> Governor Haslam's Proclamation 2012
Excerpt from the 2012 Annual Conference Summary Report:
During the opening session of the 2012 Annual Conference one of those featured historical characters, D.C. Kelley (portrayed by David Barton), along with Committee on Archives and History Chair Leland T. Carden and lay delegate to General/Jurisdictional Conference Connie Clark presented an official proclamation signed by Governor Bill Haslam to the floor of Annual Conference. The proclamation, signifying that the dates of June 10-13, 2012 were to be honored as “Tennessee Conference United Methodist Days” in the state of Tennessee, was penned by Carden and edited by Rev. Susan Spieth. (pictured Left: Proclamation on display in the lobby of the Conference Center)
Bill Freeman, TN Conference Center staff (Information Technologies) who was extremely instrumental in the coordination of the historical celebrations, invited Rev. Spieth to be involved in the editing process as her congregation, Liberty UMC, also received a similar proclamation upon their 200th anniversary in 2008. Ms. Connie Clark, currently serving as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, introduced the finished proclamation to Governor Haslam for his eventual approval and signature. The endorsed proclamation, framed, is currently on display at the Conference Center in Nashville and will be throughout 2012 until it will be moved to Conference archives for historical preservation. (pictured Right: L-R; David Barton protraying D.C. Kelley, Connie Clark, and Leland Carden)> CLICK HERE to download .PDF version of the Proclamation
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by the Governor WHEREAS, prior to the time the Great State of Tennessee was officially formed and admitted to the Union of the United States of America, the presence of the "people called Methodists" was already established and well-known in the area west of the Cumberland Mountains through the efforts of unknown Methodists among the early settlers; and WHEREAS, two years after the organization and founding of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the Christmas Conference of 1784 in Baltimore, Maryland, one elder and one circuit preacher were appointed to the Kentucky Area, which included what was to become Tennessee west of the Cumberland Mountains; and WHEREAS, the next year the Kentucky Area was divided into the Kentucky and Cumberland Circuits, the Cumberland Circuit including all of Tennessee beyond the Cumberland Mountains, and Logan, Warren, and Simpson Counties in southern Kentucky; and WHEREAS, through the ministry of circuit riding preachers, a rapid increase in membership of the Methodist Church created a demand for another Annual Conference, and in 1800 Bishop Francis Asbury and Bishop Richard Whatcoat organized the Western Conference at Bethel Academy in Kentucky, October 06, 1800, with a reported 743 members; and WHEREAS, the Strother Meeting House constructed near Gallatin in 1800 was the site of the Western Conference meeting on October 2, 1802, and was later moved in 1931 to the campus of Scarritt College in Nashville and preserved in recognition of the early beginning of Methodism in the Tennessee area; and WHEREAS, at the first delegated General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City on May 01, 1812, the Western Conference was divided into the Tennessee and Ohio Conferences; and WHEREAS, the organization of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church took place at Fountain Head, near Portland, Tennessee, on November 12, 1812, and was the largest territorial conference in America, including Tennessee, Southern Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama; and WHEREAS, in the year of its birth as an Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, many men from the Tennessee Annual Conference were called to fight in the War of 1812, and the pivotal battle of New Orleans under General Andrew Jackson, and some Methodist ministers were asked to serve as chaplains to the military units in the field; and WHEREAS, the people of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church were actively supportive in ministering to the people of the area through tumultuous and destructive events including the New Madrid earthquakes, the American Civil War, the Great Depression, and other global conflicts; and WHEREAS, as the Methodist Episcopal Church continued to grow, the people of the Tennessee Conference experienced the Great Separation of the church in 1844, brought about by tensions over slavery, thus dividing into the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and WHEREAS, after almost one-hundred years of separation, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and the Methodist Protestant Church united as "The Methodist Church;" and WHEREAS, the uniting session of the Tennessee Conference of "The Methodist Church" was held at Tulip Street Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, October 13, 1939, with Bishop Paul B. Kern presiding, assisted by Bishop Wallace E. Brown, and Bishop H.M. DuBose; and WHEREAS, the Tennessee Conference of The Methodist Church, experienced yet another uniting when "The United Methodist Church" was created through the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, The Methodist Church, and the Central Jurisdiction of The Methodist Church at the constituting General Conference in Dallas, Texas, in 1968; and WHEREAS, God has continued to guide and bless the people called Methodists in the Tennessee Conference through 200 years of change, ministry, service, and making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world; and WHEREAS, June 10-13, 2012, the members of the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church, meeting at Brentwood United Methodist Church, Brentwood, Tennessee will celebrate their Bicentennial Anniversary as an annual conference; and WHEREAS, all Tennesseans are encouraged to join in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church, in commending the Conference for its meritorious service to the people of this State, and in wishing the Conference continued success in all its endeavors; NOW, THEREFORE, I, Bill Haslam, Governor of the State of Tennessee, do hereby proclaim June 10-13, 2012, as in Tennessee and encourage all citizens to join me in this worthy observance. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the official seal of the State of Tennessee to be affixed at Nashville on this twenty-second day of May, 2012. [ signed ] Bill Haslam, Governor [ signed ] Tre Hargett, Secretary of State |
> CLICK HERE to download .PDF version of the Proclamation