Honor our Bishop by Building the Beloved Community

Approximately a year ago we were in lockdown, but still thinking we were going to have General and Jurisdictional Conferences as were originally planned. We knew that our Bishop, Bishop Park, was going to retire as of September 1, 2020 and that we would find out who would be taking his place at the Jurisdictional Conference slated in July 2020. However, as the pandemic unfolded, we realized that many of our plans were not going to work out as we thought. Bishop Park was asked to continue on as our Episcopal leader in the interim and graciously agreed. It was recently announced by the Northeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops that Bishop Park will be moving into voluntary retirement on September 1, 2021 and that Bishops Moore-Koikoi and Steiner Ball will be the presiding Bishops of the Susquehanna Conference, West Virginia Conference, and the Western Pennsylvania Conference.

Now we have the task of trying to say goodbye to a leader that has not only led us for 2 quadrennia, but also then continued a full year beyond, when he planned to retire, based on the needs of the church. As the Episcopal Leadership Transition team met, they asked themselves “What should our Conference get a retiring Bishop who has done so much for our Conference and has gone above and beyond during these trying times?” As we all know, our Bishop has a heart for other people and a gift that would ultimately end up helping others is what the committee discerned would be best.

As a retirement gift for Bishop Park, all churches and people of the Susquehanna Conference are invited to make a donation in his name to the Building the Beloved Community Fund (BBCF). This fund was created out of the passion and commitment that Bishop Park has for an inclusive church. The Bishop’s belief and energy is clearly evident as he has helped our Annual Conference continue to break down the walls of division caused by racism. Our Conference Mission is to grow spiritual transformational leaders, equip vital congregations and create new places for new people, and connect with each other and the world so that alive in Christ together, the Susquehanna Conference will embody the beloved community of disciple making congregations. One hundred percent of the money donated to the BBCF will be used to help us as a conference live into our mission to be the beloved community. 

Fifty percent of the donations to the fund will be overseen by the Commission on the Beloved Community. The commission will disperse much of the money in the form of grants to churches and church entities that propose a specific project toward eradicating racism and enhancing and celebrating diversity. The commission will also use some of the money to fund initiatives on behalf of the conference as a whole. The other fifty percent of the money collected will be overseen by the Cabinet to fund programs like diversity training, supporting cross-cultural appointments, and promoting diversity.

We know that you and your congregation have a heart for mission and ministry and a commitment to becoming the beloved community God calls us to be. 

You can donate to the BBCF online on our conference website at susumc.org/endracism or by mailing a check to Susquehanna Conference, Attn: Finance Office, 303 Mulberry Dr., Mechanicsburg, PA 17050. Please make the check out to the Susquehanna Conference and write "BBCF-9300" in the memo line. Churches can send in money and list it on their remittance report (BBCF-9300). We will announce the gift to Bishop Park at Annual Conference in June and let him know the gifts that have been received up to that point. We can think of no better gift to our Bishop than to promote a fund developed to help us live into those goals; ensuring that our work can and will continue as we strive to shove the love of God to all God’s children.