New Leaders Elected

Former President Barack Obama once told Prince Harry that leadership was like a relay race where the focus is on a team effort and one person passes the baton or sticks to another person who continues the race until they reach the next runner who passes on the baton until they reach the final goal, keeping the race moving.

In 2022, on a balmy evening, the General Assembly convened at Portland Avenue United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Minnesota to elect a new corps of officers for the S. T. Nagbe UMC Distant Members Fellowship. The journey to 2022 had been a precarious and unpredictable one.

Buster Dweh took over the helm of leadership in 2017 for a two-year term, which was scheduled to end in 2019. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a massive shutdown that forced the suspension of public events. Utilizing his leadership skills, President Dweh kept the Fellowship active through frequent telephone calls and online Zoom meetings. Buster showed leadership acumen and dexterity, keeping the Fellowship functioning until the easing of restrictions on social gatherings.

The easing of social gatherings allowed Fellowship members to travel to Minneapolis for the General Assembly. It was a time of celebration, bringing to mind the great Methodist hymn, “And Are We Yet Alive to See Each Other’s Face.”Mourning the deaths of Florence Carr-Nelson and others, the Fellowship
commemorated the lives of the deceased while celebrating the living. Interspersed with the business sessions were times of warm fellowship that demonstrated the true meaning of being in the family of Christ.
At the end of the General Assembly, a new group of officers was elected. Dartor Bolo succeeded Buster Dweh as president. Harry Tarpeh became Vice President. Tessa Monyou Paye-Zulu became the secretary, Albertine Austine was voted in as the treasurer while Olivia Browne was elected chaplain.

The new group of leaders received the baton from the previous one and continued to administer the activities of the Fellowship. And so it was that it became evident that leadership is truly like a relay race where the team effort is evident and one person
passes the baton to another in the race until they reach the next runner and pass on the baton until they reach the final goal, keeping the race moving. President Obama was right, effective leadership is truly passing on the baton to keep leadership moving and the organization functioning.