Please mark your calendars and plan to attend our annual Church Conference, which will be held at 1:00pm on Sunday, Nov. 1 at Wilmington United Methodist Church, including lunch beforehand. We will be conferencing with the five other churches of the East Middlesex United Methodist Cooperative: Aldersgate in North Reading, Old South in Reading, Tewksbury UMC, Wilmington UMC, and Woburn UMC.
Some background on church conferences: Each year, United Methodist congregations gather with the District Superintendent (or their designee) for Church Conference. This is the time we conduct important annual business: approving budgets and leadership nominations, voting on candidates pursuing certified ministry, and deciding other important matters of church vision (Reconciling, capital campaigns, building projects, etc.). In recent years, there has been an effort to infuse these meetings with more time for worship and connection. In very recent years, church conferences have been combined for missional and practical reasons. Given our assignment to a cooperative in 2026, it makes sense that we would conference together with these churches.
There are concerns that this joint format, tried for the first time last year, does not allow ample time for churches to discuss and celebrate their own ministries. (Stay tuned for how we may approach this challenge at Crawford outside of the official conference.) However, Nov. 1 will be a chance to connect and think missionally about the opportunities of this new cooperative, as well as to take the official votes required each year of each church. We hope to have a large Crawford contingent—especially of our nominated leaders!—in attendance at this important meeting. Please reach out to Pastor Jen with questions or comments as we prepare our hearts (and paperwork) for Church Conference.