Ten Iowa United Methodists are serving on commissions for denominational agencies and north central jurisdictional groups for 2016-2020. Many were among the persons – lay and clergy, selected by the 2015 Annual Conference session to represent the Conference at the recent General and Jurisdictional Conferences.
Denominational representation
Lindsay Drake, Director of Small Group Ministries at Ankeny UMC in Ankeny, Iowa and Chairperson for the Iowa Conference Board of Discipleship in the Iowa Annual Conference, will serve on the UMPH board as a member of the Products and Services Committee and the Audit Committee. Lindsay Drake will serve on the board for the
United Methodist Publishing House. She will be a member of the class of the board’s 2024. (At that meeting Rev. Brian Milford, former Dean of the Appointive Cabinet of the Iowa Conference, was elected to be the new President and CEO of the United Methodist Publishing House.)
Rev. Katie Dawson, Pastor of Immanuel UMC, Des Moines, is a member of the board for the
General Board of Global Ministries. She was present for the first meeting at the new headquarters for GBGM, which recently relocated to Atlanta from its long-standing former home base in New York City. Rev. Dawson recently spoke about that experience in a sermon entitled, “From Everywhere to Everywhere” at the Greenfield site for the 2016 Thanksgiving Ingathering.
Rev. Josh Steward, pastor of Sheridan Park UMC, Des Moines and Margaret Borgen, the Conference’s Lay Leader, are among seven from the North Central Jurisdiction who will serve on the board for the
General Board of Church and Society.
Jurisdictional representation
Nitza Dovenspike was elected to be a member of the North Central Jurisdiction Missions Council. According to the NCJ website, “The Jurisdictional Mission Council shall consult with the College of Bishops and the North Central Jurisdiction Association of Conference Council Directors in order to: (1) Support the vision and mission of the Church and the development of models for that mission within the jurisdiction; (2) Constantly test the structures against the stated vision and mission; (3) Establish criteria for funding and evaluation of programs receiving funding; (4) Make annualized budget allocations to programs in the jurisdiction; (5) Prepare a financial budget for the succeeding quadrennium to submit for NCJ Conference action; and (6)Oversee the investments within the jurisdiction.”
Rev. Katie Dawson and Phil Carver will be members of the Committee on Episcopacy, which, among other duties and responsibilities, annually reviews the work of the bishops, recommends episcopal area boundaries, and makes the assignments of bishops to the various episcopal areas of the jurisdiction.
Rev. Karen Dungan will be a member of the jurisdictional Committee on Investigation. Patty LaGree will be a lay observer and Rev. Lanette Plambeck is an alternate clergy member.
John Rothlisberger will be a member of the NCJ Court of Appeals.
