Rev. Junius B. Dotson

Our guest preacher and teacher for Friday and Saturday of Annual Conference will be the Rev. Junius B. Dotson, General Secretary of Discipleship Ministries. Rev. Dotson will be sharing the Gospel message at our Community BBQ on Friday evening. We look forward as he leads us and the Wesleyan and Buckhannon community in worship and fellowship.

A recognized visionary leader in church revitalization, the Rev. Junius B. Dotson began his tenure as General Secretary (chief executive officer) of Discipleship Ministries on July 1, 2016. An agency of The United Methodist Church, Discipleship Ministries helps local church, district, and conference leaders fulfill the shared dream of making world-changing disciples. The agency connects leaders with needed resourcing, training, consulting, and networking that support spiritual formation, new church development, revitalization of local churches and materials for use in Central Conferences (United Methodist conferences outside of the United States). Discipleship Ministries has embarked upon integrated, strategic direction that serves the church with continuity, based upon basic values and mission.

Prior to his present position, Rev. Dotson was pastor of Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, where he was instrumental in transforming the 3,500- member church into a multi-campus congregation. The church is also the host to the E.C. Tyree Health & Dental Clinic that provides affordable care to thousands of patients annually.

Rev. Dotson received his undergraduate degree in political science, with a concentration in economics, at the University of Texas at Arlington. While attending UT-Arlington, he was president of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest African-American fraternity.

Rev. Dotson began his graduate work at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. He was ordained in June 1992.

In 1996, Rev. Dotson responded to the challenge of planting Genesis United Methodist Church, a new and innovative church in the Silicon Valley of California, which grew into a diverse faith community of nearly 500 people.

As a leader who responds to challenges and opportunities in new and creative ways, Rev. Dotson believes that effective ministry is about training, developing, and empowering leaders to establish ministries that address the needs of the whole person – body, mind, and spirit.

Rev. Dotson’s unique innovations have generated a great deal of interest. His ministry has been featured in The San Jose Mercury News, The San Francisco Examiner, The Sacramento Bee, The Wichita Eagle, religious journals and segments on CBS Radio’s “The Osgood File,” as well as on ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates in San Francisco, San Jose and Wichita.

A dynamic preacher and public speaker, Rev. Dotson is highly respected for his ability to establish networks that get things done in the faith and larger communities.

Rev. Dotson served on the Board of Ordained Ministry and the Revitalization Taskforce of the Kansas West Conference (now part of the Great Plains Conference). He has served as facilitator for the Fitzgerald Program, a Discipleship Ministries program to equip pastors to begin start-up congregations. From 2009 to 2012, Rev. Dotson served on the Board of Directors of Discipleship Ministries where he was chair of the New Church Starts/Path1 division of the agency. Rev. Dotson also served on The Wichita Food Bank Executive Board, Wichita Children’s Home Board, W.G. Williams Community Foundation Board, Wichita Ministerial Alliance and as a three term appointee by the governor of Kansas to serve on the Kansas Sentencing Commission.

Bishop Peter David Weaver

Bishop Peter D. Weaver will be present with us for the 2018 Annual Conference Session and will be preaching for the Opening Worship Service. Bishop Weaver was once a student at West Virginia Wesleyan and served on the Board of Trustees. We are delighted to welcome him to his “home among the hills.” 

Born into a parsonage family in Greenville, Pennsylvania, he earned degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan (BA), Drew University (M.Div.) and Boston University (Th.D.). He has also received four honorary doctorates. From 1971-1996 he served three United Methodist churches in Pittsburgh, Pa., focusing on “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” through ministries with urban youth, university students, older adults, the homeless, industrial workers and corporate executives. He led weekly radio programs, was a founder of Bethlehem Haven community for women who are homeless, and the city-wide “One Voice Against Racism.”

In 1996 he was elected bishop in the Northeastern Jurisdiction. He served the Philadelphia Area (1996-2004) and Boston Area (2004-2012) helping to initiate over 40 new congregations and “Good Schools Pennsylvania,” for public education reform. While an active bishop, he served a term as President of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church, which is the body of all bishops elected from around the world. In retirement, from 2012-2016, Bishop Weaver served in Washington, D.C., as Executive Secretary of the Council of Bishops. He participated in many community, church and ecumenical boards. He has been engaged in mission and preaching on five continents and taught in four Seminaries. He now serves as Bishop-in-Residence at Drew University Theological School.

Pete (as he prefers to be called) and his spouse, Linda, now live in Williamsburg, VA, and have eight grown daughters and thirteen grandchildren. Along with enjoying family, Pete plays the trombone, does woodworking, water sports, and helps in ministry with persons who are homeless.

His “life verse” is: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation!” (II Cor. 5:17)

We welcome Bishop Weaver among us as we gather at Annual Conference.