From the Desk of Bishop Thomas

It is hard to fathom that spring is here and this month we are celebrating the glorious resurrection of our Lord. I am hoping that each of you are bonding with your congregations to make this Easter a most memorable one. Christ died for our sins and for us to know the wondrous relationship of the Father. That is our message: Christ’s sacrifice and the Father’s love. I am asking each of you to mobilize your leadership to make the worship services of this season enlightening, empowering, and effective in conveying this message. I believe in God for people to be saved and for the light to shine in darkness. Report back on your efforts and reach out if you need helps with your plans. Each member of our executive council is ready to help and to help churches partner together to develop plans and programs. His sacrifice was His life, but His free gift to us is life, and that message must be heralded this season.

Let me plant the seed for our annual conference July 18-20. The theme is: Ministry Based on Big Dreams "For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

Our format will be very similar to last year’s format and some of our topics are:  How does the clergy leader awaken, feed, and mature imagination? Imagine challenges and opportunities for the church—Christian persecution, secularism, automation (driverless cars, robots, and digital homes).  Imagine church with all the generations present and spiritually hungry and much more. 

I believe this is going to spur thinking in our churches about what we can do to help persons find Christ and His fellowship. We don’t want to just maintain our churches; we want our churches to become movements for the kingdom. We want you registered, and we want you to register your church leaders, ministry workers, staff, and lay members. I am asking you to register early. Let me say that again. Early. The registration will be available on the website in two weeks. I am hoping for 600 attendees at this year’s conference. 
It is a great time for members to get together and get to know each other.  There are many other conventions and associations you may attend, but I am encouraging you to register your members and leaders so that you will be ready for a dynamic new outpouring in your church. Last year was phenomenal and we are still hearing of the changes churches have made to be more effective. Be sure to check back on the website regularly and see updates for the KACP 2017 Conference.

We do want to make sure that our communication with our pastors and churches is strong. We have sought a structure that enables every member and church to be able to reach out for support. Those leaders will be sending you an email reaching out so that you can maintain their contact information and the fellowship. Ours is a unique organization and we want each church and each pastor to gain from our collective strength.

Finally, our retreat this year was powerful and productive. Our time was spent looking at our Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and it was helpful to all in attendance. Some of you might want to explore this with your staff or even go deeper in for yourselves, and I would be open to helping you accomplish that. If you were not at the retreat and would like to do the personality inventory, let me know and we can schedule. I think it is a powerful tool for self-awareness and leadership, so do not hesitate to contact me about having a seminar for your leaders, staff, or for yourself. I have found that most of our people problems can be addressed through better self-awareness and by better understanding the people God has us working with.

Enjoy this season of Lent and minister knowing that I am praying for you and with you. God is going to mightily manifest Kingdom power and we will be conduits for its flow to God’s people.

I am looking forward to seeing you in July and staying in touch with you till then.

Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr.
Presiding Prelate