During the Sunday, July 16, 2023, Witness to the Word (All About Love), three Dumbarton members shared highlights and reflections from attending the 2023 Annual Conference of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, which was held recently in Baltimore, Md., May 31-June 3.
Pastoral Intern Nya Taryor, Jr., shared his interest in attending a breakout session on how to better develop a relationship/create a bond with neighbors, something he’s interested in cultivating more with the Georgetown community surrounding Dumbarton’s church.
Nya added his “pleasant surprise” in witnessing so much ethnic diversity among members attending the Laity Session and how beautiful it was to watch all the connections taking place.
“I’m part of a conference that looks like the world that I want to see,” he said.
Mittie Quinn, who with Linda Lacy, is DUMC’s lay representative to the annual conference, said that the B-W Conference is one of the most diverse in the United States, especially among its lay leadership.
She celebrated the fact that so many local church representatives approached her this year at the Reconciling Ministries Network table, asking, “What do I do to become a reconciling congregation?”
Another joy that Mitte shared was watching attendees raise a total of $16,000 to contribute to Seeds of Security, an initiative led by Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, that is focused on educating, advocating, resourcing, and providing safe haven for survivors of domestic/intimate partner violence.
Mittie added that attendees expressed strong support for gun violence prevention, creation/environmental care, and voted to oppose apartheid in the Holy Land.
Chip Aldridge discussed the “painful issue” of disaffiliation and compared how the split is affecting our conference versus others. Only 23 churches from the B-W Conference voted to disaffiliate compared with 298 in the Western Pennsylvania Conference and 172 from the Susquehanna (PA) Conference.
“‘All About Love’ was the theme of this year’s annual conference, and Dumbarton continues to be a place that shows love to all,” he said.