The Louisiana Conference Order of Elders
The 1996 session of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church established parameters for the development of the Order of Deacons and the Order of Elders. (Guidelines for these Orders are found on page 198 of the 2004 Book of Discipline in ¶306 and following.)
All ordained elders in the Louisiana Conference are members of the Louisiana Conference Order of Elders.
"An order is a covenant community within the church to mutually support, care for, and hold accountable its members for the sake of the life and mission of the church." (2004 BOD ¶306)
The Louisiana Annual Conference
2006 marked the bicentennial of
Methodism in Louisiana.
In addition to over 500 churches, the conference supports ministries within the state such as the Peoples, St. Mark's, and Dulac Community Centers, the Children's Home and the Methodist Home, the MacDonell Methodist Center, Hope Ministries, Sager Brown, camps at Caney Lake, Uskichitto, and Istrouma, Dillard University and Centenary College and over a dozen campus ministries across Louisiana.
The Louisiana Conference continues to be blessed by the faithful service of our clergy and their spouses. Hundreds of elders, deacons, and local pastors help to guide the spiritual life of the conference. We owe much of our success to the spiritual leaders of yesterday and today.
The clergy have been aided in ministry by thousands of lay members through the years. Many have their names in journal records and on church plaques; but many more have faithfully filled the pews each Sunday and have provided the backbone that has held this church together.
The United Methodist Church
On April 23, 1968, The United Methodist Church was created when Bishop Reuben H. Mueller, representing The Evangelical United Brethren Church, and Bishop Lloyd C. Wicke of The Methodist Church joined hands at the constituting General Conference in Dallas, Texas. With the words, "Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee, in Thy Church and now in The United Methodist Church," the new denomination was given birth by two churches that had distinguished histories and influential ministries in various parts of the world.
Learn more about the United Methodist Church at
www.umc.org
