Change Begins Within

Friday, April 25 began with rousing music at 8 am for the 15 minutes prior to worship. Two vocal choirs – Christ UMC from Baltimore, MD and First UMC, Lawrence, KS – produced outstanding sound. This was interspersed with the gentle clear sounds of the Council Oak Bells from Round Rock, TX and the raucous sounds of our own Lake Harriet UMC Band. They did Minnesota proud. As they were preparing for a noontime concert, I had a chance to talk with Lyndy Zabel. He said it was just great to play for the delegates and visitors and participate in the worship service. It isn’t often you get a chance to play for 2,000+ people in a United Methodist setting!

Worship at General Conference is always such a multi-cultural experience. In addition to the music already mentioned above, the formal worship service began with a prayer led by Bishop Benjamin Justo of the Philippines in his native language. The preacher for the day was Bishop João Somane Machado of Mozambique who preached in Portuguese interspersed with the English translation. He spoke about the importance of repeating our message to ourselves and each other until we begin to live it. If we really believe in our mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” then we must live the Methodist Way of “doing no harm, doing good and staying in love with God” as spoken about in Bishop Reuben Job’s new little book on our distinctly Wesleyan heritage and theology.

I was moved by the message, in part because it so resonates with where I am in my own faith journey. The change that is needed within the US part of our denomination needs to start with us getting on our knees – literally or figuratively, I don’t care – and asking that change happen within each of us. Bishop Machado told the delegates and the rest of us assembled here that personal transformation is the key to new life.

The business of the morning consisted of receiving nominations for the University Senate that is responsible for accreditation for church purposes of seminaries and colleges, and for the Judicial Council, our version of the Supreme Court. On Monday these groups will be elected. Two members of our conference are nominated for the Judicial Council: Rod Wilmoth and Kathi Austin Mahle.

The morning ended with a wonderful report by Bishop Tom Bickerton of Pittsburgh on Nothing But Nets on this, the first World Malaria Day. To date, with the various partnerships that are involved, $20 million has been raised to buy treated bed nets to help eradicate the disease from Africa. Bishop Bickerton also announced that earlier this week he was in New York at a meeting of the United Nations Foundation which announced that they are contributing $5 million to the partnership they have with the United Methodist Church and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the Global Health Initiative. The goal is to raise $100 million over the next several years to eliminate the diseases of poverty: malaria, HIV/Aids, and tuberculosis. Bishop Bickerton concluded his presentation by walking to the communion table at the center of the delegate seating and laying a $10 bill on the table, challenging all the delegates to walk past that table and put a similar amount on it. It was a moving and fitting way to end the morning’s plenary.

The rest of the day is being spent in legislative committee work.

The haunting question I am left with is “can we mobilize ourselves as well for personal transformation as we can to attack external problems?” Whether it is internal or external change, the distinction and separation is artificial. We need to go to our knees so that the personal internal transformation process can begin, but it must also happen as we tackle the massive problems of the world such as poverty. The Wesleyan Way of Living, while it includes three parts, is a whole. This is not multiple choice. It is all three: do no harm, do good, stay in love with God!