Southern District UMC, West Virginia Conference

05/14/2026

Southern District Gathers for Chaplain's Deployment: By Audrey Stanton-Smith

Church members from throughout the Southern District gathered on the afternoon of May 3 to pray for the safe deployment and return of Chaplain (Maj) Christopher W. “Chip” Bennett. Bennett has served as the Southern District superintendent for five years and is being deployed to the Middle East in early July.

The “Hail and Godspeed” celebration of ministry — hosted by United Methodist Temple, Beckley, and organized and led by district lay leaders, servants, ministers, and speakers — also welcomed retired Rev. Dr. Ellis Conley, who is slated to serve as interim district superintendent for the year Bennett will be away.

“Both of these gentlemen and their families have lots of courage,” said Bishop Debra Wallace-Padget, who used Mark 1:16-20 as the basis for her meditation on “Courage for the Unknown.”

”We can take courage from the reality that Jesus goes with us,” Wallace-Padget said. “In addition to the family and friends around you, Christ is with you. We can face the unknown with courage because Jesus is with us.”

Retired Col. Randall Isom, a CLM from United Methodist Temple, spoke about his personal experience with Army chaplains and the critical importance of Bennett's job.

“He is like a stethoscope listening to the health of the organization,” Isom said, emphasizing the importance of spiritual issues and the human condition of soldiers, especially during a time of war.

Other certified lay ministers, servants and speakers from churches throughout the Southern District led the congregation in prayer, Scripture readings and singing. A reception followed.

05/06/2026

Please Share!

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM YOUR DISASTER RESPONSE MINISTRIES TEAM:

July 22-31 Scouting USA (formerly Boy Scouts of America) are coming to Summit Bechtel Reserve near Oak Hill, WV. They will be making and donating 2500 cleaning buckets and 2500 feminine hygiene kits during their stay.

We need teams of 5-6 to be at the camp from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon to supervise assembly and loading of these items.

We also need teams from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM at the Depot to assist in unloading these from trailer/trucks, placing them on the pallets and wrapping them for storage.

We have a team for July 22 in the afternoon (no morning work that day). We need a team for the morning only for July 31(no afternoon work that day)

We need you to consider organizing a group to come from your church or community and work for a day. Each participant will be asked to go on a Scouting USA link to do a background/orientation program. This does not take long.

Important: Those working at the Depot do NOT need background check, and they may also bring volunteer youth 12 and older. Those working at the camp must be 18 and older.

At this time we are not enlisting individuals. We need groups with one designated leader to be our contact person.

Please let me know by Friday May 22 if you have an interest and availability for this very important service project.

Please contact me at the [email protected] to enlist or if you have any questions. Feel free to call or text the # below for further information.

Pastor Jim McCune
Disaster Response Ministries Coordinator
West Virginia Conference United Methodist Church
PO Box 2313
Charleston, WV 25328
304-813-1274

04/02/2026

03/27/2026

2026 Spring Lay Academy

02/18/2026

In the Wesleyan tradition, repentance is never about shame for shame’s sake. It is about grace. John Wesley taught that God’s grace goes before us, awakens us, forgives us, and continues shaping us into Christ’s likeness. Ash Wednesday invites us into that transforming journey.

When ashes are placed upon our foreheads in the sign of the cross, mortality and mercy meet. We confess our sin, not alone, but within the community of faith, trusting that God’s mercy endures forever. The One who formed us from dust is the One who redeems us through love.

Lent is not about earning God’s favor. It is about responding to grace already given through self-examination and repentance, by prayer, fasting, and self-denial, and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.

This is how we make a new beginning. Not through self-reliance, but through surrender.

As we begin these forty days, may we remember:
We are mortal.
We are forgiven.
We are being made new.

12/05/2025

DEPTH OF HOPE
“In His name the nations will put their hope.” Matthew 12:21
At eighteen I left home to serve in the U.S. Army. I served for three years (twenty-five months in Japan). I did not see my family for thirty-one straight months. That long separation taught me more than discipline - it taught me the depth of hope.
Hope was not just counting days or waiting for letters. It was trusting that the love I left behind was still holding me. It was believing that God was present in the unfamiliar, guiding me through foreign soil and foreign seasons. And it was clinging to the promise that reunion would come; not just with my family, but with the One who never left my side.
When I finally saw my family again, the tears came freely. That moment reminded me that hope in Christ is never wasted. The same Jesus who walked among the hurting and the outcast is the One in whom all nations and every soldier, every parent, every wanderer can place their hope.
Whether we are separated by oceans or by circumstances, the name of Jesus bridges every gap. In Him, we find a hope that holds, heals, and brings us home.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank You for being our anchor in seasons of distance and uncertainty. You are the hope that holds us when we feel alone, the light that guides us when the path is unfamiliar. I praise You for the moment of reunion, for the tears that remind us of love and for the promise that in Your name, every nation and every heart can find peace. Help us to trust You more deeply, to wait with faith and to share Your hope with those still longing for home. In Christ’s name, amen
Bill Baker

11/27/2025

A CALL FOR PRAYER FROM BISHOP DEBRA WALLACE-PADGETT

Dear Friends:

Today, we join in prayer for the two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot in Washington, D.C. Our hearts are heavy for these service members, their families, and all who are impacted by this act of violence.

As United Methodists, we believe in God’s healing power, the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding, and the Holy Spirit’s work of restoration in every corner of our world. We lift this situation to God with a spirit of compassion, lament, and hope, trusting that God bends low to hear the cries of the wounded and draws near to the brokenhearted.

Let us pray for healing of body and spirit…
For strength and courage for loved ones who wait and worry…
For wisdom for medical providers and all attending to their care…
For peace in our communities, our nation, and our world…
And for an end to violence wherever it threatens God’s beloved children.

O God of mercy, stretch forth Your hand to protect, to heal, and to bring peace. Make us instruments of Your reconciling love, that in all things Christ may be seen and glorified.

I invite every United Methodist across the West Virginia Conference to pause today and join me in this prayer.

As always, it is a privilege to serve as your bishop.

Blessings,

Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett
Holston & West Virginia Conference
The United Methodist Church

11/15/2025