Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus…
1 Thessalonians 5:18
As I begin my second year as your bishop in the Kentucky-Tennessee Episcopal Area, I want to thank the wonderful people of the Central Appalachian Missionary, Kentucky, and Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conferences for all your acts of love, support, and encouragement. Your patience as we navigated a year of change and blessings strengthened all of us. You have changed lives forever with ministry in your communities and to the ends of the earth.
I will be eternally grateful for the ways these three annual conferences, along with the connection across the United Methodist denomination, have supported me, Nancy, and my family in the death of my father last November and my mother this past June. It has been a journey! I have seen the hope of Christ in you, and for this, I have great hope for the coming year, for we do not do it alone. Sometimes, we choose to walk it by ourselves, yet you have once again demonstrated what it means to walk with Jesus and one another, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
With the uncertainty and chaos of our world these days, our hope is surely found in Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Another year is upon us. It will be filled with much, and some of it might be hard. But not too hard, for we will do it together with Christ leading and a hope that is out of this world.
Thank you!
As always, it is an honor to be your bishop and walk this journey together.
In Christ,
David W. Graves
Resident Bishop
Kentucky-Tennessee Episcopal Area
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