The move was a major change for us. We journeyed from Virginia to Florida, from winter to summer, from English boxwoods to palm trees! Nevertheless, moves like this have always been a part of our lives in the ordained ministry of The United Methodist Church. One time we crossed the entire Southeastern Jurisdiction from Mississippi to Virginia in a diagonal line from southwest to northeast, just as this time we crossed the Jurisdiction in a direct line from north to south. Other moves have been from country to town, from town to suburb, and from suburb to city.

We accept moving as a part of our lives, and we enjoy it because we are committed to the itinerant ministry of The United Methodist Church. An itinerant ministry is so much a part of the identity of Methodism that the Oxford English Dictionary lists the following as a primary definition of itinerate: "to travel from place to place; spec. of a Methodist minister."

Soon a number of Florida Conference pastors will be moving to their new appointments. They will experience many changes in their lives as they participate in this itinerant ministry of Methodism.

Itinerancy was made a part of Methodism because John Wesley, Francis Asbury and the early Methodists were trying to recover the apostolic mission of traveling from place to place, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and inviting people to become his disciples. Itinerancy may involve the joys of seeing new places and meeting new people, but it occurs to help the church accomplish its apostolic mission.

We are very pleased to have the experience of living in the beautiful and dynamic state of Florida. Most of all, I look forward to doing that for which I have itinerated—working with all of you to enable the church to fulfill its apostolic mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ our Savior and Sovereign.