October 6-7, 2017

Cedar Lakes Conference Center

Ripley, WV

Pre-registration is required for this event.

The registration deadline is September 30, 2017.

About the Summit

 We look forward to our time of...

Loving...Learning...and Leading

Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball

Sandra L. Steiner Ball, the daughter of Edward J. and Marjorie W. Steiner, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was raised in Milford, Delaware.  She is a graduate of Dickinson College, (B.A. in Religion, 1984), Duke Divinity School (M.Div., 1987), and Wesley Theological Seminary (D.Min., 2003).

Sandra was ordained deacon and elder by Bishop Joseph H. Yeakel in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference.  She served as the first full-time associate pastor of Kent Island United Methodist Church in Chester, Maryland.  At St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in St. Michaels, Maryland, Sandra served as the church’s youngest and first female pastor.  She became the first female Dover District Superintendent.  Sandra served as the first female Director of Connectional Ministries in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference.  During her last year as a DCM, she also served as interim pastor of Bayside Chapel, a new church start.  Sandra was in this position when elected to the episcopacy by the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 2012 and was assigned to the West Virginia Area.

Bishop Steiner Ball was a first reserve delegate to the 2004 and first elected delegate to the 2008 and 2012 General Conferences of The United Methodist Church and to the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conferences.  Sandra has served the general church in a variety of areas, including the Interjurisdictional Episcopacy Committee, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the United Methodist Endorsing Agency, and the Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy.

Bishop Steiner Ball and her husband, the Rev. Barry D. Steiner Ball, have two daughters:  Sarah Elizabeth and Sandra Rebekah.

Rev. Giovanni Arroyo

Rev. Giovanni Arroyo holds a Master of Science in Management with emphases in Project Management. He earned his Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC and he earned a degree in psychology and sociology from the City College of New York.   His native tongue is Spanish and English is his second language. He is also interested in learning American Sign Language. Born in Puerto Rico, Giovanni had his first acquaintance with The United Methodist Church when he attended Iglesia Metodista Unida San Pablo in Queens, NY upon moving to the United States. The United Methodist Church became his spiritual home where he continued to be nurtured and challenged to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Giovanni was inspired to work for the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) through his work at the Conference level of the Commission on Religion and Race both in the New York Annual Conference and the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference and through serving the local church in Cross-Racial/Cross-Cultural Appointments. In addition to serving as a pastor, he also has experience in the area of young people's ministries. He felt that GCORR was the place to utilize his skills and passion to move the church towards diversity and equity. As the Team Leader for Program Ministries, Giovanni develops and designs initiatives related to the vital conversations priority of GCORR’s ministry model as well as serves as point of contact for partners and stakeholders across the connection at the General Church and Annual Conference levels. 

Bishop Peggy A. Johnson

Peggy Johnson was baptized and grew up in the Methodist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. She pursued a degree in Music Education at Lebanon Valley, a United Methodist-related college in Eastern Pennsylvania. She taught elementary vocal music in Baltimore County Public Schools for two years. During this time she felt a call to ministry, specifically with deaf people and people with disabilities. She left teaching and began to pursue a Master of Divinity degree at Asbury Theological Seminary. Peggy met her husband, Michael C. Johnson, at seminary and they graduated together.

Upon graduation they were offered appointments in the Baltimore Annual Conference. Peggy was ordained Deacon by Bishop James K. Mathews and elder by Bishop D. Frederick Wertz. In her early ministry, she served a four-point country charge in Frederick MD, as campus minister for Gallaudet University (a leader in higher education for deaf persons located in Washington, DC), and as copastor, with her husband, Mike, of Lansdowne United Methodist Church, in Baltimore, MD. In 1988 she was appointed to pastor the historic Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore, where she served for 20 years. She earned her Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary and taught deaf and disability courses as adjunct faculty at the seminary.

The Rev. Peggy A. Johnson was elected a bishop of The United Methodist Church by the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 2008, and was assigned to the Philadelphia Area, comprised of nearly 1,000 churches of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conferences.

The Johnsons have two adult sons: Peter and Gabriel.

Leo Yates, Jr.

Rev. Leo Yates, Jr. is a provisional deacon serving in a deaf ministry setting and a clinical setting.  Appointed as a deacon, Leo serves his appointment at University of Maryland Medical Center where is he the director of a clinic that serves deaf and hard of hearing adults with mental health and addiction disorders.  Also, Leo specializes in deaf ministry and disability ministries, holding both a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor license and sign language interpreting certifications.  In addition, he serves as a deaf ministry consultant for Global Ministries.  He is also a caregiver for his elderly deafblind father.

 Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus

In January of 1996, as a part of the “Up Above My Head” program (a special celebration of Dr. King’s birthday), a group of men from churches across the Kanawha Valley were recruited to provide music.

Although the event and celebration had been on-going since 1980, there was something special about this group of men.  This particular group, unlike others in the past had a strong desire to stay together, and keep the dream of Dr. King and his aspirations alive through vocal music.

They continued to rehearse together with Leroy Robinson (the current pianist and assistant director), they prayed together and they began to bond.  The group grew in size and they soon became a significant spiritual support group for each other.  Over the past twenty years, they have become one of West Virginia’s foremost Gospel choral groups.

Directed by Marshall Murray, this group of (25) twenty-five men, both clergy and lay leaders, are from seventeen denominationally diverse congregations from St. Albans to Oak Hill, West Virginia.  They sing both contemporary and traditional African-American gospel music that they share with diverse audiences throughout the State of West Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic region of our country and beyond.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus has traveled to congregations large and small across the state of West Virginia.  In addition, the group has answered invitations and traveled to many other states including New York, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois and Washington, DC.  They have carried their music to elementary and high schools, prisons, senior citizen centers, hospitals, reunions, and corporate gatherings.  Over the years, they have received awards and recognitions from a variety of religious, governmental and secular organizations.

Recently they have participated in Multi-Fest of West Virginia, the Appalachian Children’s Chorus Holiday Concert, the nationally televised West Virginia memorial service for Senator Robert C. Byrd, the Third District Annual Conference of AME churches, the US Postal Service’s ceremony honoring of Randy Moss, the West Virginia House of Delegates opening, the Black Heritage Festival in Clarksburg and the memorial service with President Obama honoring the twenty–nine fallen UBB miners. The group has been showcased at the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins, The Governor and First Lady’s (West Virginia) “Joyful Night” celebration, the 2013 Inauguration of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and the 2017 Inaugural of Gov. Jim Justice.  

Sharing their gift statewide, they have been instrumental in raising funds for non-profits like Boling, Inc. in Lewisburg, Keep Your Faith Corp., Tumani Children’s Home in Kenya, the Nazarene Compassionate Fund, Samaritan Inn and Manna Meal in Charleston.  In 2006 and again in 2010, working with the Governor of West Virginia, the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences and the West Virginia Council of Churches, the MLK Jr. Male Chorus was one of the lead arts group in the state in planning and executing benefit shows that included twelve art groups.  These events raised money for victims of the Katrina and Haiti disasters. 

 Pre-Event Workshop Available

The United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc. and the Office of Connectional Ministries of the WV Conferece with guidance from George Webb, Conference Stewardship Coordinator, will sponsor a workshop just prior to the Diversity and Inclusion Summit.  This workshop will provide guidance and learning on the subject of how churches can transform lives through christian stewardship.

There is no cost to participants and is workshop is open to anyone who would like to attend. Please assists up with room set-up by providing a number of attendees.  

For more informaton about our presenter, click on the image to be directed to the Comapss website.

Registration, Housing and Meals: