Great Line-Up of Speakers for Annual Conference 2014
5/20/2014
Bishop L. Jonathan Holston is "coming home" to be guest preacher at the North Georgia Annual Conference. He will preach opening worship and the ordination service.
Bishop Holston was elected bishop by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference on the first ballot in 2012. He was appointed to serve the South Carolina Conference and took on that role in September 2012.
He is not just returning to his home Conference, but to his hometown. Holston grew up in Athens and is a Georgia Bulldog, having earned a Bachelor of Arts in religion from the University of Georgia.
Before being elected bishop, Holston served as senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Atlanta for seven years. Prior to that, he served as superintendent of the Atlanta-Decatur-Oxford District from 1997-2005.
Tomlinson has been a member of the North Georgia Annual Conference since 1973. He is currently serving as pastor of Lanier UMC in his retirment, and has previously served as District Superintendent of the Atlanta-Roswell District on two separate occasions and the Rome-Carrollton District. For 8 years he served as Executive Assistant to the Bishop.
His service extends to a number of boards and agencies of the North Georgia Annual Conference and the denomination. He is currently chairperson of Emory Pastoral Services Advisory Committee, a member of the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits and is on its Executive Committee, plus he is a member of the denomination’s Human Rights Task Force.
Dr. Charles Foster to be guest presenter on topics relating to the theme: Together We Make Disciples and will be plenary speaker Wednesday night.We are privileged to have Charles Foster as our guest. Many clergy will remember Foster from his years as a professor of Christian education at Candler School of Theology.
As the author of From Generation to Generation: The Adaptive Challenge of Mainline Protestant Education in Forming Faith, Chuck’s thoughtful insights into the role of the church and individual Christians in transmitting the faith from the current generation to the next informs this year’s theme. He will be presenting throughout the conference and then will have an extended time on Wednesday evening in a plenary session before the workshops.
Dr. Elizabeth Corrie is Laity Luncheon SpeakerCorrie is Assistant Professor in the Practice of Youth Education and Peacebuilding at Emory University and Director of the Youth Theological Initiative.
Dr. Corrie draws on commitments both to peace with justice and to the education of young people as a foundation for her work in the development of ministry practices that empower young people for global citizenship.
Her research interests include theories and practices of nonviolent strategies for social change, the religious roots of violence and nonviolence, international peacebuilding initiatives, and character education and moral development with children and youth. Dr. Corrie was elected as a lay delegate for the North Georgia Conference to the 2012 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Dr. James Fleming is Clergy Luncheon speakerDr. James Fleming is Director of Biblical Resources Study Center (BRSC), an ecumenical organization serving Christians around the world, and founder of the Explorations In Antiquity Center in LaGrange, Ga.
Dr. Fleming lived and worked in Israel from 1974 to 2006. The Explorations In Antiquity Center is one of four museums in the United States to house antiquities on loan from the Israeli Antiquities Authority. Dr. Fleming is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Biblical Archaeology Review and has developed teaching aids in use by theological institutions in Europe, Asia and Africa; as well as illustrated government textbooks, and works with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
Dr. Fleming divides his time by—1) lecturing around the world, mainly in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South America and South Africa; 2) leading study tours to the Holy Land and the Mediterranean World; 3) teaching guide courses in Israel and directing ministries of Biblical Resources in Israel and U.S., and 4) supervising the Explorations In Antiquity Center in LaGrange.
Rev. Harvey Palmer is Local Pastor Luncheon speakerDr. Harvey Palmer started his ministry in the United Methodist Church in the North Georgia Conference in 1986. During his tenure, Dr. Palmer was appointed to five churches, he was Associate Director of Church Development in the North Georgia Conference, and was the Rome-Carrollton District Superintendent for six years.
Dr. Palmer is the author of Preachers Come and Preachers Go, so Lets Make the Stay Enjoyable. After Dr. Palmer retired in 2007 he has followed his passion of working with students at the Floyd County Education Center and Performing Learning Center. Never being someone who was work-shy and is dedicated to preaching the word of God, Dr. Palmer received and is currently appointed to Cosmopolitan UMC and Chubb Chapel UMC located in Cave Spring.