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you

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This is the Pursue Holiness podcast, an official podcast of the North Carolina Conference of the Global Methodist Church. We are engaging in scriptural holiness, applying it to everyday life so we can have the new life in Jesus springing forth so richly and powerfully within us that all we are and all that we do accurately reflects the true character of God. Thanks for being with us today. Hi friends, Kerry Wood here with the Pursue Holiness podcast episode number three. Today we are taking a slightly different approach than what we did with episodes one and two. Rather than having an interview with one person or two people that are the leaders in our annual conference, today we're going to listen to a variety of people who gathered for the annual conference sessions held at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem. And you're going to hear from a variety of people. You're going to hear some of our ordinands and their call stories. Some of them are so interesting that i'm going to follow up with them and probably turn that into a standalone podcast just to hear more about what god has been up to in their lives i'm sure you're going to enjoy those but in the meantime enjoy what we have today and here we go all right talking to it

SPEAKER_07 1:25

hello how are you hey connie welcome

SPEAKER_06 1:28

we're just testing so come on in connie you can join the test

SPEAKER_07 1:32

Welcome to the Benton Convention Center.

SPEAKER_06 1:34

Okay, hold it towards her and let's see how we can

SPEAKER_07 1:35

go.

SPEAKER_09 1:35

Hello.

SPEAKER_06 1:37

Oh, you've got to give me a better response than that.

SPEAKER_09 1:39

Woo-hoo! Are you excited about annual conference? I am so excited about annual conference. I cannot wait. I cannot wait. I mean, today's been marvelous. It's been wonderful watching everybody working together and getting things set up. So much prayer going on, so much excitement in the air. It's going to be a great week. Yes.

SPEAKER_10 1:57

Now that was a response.

UNKNOWN 1:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_10 1:59

Hi, my name is John Woods. I'm the chairperson of the Board of Ministry for the North Carolina GMC. So how many ordinands do we

SPEAKER_06 2:07

have being done? Do you remember off the top of your head? I think about 29 or so. 29, that's awesome. And as you have been doing this, what do you see as the most powerful thing that God has been doing for this Global Methodist Church?

SPEAKER_10 2:22

I think a real sense of God's presence among us and his work for his kingdom that he is doing among our GMC. It's great for us to be connected across our whole state and then to have this global connection as well. Just see God working in a lot of different dimensions and places.

SPEAKER_06 2:41

Is there anything in particular for this annual conference that you're hoping to see happen?

SPEAKER_10 2:46

I'm just loving the worship that we're doing and the opportunity for us to fellowship together and to keep growing as GMC here.

SPEAKER_15 2:55

Hi, this is George Gouge. I'm a chaplain in the Army Reserves and I serve Pollocksville Methodist in the New Bern District. And to the question of what could I say about annual conference, I think it's exciting to be a part of what God is doing here in the state of North Carolina in the Global Methodist Church here.

SPEAKER_06 3:13

So were you in the Armed Forces before becoming a chaplain or did you specifically decide to be a chaplain in the service?

SPEAKER_15 3:21

So I was pursuing chaplaincy while I was in seminary, and I didn't receive much support at the time, back in the early 2000s. So I had a good friend in the seminary at the time who said, if you feel like God's calling you to the military, you can just join. And I did. Along the way, I met my wife, who was a Marine officer. Well, we weren't married at the time, but got married, ended up... Back in Eastern North Carolina, down by Cherry Point. God's country. 30 minutes from the beach. And God led us back to the Methodist Church. So I was actually deployed when I found out that Global Methodist Church was a thing. I had actually left the UMC back in 2017 with tears in my eyes. But it was such an exciting moment when she sent me a link to what what God was doing here and to see it come to fruition in the ways that it has right right just makes me excited I want to bring her and I want to bring the kids to to be a part

SPEAKER_06 4:31

of it yeah so that's great fantastic well we we are so glad that you are first of all a servant of Jesus Christ and a child of God second of all that you are serving our country as a chaplain and third you are bringing together mixing together that connection between serving God serving your nation serving these soldiers and giving them the spiritual guidance that they desperately need when they are in the middle of some of the most horrific and crazy situations that human beings me as a civilian I can't even imagine some of the things that you've experienced and some of the ways in which you have ministered to those that are serving so we thank you on all of those levels

SPEAKER_15 5:09

and I thank you for the ministry that God has called you to thanks so much you know I think it's perfectly Wesleyan to say that the world is our parish indeed and that we should strive to do all we can whenever we can with all that we can.

SPEAKER_08 5:21

Hi, I'm Shelby Gilbert. I'm from Houston, Texas. I'm being ordained as a deacon. Church was always a big part of my life growing up, being in service. When I was 16, I went to this camp called the Texas Youth Academy. And I still resisted a call to ministry, but in 2019, I had an experience that set me on the trajectory that I'm on. I actually graduated from Texas A&M University with an Ag degree. moved to Durham so that my husband could start work, applied to Duke, got in, and now I'm here in the GMC.

SPEAKER_06 6:01

Well, we're glad to have you a part of that. I'm a native Texan myself, so it's good to see other Texans have discovered North Carolina and are enjoying life out here. I see your husband, he's got an H. Is that Astros?

SPEAKER_08 6:14

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_06 6:16

Yeah, okay. Well, I'm a Rangers fan, but I love you anyway. That's what God's grace is all about.

SPEAKER_08 6:21

Better than the Yankee. Oh,

SPEAKER_06 6:24

no, no, no. There's no Yankee fans on my podcast. Of course, now I'm going to get all kinds of fan mail about that. Well, we're so glad to have you, and blessings to you and your ministry, and may God give you all the wonders of His grace.

SPEAKER_08 6:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 6:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_13 6:41

Methodist Church in Siler City, North Carolina. You

SPEAKER_06 6:45

are one of the ones that have a brand new pastor imported from way far away. How's that experience been?

SPEAKER_13 6:52

He is very good. We are very pleased with him and glad he's here in Paddy Grove. His family is coming, I'm thinking about three weeks from Sweden to here. So We're looking forward to having them here.

SPEAKER_06 7:09

Absolutely. Absolutely. Very much so. We appreciate you stopping by. All right. Thank you. Have a great day. You bet. Andreas Charnold, pastoring the Siler City Church of Piney Grove Methodist Church. Now, I notice you have just a slight accent, which tells me that you are not Native American. Is that a fair statement, Andreas?

SPEAKER_10 7:27

Yes. I am a native of Sweden, and

SPEAKER_06 7:30

I come from Norway, where I served for the past 12 years. And you just come here about six months ago. Yep, December 3rd. How's your transition been? Phenomenal. Phenomenal, I have to admit. It was above and beyond what I expected. And you've been without your family for a while, but the time is drawing close. They're going to be here. How do you feel about that? Even more phenomenal.

SPEAKER_10 7:58

It will be wonderful. It's been seven months

SPEAKER_06 8:00

and it's been difficult, but I'm looking forward to it in a couple of weeks. So where have you seen God moving as you've moved into the Global Methodist Church? Well,

SPEAKER_10 8:10

in my own life, obviously, moving here from overseas and seeing how God moved that, I'll put all the pieces into place. Local congregation, God is moving there.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

I just came from Bible study, vacation Bible school, it's called, and seeing God

SPEAKER_06 8:25

move there. So there's this small and big things that he's been doing. That's wonderful. Well, thanks for stopping by, Andreas. Thank you.

SPEAKER_14 8:31

My name is David Hornberger. I'm with Mineral Springs Methodist Church in Mineral Springs, North Carolina. We're part the Concord District. Alan Mears is our pastor. Very nice. And what has your experience been

SPEAKER_06 8:45

so

SPEAKER_14 8:45

far through this annual

SPEAKER_06 8:46

conference?

SPEAKER_14 8:47

This conference has been extremely well organized. I like all the work that everybody's doing. The Global Methodist Church in North Carolina has really come a long way, and I just see great things ahead.

SPEAKER_06 9:00

Very good. Thank you so much. Anything else you want to say to me while I got your microphone? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

God bless everybody. Take care.

SPEAKER_06 9:05

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Hello, I'm Rodney Burton. I am serving the Lord at Prospect Methodist Church in High Point. This is my 12th year of ministry, my first there. I got saved late in life. I was two days shy of my 46th birthday, and I'm now 63 years old. And after 11 years in the United Methodist Church, he led my wife and I to move away from it. And he brought us to Prospect, where we actually stayed there as members for a while. And then when our pastor there suffered a heart attack, wasn't unable to return, I was asked to take over the church. And Been blessed by them. It's been a wonderful group of people who love God, love one another, and all they want to do is praise God. And it's been such a blessing for all of us.

SPEAKER_06 10:07

That's wonderful. So you served as a local pastor before, and now you're going to be ordained

SPEAKER_01 10:11

as an elder. And now I'm going to be ordained as an elder, yes, at the Global Methodist Church, yes.

SPEAKER_06 10:16

We are so excited for you. We praise God for you. Thank you so much for your ministry.

SPEAKER_13 10:20

Thanks so much. Good morning. I'm Jason Geyer. I'm from Mace Chapel Methodist Church. I'm also on the cabinet, presiding elder for the Hickory District, and glad to be here. What are your hopes,

SPEAKER_06 10:32

your aspirations for what God will do at this annual conference?

SPEAKER_13 10:35

My hope and prayer is to see the Holy Spirit descend on us and for us to be obedient.

SPEAKER_06 10:41

Amen. Very good. Thank you so much for your service, and I look forward to talking to you more. Thanks, Kerry. Thanks, Jason.

SPEAKER_11 10:47

All right. My name is Van Heath. I'm from Silo Methodist Church in Jamesville, North Carolina. And we are just back into our church after a terrible fire three years ago, and we're having our first event in our new fellowship hall this coming weekend.

SPEAKER_06 11:04

Oh, that's a wonderful praise story.

SPEAKER_11 11:05

It really is. We are just so happy. We thought we had lost everything, and we were able to save the 1840 church and just had to build a new fellowship hall.

SPEAKER_07 11:15

Hi, I'm Jo Simmons.

SPEAKER_11 11:17

I'm Brian Simmons.

SPEAKER_07 11:18

And we are serving in a new extension ministry called Interim Traveling Pastors. So churches, if you don't have a pastor and you're looking for somebody to fill in until you get one, we will fill in until God's will be done for your church.

SPEAKER_05 11:33

That is fantastic. You just need

SPEAKER_06 11:35

a rest. So, Joe, you're being ordained.

SPEAKER_07 11:40

Yes, I'm being ordained as an elder in the Global Methodist Church. And hallelujah, praise God. It's been a long journey.

SPEAKER_06 11:47

And Brian, you are still in the process. Is that correct? No, they're recognizing my elders. Okay. Retired from the UMC and now we're global. Awesome. All right. And

SPEAKER_07 11:58

God did that.

SPEAKER_06 11:59

Yes. Yes. So tell me just a quick version of how God did that.

SPEAKER_07 12:03

Heart attack. Brian had a heart attack. And we retired. Brian was healed. And God isn't done with us yet. So we moved to North Carolina, joined Sharon Methodist Church in Holden Beach. And now God called us out of retirement. to be appointed to serve as interim pastors throughout North Carolina. So basically we're starting in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

SPEAKER_05 12:28

So North Carolina is Samaria.

SPEAKER_07 12:32

No, no, no, no. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 12:34

We call it North Samaria.

SPEAKER_07 12:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 12:35

North

SPEAKER_06 12:36

Samaria. So where were you originally then?

SPEAKER_07 12:38

We are not native North Carolians. We are come-heres, not been-heres.

SPEAKER_06 12:41

All right. So where did you come here from?

SPEAKER_07 12:43

Virginia.

SPEAKER_06 12:44

Virginia. So you did come south. Mm-hmm. A little bit. Yep. Okay. Well, cool. Well, I started off in Texas. We went to Ohio for 20 years and then discovered North Carolina was God's country and got here as soon as I could.

SPEAKER_07 12:55

You want that whole story? I'm from Louisiana.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

I'm from Pennsylvania originally. All right. And I met her the day before she was allowed to date. So the timing was good. Yep. God's timing is perfect.

SPEAKER_07 13:07

Always. We'll be celebrating 46 years of marriage

SPEAKER_06 13:11

this year. That is wonderful. That's so great.

SPEAKER_07 13:14

But God's not done with us. He has more for us to do now.

SPEAKER_06 13:16

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 13:18

And we heard the call to go where God sends us.

SPEAKER_06 13:21

We didn't know

SPEAKER_07 13:21

what that meant, but the Global Methodist Church in North Carolina did.

SPEAKER_05 13:24

That's right.

SPEAKER_07 13:25

And God does.

SPEAKER_05 13:26

Have our view, we'll travel. That's very good.

SPEAKER_07 13:29

Yeah, so like we're modern-day circuit riders.

SPEAKER_05 13:31

Well,

SPEAKER_06 13:32

praise God for that.

SPEAKER_05 13:33

We have 300 forces, not one.

SPEAKER_06 13:36

True. That's terrific. Well, thank you so much for stopping by.

SPEAKER_07 13:38

Thank you. Blessings.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

My name is Robert Ray. I do go by Bob. I've served right at 10 years at Caledonia Methodist Church in Laurenburg, North Carolina. If you don't know where that is, it's right in between Charlotte and Wilmington. Anyway, we... We're so excited that we now are part of the Global Methodist Church.

SPEAKER_06 14:02

So you're being ordained as a deacon, and then are you going to be moving on to elder, or are you going to be a permanent deacon? I'm going to try

SPEAKER_02 14:09

to continue my schooling. I'm an old fellow at schooling, but I did take my first WBS class and made a B+, so I guess that's not too bad. Well, hey,

SPEAKER_06 14:20

that's something to be congratulated, and I know our folks can't actually see you. This is an audio-only recording, but you look like you're full of energy and vigor, so I I know the Lord's got plans for you. Tell me a short snippet of your God story. How did God bring you to where you are today?

SPEAKER_02 14:36

I call myself a methobacterian. Grew up Presbyterian. Went to a Baptist church, dating my girlfriend, which is now my wife of 45 years. We did attend the Presbyterian church for our first several years. Well, when we lived in Shelby, North Carolina for nine years. Moved to Larnburg, which is basically our neck of the woods, which Rayford is where we grew up. Rockfish. Everybody should know where Rockfish is because of the camp. We had been in Larnburg and I was not being fed spiritually there, My daughter was part of a pioneer group at the Methodist Church, St. Luke, also in Larnburg. The spirit was tugging that I need to be in a church that there's more spiritual thinking here. And so we switched to being Methodist in 93, been that way ever since. I joke about my methobacterium, but I don't get too upset on some of the tweaking differences as long as we know Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior first needed. And I'm going to use my WBS class. It's important to recognize that the Holy Spirit is there. And I really didn't even hardly know much about the Holy Spirit, even though we know in the name of God, even as Presbyterian and the Holy Spirit. But we have learned much. Disciple Bible study was very important, part of the Emmaus community. And we've got a small church, but it's a loving church. And I'm so excited to be there. I don't know. I may retire. Being their pastor, we will see because it is just a nice fit for both of us. Sure, indeed. Well, thank you so much for stopping by, Bob.

SPEAKER_06 16:20

Thank you, Kerry. Blessings, friend.

SPEAKER_04 16:21

Keith Lawson. I serve Snow Hill Church of Stokes County Incorporated. Very good. I've been ordained as a deacon.

SPEAKER_06 16:29

Fantastic. So tell me just a short snippet of your God story. How did God call you into ministry?

SPEAKER_04 16:35

I think I didn't hear a thundering voice that said, okay, you're going to preach. It was kind of guiding me throughout my entire career. I've been in a career of service my entire life, and finally, it just hit me. I was talking to a friend of mine, and he said, I think you have a job to do. I said, yeah, and I know what it is. I said, I've pursued becoming a pastor. I've served four churches so far, and I've been a pastor for eight years. It's taken me a while to go through the course of study because I was bivocational.

SPEAKER_06 17:12

Sure,

SPEAKER_04 17:12

sure. And I'm older, too. You

SPEAKER_06 17:16

don't look much older than me, if at all. So you're good. You're a young guy. A whippersnapper.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

Well, I'm going to live as God wants me to, and I'm going to live for Him as long as I can.

SPEAKER_06 17:26

That's fantastic. Are you going to be moving on towards ordination as elder, or are you going to stay as a deacon?

SPEAKER_04 17:32

I'm going to stay as a deacon because it is difficult for me to sit behind a computer all day. I want to go out into the community and do and be deacons. the hands and feet of Christ.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

My name is Steve Parker. I'm from Morganton, North Carolina, and I am being ordained as an elder in the Global Methodist Church.

SPEAKER_06 17:53

That's wonderful. So tell me just a little bit of your God story, Steve. How did you get to where you are right now?

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Well, that's a very long story. It involves faith as a child, turning away from God, running very hard and very far for 15 years, ending up living on the streets in California for three years, going to prison for a year for drug-related property crimes, and Christ rescuing me there and retrieving me and redeeming me, and that was, what, 24 years ago now, and the journey ever since then has been one of finding more of His love and learning to share it with others.

SPEAKER_06 18:37

I appreciate your being able to show just how much God's love can grab us, change us, restore us, and give us even more. So that's wonderful. Blessings to you, and may you be very fruitful in your ministries. Thank you so much. And this is my wife, Suzanne, here with me. Hey, Suzanne. Glad to have you with us today as well. Do you want to say hi?

UNKNOWN 18:57

Hi.

SPEAKER_12 18:58

Hello, I'm his wife. Very nice. I'm Reverend Patrick Whaley, being ordained as an elder and been at Moorhead City First Methodist Church these past eight years.

SPEAKER_06 19:11

That's wonderful. So tell me just a snippet of your God story. How did you find yourself where you are at this point in your

SPEAKER_12 19:18

life? It started when I was 14 years old, in which my younger sister became very, very, very ill more than six months without breathing in an ICU. And it was only by the power of prayer. And all three doctors told us that it was only by the power of prayer. So knowing what God does, the importance of prayer. because church members were there at the hospital praying all the time. Then it was at a Methodist church camp that was in Colorado Springs, and we sang the song, I'll shout it from the mountaintop, so I want my world to know the Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on. So that's where I heard God's call to go into ministry. Before I came to Moorhead City, I served for 16 years in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union as missionary. Darrell Bock And so that was a tremendous opportunity. And I'm so thankful for each and every one of those days and with the war going on these days where I'm on the radio every week and we talk about what's going on and people send money to the church. And so we've sent over $250,000 just from our church and our community, Moorhead City community, to Ukraine that goes to the pastors of the churches that we planted churches with that I knew these pastors. Well, that sounds

SPEAKER_06 20:54

like a whole podcast episode all unto itself. That is fascinating. I hope that I'll get a chance to hear more of that story. I

SPEAKER_12 21:01

hope so, too.

SPEAKER_06 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 21:03

But it's great to be at Moorhead City First Methodist Church.

SPEAKER_06 21:06

We're so glad to have you, and welcome to the Gold Methodist Church. As an official elder in the church, we praise God for you and your ministry.

SPEAKER_12 21:13

Thank you.

SPEAKER_16 21:14

Hey, I'm Reuben Rinker. I'm serving at the Bethel Global Methodist Church in Thomasville, North Carolina. That's in the Winston-Salem District, and I am going to be ordained as an elder. So how long have you been at your church? I've been there for almost two years. Oh, great.

SPEAKER_06 21:31

Fantastic. And are you enjoying it? Are they enjoying you? That's probably a loaded question. I shouldn't ask you that.

SPEAKER_16 21:38

I guess there's always the right answer, but yes, we are enjoying it. It's been a challenge. I was not part of the United Methodist, and so I had ministered kind of in an independent church for 16 years. Oh, okay. But it's where my wife actually attended as a teenager. Okay. So we've kind of came around full circle. Full circle. Yeah, my father-in-law pastored there as well. So she already knew everybody and was able to introduce you around? We did. She knew everybody. I knew very few individuals. We had our reception at the fellowship hall there. When you got married? Yeah, when we got married. Okay. So you even knew the facilities. I did know the facilities,

SPEAKER_06 22:17

yeah. But it had been a little while. Yeah, yeah. So give me just a brief snapshot of your God story. How did God bring you to where you are today? Man.

UNKNOWN 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_16 22:29

So I guess my God story is I was raised on the mission field in Alberta, Canada to Native Americans. We lived in tents. We didn't have running water. It was, you know, I kind of resonate with an older generation because That's how I was raised. So to me, God was always very present. I mean, there was a lot of spiritual oppression. So you saw, you know, evil spirits, different things like that. It wasn't a question of whether there was, you know, a spiritual realm. It was just more living in the protection of God. But it was also a very sometimes fear-based younger person. faith and so i had a lot of tragedy lost some brothers and sisters and so i always just wanted to serve him um but it was years and years and years down the road in dealing with a lot of things trying to you know figure out who i was and ultimately really who god was i had a lot of head knowledge uh but there was just kind of making that connection um was very difficult for me. And so it was actually years into ministry that I got connected with really the brotherhood. I found out how important relationship was, accountability, all of those things. I began walking, discovering that I really needed to know what it meant to love God and for Him to love me. So there was a legal salvation that had operated for many years, but the relationship was very lacking. And so, you know, I guess I still feel like I'm on that journey. Obviously, we're on the process of sanctification, but even the journey of relationship and really being able to experience God and his presence as opposed to. you know, just living for him and just sacrificing for him.

SPEAKER_06 24:25

Yeah. I think in many ways, what you've just described are basically the two sides of the same coin to, to grow in sanctification is to grow in that relationship, being able to, to hear God more clearly in the noises of the world, to be able to discern when the Holy spirit is speaking versus all of the other spirits of dissension that are out there. So I, I applaud you and praise you for the journey that God has put you on. Welcome to, uh, the North Carolina Global Methodist Church as a full elder. And may God bless you with many years of ministry to come.

SPEAKER_16 24:58

Darrell Bock Thank you. Thank you. And I guess my favorite thing that I resonate with Wesley is his story of saying he had the faith of a servant and not the faith of a son. And I feel like that always, that is my experience as well. So I really, really appreciate the global church, the brotherhood, the belief, and I'm excited about what the future holds. Darrell Bock Praise the Lord. Darrell Bock Thank you.

UNKNOWN 25:21

Darrell Bock Thank you. you

SPEAKER_06 25:26

Wow, I hope that you have been blessed by listening to these conversations anywhere close to how blessed I was to participate in those conversations. Thank you everyone who stopped by to visit with me as you were coming in or out of the sessions at the annual conference. Friends, we have so many wonderful people who are doing great things, not because they're great, but because we serve a great God and they said yes to the Lord, whether that was a yes to a call into ordained Yes to a call in cooperating in what's happening in their local congregational experience. Yes to what is happening out in the wider world. Friends, we live in an annual conference that is on fire for Jesus. And I hope that this podcast has helped to kindle that Holy Spirit movement in your own life so that you are ready to get out and do for the Lord because God has already got great and exciting things happening in our midst. just need to open our eyes and see what the Lord is doing. If you liked this podcast, I hope that you will take the moment to be able to rate it, to say, yes, this is great. Give it five stars. Maybe you can share it with some folks that are around you. Say, hey, have you found this podcast yet? Take a look and listen to see what God's doing here for Global Methodist in North Carolina. Help us to build up our audience. And if you have ideas, if you have some things that you would love for us to explore on this podcast. Please take a moment to share those with me. If you are on the website for pursueholiness.org, then you can leave a comment right there on the webpage and I'll see that. You can also leave me feedback on the Pursue Holiness podcast page in Facebook. And we have 172 followers there right now. And if you would like to follow us more, give us an opportunity to expand that audience as well as what we are able to do, able to get through all of the other podcasts, directories, and engines. That would be amazing. We're about to get an email set up so that you can give stuff to us that way as well. And this is just an exciting time to be part of what God is doing in the Global Methodist Church and here in North Carolina. I'll see you for our next episode soon.