Welcome to Baton Rouge, Louisiana! 

As you know, the Louisiana Conference 2007 session will move south to Baton Rouge.  This is in keeping with our decision to come south for one Conference session once every quadrennium.  Such a change of locations requires flexibility in our normal patterns.  Enclosed in this Pre-Conference report, in the LA Now, and on our web-site will be several suggestions, maps and directions.  In addition, here are a few highlights of our 2007 Conference session;

1. Elections for General and Jurisdictional Conferences, 2008.  Elections are held each quadrennium for Louisiana Conference delegates to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences.  In June we will elect our delegates for the 2008 Conferences (General Conference will be held April 23 through May 2, 2008 in Fort Worth, Texas; Jurisdictional Conference will be in Dallas, Texas from July 15-19, 2008).  There will be five Lay persons and five clergy persons elected to represent the Louisiana Conference at the General Conference.  An additional five delegates each will join the General Conference delegates as delegates to the Jurisdictional Conference.  An additional four persons in each category will be elected as alternates.  Laity will elect the lay delegates and clergy will elect the clergy delegates.  The Conference Board of Laity has collected a list of interested candidates for the lay delegate slots, though it is possible to nominate additional persons from the floor of Conference.  Clergy who are eligible will be listed on the ballots by number.  The balloting will continue throughout the Conference session until all delegate and alternate positions have been filled.  It is expected that any person who is interested in being a delegate will commit to participating in the extensive preparation and in the Conference(s).
2. Change in sequence of Worship Services.  In order to allow newly ordained clergy to participate in the election process, the Service of Ordination and Commissioning will be held on Monday night rather than on the normal Tuesday night time.  The worship services will be held in three locations: Sunday night Memorial and Communion Service – First United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge; Monday night Ordination and Commissioning Service – The Theater at the River Center; Tuesday night Service on Baptism – the Auditorium of the River Center.  These services are open to the public as well as to the Conference members and visitors.  The Ordination and Commissioning Service will be held in the Theater in order to accommodate the crowd anticipated due to the large class of those to be ordained and commissioned.
3. Clergy & Laity Session.  The clergy & Laity Sessions will be held on Monday morning (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon), prior to the “official” opening of Conference Session.
4. The Theme.  The theme for the 2007 Conference session continues our quadrennial theme of Grace from the Wesleyan Tradition.  The theme will highlight the Means of Grace as taught by John Wesley. The services of worship will focus on these principles.  The theme for 2007 is:  Becoming Grace-full People.  The scripture reference for our Conference is John 1:16 “And from his fullness we have received grace upon grace.”
5. Petitions for Louisiana Conference and for the General Conference.  Petitions may be presented to the Annual Conference session for consideration by the Conference members during any of our yearly sessions.  Petitions must be sent to the Petitions committee no later than seven days prior to the beginning of Conference.  The 2007 session will also provide an opportunity to present petitions for the General Conference of 2008 from the Conference.
6. Offerings.  Special offerings will be collected at the Conference session.  Two of these offerings will be to benefit our world-wide ministry in the United Methodist Church.  The offering for Sunday night will be given for the “Nothing but Nets” initiative. This initiative will be used to purchase treated mosquito bed nets to protect people from contacting malaria.  The cost of each net (including delivery) is $10.00.  The second offering will be used in the fight against Aids.  The Global Aids project was established to provide United Methodists with a way to respond to this world disaster.  Each Annual Conference has been asked to raise an amount of $1 per member to assist in this cause.  Each of these offerings will continue as Conference initiatives throughout the coming year.
7. Parking.  Parking at the River Center will be at a charge of $5 per car per day.  The parking garages (2) are located adjacent to the River Center complex, off Government Street (see map).  You may go in and out of the lot as needed without additional charge if you keep your parking ticket available.  Please remember that additional time will be needed to pay for the parking and find a space.
8. Speakers.  The speakers for the 2007 Conference will be Bishop Dan Solomon (our former resident bishop, now retired), Rev. Stephen Handy (an executive with the United Methodist Publishing House, a pastor in the Tennessee Conference, and the son of Bishop W.T. and Mrs. Ruth Handy), and Dr. Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, retired Dean of the Claremont School of Theology (our Bible Study leader).  Bishop William W. Hutchinson will be our preacher for the Service of Ordination and Commissioning.
9. Music Leader.  Our Music Leader for the 2007 session will be Cynthia Wilson.  Cynthia is a native of Louisiana, and a popular musician throughout the nation.  She has been our Music leader in previous Conference sessions.
10. Registration.  Sunday 5:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. @ First UMC, Baton Rouge
                             Monday & Tuesday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. @ RiverCenter Lobby