This week, we meet the last four General Conference delegates as they prepare for the big denominational gathering in Charlotte.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
In three previous articles, we’ve been reintroduced to twelve of our Michigan Conference delegates (click to read) to the upcoming General Conference in Charlotte, NC, which begins with opening worship next Tuesday, April 23, at 2 pm ET.
All plenary sessions, worship services, and other special events will be live-streamed. Click the button below to access the web page for the live-streamed broadcasts. Recordings of sessions will also be posted for later viewing. Click to view the daily General Conference schedule and agenda.
As we prepare to start the postponed 2020 General Conference, let’s meet the last four delegates: Rev. Charles Boayue, Hoon-Yung Hopgood, Rev. Paul Perez, and Jen Peters. Please keep them all in prayer over the next two weeks as they represent the Michigan Conference.
Want to contact our delegation with questions or to let them know you are praying for them? Use this group email address: [email protected].
Rev. Charles Boayue
Current ministry role in the Michigan Conference: Charles is the senior pastor of Birmingham: First UMC. Charles served as superintendent of the Greater Detroit District from 2015 to 2022.
Previous experience as a delegate: Charles has been elected to five General Conferences (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020/2024) and seven North Central Jurisdictional Conferences (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020/2024) as a clergy delegate. He has also provided leadership at the general church level in various capacities, including chairing legislative committees.
What legislative committee have you been assigned to, and how are you educating yourself about the matters you’ll be discussing? Charles has been assigned to the Conferences Legislative Committee, which is the committee where the major regionalization proposals will be discussed and debated. Charles is a native of Liberia and has served on several district, conference, jurisdictional, and general agencies of The United Methodist Church. This background gives him the experience needed for listening in and discussing matters related to the regionalization proposals and what will be the best path forward as a global church. He is respected by colleagues across the connectional church and sought after for counsel and direction by church leaders around the world.
Charles could not be reached for comment, but this recent biographical profile gives more information about his theological training and experience serving The United Methodist Church.
Hoon-Yung Hopgood
Current ministry role in the Michigan Conference: Hoon is a lay member of Richmond: First UMC. In his professional life, he was an elected member of the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives. He currently serves as an appointed member of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.
Previous experience as a delegate: This is Hoon’s first time serving as a delegate to General Conference. He believes it will be a great learning opportunity and, hopefully, a chance to grow.
What legislative committee have you been assigned to, and how are you educating yourself about the matters you’ll be discussing?
“I have been assigned to the Discipleship Legislative Committee, which receives petitions and resolutions related to the work of Discipleship Ministries. I have been reading and trying to keep my ears open.”
A lot has changed since the pandemic postponed General Conference from its original date to now. Describe your thoughts and feelings about this moment we’re in as the Church.
“What started out as a sprint has turned into a marathon, but we are always called to serve. I am still looking forward to this opportunity.”
What continues to motivate you and inspire you to serve in this capacity as a delegate and a member of The United Methodist Church?
“I want to finish what was started. I am humbled to find myself in this position at this time. The history of the moment is not lost on me.”
Which General Conference legislative items are most important for Michigan United Methodists to pay attention to? Why are they important, and how might they impact us and our ministry?
“I think the big issues draw my attention, which is something I think we will all be following.
“I think that the legislation around regionalization is very important because it will allow us to make more appropriate decisions for contextualizing church policies for place and time so we can more fully focus on the important work of the church in uniting us in a more holy and universal direction.”
How can the Michigan Conference pray for and support you as a delegate?
“Prayers for strength, patience, and understanding would be great!”
Rev. Paul Perez
Current ministry role in the Michigan Conference: Paul is the lead minister at Detroit: Central UMC. From 2013 to 2023, he served on conference staff in several roles — Director for Mission and Justice Engagement and Leadership Recruitment, Associate Director for Mission and Ministry, and Director of Connectional Ministry.
Previous experience as a delegate: Paul is the co-chair for the Michigan Conference’s delegation. In 2004, he served as a young adult lay delegate to the General Conference and the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. Paul did not run again until 2019 to focus on raising his kids, completing the ordination process, and serving his appointments as a deacon.
What legislative committee have you been assigned to, and how are you educating yourself about the matters you’ll be discussing?
“I am assigned to the Judicial Administration Legislative Committee.
“Our delegation has been meeting monthly before General Conference to discuss major proposals and legislation, such as regionalization, the Revised Social Principles, the removal of language that discriminates against LBGTQIA+ people, the 2024 to 2028 denominational budget, and Wespath’s proposed Compass retirement plan. We are also briefing each other on our legislative committees.
A lot has changed since the pandemic postponed General Conference from its original date to now. Describe your thoughts and feelings about this moment we’re in as the Church.
“I honestly believe the pandemic postponement of General Conference was a gift to The United Methodist Church.
“Postponement allowed church leaders around the world, both laity and clergy, to focus on leading churches, local ministries, and nonprofits. COVID-19 changed the context for ministry overnight. Some ministries changed radically, emerged and strengthened, and others ended. We are still in the midst of a long-term recovery — mind, heart, and spirit — from the pandemic.
“Postponement also allowed conferences around the world to discern the emergence of the Global Methodist Church within their own contexts. In the United States, this allowed conferences to discern and implement disaffiliation processes that made sense for the well-being and vitality of a continued United Methodist Church in their contexts instead of being required to implement a one-size-fits-all process approved by the General Conference.
“Heading into the General Conference, I am committed to making decisions that will empower United Methodists to engage in much-needed healing in our local communities around the world.
“In a blog reflecting on the 2022 North Central Jurisdictional Conference, I said, “Grappling with religious disaffiliation is just as important as grappling with denominational disaffiliation.” I believe God is calling and urging us to share and embody the loving and liberating gospel of Jesus Christ in healing ways with our neighbors who have been harmed and estranged from organized institutional religion. I hope we can spend just as much time, energy, and resources on this sacred, life-changing work as we did on denominational disaffiliation.”
What continues to motivate you and inspire you to serve in this capacity as a delegate and a member of The United Methodist Church?
“I am grateful for the commitment of my fellow delegates and for the passion, tenacity, creativity, and faithfulness of Michigan United Methodists during this challenging time in our denomination, nation, and world.”
Which General Conference legislative items are most important for Michigan United Methodists to pay attention to? Why are they important, and how might they impact us and our ministry?
“I believe we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass regionalization proposals that will create greater equity and flexibility in church decisions and empower United Methodists to engage in more contextual mission and ministry. This will free General Conference to engage and focus on truly global issues facing the denomination.
“I stand by these words I wrote in 2022: ‘The United Methodist Church has grown considerably around the world. It is past time to change our U.S.-centric denominational structures and become a denomination balancing worldwide unity and regional self-determination. Giving United Methodists in the U.S. their own space to wrestle with issues particular to their context would open the possibility for The United Methodist Church as a whole to focus its worldwide attention on how the gospel is being heard and shared anew in different contexts and how the church might focus on global and planetary issues of climate change, poverty, health, and human migration.’ ”
How can the Michigan Conference pray for and support you as a delegate?
“Pray for our endurance and perseverance. Pray for our creativity and boldness. Pray for us to listen and discern. Pray for us to navigate tender and conflicted moments with grace. Pray for us to travel and return home safely. Pray for us to grieve what needs to be grieved and celebrate what needs to be celebrated. Welcome us with grace and compassion when we return home.”
Jen Peters
Current ministry role in the Michigan Conference: Jen is a lay delegate from Flint: Court Street UMC. She also serves as the facilitator for the Michigan Annual Conference. Outside church involvement, she is the executive director of the Troy Historic Village.
Previous experience as a delegate: This is the first time Jen has served as a General Conference delegate.
What legislative committee have you been assigned to, and how are you educating yourself about the matters you’ll be discussing?
“I am on the Financial Administration Legislative Committee. I won’t bore you with the details, but in the small group discussions, I listen and ask a lot of questions! I think a good chunk of petitions are no longer relevant, and many of the reports have been updated in Financial Administration. We’re working in each of our legislative committees to sort some out and organize and prioritize the rest.”
A lot has changed since the pandemic postponed General Conference from its original date to now. Describe your thoughts and feelings about this moment we’re in as the Church.
“It feels like we are moving in the same direction as we were post-special 2019 General Conference, but we’ve just been dropped further along in the timeline. After 2019, it was clear that the church had two extremes that could no longer live together, and we worked to figure out how to split up formally. We were preparing to work on the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace through Separation and the Christmas Covenant legislation four years ago. The pandemic sidelined that, and instead, we muddled through a separation. We’re definitely in a different place now.
“At this moment, the work isn’t finished, but we have the opportunity to clean up the pieces and move forward, and I’m optimistic that there’s enough desire to get that done. I’m also optimistic that this is our chance to rethink how a worldwide church works and do it better. I don’t think we’ll get everything right, but we can move in the right direction.”
What continues to motivate you and inspire you to serve in this capacity as a delegate and a member of The United Methodist Church?
“My kids and my church. We’ve always told our kids that they have a say in what the church is and what it does — if they wanted to see change, they had the power to be the change. As I’ve seen some ways the church can be hurtful by putting religion before people, I realized I needed to listen to that message myself because I had the opportunity to make The United Methodist Church a better place.
“Since the 2019 General Conference, Flint: Court Street UMC has worked especially hard on being inclusive. Many pieces were already there: church members did a great job talking with visitors and new people, there was always a wonderful hospitality table after church, and members worked hard to be in the community. Since the pandemic, they’ve doubled down on all those things as they worked toward being intentionally inclusive, which has been powerful! We have the kind of church that my teenagers want to invite their friends and teachers to attend! I’ve seen every person who comes through the door warmly welcomed by members. People spend nearly an hour talking and catching up after church each Sunday. The church has grown and continues to look for ways to show love to everyone inside and outside the doors of the building. If the denomination could focus on these things rather than drawing lines and dividing properties, we would make a difference in the world.
“And I couldn’t be serving without the support of my husband and family. This is a commitment from all of us. Knowing Jeremy is behind me the whole way makes a world of difference when the task feels overwhelming.”
Which General Conference legislative items are most important for Michigan United Methodists to pay attention to? Why are they important, and how might they impact us and our ministry?
“We’ve had a lot of conversations and focused on the issues of regionalization, removing harmful language, and updating the Social Principles. Of all those, regionalization is the most important. We are a worldwide connectional church, but I think we’ve become overburdened by details. It’s the equivalent of being handed the Ten Commandments and then writing the entire book of Leviticus in response. We need the simplification that Jesus gave us: love God and love each other. Yes, we need some basic structure and organization, but we also need the flexibility to live out that love in our own cultural context. I am very excited about how we could do that through regionalization. I think it would allow us to stay connected but love, grow, and thrive in our unique ministry settings worldwide.
“Your Sunday worship and the ministries you do will look the same in May as they do today. The difference that we hope to see is that everyone can fully participate in them. Right now, The United Methodist Church puts a big asterisk at the end of the phrase “All means all,” and I’m ready to get rid of that. We hope we can do some of that work at General Conference. Still, if we do pass regionalization, we will need the support of every United Methodist at the 2025 Michigan Annual Conference! Because of how those pieces change the Book of Discipline, it takes the support of the delegates to the General Conference and the support of all the annual conferences. It goes to show you that these aren’t just things a small group of people will go off to Charlotte to change, but something we all have a part in changing.”
How can the Michigan Conference pray for and support you as a delegate?
“Pray, for sure! Words of encouragement are always appreciated, and chocolate never hurts!”
Last Updated on April 22, 2024