November 9, 2023

Our annual church business meeting, Charge Conference, was held on Sunday, November 5. Galilee members and all interested parties were able to attend in the Adult Flex or online.

At Charge Conference, we do the business of the church as spelled out in the UMC Book of Discipline. This year, that business included two votes: an up or down vote on the slate of nominated lay leaders for our various committees and a second vote on clergy compensation.  

Both votes passed unanimously. If you’d like to see the official report from Charge Conference, copies are available in the church office.

As well as taking these votes, we also got a report on the health of the church (which included news that Galilee received 21 new members during the course of the year) and heard from our Senior Pastor Jason Duley, whose official remarks were as follows:

“Friends,

2023 began with a meeting called “Focus on the Future.” We are exploring and learning what it means to be a “Go and Be” church in addition to the traditional model of “come and see,” always expecting people to come to the building. The church is the people deployed into the community. So, we are strengthening ways that we connect with our local communities.

As I have written in this Charge Conference report in previous years, our church continues to write a strong record in terms of our regular statistics, or “vital signs.”

• Worship: 175 people in-person; 158 online; 60 people at The Chapel.
• Our preschool/afterschool are nearly fully enrolled.
• We have not found traction to move to a “Simplified Accountability Structure” as many UMCs have done, which is to decrease the number of standing committees. We are reverting to the regular meeting structure with an emphasis on more frequent meetings of our standing leadership committees.

How can you help your church? Be the church in your everyday life. Participate in Galilee and Chapel activities. Serve God with your spiritual gifts. Connect with a Grow Group. Give with glad and generous hearts! 

Again I say from the heart, I am blessed to serve as your Senior Pastor. May God continue to guide our church forward!”