Welcome to the Central Shores District!!
Once again, we are stepping into new things. For some of us new things are scary and hard. For some of us new things are exciting and challenging. And for some of us new things are just a bother to endure yet again. Perhaps for some of us all three are true. I’m in the last category, especially as the Cabinet has been wrestling with what has now become reality: the Michigan Annual Conference now will function with four districts.
Over this past year, Isaiah 43:19 has been my focus verse. The Voice version translates this verse, “Watch closely: I am preparing something new; it’s happening now, even as I speak, and you’re about to see it. I am preparing a way through the desert; Waters will flow where there had been none.”
Regardless of my state of mind, the decisions that must be made, or the work that is anticipated will need to be done. When I read or remember this verse, I am reminded to first watch closely, anticipating, looking for what God is doing. Is it possible, could it be that God is preparing a way through what seems like desert spaces in the Michigan Conference? Is it possible, could it be that God will cause waters of vibrancy and vitality to flow where only lifelessness seemed to be?
At the 2026 Michigan Annual Conference, I reflected again on this verse as the resolution presented to decrease the number of districts in the Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church from seven (7) to four (4) effective July 1, 2026, was adopted and Bishop Bard set the boundaries of the new districts. Beginning July 1, eighty-five (85%) of the current East Winds District, 40% of the current Western Waters District, and almost 100% of the current Central Bay District will become the newly formed Central Shores District. It’s happening now, God is preparing something new.
What will it look like? I have some ideas. But in truth, what God is about to do is something we are about to see. God’s new thing will necessarily include all of us together. It will begin with our looking intently for God’s new thing and then continue as we participate in that new thing. That’s how God seems to work. Yes, God could do it all by God’s self. But God prefers that we become a part of what God is doing, allowing God to work in us and through us so that others can know God’s new thing for them.
In the coming weeks and months, expect to receive updates, opportunities to participate, and notices of what’s ahead. Being together in the new district that spans the center of the mitten and reaches from the shore of Lake Huron to the shore of Lake Michigan will necessarily be new and different. Together, let’s be willing to accept the scary and hard, live into the exciting and challenging, and even endure the bother all for the blessing of experiencing the new thing that God would do among us, in us, and through us.
As a start I invite clergy and laity to participate in a day-long workshop on July 22, DARE to Dream Like Jesus, led by Rebekah Simon-Peter for the mere cost of $25 per person. Rebekah is best known for her Creating a Culture of Renewal trainings across the church. She will present this workshop in person at Saginaw: First UMC. The workshop will also be live-streamed; however, some of the resources and the connections could be missed. Churches are encouraged to send at least 2 people per congregation to have the best interactive experience. Registration is required whether in person or live-streamed.
Won’t you watch closely and join me as we enter together into the something new God is doing?
DS John Kasper
Click here to read the Michigan Conference’s related article.