Although I know that I will be processing General Conference (both the feel of it and the outcome of it) for some time, I did promise to post some reflections after arriving home. The return from Fort Worth was without incident. There were a number of us sitting in the airport waiting for the same flight to/through Minneapolis: Bishop Dyck, one of the bishops from the Philippines and his wife, Mary jo Dahlberg, David Bard, Otis Anderson, Becky Sechrist, Dwain & Carol Peterson, Lynn Scott from Wisconsin, Sandra Brands headed to Albany, NY via MSP, and myself. Here’s what I got out of our conversations and my further reflection after the conversations.
The tone of General Conference was much better. People worked very hard to remain civil and polite, however, this should not be mistaken for Holy Conferencing. Tom Albin (Dean of the Upper Room Chapel) and I had occasion to talk about this on Friday. There was not enough time for silence and prayer and possibly conversation without legislation. The conversations that took place during the last 72 hours of General Conference between the bishops and representatives of the GBLTQ community will continue. It is important that the bishops participating in that conversation represent the theological spectrum, not just a part of it. There is a thought already circulating that General Conference 2012 might well use the model that we did in 2007 of holy conferencing without immediate legislation. There is the distinct possibility that the conversation would be followed the next day by voting on these petitions without individual debate on each one. They could be grouped so that apples and oranges aren’t put into the same vote. I think this is very promising.
There is an increased recognition that the global nature of our denomination requires us to be structured somewhat differently although there is no commonality as to what that structure should look like. The next General Conference will have almost 1/3 of the delegates from the Central Conferences – this year it was approximately ¼. Because of the increased cost of General Conference, serious attention needs to be paid at how we do it. I believe the gathering needs to be smaller and shorter. This will take a lot of work and convincing of many people, but it is important. Several times we were reminded about how many malaria bed nets could be purchased with the price tag for a variety of other items.
As we were winding down on Friday night with about an hour of work left, we took a fifteen minute break. I commented to an old friend who had just told me he didn’t think he’d be back to another general conference, that I was becoming more and more convinced that if we just didn’t meet the next time, the world would not notice. There is a growing understanding on the part of many who are delegates at General Conference that the real work of the church takes place where the people are – in local settings across the world – not in large gatherings of leaders. That is not to say that important things don’t happen in those gatherings, but they cannot be the focus of our ministry.
The cynic in me says probably more persons lose their faith while attending general conference than are brought to Christ! Yet, I can point to a number of times during General Conference when my faith was deepened and strengthened. Sometimes it happened as we heard some great preachers. Sometimes it happened while we watched wonderful videos of the presence of the Church around the world, including Hubbard UMC and Recovery Church here in Minnesota. Sometimes it happened in brief but important conversations around the edges. OK, maybe I’m a General Conference junkie! I will probably be retired by the time United Methodists gather in 2012 in Tampa, FL, but I’m already thinking about what I might do as a volunteer to help it work better. I guess it’s that way when it’s the Church you love and have given most of your life to. As a friend of mine has said more than once when we have gotten a little critical of the Church, “Remember the Church is like your mother, kick her very gently!”
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Headed for the barn
Although there have been times in the last ten days when it was so cold in the Ft. Worth Convention Center that it may have felt like a barn (an empty one) in March in Northern Minnesota, this is not my sense. Instead, because we are on the last day of General Conference things are picking up speed. Rules have been changed to allow for fewer and shorter speeches prior to voting on an item. I think all of us are ready to come home although the wonderful warm weather would be nice tucked into our suitcases in place of the clothes that are being put there. Work began today with great music and preaching once again. Music came from The Festival Choir of Christ UMC in Sugar Land, TX, St Luke Community UMC Choir in Dallas, the Mark Miller Worship Band of greater New York/New Jersey and Dr. Eugene Lowry and his jazz piano. In addition, Tongan UMs from across the country gathered and formed a choir who sang the invocation, a Tongan tradition. The preacher of the day was Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of Mississippi who preached on the theme of The Release of Hope! If there was no other witness for the global church in which we participate, it would be through the rich worship experiences we have had here.
The morning session, presided over by Bishop Tom Bickerton of the Pittsburgh Area, focues on financial legislation. Although there were several items that were brought forward that asked for funding outside of the budget preparation process, the items that General Conference decided needed to go forward were able to be incorporated into the budget as proposed so that there will not be the need of annual conferences to adjust their budgets from the amounts that were tentatively given out by GCFA earlier this spring. In essence, the budget was approved as it was presented.
The afternoon session, presided over by Bishop Charlene Kammerer of the Richmond Area, spent the first half of the afternoon deliberating over whether or not to affirm our membership as a denomination in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. By a margin of 52% to 48% the delegates voted to continue as a full and sponsoring member of the organization. The body also expressed support for Taiwan, no change was made regarding a clergy responsibility around issues of homosexuality, amended the definition of family, passed a resolution regarding evolution and intelligent design, rejected removal of some of the chargeable offenses, rejected marriage and covenants between same-sex couples. A couple of these resolutions may have been adopted during the evening session. (I failed to draw a line in the list when I went to dinner!)
The evening session was presided over by Bishop William Hutchinson of the Louisiana Area. Two historic decisions were made during the evening session: deacons have been granted sacramental authority either through permission of the district superintendent or the lead pastor of the church, and laity may now distribute communion elements previously consecrated by a pastor in areas where there is no pastor to distribute the elements on a reasonably regular basis. This is intended to be used in remote areas or areas where there is a great shortage of clergy. There are parts of Alaska where there are UM groups that have not had communion for many years.
At 9:45, with all calendar items limited to one speech for and one speech against with a limit of one minute per speech, there were still 40 items left to be considered. The body is operating under an 11 pm deadline for completing business so that closing worship may begin. I’m not sure what items remain so I don’t know if there are significant items left to be considered. It appears that as many as 100 delegates have left and about half the bishops are no longer on the platform. Everyone I see, including myself, is suffering from sleep deprivation. It isn’t bad enough for us to be hallucinating, yet at least!
As we began the day, it was noted that the legislative committees have been upheld 98.6% of the time. It appears that this high percentage has continued throughout the day and is probably a little higher by now. Over the last three or four days there has been bidding going on over a basketball to raise funds for Nothing But Nets. It appears, if all bids are paid, the General Confernce has raised more than $300,000 which translates into 30,000 bed nets to protect children from malaria. The highest bid is $50,000 which Bill Gates, Sr. promised to match with a contribution from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During this day since we convened fourteen hours ago, 1,000 children in Africa have died from malaria.
I’m going to post this blog now. Sometime later this weekend I will post a wrap-up blog entry that is more reflective than I can be tonight or when things are happening so quickly on the floor. All I can say is that your Minnesota delegates and the reserves here have taken their task very seriously and have done us proud!
The morning session, presided over by Bishop Tom Bickerton of the Pittsburgh Area, focues on financial legislation. Although there were several items that were brought forward that asked for funding outside of the budget preparation process, the items that General Conference decided needed to go forward were able to be incorporated into the budget as proposed so that there will not be the need of annual conferences to adjust their budgets from the amounts that were tentatively given out by GCFA earlier this spring. In essence, the budget was approved as it was presented.
The afternoon session, presided over by Bishop Charlene Kammerer of the Richmond Area, spent the first half of the afternoon deliberating over whether or not to affirm our membership as a denomination in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. By a margin of 52% to 48% the delegates voted to continue as a full and sponsoring member of the organization. The body also expressed support for Taiwan, no change was made regarding a clergy responsibility around issues of homosexuality, amended the definition of family, passed a resolution regarding evolution and intelligent design, rejected removal of some of the chargeable offenses, rejected marriage and covenants between same-sex couples. A couple of these resolutions may have been adopted during the evening session. (I failed to draw a line in the list when I went to dinner!)
The evening session was presided over by Bishop William Hutchinson of the Louisiana Area. Two historic decisions were made during the evening session: deacons have been granted sacramental authority either through permission of the district superintendent or the lead pastor of the church, and laity may now distribute communion elements previously consecrated by a pastor in areas where there is no pastor to distribute the elements on a reasonably regular basis. This is intended to be used in remote areas or areas where there is a great shortage of clergy. There are parts of Alaska where there are UM groups that have not had communion for many years.
At 9:45, with all calendar items limited to one speech for and one speech against with a limit of one minute per speech, there were still 40 items left to be considered. The body is operating under an 11 pm deadline for completing business so that closing worship may begin. I’m not sure what items remain so I don’t know if there are significant items left to be considered. It appears that as many as 100 delegates have left and about half the bishops are no longer on the platform. Everyone I see, including myself, is suffering from sleep deprivation. It isn’t bad enough for us to be hallucinating, yet at least!
As we began the day, it was noted that the legislative committees have been upheld 98.6% of the time. It appears that this high percentage has continued throughout the day and is probably a little higher by now. Over the last three or four days there has been bidding going on over a basketball to raise funds for Nothing But Nets. It appears, if all bids are paid, the General Confernce has raised more than $300,000 which translates into 30,000 bed nets to protect children from malaria. The highest bid is $50,000 which Bill Gates, Sr. promised to match with a contribution from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During this day since we convened fourteen hours ago, 1,000 children in Africa have died from malaria.
I’m going to post this blog now. Sometime later this weekend I will post a wrap-up blog entry that is more reflective than I can be tonight or when things are happening so quickly on the floor. All I can say is that your Minnesota delegates and the reserves here have taken their task very seriously and have done us proud!
An up and down day...
The day began with music provided by the Christ UMC of the Deaf Choir in Baltimore, MD and Grace Notes of First UMC in Plano, TX. The worship service was the memorial service in which the bishops who have died since the last General Conference were remembered. In addition, there was a time in the service to remember delegates who have died in the past four years as well as a time for individuals to remember persons dear to them who have died recently. The preacher for the day was Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of the Chicago Area who preached on “Jesus, Remember Me” based on selected verses from Luke 23 and Luke 24. Bishop Jung was very clear in stating that he believed Jesus would accept everyone into the kingdom and thus, shouldn’t we in the church be as open? It was a powerful sermon.
The morning session was presided over by Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey. The retiring members of the Judicial Council were recognized as were the newly elected members (including our own Kathi Austin Mahle) and the officers of the new council: President is Susan Henry Crowe; Vice-President is Judge Jon Gray; Secretary is J. Belton Joiner. I believe the new Judicial Council has selected three very competent persons as its officers. When the monitoring report was made this morning, Minnesota was represented again! This time it was Rev. Dennis Oglesby. (Later in the day, I discovered an old friend of mine from Troy (my former) Conference is a friend of Dennis’. We were talking to each other and getting caught up with each other when Dennis came walking along!) Even at General Conference, like Annual Conference, there is a flavor of a family reunion – it is just quadrennial, not annual, in nature.
The morning session was interrupted with a scheduled "recess" in the form of a silent protest or demonstration by the GBLTQ community their family and friends. (I wrote a small report that is posted on the conference website www.minnesotaumc.org and the video of the 15 minute demonstration can be found on the general conference website (go to www.umc.org and click on the General Conference logo at the top of the page). This was a painful time but it was also the beginning of what could be profound healing within our denomination because of the leadership of our bishops.
Virtually every piece of legislation dealt with Thursday was a constitutional amendment. While you might say, “Yuck, that must be as dry as dust!” Au contraire! Many of them dealt with the Global Nature of the Church and, as the evening drew on, the voting rights of Local Pastors, associate members and provisional members (what will become the new name for probationary members). If the constitutional amendment passes, Local Pastors who have served two years following completion of the course of study or M.Div. degree or provisional members who have completed their educational requirements for ordination, along with Associate Members will be able to vote for General and Jurisdictional Conference delegates although they will not be able to serve in that capacity. It will help them feel that they are being represented during these two conferences that are so much a part of our connection.
What was most troubling to this writer, and I checked this out with several other veterans of numerous general conferences to be sure I wasn’t off on my own, was the way in which many folks just love to parade to the microphone and add no light (or even heat) to the discussion at hand. While I’m sure it is a variety of these, all of these motivations seemed to be at work: inept and/or inattentive delegates who prefer to come to the microphone instead of asking their seatmate their question, those who possess enough ego that they want to see their name in print in the verbatim of the session, or and this is the most troubling to me, what can be seen as a carefully orchestrated attempt to block legislation by raising all kinds of questions and parliamentary maneuvers.
The evening session was presided over by our own Bishop Sally Dyck. Her style, which we have become used to in Minnesota, was a breath of fresh air. She kept things moving and maintained her own sense of humor while keeping everyone else in good humor. If you looked for this post late Thursday evening or early Friday morning, I apologize. I have been writing this sitting in the press section. While I have internet connection, I have no power source. About half way through this post my computer told me to shut down or lose my work. Thus, I shut down to avoid disaster. When I got back to the hotel at 11:30 p.m. I was too tired to keep writing and do this post. Oh well, one more day. I mean, only one more day!!!
The morning session was presided over by Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey. The retiring members of the Judicial Council were recognized as were the newly elected members (including our own Kathi Austin Mahle) and the officers of the new council: President is Susan Henry Crowe; Vice-President is Judge Jon Gray; Secretary is J. Belton Joiner. I believe the new Judicial Council has selected three very competent persons as its officers. When the monitoring report was made this morning, Minnesota was represented again! This time it was Rev. Dennis Oglesby. (Later in the day, I discovered an old friend of mine from Troy (my former) Conference is a friend of Dennis’. We were talking to each other and getting caught up with each other when Dennis came walking along!) Even at General Conference, like Annual Conference, there is a flavor of a family reunion – it is just quadrennial, not annual, in nature.
The morning session was interrupted with a scheduled "recess" in the form of a silent protest or demonstration by the GBLTQ community their family and friends. (I wrote a small report that is posted on the conference website www.minnesotaumc.org and the video of the 15 minute demonstration can be found on the general conference website (go to www.umc.org and click on the General Conference logo at the top of the page). This was a painful time but it was also the beginning of what could be profound healing within our denomination because of the leadership of our bishops.
Virtually every piece of legislation dealt with Thursday was a constitutional amendment. While you might say, “Yuck, that must be as dry as dust!” Au contraire! Many of them dealt with the Global Nature of the Church and, as the evening drew on, the voting rights of Local Pastors, associate members and provisional members (what will become the new name for probationary members). If the constitutional amendment passes, Local Pastors who have served two years following completion of the course of study or M.Div. degree or provisional members who have completed their educational requirements for ordination, along with Associate Members will be able to vote for General and Jurisdictional Conference delegates although they will not be able to serve in that capacity. It will help them feel that they are being represented during these two conferences that are so much a part of our connection.
What was most troubling to this writer, and I checked this out with several other veterans of numerous general conferences to be sure I wasn’t off on my own, was the way in which many folks just love to parade to the microphone and add no light (or even heat) to the discussion at hand. While I’m sure it is a variety of these, all of these motivations seemed to be at work: inept and/or inattentive delegates who prefer to come to the microphone instead of asking their seatmate their question, those who possess enough ego that they want to see their name in print in the verbatim of the session, or and this is the most troubling to me, what can be seen as a carefully orchestrated attempt to block legislation by raising all kinds of questions and parliamentary maneuvers.
The evening session was presided over by our own Bishop Sally Dyck. Her style, which we have become used to in Minnesota, was a breath of fresh air. She kept things moving and maintained her own sense of humor while keeping everyone else in good humor. If you looked for this post late Thursday evening or early Friday morning, I apologize. I have been writing this sitting in the press section. While I have internet connection, I have no power source. About half way through this post my computer told me to shut down or lose my work. Thus, I shut down to avoid disaster. When I got back to the hotel at 11:30 p.m. I was too tired to keep writing and do this post. Oh well, one more day. I mean, only one more day!!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A Painful Day
The day began with wonderful music from the Africa University Choir and from The Spiritual Image of the South Hayward, CA United Methodist Church. Both of these choirs joined with a young adult choir (age 18 to 40-ish) made up of delegates, visitors and General Conference staff in providing music during worship. The preacher for the morning was Bishop Violet Fisher of the New York West Area. Bishop Fisher preached on Jesus’ encounter with the Woman at the Well. The phrase that sticks in my mind from the sermon is “Was this encounter The Necessity of the Call” or was it “The Call of Necessity?”
As a part of the early morning reports, Liz Lopez for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women participated in bringing the monitoring report from yesterday’s plenary sessions. A summary of this report is printed in the Daily Christian Advocate each morning. It is called the H.E.R.O. report. This is an acronym for Honest, Empathetic, Respectful, Open-minded. Generally speaking there has been a good balance of speaking on the floor between men and women, clergy and laity, ethnic delegates and white delegates. Intentionality regarding inclusiveness has been shown in virtually every quarter of General Conference.
Much of the morning and the entire afternoon plenary was spent talking about issues relating to human sexuality. The General Conference took action during the morning session that deplored violence towards anyone for a reason of sexuality or gender. The action also called for education of church members and the society at large to work against the practice of violence.
During the afternoon session with much debate and discussion the General Conference inserted more restrictive language into the Social Principles relating to homosexuality and marriage. This was a very painful time with much passion on both sides of the issue.
I suspect because of the way in which the afternoon session ended and the action taken, the evening session seems to be subdued. I found myself regularly exasperated with the number of persons who came to microphones and either did not have any understanding of how the general conference rules call for the body to operate, or they were intentionally trying to tie up the body and keep it from taking any action. There is a third possibility – given the number of questions that could have been asked of one’s seat mate but instead the delegate comes to the microphone. The issue may well be one of ego. To come to the microphone gets your name into the Daily Christian Advocate in the verbatim transcript of the session. The General Conference rules call for one to not move from their place to a microphone until they are recognized by the presiding officer. I estimate that for every person who comes to the microphone the body waits from 15 to 30 seconds or longer for persons to get to the microphone. Given the number of persons who speak each day, it would not surprise me if the body spends 30 to 60 minutes a day waiting for persons to come to the microphone!
The evening session is spending a major amount of time debating whether or not the pastor has the right to determine who can or cannot become a member of the local church. There seems to be a lot more concern about the church being taken advantage of by someone joining the church for ulterior motives than for the ecclesiological and theological issues involved. The minority report which wanted to give pastors the authority to set the standards for membership was defeated. The majority report which specifically denied the pastor that authority was then debated and then the body defeated that item, but by a very narrow margin! Sometimes ambiguity is the preferred posture!
Although there is still approximately 90 minutes left in the session (it’s 9:30 p.m.) I am going to file this blog entry. There are 122 items left to be dealt with before adjournment on Friday evening.
As a part of the early morning reports, Liz Lopez for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women participated in bringing the monitoring report from yesterday’s plenary sessions. A summary of this report is printed in the Daily Christian Advocate each morning. It is called the H.E.R.O. report. This is an acronym for Honest, Empathetic, Respectful, Open-minded. Generally speaking there has been a good balance of speaking on the floor between men and women, clergy and laity, ethnic delegates and white delegates. Intentionality regarding inclusiveness has been shown in virtually every quarter of General Conference.
Much of the morning and the entire afternoon plenary was spent talking about issues relating to human sexuality. The General Conference took action during the morning session that deplored violence towards anyone for a reason of sexuality or gender. The action also called for education of church members and the society at large to work against the practice of violence.
During the afternoon session with much debate and discussion the General Conference inserted more restrictive language into the Social Principles relating to homosexuality and marriage. This was a very painful time with much passion on both sides of the issue.
I suspect because of the way in which the afternoon session ended and the action taken, the evening session seems to be subdued. I found myself regularly exasperated with the number of persons who came to microphones and either did not have any understanding of how the general conference rules call for the body to operate, or they were intentionally trying to tie up the body and keep it from taking any action. There is a third possibility – given the number of questions that could have been asked of one’s seat mate but instead the delegate comes to the microphone. The issue may well be one of ego. To come to the microphone gets your name into the Daily Christian Advocate in the verbatim transcript of the session. The General Conference rules call for one to not move from their place to a microphone until they are recognized by the presiding officer. I estimate that for every person who comes to the microphone the body waits from 15 to 30 seconds or longer for persons to get to the microphone. Given the number of persons who speak each day, it would not surprise me if the body spends 30 to 60 minutes a day waiting for persons to come to the microphone!
The evening session is spending a major amount of time debating whether or not the pastor has the right to determine who can or cannot become a member of the local church. There seems to be a lot more concern about the church being taken advantage of by someone joining the church for ulterior motives than for the ecclesiological and theological issues involved. The minority report which wanted to give pastors the authority to set the standards for membership was defeated. The majority report which specifically denied the pastor that authority was then debated and then the body defeated that item, but by a very narrow margin! Sometimes ambiguity is the preferred posture!
Although there is still approximately 90 minutes left in the session (it’s 9:30 p.m.) I am going to file this blog entry. There are 122 items left to be dealt with before adjournment on Friday evening.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A Presidential Day
Our day began with solid music – the orchestra and 80+ voice choir of The Church of the Resurrection in suburban Kansas City. The counterpoint was provided by a wonderful band called Unido in Christo from South America (sorry, I don’t remember the specific country – see the new summary on the General Conference website). In addition to these two adult groups, we also were mesmerized and energized by the Hope for the Children of Africa choir. The preacher for the day was the presiding bishop of the ELCA, Bishop Mark Hanson, formerly Bishop of the St. Paul Synod. This was the ecumenical service that occurs each year on one morning of General Conference. Bishop Hanson preached about our baptism and the demand that Jesus places on our life. The great commission and the great commandment are imperatives, not offered to us as subjunctives.
Before going on further about today, I want to drop back to last night’s (Monday) debate on the creation of a task group to move toward the approval of a new hymnal by the 2012 General Conference. While it is typical that we have a new hymnal about every 20 to 24 years, it was the younger delegates that were opposed to looking toward a new hymnal, not older delegates. Their position tended to be that it would be out of date before it was published and that the need to produce a bound volume did not appeal to their generation. It was an interesting discussion about how the hymnal has been a tool for faith development. The haunting question remained even after the debate ended and the task group was created: Will a printed hymnal in the 21st century continue to be a strong tool for faith development in children, youth and young adults? The current hymnal has been one of the best selling items for the Publishing House. Will this happen again? I don’t believe anyone knows the answer to this question.
The rest of the morning and half the afternoon as well as all evening has been spent in debate of calendar items (items brought to the floor by the legislative committees). In fact, as I am writing the evening debate is underway. Currently the first hour has been spent on debate of the formula for establishing the number of bishops in the U.S. jurisdictions. Until now, the minimum number of bishops for a jurisdiction has been 6. Currently it appears that the new minimum will be 5 which will result in every jurisdiction losing a bishop or at least be at a level one below what they could currently have. This means the West will drop to 5, the North Central (our jurisidiction will drop to 9 as well the Northeast dropping from 10 until 9. The Southeastern and South Central jurisdiction could each have one more than they do and that extra (unfilled) position will be lost. This is being done to allow more bishops in the parts of the world where the church is growing – Africa and the Philippines.
The last half of the afternoon session consisted of an address by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia. A woman in her middle 60’s (by my guess) she is an economist and a business woman by training. She spoke with strong conviction and told much about how her upbringing in a Methodist church and attending a Methodist secondary school has been responsible for her success and her sense of morality and vitality in working on the problems of her country. She called the church to work together with the countries of Africa and the rest of the developing world to combat poverty. She is convinced that working in partnership this can be accomplished. President Sirleaf is the first democratically elected female head of state in all Africa. She told us that the United Methodist Church in Liberia runs 133 schools where 27,000 students are enrolled, we have a leading university, four mission stations and a healing ministry that is well known in Minnesota – Ganta Hospital. In addition, there are three clinics in other parts of Liberia. She maintained that the Church has been in the forefront of the fight to give democracy a stronger life. It has also given voice to the voiceless, shelter to the homeless, and education which instills hope, honesty and hard work. She held the conference in the palm of her hand for approximately 40 minutes before it stood and applauded and sang while she greeted each of the bishops individually, taking another 10 to 15 minutes. This concluded the afternoon session. (Note: If other notable actions are taken during this evening’s session, I’ll report it in tomorrow’s blog post.)
Before going on further about today, I want to drop back to last night’s (Monday) debate on the creation of a task group to move toward the approval of a new hymnal by the 2012 General Conference. While it is typical that we have a new hymnal about every 20 to 24 years, it was the younger delegates that were opposed to looking toward a new hymnal, not older delegates. Their position tended to be that it would be out of date before it was published and that the need to produce a bound volume did not appeal to their generation. It was an interesting discussion about how the hymnal has been a tool for faith development. The haunting question remained even after the debate ended and the task group was created: Will a printed hymnal in the 21st century continue to be a strong tool for faith development in children, youth and young adults? The current hymnal has been one of the best selling items for the Publishing House. Will this happen again? I don’t believe anyone knows the answer to this question.
The rest of the morning and half the afternoon as well as all evening has been spent in debate of calendar items (items brought to the floor by the legislative committees). In fact, as I am writing the evening debate is underway. Currently the first hour has been spent on debate of the formula for establishing the number of bishops in the U.S. jurisdictions. Until now, the minimum number of bishops for a jurisdiction has been 6. Currently it appears that the new minimum will be 5 which will result in every jurisdiction losing a bishop or at least be at a level one below what they could currently have. This means the West will drop to 5, the North Central (our jurisidiction will drop to 9 as well the Northeast dropping from 10 until 9. The Southeastern and South Central jurisdiction could each have one more than they do and that extra (unfilled) position will be lost. This is being done to allow more bishops in the parts of the world where the church is growing – Africa and the Philippines.
The last half of the afternoon session consisted of an address by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia. A woman in her middle 60’s (by my guess) she is an economist and a business woman by training. She spoke with strong conviction and told much about how her upbringing in a Methodist church and attending a Methodist secondary school has been responsible for her success and her sense of morality and vitality in working on the problems of her country. She called the church to work together with the countries of Africa and the rest of the developing world to combat poverty. She is convinced that working in partnership this can be accomplished. President Sirleaf is the first democratically elected female head of state in all Africa. She told us that the United Methodist Church in Liberia runs 133 schools where 27,000 students are enrolled, we have a leading university, four mission stations and a healing ministry that is well known in Minnesota – Ganta Hospital. In addition, there are three clinics in other parts of Liberia. She maintained that the Church has been in the forefront of the fight to give democracy a stronger life. It has also given voice to the voiceless, shelter to the homeless, and education which instills hope, honesty and hard work. She held the conference in the palm of her hand for approximately 40 minutes before it stood and applauded and sang while she greeted each of the bishops individually, taking another 10 to 15 minutes. This concluded the afternoon session. (Note: If other notable actions are taken during this evening’s session, I’ll report it in tomorrow’s blog post.)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Unusual Business
Today is a day that is primarily taken up with business. I must admit that I arrived at the session a little later than usual and missed the great music that has been a part of each day's opening. Bishop Ernest Lyght of West Virginia was the preacher. While it took him a little while to get wound up, he preached an excellent sermon. There was a time for a recognition of what response the Church has made following the destruction to the Gulf coast by Katrina as well as a recognition that there is much work that still needs to be done. There are still thousands of persons in FEMA trailers because there is not sufficient liveable housing available. We still need many work teams and funds to assist in this work. There will be another offering in August this year to assist with reconstruction of churches and parsonages which cannot be done with UMCOR funds. A young adult woman wrote a beautiful song that summed up her feelings after living through Katrina. She was here to sing that song for those assembled. It was obvious that it moved us.
Following this presentation, we moved to elections for Judicial Council, the University Senate and Trustees for John Street Church in New York City. The big news is that Kathi Austin Mahle was the first clergy elected for three vacancies on the Judicial Council. I was sitting two seats away from Kathi when she was elected. Needless to say, she was glowing after being elected on the second ballot. Rod Wilmoth was elected as a clergy alternate. In the opinion of this writer, the delegates moved the Judicial Council back to a more centrist position through its elections today. In addition to Kathi, the other clergy elected included Belton Joiner a retired clergy from North Carolina and Bill Lawrence, the dean of Perkins School of Theology. The two lay persons elected were Angela Brown of California-Nevada Conference, an assistant district attorney and a retired Commander in the US Naval Reserve, and Ruben Reyes, an associate justice of the Philippines Supreme Court.
Two other celebrations occurred today: the 60th anniversary of The Advance and a presentation of the Hope for the Children of Africa Choir. This group of young people from Uganda was brought here by the South Georgia Conference. They electrified the General Conference – delegates, bishops, staff and visitors – not only with their music but their finely tuned choreography as well. They will provide music for tomorrow’s opening worship. I understand the largest Cokesbury store in the world (the temporary one set up here in the convention center) has a CD of theirs for purchase.
The remainder of the day was spent dealing with legislation. It was anticipated that Bishop Dyck would be presiding over this evening’s session. We arrived following dinner to discover that the Committee on Presiding Officers had asked Bishop Warner Brown, who had presided over the afternoon session to continue in the evening session because there was unfinished business that would be best if the same presiding officer continued through that business. We anticipate seeing Bishop Dyck in the chair at a later time.
Today was a day of business, but it was not usual.
Following this presentation, we moved to elections for Judicial Council, the University Senate and Trustees for John Street Church in New York City. The big news is that Kathi Austin Mahle was the first clergy elected for three vacancies on the Judicial Council. I was sitting two seats away from Kathi when she was elected. Needless to say, she was glowing after being elected on the second ballot. Rod Wilmoth was elected as a clergy alternate. In the opinion of this writer, the delegates moved the Judicial Council back to a more centrist position through its elections today. In addition to Kathi, the other clergy elected included Belton Joiner a retired clergy from North Carolina and Bill Lawrence, the dean of Perkins School of Theology. The two lay persons elected were Angela Brown of California-Nevada Conference, an assistant district attorney and a retired Commander in the US Naval Reserve, and Ruben Reyes, an associate justice of the Philippines Supreme Court.
Two other celebrations occurred today: the 60th anniversary of The Advance and a presentation of the Hope for the Children of Africa Choir. This group of young people from Uganda was brought here by the South Georgia Conference. They electrified the General Conference – delegates, bishops, staff and visitors – not only with their music but their finely tuned choreography as well. They will provide music for tomorrow’s opening worship. I understand the largest Cokesbury store in the world (the temporary one set up here in the convention center) has a CD of theirs for purchase.
The remainder of the day was spent dealing with legislation. It was anticipated that Bishop Dyck would be presiding over this evening’s session. We arrived following dinner to discover that the Committee on Presiding Officers had asked Bishop Warner Brown, who had presided over the afternoon session to continue in the evening session because there was unfinished business that would be best if the same presiding officer continued through that business. We anticipate seeing Bishop Dyck in the chair at a later time.
Today was a day of business, but it was not usual.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sacred or Secular?
For the first time in recent memory, and perhaps since there have been General Conferences, there have been officially scheduled Sunday sessions. (That is not to say that there has not been General Conference work done on the Sabbath. In past General Conferences Sunday has been an unscheduled day to allow rest and relaxation as well as mundane activities such as laundry, etc. Legislative Committees who found themselves behind in their work, often found the need to work part of Sunday.) Some would say, as at least one delegate did, that we should not do such work on the Sabbath. The age old question of sacred vs. secular remains alive today. Some would say that there is a definite division between the two, but this writer sees less and less of a distinction. Instead, I tend to say all things created by God are by their very nature sacred. What secularizes the sacred is the way in which we deal with whatever it is. Thus, it is fine to do the church’s work on the Sabbath. Like any other day, we need to pay particular attention to HOW we do the church’s work.
A couple of Minnesota items: Judy Zabel, delegation chair, and Mary jo Dahlberg were both elected to the inter-jurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy. At their organizational meeting last night (which necessitated their missing the Minnesota dinner) Mary jo was elected to the executive team of this body as a lay representative from the North Central Jurisdiction. This body is the one which facilitates the transfer of bishops across jurisdictional lines – a very rare occurrence. In addition, the Discipleship Legislative Committee has recommended adoption of one of Minnesota’s petitions which calls for the creation of study materials that will inform youth and adults about the theological issues surrounding war and peace. It has yet to come to the floor of the plenary for consideration. Watch this space for this and the fate of other MN petitions.
This morning’s plenary recognized the fourteen bishops who are retiring as well as the new leadership team of the Council of Bishops: President – Bishop Gregory Palmer, President-Designate – Bishop Larry Goodpaster, Secretary – Bishop Robert E. Hayes, Jr., Ecumenical Officer – Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader, Executive Secretary – Bishop Donald Ott. The last two positions are filled by retired bishops.
Time was also spent celebrating the 40th anniversary of the dissolution of the Central Jurisdiction which segregated African-American churches from white churches. This existed from 1939 until 1968. There was also a report on Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century. The morning concluded by the adoption of the first items of legislation.
The entire afternoon will be spent in legislative committees and the evening will be a relaxed one as the Central Texas Conference presents a program for delegates and visitors that celebrates the culture of Central Texas. Monday will signal the beginning of morning, afternoon and evening plenary sessions. Monday evening’s session will be presided over by Bishop Sally Dyck!
A couple of Minnesota items: Judy Zabel, delegation chair, and Mary jo Dahlberg were both elected to the inter-jurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy. At their organizational meeting last night (which necessitated their missing the Minnesota dinner) Mary jo was elected to the executive team of this body as a lay representative from the North Central Jurisdiction. This body is the one which facilitates the transfer of bishops across jurisdictional lines – a very rare occurrence. In addition, the Discipleship Legislative Committee has recommended adoption of one of Minnesota’s petitions which calls for the creation of study materials that will inform youth and adults about the theological issues surrounding war and peace. It has yet to come to the floor of the plenary for consideration. Watch this space for this and the fate of other MN petitions.
This morning’s plenary recognized the fourteen bishops who are retiring as well as the new leadership team of the Council of Bishops: President – Bishop Gregory Palmer, President-Designate – Bishop Larry Goodpaster, Secretary – Bishop Robert E. Hayes, Jr., Ecumenical Officer – Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader, Executive Secretary – Bishop Donald Ott. The last two positions are filled by retired bishops.
Time was also spent celebrating the 40th anniversary of the dissolution of the Central Jurisdiction which segregated African-American churches from white churches. This existed from 1939 until 1968. There was also a report on Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century. The morning concluded by the adoption of the first items of legislation.
The entire afternoon will be spent in legislative committees and the evening will be a relaxed one as the Central Texas Conference presents a program for delegates and visitors that celebrates the culture of Central Texas. Monday will signal the beginning of morning, afternoon and evening plenary sessions. Monday evening’s session will be presided over by Bishop Sally Dyck!
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