Often, when I hear the word meeting, I admit that I become a little less than excited. I suspect that when you read the title of this article, you saw the words Annual Meeting and felt that same lack of enthusiasm that comes with the territory of meetings. While we realize that meetings are necessary, it is hard to find in ourselves the energy to be excited about them.

Like all other meetings, Council for Accountable Discipleship (CFAD) does the necessary business; e.g., we recently elected a slate of officers. Bill Pyatt is our chair; Cindy Olszewski, vice chair; Mark Wethington, finance chair; Sandra King-Shaw, our treasurer; and I, Michael Bartley. am the Secretary. We voted in a new constitution and by-laws and did some visioning.

However, let me tell you, CFAD meetings feel fundamentally different from most meetings. Yes, we vote, elect, debate, and struggle. And we get together with people we really like and enjoy. Laughter, sharing, excitement, and sharing of concerns is central to our fellowship. But something else drives these gatherings—our understanding that in these meetings we are doing important business for the formation of the church’s faithful response to the gospel.

We are working to further the cause of Covenant Discipleship and Class Leaders in The United Methodist Church. We have come to understand our gathering as one em-bodiment of the general rule of “witnessing to Jesus Christ in the world.” In our meetings we empower the church in its variety of manifestations and become empowered by the joy of knowing that many throughout our connection are struggling “to follow Jesus’ teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.” On April 12-14, 2000, the Council for Accountable Discipleship met in Washington, DC, at Wesley Theological Seminary, and it is my joy to tell you that it was an exciting, faithful gathering responding to the call of God in our lives.

Michael Bartley is secretary of CFAD and Director of the United Methodist Student Center, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City, OK.