I believe there is no greater place to serve than New England. It is full of history, beauty in every changing season, and expanding opportunities to proclaim the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and the Wesleyan holiness message. New England is not foreign to revival for in the middle of the 18th Century a Christian revival that swept over America started in New England called the Great Awakening.

As I travel throughout the conference boundaries, in and through cities along the eastern corridor, I continue to ask myself and God the question, “Why not here?” When I consider the small percentage of holiness churches within these areas, I ask, “Why not here? Why not Free Methodist churches in all of these growing metropolitan areas?”

The path we take into this opportune region will determine whether we experience greater missional effectiveness or marginalization of Free Methodism. It will take more than budgets, staffing, buildings and programs, important as these are to see kingdom expansion in our conference. To recapture the spirit of earlier leaders who had a vision for Free Methodism in New England, it will require a very intentional effort by each of us to reach the lost at any cost!

I am convinced that must not allow ourselves the luxury of adopting a retired mentality, where our churches become rest homes for the saints and places of refuge from a changing world around us. Before we can do anything, there must be the conviction of who we are in Christ, and the clarity to see our world as a field that’s ripe for harvest, as a waiting opportunity, rather than something to be avoided or feared.

The New England Conference is a multi-ethnic, wonderfully diverse group of people who have been called to reach as many people as possible with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. We believe that revival is coming once again to New England, and the Free Methodist church is an active participant in this fresh work of the Holy Spirit. What a great place to be!