Gratitude and Grace

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“Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look the the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.”

Isaiah 51:1

The June 5-8, 2022, gathering of Holston Annual Conference marked my 61st year attending annual conference sessions. This year’s meeting of my home conference was especially poignant and a reminder of how much the Methodist Connection has shaped my life.

It was thirty years ago, June 1992, that Holston Conference endorsed me for the episcopacy, and six weeks later my membership was transferred to the Council of Bishops. I distinctly remember looking back from the stage at Junaluska after being elected as a bishop to the delegation from Holston Conference. I felt a keen sense of loss! I was leaving the community that had birthed, nurtured, and deployed me as a Christian disciple and pastor.

As the 2022 conference session opened June 5th with “And Are We Yet Alive,” tears welled up! I realized that I never really left home. Holston Conference has continued to do what it has done since I was baptized and received into membership at McKinley Methodist Church more than seventy years earlier. It has nurtured me in faith and sent me forth into ever-broadening circles of connection and expanding experiences of divine grace.

Throughout the four days of “Christian conferencing,” feelings of profound indebtedness and gratitude dominated my experience. As I conversed with longtime friends and colleagues, shared in the worship services and study sessions, listened to reports and debates, and observed the superb leadership of Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, I realized in greater depth the immeasurable contributions Holston Conference has made to my life.

It was Holston Conference and the Methodist Connection that

  • Changed my image of God from that of an abusive landlord who held me over a rain barrel at age five to teach me to “respect” him to a God who is a Good Shepherd who rescues lost lambs.
  • Launched me on a faith journey grounded in boundless LOVE rather than in fear of eternal punishment and damnation.
  • Believed in me enough to elect me as president of the small youth group at McKinley Methodist Church, believing in me more than I believed in myself.
  • Provided my first experience of “connectionism” as part of a sub-district, district, and conference youth activities.
  • Sent me to a National Youth Convocation at Purdue University in 1958 where I heard my first African American preacher, Dr. James S. Thomas, who later became a colleague bishop, mentor, and friend.
  • Granted me a “Local Pastor’s License” at age 18.
  • Appointed me at age 19 as a student pastor of Watauga Methodist Church, which considered “giving young preachers a start,” as part of their mission.
  • Provided a Conference Youth Assembly where I met a beautiful young woman, Linda Miller, who would become my love and life partner for sixty years.
  • Educated Linda at Emory and Henry College and through her and others taught me that theology “unites the pair so long disjoined, knowledge and vital piety.”
  • Equipped me with a solid theological education at Wesley Theological Seminary.
  • Appointed me as a student pastor of the Hunting Hill-MacDonald Chapel Charge where I was first confronted with institutional racism within the very structure of the church and inspired me to address my own white privilege.
  • Ordained me Deacon (1962) and Elder (1965) and welcomed me into conference membership.
  • Appointed me to congregations that would shape me far more than I influenced them: Elizabeth Chapel, Pleasant View, Concord, First Oak Ridge, and Church Street.
  • Elected me as a bishop and assigned me to the Nashville and Jackson Areas and provided unimagined opportunities for growth in leadership, fellowship, discipleship, mission.
  • Selected me as a faculty member at United Methodist related Duke Divinity School and the opportunity to help form future pastors for the church, one of which, Sarah Varnell, preached a marvelous sermon at the 2022 Annual Conference.
  • Included Linda among those remembered with thanksgiving during the Memorial Service in 2020 Annual Conference.
  • Taught me in word and deed that the heart of the Gospel is GRACE, the presence and power of God to create, liberate, restore, forgive, and transform human hearts, communities, nations, and the entire cosmos in the image and reign of Jesus the Christ.

I lament and grieve that the Methodist connection is threatened with schism and disconnection.

But while I grieve, I also give thanks. With all its imperfections and failures, I am profoundly grateful that Holston Conference and the broader Methodist Connection continues to transform lives, expand horizons, broaden the circle of love, and give hope that Christ’s reign of justice, compassion, generosity, hospitality, and peace will come to completion.

The decisive victory has already been won in the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. God grant that we will live now in the light of that victory!

26 thoughts on “Gratitude and Grace”

  1. Thank you, Ken, for this wonderful witness. I’m so glad we had a moment to share a Conference Hug in the Harrell Center! Blessings as you continue to share God’s grace and love for the transformation of us ALL. Peace & Hope, Carol

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    • Thank you, Carol! It was wonderful to see you! I am very much aware of the value of friendships shared across the years, and you and Jim are among those who have contributed immeasurably to my own life. Let’s stay in touch.

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  2. Ken, this is so powerful and true, the United Methodist Church being a life giving means of grace for you and Linda, and you as a profound means of grace to the Church.

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      • Thank you for you words of truth about the Holston Conference. I’m honored to have you speak in and over my life as I believe I am the first woman of color to be a candidate for Bishop from the Holston Conference. Please keep me in your prayers.
        Sharon Bowers

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  3. I look forward to your blog entries. There is always something to think about and learn. I’ve only been a methodist for about 25 years, and there have been some rough patches in my membership, but so much more joy and caring than I had known as a lifelong member of the Roman Catholic Church. I, too, am saddened by the potential schism that seems to be hanging over our heads. However, I think those people who are leaving would have found another excuse to do the same things. The same divisiveness that our country is experiencing is going through our church. I’m hoping, praying and crossing my fingers that the 2024 General Conference will find our churches not just including but embracing the ‘others’ in our community and building us to be Christians following the teachings of Jesus Christ, not a President with nothing but himself in mind or TV Preachers that find it acceptable to exclude anyone who they think is ‘less than’ they think they are. Please, keep writing!

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    • Thank you, Linda, for your kind and candid comments. I share your hope that we as United Methodists will move forward with hope toward a church that embodies the inclusiveness of God’s love. Regrettably, some refuse to live the reconciliation and oneness already made possible by Jesus Christ. Yet, as my friend, Tex Sample, often says, “Remember, God bats last!” God wins!

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  4. Bishop Carder, it has been twenty years since I attended an annual conference or a jurisdictional conference session. However, I share with you the love and grace found in the connectional ties of the UMC. Your chronological account of your UMC journey intercepts with many of my own experiences. Thank you for your faithfulness to your calling and for continuing to live and share the Gospel. Continue to be well in your soul.

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  6. Thank you, Ken, for your gentle gentle faithfulness. I’m honored to call you friend and to learn more about you here. Carlen

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  9. Those hugs and tears in Stuart represent so much more than friendship. It is a holy friendship we share with one another throughout our Connection! It was so good to see you — and everyone! Thank you for sharing your list of connections. That would be a good exercise for each of us to do!

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  10. Ken,
    Reading this brought back so many positives! You gave us a sense of hope, as always, to continue as ONE in the United Methodist Church!
    Blessings, my brother in Christ.

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  11. Thank you for sharing your life events in such a positive and uplifting way. You have inspired me to also document key times in my life with the same positive and uplifting manner which you have given.

    Your book on the forgotten has been a huge help to me as I continue hold my life and faith together in my day to day life with my lovely partner and beloved wife.Beverly.

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    • Thank you, Bill! I think of you and Beverly often as you journey together. May you know times of deep connection, profound joy, and a peace that passes understanding. Treasure your times together, as I know you do.

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  12. Dear Bishop, Retired,
    So thankful for your sharing. One of my dear friends for whom I have prayed for throughout our friendship was at the Holston Conference this year, her first time to LJ. She was blessed as I knew she would be. I can’t count the times our family has traveled to LJ for the Prayer and Bible Conference and Asbury @ the Lake. My hubby and I both have taught Bible in Sunday School in the towns where we have lived and moved due to his employment. We’ve heard the ‘Great Writers of the Southeastern Jurisdiction speak. Dr. Kalas and Dr. Tom Carruth come to mind immediately. So blessed by the time spent there in the very presence of Our Lord.

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  13. Thank you, Mary. Yes, Junaluska is a special place and holds precious memories for many of us. You were fortunate to hear such “giants” as Ellsworth Kalas and Tom Carruth. Continued blessings to you.

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  15. Momma and I so enjoyed seeing you at conference! I feel we are deeply connected in many ways but most poignantly in the way we lost our loved ones to dementia. I am so thankful for your continued work in reminding us that even in their state of confusion, they are still precious children of God who have the great capacity to teach is immeasurable lessons. Blessings on you!

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    • I was great to see you and your mom. Yes, there is a special bond between those who have journeyed with and lost a loved one to dementia. The bond with your family is even deeper since your dad and I were colleagues and friends for decades. Thank you for your kind words. All the best to you and your wonderful family.

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  17. Thank you Bishop Carder as always for your witness. We are in Annual Conference now here in Tennessee as the newly formed Tennessee Western Kentucky Conference. It was 31 years ago there at Brentwood when you ordained me a pastor in the TN Conference. I was thinking about that in session yesterday as the new candidates for ministry were presented. Grateful for your leadership and guidance through they years. God bless, James Cole

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