Sterchi Lodge Church Conference

Last month, the congregation learned that our board of trustees had received and endorsed a task force’s recommendation to sell Sterchi Lodge, our retreat center near Max Patch on the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

On Tuesday, October 27, our church council unanimously voted to convene a church conference to approve the sale of Sterchi Lodge.

So, our Tennessee Valley District superintendent, Rev. Ann Robins, has authorized and called a church conference on Monday, November 16, at 6:30 pm in the Parish Hall.

¶2541 of The 2020/2024 Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church requires a resolution authorizing the proposed sale to be passed by a majority vote of the members of the charge conference, which is essentially the membership of the church council.

However, ¶248 of the Discipline allows: “To encourage broader participation by members of the church, the charge conference may be convened as the church conference, extending the vote to all professing members of the local church present.”

The Sterchi Lodge task force, our board of trustees, and our church council believe that all of us should have a voice and a vote in this important decision. So, every professing member of our congregation is invited and encouraged to participate in the church conference on Monday, November 16.

The proposed sale of Sterchi Lodge will be the only agenda item, and an affirmative majority vote will authorize our congregation’s elected leaders to market and attempt to sell the lodge. There is no provision for mailed-in, early, or proxy voting. Professing members must be present to vote.

Then please consider attending one of two information and listening sessions on Thursday, November 5, at 6 pm, or on Sunday, November 8, at 4 pm. Both sessions will meet in our Parish Hall.