By J.A. Dunn

LAKELAND—Many responsibilities come with the title director of Connectional Ministries, but the Rev. Dr. Anne Burkholder is mainly focusing on two things.

"I have two key responsibilities: being the steward of the vision for the conference and to be sure it is really and truly being put out to the public," Burkholder said. "I want there to be common understanding that’s the direction we’re moving toward."

Burkholder became the new director at the Florida Annual Conference Event last May.

The vision statement reads, "God’s transforming grace in Jesus Christ calls us to become one dynamic church with diverse people in many settings, offering a new life of Christian discipleship to the world."

"I want to align conference resources—energy, money, people, time—with the conference mission statement," she said. "I want to get the pieces of the conference to work well together."

An example of that is categorizing the Rev. Dr. Larry Rankin, director of the CCOM’s Missions Ministry office, and the Rev. Carol Sue Hutchinson, director of the CCOM’s Discipleship and Church and Society Ministry teams, with the Office of Congregational Transformation, led by the Rev. Kendall Taylor.

Burkholder is also examining new ways of doing things the conference has done for years, such as creating an online learning program, instead of only providing more traditional educational opportunities.

"We are on the front end of looking at innovations that are more suitable to the lives we live," she said. "Instead of going to a retreat, people will be able to come to a central, online location and access training material. There will be video messaging and streaming audio.

"These are systemic changes that will help us to be leaner and more efficient. I want the conference to be more forward thinking."

While advocating change is a goal of Burkholder’s, her duties also include serving as an officer of the conference and participating in the coordination, implementation and administration of conference programs. She works in partnership with Florida Conference Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker and strives to ensure the conference is faithful to its Christian identity in a changing world. She is also working to foster connections among the local, district, conference and general church ministries to better network, resource and communicate their shared ministry.

The changes to come will not be made just for the sake of change, Burkholder said.