 I would say all the different people I met in different churches that I've served came from a different denomination. So I've really enjoyed confirmation classes and disciple Bible study. All of the various studies actually that's offered to us in the United Methodist Church. As I've been a chaplain, I have to say for me that has been the most meaningful. It has brought together my gifts and my pastoral call to be present with others. I've had the joy and also it's also difficult to be with persons in the most vulnerable times of their lives and in the local churches as well as in chaplaincy. How people open up and trust you. Being a member of the district committee on ministry and as a bivocational and a local pastor I was in those meetings and I'm still a member of the committee. I learned so much from the elders, the deacons that are there, from the laity and from the candidates that are coming through. It's just an amazing experience seeing what the Holy Spirit is doing in all of those lives and learning and that it helped me in my local context. I brought back from those meetings so much information and such joy. That I was ordained with three deacon women is especially meaningful for me. I've been in church my entire life but I did not see an ordained woman for my first 30 years. And so then that changed when my children's preschool happened to have a United Methodist Church attached to it. And so from then on I've met gifted clergy women who have become friends and mentors and then helped me envision responding to my own call to ordain ministry. One of the tools that became available to us in chaplaincy over this time of pandemic and isolation was utilizing video equipment to be able to connect families and patients together. And that, I'm not tech savvy and I thought, oh my gosh, but I opened myself up and there it was, a way to connect family and the person. And for me that's the key here in terms of connecting with the mission field that we have, utilizing those tools that are available to us. I've discovered that the different things that we've done to different churches, what one church does may or may not work in your church, but it can be adept. And I think the two words that I believe are important, whatever a church and people do, is they need to be adaptable and they need also to be readily available to listen. Did I say listen? Yeah, to listen and to be able to interact with the people. When we make opportunities for people to gather as community, that the Holy Spirit steps in and does amazing things, so it just provides a space for people to gather in fellowships, study in service, to form relationships and to see what the Holy Spirit does with that. Get involved with your city council because they have the ear to the ground, know what's going on and the church needs to be a vital part of the civic affairs. One of the first things I did at first church was I made an appeal to the congregation, said folks, city council of this city needs people to serve on their boards and commissions. We need to step up. It's going to be a tough road, it is, but it's an important road and to be honest with yourself and trust the laity, trust your colleagues, reach out to them, you know, when you are in that desert there's a plane flying overhead, wave to it, you need help. And that's something that's so incredible, the love that you'll feel within your local church, there are people that are willing to listen, that are willing to pastor you and that's so important. I would encourage the ordinance to connect with their clergy colleagues, stay connected, celebrate together and support each other and also to pay attention to the ministry and the wisdom of experienced clergy and laypersons, hear their stories and use what you bring that's fresh and new for this day and time and blend it with what you can glean from those who have helped pave the way. And then finally I would say be authentic, be humble, be grateful, be hopeful and joyfully be who you are as a beloved child of God. Please remember that the lay people you serve have been there many of them a lot longer than some have even been alive and so trust your lay people, listen to your lay people, love them as best as you can. I admit that there are some people that are hard to love but that doesn't mean we don't love because God has said love me, love your neighbor, Jesus said you need to love one another so that other people know that you are my people. When I did my address before the annual conference and when I was coming in as an ordinance, I used him that's very important to me and it's the Lord of the Dance. Those of you who are in the conference may know that I'm a liturgical dancer but that phrase, that verse that says dance, dance wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance and I'll lead you all wherever you may be and I'll lead you all in the dance and again just like those words from here I am Lord, that for me has been a call and a reflection. That circle of life, we know the story of Jesus our Christ from birth to life to death to new life and remember in your journey you will move from birth new relationships with going to new churches, going to new mission fields to life and living that life with those people and remember in your journeys to connect with your other clarity, connect with persons to provide you counseling, connect with places where you can get the support you need so that in your moving from birth to life to death to new life you will find the support to continue in this journey that God has given you.