On June 9, Kansas Bishop Scott Jones and Nebraska Bishop Ann Sherer-Simpson simultaneously announced the results of a vote to combine the current three United Methodist conferences in Kansas and Nebraska into a new conference Jan. 1, 2014.
The vote affects the Kansas West, Kansas East and Nebraska annual conferences of the church. An annual conference is a regional body that provides supervision for the churches and clergy of the United Methodist Church within that geographic area.
Votes were announced in the order they were taken.
The Kansas West Conference cast 550 votes, with 409 yes votes, 140 no votes and 1 abstention.
The Kansas East Conference cast 478 votes, with 415 yes votes, 62 no votes and 1 abstention.
The Nebraska Conference cast 528 votes, with 370 yes votes and 158 no votes.
The motion was approved by at least 70 percent in all three conferences. The three conferences will become one new conference Jan. 1, 2014.
“I’m excited, and there is every reason to be hopeful. Our conferences are committed to positive change,” Sherer-Simpson said.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Jones said. “I’m excited. And there’s a part of me that’s just scared that somehow we’ve got to do this and grab a hold of the opportunity we’ve been given.”
Kansas West voted May 24. Ballots were sealed and counted following the votes in the other two conferences. Kansas East voted June 7 and Nebraska voted June 8. All the ballots were counted the evening of June 8. Results were announced at the Kansas East and Nebraska annual conference sessions and webcast live across the two states.
In the next few weeks, the extended cabinets of all three conferences along with the Kansas East Leadership Team, Kansas West Focus Team and the Nebraska Common Table will meet to plan the next steps to bring a plan for the new conference to the three annual conference sessions in May and June 2013.
“I am hopeful this shift from three to one offers us as United Methodists in the Great Plains Area a time to creatively realign our life together,” said Sherer-Simpson. “We look at the mission context in the 21st century as an opportunity for each local church to reach out and make disciples of Jesus Christ whom God can use to transform the world.”
The three conferences will not vote on the plan for the new conference next spring but will have opportunity to provide feedback on the plan, which will be voted upon at the uniting conference.
On Aug. 23 and 24, 2013, there will be a uniting conference at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, Kan. Because the conferences will still be separate legal entities, each vote separately on the plan.
Dream teams, technical teams, the transition team and conference leadership will be working on the one-conference plan over the next several months.
There are nearly 1,000 congregations and more than 229,000 United Methodists in the states of Nebraska and Kansas.
NOTE: This release was sent to local media in Kansas and Nebraska following the 2012 annual conference sessions. The release sparked articles in the Omaha World Herald and Wichita Eagle about the anticipated merger of the three conferences.