Jeff Finley
By Jeff Finley
General Conference 2023 delegates met Thursday, July 27, by region to elect members of the denominational Board of Administration (BOA) for the next four years.
The BOA is comprised of the three Free Methodist Church USA bishops, three superintendents and six additional elders for a total of 12 clergy with equal representation from each U.S. area (West, North, South) and 12 lay members with equal representation from each U.S. area. Members are nominated by their annual conferences and voted in by the General Conference. The BOA is responsible for policy, procedural, financial and legal issues that arise during the interim between General Conference sessions.
On Friday, July 28, delegates voted 236-4 to approve the BOA election results.
The following people were elected BOA members from each region:
Clergy (West):
Superintendent Michael Forney
Amelia Cleveland-Traylor
Soo Ji Alvarez
Lay (West):
Jennifer Black
Michael Griffin
Faye Johnson
Ed Song
Clergy (North):
Superintendent Bruce Rhodes
Louis Colon
Katrina Wilkins
Lay (North):
Elisée Ouoba
Eric Logan
Gloria Girgis
Cindi Newman
Clergy (South):
Superintendent John Lane
Al Sones
Raisa Fabre
Lay (South):
Amy Colgan-Clark
Jan Coleman
John Davis
Alex Soto (pictured above)
Prayer for BOA
Susan Agel, the BOA chair for the last four years, led a time of prayer Friday for the new BOA members.
“Dear Father, here they are. You see our new BOA. Lord, we dedicate them to You. We ask that You bless these folks. We’re grateful for their willingness to step up to do the work and the travel and everything that it takes. We ask that You give them the wisdom and discernment that they need,” Agel prayed.
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“Lord, we thank You for them for their willingness to do that work” – Susan Agel
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“Father, these are the keepers of the spreadsheets. They’re the policy writers. They read the legal briefs. They do all the work that it takes to steward the property owned by Your church, to manage the policies and everything of Your church,” she continued. “Lord, we thank You for them for their willingness to do that work. We pray for those who are the traditionalists who know how things should work, who understand how boards work. We pray for those who will be asking questions and maybe prompting some new thought.”
She also prayed “for those who will be the disruptors and want things to change. Lord, we know that You will make all of that into a cake that’s going to bless You and bless our church. … Father, we just ask that You bless these folks. We’re so grateful for them, and we just ask for unity and a sense of vision for the next four years.”
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