Who Stole My Church? What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2008.
Navigating these Times:
Cole Arthur Riley. Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. Convergent Books, 2024.
Zeke Hernandez. The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers. St. Martin’s Press, 2024.
Goode, Jeff. The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. Little, Brown, & Co., 2023.
Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. W.W. Norton & Co., 2020.
Essential Books for Ministry and Life:
Chittister, Joan. The Gift of Years: Growing Old Gracefully. BlueBridge, 2014.
Kalanithi, Paul. When Breath Becomes Air. Random House, 2016.
McDonald, Gordon. Ordering Your Private World. Thomas Nelson, 2017.
Great Books:
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2007.
Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Random House, 2010.
Lawson, Jenny. Let’s Pretend this Never Happened. Berkley, 2013.
Krueger, William Kent. This Tender Land. Atria, 2020.
Krueger, William Kent. Ordinary Grace. Atria, 2014.
Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead. Picador Paper 2020.
Dear Virginia Annual Conference,
In the past couple of years, I have organized a 5k Run/Walk style event to raise money for the Annual Conference Offering. We are changing things up a bit this year to help make the event planning a bit easier and hopefully make the event more inclusive and accessible for everyone.
This year we will be hosting a Group Run/Walk event. We will be meeting on Saturday, June 22 at 6:30 AM at the Hampton Roads Convention Center (under the awning), and will offer routes of both 1 mile and 3 miles where you can participate at a comfortable distance and pace. There is no need to register ahead of time, you are welcome to show up, bring a few friends, and enjoy the morning together before our day begins. Additionally, there is no fee to participate, however, if you’d like to contribute a love offering towards our Annual Conference Offering supporting Partnerships of Hope and Undue Medical Debt (to learn more click here).
Thanks to our amazing sponsor, Virginia United Methodist Pensions Incorporated, we will also have free T-Shirts for those who attend. These T-Shirts will be handed out on a first come, first-serve basis and we have tried to order sizes and stock according to previous years participation.
We hope that by starting at the Hampton Roads Convention Center will make the event more accessible. The earlier time will also allow participants to get their walk or run in, pack up and get ready for whatever they need, and return to the Convention Center in time for the 8:30 AM session to begin. The running trails we will utilize, circle the Hampton Roads Coliseum and go along the riverway for beautiful views. We are hopeful this will continue our work in finding new ways for us to “get active” at Annual Conference!
For any further questions related to this Group Run/Walk, please don’t hesitate to reach out by email at andrewware@vaumc.org.
Registration is highly encouraged, but not required! If you’re ready to sign up and join us in the laboratory, please click here.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to The Office of Missional Engagement at missions@vaumc.org.
Facilitators: Rev. Dr. J. Denise Honeycutt and Rev. Jo Ann Batteiger
Ever wondered what the term “United Methodist mission” really means? Are you curious about how United Methodist beliefs influence our missional efforts both locally and globally? If your answer is yes, or even maybe, then this Lunch Lab might be for you! Participants will develop a deeper understanding of our theology of mission and explore how United Methodists seek to remain grounded in mutuality and relationships. Storytelling and sharing in small groups will enable exploration of the ways our theology and lived experiences are interconnected.
Rev. Dr. J. Denise Honeycutt
Denise is a passionate and enthusiastic follower of Jesus Christ. She has a deep contemplative spirituality, which she weaves joyfully into her daily life and work as a person of justice. She has had a rich and diverse ministry serving as the lead pastor of small and large congregations and as a missionary to Nigeria where she taught theology and biblical studies at Banyam Theological Seminary and then serving on the Virginia Conference staff as the Director of Mission and Global Justice. She was the Executive Director of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) for the denomination and the Executive Director for the Center for Mission Innovation.
Denise is retired, although she often says this is a time of ‘reWILDment’ rather than ‘retirement’ for her. She and her husband, Rev. Pat Watkins live in NC in a small passive solar home. Denise is a storyteller and a relationship builder, a lover of trees and the surprising activity of God’s Spirit which is always sweeping the church into a new age of mission.
Rev. Jo Ann Batteiger
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Rev. Jo Ann Batteiger has spent much of her life immersed in trying to better understand what it means to be human in this great wide world of ours. She earned her MDiv from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 2021, and a BA in Religion, a BS in Sociology, and a Certificate in Christian Leadership from Shenandoah University in 2018. Throughout her studies and different life experiences, a call to ministry and living a life in service to others became clear. Passionate about working alongside people and building a more just and compassionate world for all of God’s beloved creation, Jo Ann was commissioned as a Deacon in the Virginia Annual Conference in June 2023, and serves as the Assistant Director of Missional Engagement for the Virginia Annual Conference. In her role, she helps local churches be Christ in their local communities and abroad through sustainable and transformative mission. She is excited about all that God is doing in and through the Virginia Conference, and can’t wait to see what comes next.
For our Annual Conference offering this year, we are excited to share that we will be supporting two important initiatives who are engaged in the work of mission and service in the world. Our first one is supporting the ongoing connectional work with our VAUMC Partnerships of Hope countries: Brazil, Mozambique, Cambodia, Haiti, Vietnam, and Native American Ministries. The other half of our offering will be given towards our conference-wide Undue Medical Debt Campaign (formerly RIP Medical Debt) to help eliminate medical debt in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is our hope that through this debt campaign, we are able to raise $390,000 that would help eliminate $39 million of medical debt that continues to hurt the most vulnerable in Virginia. This campaign will start with the Annual Conference offering and continue through the end of the calendar year.
For Retirees, First Time Appointees, Conference Staff, etc.
The Conference Per Deim is for retired clergy, first time appointments, etc per the CFA Policy (page 105-106 of the BOR) below:
The districts have a voucher for their at-large members, in which the districts reimburse them directly.
2025 Kits for Conference Information Thank you so much for partnering together in this vital ministry!We are so grateful and look forward to all that we can accomplish together! What Kind of Kits We Are Collecting ● Cleaning Kits (formerly known as Flood Buckets) ○ UMCOR Assembly Instructions for Cleaning
The 2024 General Conference passed several proposed amendments to United Methodist Constitution. These unique pieces of legislation only become official once they are ratified by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the aggregate of members to the annual conferences. Learn more…
Don’t forget that you can make an appointment ahead of time to donate blood for the Red Cross Blood Drive at AC 2025 on Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13. Please schedule your appointment at www.redcrossblood.org and search with sponsor code VAUMC.
We have not made any special arrangements for RV accommodation. You are encouraged to explore options based upon your specific needs.
For your reference:
Colonies RV Park at Fort Monroe – https://thecoloniesrvtravelpark.com/
Gosnold’s Hope Park has RV Camping – https://www.hampton.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/2
Video resources are available on the conference YouTube page to help clergy and lay members prepare ahead of the 242nd Session of the Virginia Annual Conference. New videos will be released each week beginning May 13. Access videos…
