The 2017 Michigan Annual Conference welcomes a new Secretary, Rev. Joy Barrett.
KAY DEMOSS
Senior Editor-Writer, Michigan Area
When the Michigan Annual Conference convenes on June 1, 2017 there will be two new faces on the platform. Members will welcome Bishop David Bard to his first time in the chair. And the Rev. Joy Barrett will take her place as Conference Secretary.
“I am feeling confident,” Joy says. “Bishop Bard is an excellent presider and parliamentarian.” Then she adds, “And I come stacked with plenty of post-it notes and pens.”
By the time Joy takes her seat at the Governors’ Hall of the Grand Traverse Resort, she will have been in the role of Secretary for five months. During that time she has been active with various committees, received lots of information and has done some team building.
All done in anticipation of what will be needed to help people and procedures function and flow smoothly once on site. “I have been working with the Bishop and the Assistant to the Bishop to be clear about what my responsibilities are and how I can be helpful to them,” Joy explains.
Of course the Annual Conference Journals—the historical record of the event—are “a huge piece.” The Journal Committees of the Detroit and West Michigan conferences have worked together to examine how each have functioned in the past and how they may now work together. “We have figured out how we will take minutes collaboratively and perform other tasks as a whole team,” Joy reports.
There will be two Annual Conference Journals again in 2017 and in 2018 as the Book of Discipline requires. “As we think about moving toward publication of one Journal in 2019,” Joy says, “we are hoping, with Bishop Bard’s permission, to form a task group that will look at what each has been doing and make recommendations about content and format of a single document.”
Asked about what excites her about this new position, Joy says, “It is a delight for me to be part of something new and to help others embrace our new identity as the Michigan Annual Conference.” She enjoys cultivating relationships with people, “I’ve heard about but haven’t had the opportunity to work with creatively in the past.” Joy acknowledges that both annual conferences do things very well. “Now we can bring it all to the table as a catalyst for what God is calling us to be and do in the future.”
As energizing as she finds the job of Conference Secretary to be, Barrett says the scope of the work is daunting. “I have jokingly said that almost every week I find some new aspect of what the job is all about,” she laughs. She is grateful for colleagues in both conferences who “in their gentle ways have indicated that it is time to take care of this…and that.”
The Rev. Joy Barrett brings pastoral and administrative gifts to the role as well as a passion for connectional ministry. This is good, for the role of Conference Secretary “consists of more than administrative trivia and widgets.”
At present she serves as Senior Pastor of Chelsea 1st United Methodist Church. It seems Chelsea has a way of taking “first place” when it comes to Conference Secretaries. Joy will be the first Conference Secretary to serve the entire Michigan Area. Jane Schairer, former member of Chelsea, was the first layperson to serve as Secretary of the Detroit Conference back in the day. “Jane helped shape so many of us in discipleship, leadership, prayer and service,” Joy recalls. “I am glad to share this Chelsea connection with her.”
Prior to the Chelsea appointment Barrett was Superintendent of the Ann Arbor District. Further, the Detroit Conference has elected Joy Barrett as a clergy member to the last seven General and Jurisdictional conferences, beginning in 1992.
What is Joy’s hope for the 2017 Annual Conference? She says, “My hope is that we will come with open hearts and open hands, eager to build relationships with one another as we deepen our connection with God.” Joy acknowledges that it will be challenging both to make room for new things and to name the things we have to let go. “We will need to confront realities concerning things that will need to be done differently. We will need to do appropriate grief work in order to embrace what is out there ahead of us.”
Joy approaches the 2017 Annual Conference as a “wide circle of sisters and brothers in Michigan.” She rejoices in the many possibilities that will open members “to the leading of the Spirit as we discern how we can take our next steps of discipleship in this time.”
Last Updated on January 10, 2023