Before I begin let me share with you a couple of short definitions:
 
1) Conference - Regional geographical area of the United Methodist Church.  Our Conference, the Illinois Great Rivers, covers Illinois from I-80 south.
 
2) Annual Conference - A yearly meeting of the pastors and lay members of our Conference (region).
 
As I type this message Pastors Randy and Lori are on route to Peoria for Annual Conference.  This meeting will be held over the next few days.  While there, our pastors and lay people will discuss important matters such as the budget for our Conference, hear reports from various ministries that our conference supports, network with other pastors and lay people from our Conference and spend time in worship together.  Annual Conferences are a long-standing tradition in our denomination.  The first conference of Methodist preachers in the 13 colonies was held in Philadelphia in 1773 with a total of ten in attendance.
 
I share all of this with you because I want you to know how important this "Annual Conference" meeting is.  I'm also sharing this with you so that you can join me in prayer for the attendees and meetings that will be happening over the next few days.

In His Service