Bishop Harvey's Message Prior to GC19

Greetings, Louisiana Annual Conference, we are just days away from gathering in St. Louis, Missouri for the special called session of General Conference, 2019.

I know you likely have a lot of questions, I know I still have questions!

I would like to invite all of you to first – go to our website, www.la-umc.org/gc19. This page features a lot of information that you can use to both stay informed and to study the issues which will be discussed during the session.

I also invite you to stay calm.

Stay calm and carry on.

We have ministry to do in Louisiana. In fact, one of the things we say all the time in our Conference is that we hold nothing sacred but the mission. There's not ever been a more important time for us to do that.

So, regardless of what's happening or will happen in St. Louis, there will still be hungry people to feed in your mission field. There will still be people in your setting that need to hear the Good News of Jesus and there's no better time to be preaching the good news of Jesus Christ than right now.

I also invite you to be in prayer for the 864 delegates that will gather in St. Louis from all over the world. Pray for their travel safety, wisdom and most importantly, pray the spirit might break in and surprise all of us.

Pray that we might in fact be faithful to that which God has called us to do and be about at this called session.

Pray for the bishops.

I'm going to be very personal, pray for me. I know these are anxious times, and they are for bishops as well. I want to be faithful to my call to ministry, and faithful to what you need here in Louisiana.

You may wonder what's going to be happening during the week at general conference. We will have reports, hopefully on a daily basis, informing all of you as to the top two or three things that are happening at General Conference. You'll hear from me and you'll hear from our delegates – those you have elected to be at General Conference.
 

We've asked you to pray from 2:23 to 2:26 am or pm. Many of you have asked me why pray at those times, and it’s because those are the dates of General Conference, February 23-26. So I ask for you to pray during those times or pray 24/7 - whatever you need to do to make sure your prayers are heard, and that you give voice to this special session.

I know God is at work. That, I know.
I hear a lot of things, but what I actually absolutely know is that Jesus is Lord, that we have a mission field to care for, and that people are counting on people like you and me to bring the Good News of Jesus.

So, remain faithful your call, both laity and clergy – your call to be that disciple that transforms the world for Jesus Christ.

Thank you!