Hartzell United Methodist Church in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans cele- brated worship for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in its own sanctuary Sunday, June 10. Dr. Martha Orphe, Mission Zone Director, pictured left, preached.  Dr. Ralph Ford, New Orleans District Superintendent, center, re-con- secrated the space for worship. Pastoral team member Rev. James F. Haynes is shown right. Other pastoral team members are Revs. Jeff and Becky Conner. 2 JUNE 22, 2007 Louisiana Conference Now! Louisiana Conference Now! Louisiana Conference NOW! is the newspaper of the Louisiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and is published twice a month. Subscriptions are $15 for one year, $25 for two years. (Please make checks payable to Louisiana Annual Conference.) Send subscriptions, news and information to: Editor 527 North Boulevard Baton Rouge, LA 70802 E-mail: lanow@bellsouth.net (888) 239-5286 ext. 227 (225) 346-1646, (225) 383-2652 fax You can find the Louisiana Annual Conference on the Internet at http://www.la-umc.org William W. Hutchinson Don Cottrill Betty Backstrom Resident Bishop Provost Editor Peck United Methodist Church and Wesley UMC voted to merge with First Street UMC at a special charge confernce on April 22.  Peck and Wesley, deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina, have been worshipping together at First Street since the storm in 2005. Three local churches in New Orleans voted to merge at a special charge confer- ence on April 22. Peck United Methodist Church and Wesley UMC voted to merge with First Street UMC after several months of meet- ings and discussions. Peck and Wesley, deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina, have been worshipping together at First Street since the storm in 2005. Present at the historic charge conference were Rev. Dr. Martha Orphe, mission zone director;  Rev. Ralph Ford, New Orleans district superintendent; Rev. Lance Eden, pastor of First Street UMC; and Cooperative Parish 3 Team Leaders Revs. Simon Chigumira, Eunice Chigumira and Mollie McGee. Rev. Orphe noted that all three of the merging churches have served the Central City of New Orleans with “outstanding ministries” for both adults and children. Along with Rev. McGee, she developed a resolution for church merger that was drawn up by designated members of all three churches.  They include Tommie Alexander and Dian Lawless from First Street; Clarence Crockett and Cheryl Gorden from Peck; and Djuana Cole and Leola Newton from Wesley. The churches merge under a new name: First Street PW United Methodist Church. “Hurricane Katrina’s devastation and the breaking of the levees caused much sadness and despair in the city of New Orleans and the United Methodist commu- nity. But out of this sadness, three congre- gations have come together in love and Christian fellowship to form a new church out of the ruins,” said Rev. Eden. The merger of the three churches allows for expanded ministries, joining the three churches in an effort to more effectively fulfill the mission of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New Orleans. BY REV. STEVE STEPHENS, DIRECTOR OF CHURCH TRANSFORMATION The Louisiana Conference is now uti- lizing Transformation Consultants to guide congregations through the churchanew trans- formation process. Annual Conference of 2006 approved the transition from the position of District Missioner to the position of Conference Transformation Consultant.   While a District Missioner wore two hats – working with the District Superintendent to respond to the needs of individual churches and working with the Office of Church Extension and Transformation to guide churches through churchanew transformation process – a Conference Transformation Consultant works exclusively through the Office of Church Extension and Transformation in the churchanew process.  While we former- ly employed one Missioner for each dis- trict, we now have four Conference Transformation Consultants. The consult- ants include Laura Brown, West Louisiana; Eloise Cox, Central Louisiana; Richard Stiltner, South Louisiana; and Renee Evans, North Louisiana. Transformation Consultants work close- ly with congregations throughout the chur- chanew transformation process.   They pro- vide the congregation with theological, spiritual, and technical support.  They are instructors and guides, preparing and equipping pastors and lay leaders to move joyfully and efficiently through a spiritual- ly enriching journey of transformation.   If you are tired of just going to church and really want to be the church, contact a Conference Transformation Consultant and find out more about churchanew.  Call 225- 346-1646 for information. Historic New Orleans churches merge Hartzell UMC reopens in New Orleans Ninth Ward Missioners now tranformation consultants Rev. Steve Stephens Petitions addressed at Annual Conference Six petitions were reviewed and voted upon during the 2007 La. Annual Conference, held at the Baton Rouge River Center June 3-6. Petition #2 put forth that the 2008 Annual Conference should be held in Orleans Parish and in New Orleans. Rev. Sheri Zehner, speaking for the Agenda Committee, asked to substitute the follow- ing motion instead of the petition: “A com- mittee will be formed to research the feasi- bility/cost of Annual Conference in Orleans Parish for 2009 Conference.   The study findings will be reported to the 2008 Conference.” Dr. Tim Smith withdrew his petition in favor of the new resolution. Rev. Lamar Oliver, Pharr Chapel, asked that Southwest Louisiana also be consid- ered. The resolution carried. Petition #6 asked that the Louisiana Conference and its churches and institu- tions pledge not to buy, sell, or use cypress mulch and its derivatives.  The petition car- ried. A petition regarding minimum require- ments in the job description for next Executive Secretary of Administrative Services was defeated, as was a petition on use of assets of the old Board of Temperance. A petition dealing with quali- fications for church membership in The United Methodist Church was also defeat- ed.  A petition on lowering the age of cler- gy retirement was deferred.