3 Florida United Methodist Review Online

Ordination, evangelism highlight bishopís first conference

Annual Conference Ordination Service

Photo by the Rev. David L. Adams

Bishop Tim Whitaker (third from right) said a highlight of his first conference as presiding bishop was the service of ordination, commissioning and licensing. "Leading a first service of ordination is the most meaningful experience any bishop can have," he said. "Laying hands on those ordinands is a high privilege and high moment..."

By Michael Wacht

LAKELAND — Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker said his first annual conference event as a bishop was marked by powerful experiences and learning opportunities.

“Leading a first service of ordination is the most meaningful experience any bishop can have,” he said. “Laying hands on those ordinands is a high privilege and high moment at annual conference. I also learned some things about the Florida Conference, and I affirm how this conference has a very clear focus on the priority of evangelism.”

Whitaker, who was elected bishop Feb. 27 and began serving the Florida Conference April 2, presided over the Dare to Share Jesus 2001 Florida Annual Conference Event May 29-June 1 here.

He said he was “quite comfortable” at his first annual conference as presiding bishop and he appreciated the patience and acceptance people showed him.

Whitaker said he was pleased with the offering for the Bishop Cornelius L. and Dorothye Henderson Secondary School and felt good about the ways the conference gave thanks for and mourned the loss of the late Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson.

“There were many expressions of appreciation for him throughout the conference,” he said. “The conference needed to do that as part of its grieving process. It was very gracious of Dorothye to come. Her presence helped with the healing.”

Whitaker’s comfort at the conference was shown at the end of the ordination service when he “did something that has not been done before,” he said. “I came down and spoke to the persons being licensed, commissioned and ordained.”

Following his words of encouragement to the new class of ordinands, Whitaker issued an invitation for anyone in the arena who felt called into the ministry to walk to the stage and talk to him.

“I feel it’s important to demonstrate visibly at annual conference that God is calling people today and the church has a responsibility to answer God’s call,” he said, adding he especially wants to help “young people respond to God’s call when they’re young, so they can spend their whole life in God’s service.”

Whitaker said he would also like to find ways to involve more youth and young people in the annual conference event.

Whitaker said he hopes to find ways to help the Florida Conference expand on “the progress the conference has made in ethnic diversity” and to find ways to “evangelize among all ethnic groups.”

The service celebrating new congregations in the conference was a “moving time” and demonstrated the importance the conference places on evangelism, Whitaker said. “The testimonies by people who had come to know Jesus Christ as a result of these new congregations was powerful and joyful.”

Whitaker said now that the pressure of annual conference is over he has time to “get around the conference in a systematic way to get to know the conference.”

He said as bishop he wants to work in a “holistic and systematic way” to build a cooperative vision and ministry in the conference.

“I want to use the gifts I bring to the office and...to bear witness to certain things,” he said. “I don’t want there to be an individualistic vision I impose on the conference, but a vision that comes from the whole conference. It’s what lasts and make a difference.”