An Opinion

I will do a wrap up shortly, but first I want to openly express and opinion.

There was a great deal of talk about Christian Conferencing at General Conference. I noticed that there was a different tone and civility (some of it didn't seem to be very deeply felt.) From my perspective, there is a different source than has been lifted up by the leadership and headlines. If you look at the situation in Ft. Worth, there are many sources of potential irritation.
1. As we began to plan in 2005, there was to be a new Omni Hotel across the street from the convention center. Word came that those rooms would not be available until 2009. This meant that there would be less convenience to the delegates and guests. Shortly after that, The Hilton chain bought the other major hotel close to the convention center and closed one tower and made offices of it. That was a loss of another 250 rooms. The Sheraton was to have a major remodel done prior to the conference. Did not happen. The loss of another large block of rooms. Rather than having time to plan which hotel to use the delegations and guests now had to be told that rooms would be miles (in some cases 16miles) away. They would have to ride buses to and from the convention center. In some cases the ride was 30 minutes or so. That might not have been so bad in the morning, but at midnight after a grueling day, it could be brutal.
2. Upon arrival, the convention center had a problem regulating the temperature in the meeting rooms and the arena. The arena was similar to a meat locker. Cokesbury was probably the only one that profited from this because they had jackets for sale. Some of the meeting rooms were like saunas. For the first two days, this was a problem.
3. Everything in the center was a cash only basis. The commercial about the smooth flow of business brought about by the use of plastic cards was in evidence as there were lines caused by the need to make change and for those not prepared for this method of barter, it was very inconvenient. The parking was $7 per day cash with no in and out privileges.
4. There were no repeaters in the building for enhancing cell phone usage. The service was spotty and at times, garbled.

There were enough things that were in place to cause all people involved to be irritated(at the very least), Why weren't they? I believe that it was the presence of almost 2000 volunteers in red and blue vests that were making the people feel welcome as they were doing "Whatever it takes" to see to their needs. I watched for 10 days as the volunteers greeted, guided, provided and offered Incredible hospitality. Some were there for a day or part of a day, but until the waning hours of the conference, they were there. Some were there like the Everready Bunny. From the opening of the convention center to the last hour, they were there. Providing emergency care-medical and dental, providing rides, making calls about the luggage requirements on international flights and a myriad of other servant roles that were too numerous to list. One veteran General Conference attendee (she has been a delegate and staff for 20 years) said that she never came into the center without at least 7 people greeting and offering help or cookies before she could get to her meeting room. Allen Goss and Thomas Childs lead this army of people, and are to be commended because of the people that they chose to serve. These 2,000 people modeling the servant ministry are in my opinion that this General Conference 2008 was able to accomplish the Christian Conferencing.

We, as the Commission on the General Conference, intentionally planned for the spirit of Christian Conferencing. The Council of Bishops and the staff of General Conference were intentional in their efforts, but ultimately, in my opinion these 2,000 servants modeled the Extravagent Hospitality that set the tone of General Conference 2008. God was in their hands and feet(and smiles) each day.

Is It Heat or Light?

Wednesday was set aside for dealing with those issues that produce more heat than light. It seems that the issues surrounding homosexuality surface each quadrenium and 2008 is no exception. There were three separate groups of petitions that dealt with areas of this controversial issue.

The current language in The Discipline states that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian Teaching. There were a group of petitions that around that question. The legislative committee brought a recommendation to the plenary that would have changed the wording to one that indicated that there was not agreement on the matter within the church. The gist of the new wording would have stated that over time the question was not clear and the church would agree to disagree. In a long drawn out debate and parliamentary process, amendments, minority reports from the committee were and emotional and passionate speeches, the result was, in effect, leaving the wording intact in The Discipline. The vote in years past has been about 65%-35% to leave the wording intact. This time it was about 55%-45%.

A group of petitions asked that the church’s definition of marriage be changed to include same-sex unions. After much debate and effort, these were rejected 574-298. This was an emotional debate as well.

The Conference approved a resolution opposing homophobia and discrimination against lesbians and gays. This was approved 544-365. There was a spirit of concern for those that experience discrimination for any reason in society.

In the debates and discussions, there was and is a spirit of openness and acceptance. This is probably due to the emphasis on Christian Conferencing that has been encouraged since the process of preparing for General Conference began. Those presiding have insisted on the use of non-inflamatory words and attitudes. The legislative committees modeled the proper behavior and respect for others regardless of the wide divergence of ideas and opinions.
Opinion
In discussions with delegates and others, there is the feeling that most folk came here with the opinions expressed in the votes and that very little shift resulted from the debate. In other words, the votes would have been much the same if they had been taken at the opening of the conference. Maybe we should try that in an effort to move the process ahead. It is important for all to be heard; so, maybe that isn’t such a good idea.

On Thursday morning, that was an orchestrated “witness” allowed on the floor of the Plenary Hall by those who felt pain from the Wednesday Votes. In comparison to the protests on past General conferences, it was more subdued and respectful of the body. Contrasted to Cleveland in 2000, there were no arrests and no angry confrontations. The group was allowed to have spokes persons who expressed their anger and pain. There was integrity within the agreement between the leadership of General Conference and the demonstrators that was not evident in the past.

This is Thursday night as we begin the evening session. The delegates still have about 100 calendar items to deal with. The adjournment time on the preconference agenda is 3PM Friday. My experience tells me this isn’t going to happen. I will try to get another blog on Friday Morning to give you an idea of how things are looking.

Wednesday on into Thursday

Wednesday was a day of celebrations.

Africa University has been in existence for 16 years and has already graduated 2500 students. These are graduates that remain in Africa to improve their culture. Prior to the founding of Africa University, the pattern was for the student to go to Europe or the US for their education and not return home. There was the loss of the educational factor and the lack of trained persons to fill the professional levels in that society. Now, the teachers, pastors, and others are there to help train others. According to the material about Africa University, there are 1,395 students representing 21 African countries. The university has colleges in education, management and administration, agriculture and natural resources, theology, health sciences and the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance. Visit the website at www.support-africauniversity.org and find out more.

In 1908, the Methodist Men’s organization had its beginnings. Over these 100 years the ministry has grown and changed as the world has changed. Actually, the celebration revealed that John Wesley first formed the Brotherhood in 1752, but no much is known about its history. Since 1908, the organization has ebbed and flowed as it responded to the needs of men to be in ministry. The 1968 Discipline had a “watered down” version of the organization/ministry. From 1976 to 1996, UMM was housed in the General Board of Discipleship. The 1996 General Conference voted to create the Commission on United Methodist Men in 1997. In its lifetime UMM has fostered ministries that are aids in the growth of men in ministry. They have fostered the Boy Scouts, the Heifer project and any of a number of mission projects. They report that they continue to develop unique ministries that will carry on that tradition. Complete information about United Methodist Men can be found on www.gcumm.org.

All petitions that have financial implications have been dealt with the plenary on Tuesday night finished them up and sent them on to the General Council on Finance and Administration & Connectional Table for coordination. Coordination is a euphemism for weaving them into the proposed budget for the 2009-2012 quadrennial. There was an approximate amount added beyond the planned budget of about $14 million. When that is added to the $655million budget, some will probably be rolled into the budget of the agencies and some will be placed in special categories that will be part of the Advance. That should be listed in the Daily Christian Advocate (the daily journal/minutes) on Thursday. I will try to give you those figures tomorrow night.
A number of matters of importance were cleared off the calendar, today, but it is now past midnight and I will probably get those to you, tomorrow. (Thursday) Maybe I should say later today.

Your delegation is faithfully serving in the midst of the agony of the chair. Mike Mckee was on the stage and monitors filing a part of the Church and Society report.

Back to Work

So I decided to spend the morning walking through the exhibit hall and soak in the experience of the Cokesbury store and the international "Advance Specials" exhibit. I am fascinated with the persons I run into and get to talk to. They all have unique stories about where they come, how they ended up at the conference, and why they want to be there. Making a difference is what one lady from Colorado told me. She wanted to be a part of the history of the United Methodist church. She, like I am, is a life long Methodist and believes with all her heart in the church and that she can make a difference. She spoke with passion and has a drive in her life about the church that I could only hope to ever have. I would have been able to give you a little more description of my afternoon and evening, but I got called back to the church to preach to my junior high students. I forget how much I love to be with them and how much I love the church and what I do! More tomorrow... Stay Tuned

God is Still in the House

The wrangling goes on. Words take on an importance of their own. The nuance between “Making disciples of Jesus Christ and saving souls for the transformation of the world.” is sooo different from “Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” The delegates keep burning time on such as this without realizing that time will become very precious in the days ahead and major issues (without financial implications) will get very little attention in the penuries because there was so much of the time burned up with minutiae.

Significant things have happened at GC08 that will bring new vitality to the United Methodist family.

If you had a great day of joining at your church and 50 to100 people joined, it would be an event of note, right? On Monday, April 27, action was taken to complete the addition of the United Methodist Church in Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to our family. This regional conference is the largest of the church. On this great day of joining, 677,355 members joined the family. The Virginia Conference was the largest with 341,264 members. God will expect more us on the 28th of April than on the 27th of April. It took four years to get all the procedural issues dealt with, but will we in the US church add 677,000 new members in the next four years?

After considerable wrangling, a study team was approved to look to the future of the UM in terms of the way we organize globally. The present system is becoming unmanageable because of cultural differences from nations. These cultural differences cause each of the Central Conferences to write their own version of the Book of Discipline. Issues that are distracting to the US are not handled in the same way in Africa, Europe or Asia. Different cultures have different language and word meanings are not the same when translated. The Study Team will have recommendations by 2012 for a more orderly division geographically. The possibility of a Central Conference that encompasses the US and a Global Conference for worldwide ministries. We will just have to stay tuned for how this plays out.

Today, there was a historical event when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President, Republic of Liberia addressed the GC. She is an active UM laywoman. The first woman elected to the Presidency in an African nation. The GC08 theme of A Future With Hope is being lived out in Liberia. She told us that when she was elected that her motorcade caused children to run in fear that they were to be harmed or their possessions taken. Now, they run after her motorcade wanting her to stop and greet them. The Conference greeted Ellen with several minutes of standing applause. The African delegates greeted her with the traditional high-pitched trills. Not many years ago, there were only about three democratic governments on the continent. Now, there are 18. With here support there many UM supported schools and hospitals and clinics in Liberia. The university will move into a new facility shortly.

Maybe God just doesn’t have time to worry about the parliamentary procedure and wordsmithing; because God is definitely still in the house!

More discussion less process please....

There has been a lot of process about parliamentary procedures and very little discussion about the actual issues. There seems to be a quite a bit of persons that are more concerned about the process than what we are actually trying to discuss.
They adopted a new mission statement, which actually was the old one that had an addition to the end of it. "Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World". I love it!
The President of the Democratic Republic of Liberia came to speak today. Security was tight. She is a United Methodist and from what I understood spoke very eloquently. I was not able to heat her because I had to go to our General Conference Youth and Young Adult Gathering (see below) that the Central Texas and North Texas Conference was sponsoring.
The gathering for youth and young adults for general conference was a great opportunity for those attending the conference and for our local churches to come enjoy fellowship, food and local praise bands for music. The FUMC Mansfield student praise band and White's Chapel UMC student praise band led some very inspiring and fun music.
Our own Central Texas delegation seems to be tired but their spirits are high. Our reserves have been faithful in staying the majority of the time and providing relief when they need it. I love seeing all of the clergy and lay volunteers that come to support the conference and our delegation. Tomorrow is new day with new experiences. Stay tuned...

More Molasses

The Area Event was a great ending to the day. The Texas Boys Choir was entertaining and inspiring. These boys practice 2 hours per day and it shows. They are apparently talented and well coached. Their concert was varied and entertaining. The range of the types of music pleased all those attending. The inspiring thing was the evident discipline that they practice. Voices that blend and produce sounds that are so smooth that they seem to be one voice. Gospel to Broadway tested their skills and they were equal to that test. I hope that it is okay to express the opinion that these guys are Great! The concert was followed by a time of food and fellowship in the water garden and inside the convention center. Country and Western music along with Lydia Patterson Institute Mariachis provided a Texas flavor to the evening, as did the tables laden with cheeses, fruits Mexican chips and appetizers. The opportunity to do serious damage to ones diet was at every hand. Most of us took advantage of the opportunity.

Early in the Sunday session there was a report on the UM response to the Katrina disaster. There was much evidence that UMCOR is the first on the scene and is still there all the years between. It became evident that the mission teams, volunteer workers and financial support have made a real difference. The job isn’t finished and there is some concern that there is “Katrina weariness” will cause the effort to die out. The call has gone out to keep up the fight.

Parliamentary maneuvering plagued the plenary session Sunday afternoon. That seemed to be the fore taste of what was to be Monday. The reports and petitions were plagued by more of the Sunday afternoon wrangling. Once again it became the perfection of each sentence word by word. Most of the amendments were as consequential as a flea on an elephant’s ear. The petitions with financial implications, by rule, have to be dealt with by 5 PM on Monday. So much time was spent with one calendar item that the rules were suspended to allow the session to continue until these petitions are finished. The time was extended until 11 PM, but we posted signs that the last bus would leave for the hotels at 1 AM. I left at 10 because as a delegate for several of these rodeos, I’ve seen this rerun before.

THIS IS SUNDAY?

This is Sunday. In the ever-flowing stream of General Conference, it is necessary to frequently do a reality check and see that the “other” world is still there and the calendar is moving ahead. The morning began with worship and plenary. The worship was in several languages and leaned heavily on Hispanic tradition. Minerva Carcano stressed the welcoming of the stranger in her sermon.
There was a time in the plenary for celebrating the ministry of those bishops that are retiring in September. Our own Bishop Chamness was one of those so honored. In the same segment, there was the celebration of the new leadership team that will lead the Council of Bishops. In the leadership of the church’s ministry there can be no gaps.
The progress of the Strengthening of the Black Church in the 21st century was noted and celebrated. The prime word was Transformation. The effort is to see that the status quo does not overtake the vitality that has helped the Black Church move ahead in recent years. We also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the dissolution of the Central Jurisdiction. Lest you forget (or didn’t know) the Central Jurisdiction was established to segregate the black church into its own jurisdiction. The Civil War was only over about 100 years before the church caught up and integrated.
About the time that the business portion started, there was a motion from the agenda committee to start the legislative committee work at 10:30AM instead of 2:30PM. There was a lot of work to get done before a 5PM deadline on Monday. This seemed like a good idea to the body, at the time. I had simply sat at the table all those other General Conferences and seen such as this happen many times. Now, with my view from the “backside”, it isn’t that simple. Suddenly, there is a mad dash to get translators, recorders, pages, and marshals in place to be ready 4 hours early. Checking meeting rooms and breakout rooms to see if the chairs and tables are in place. Making sure that the rooms are unlocked and cool or warm enough. People began to arrive with hair wet from the shower. There was a mad dash around the convention center by those of us responsible for the setup. In the midst of all this, it suddenly dawned on some of the delegates that this might not be a good idea because news of the hurried activity reached them. The process to reconsider the agenda began. I will cut to the chase (It’s about time, isn’t it?) Ultimately, the process of trying to save time burned about 45 minutes. Now, the agenda shift is not done; the time given for extra committee time isn’t there. A committee of 1000 is always more efficient and effective, isn’t it? (Remember from the Commission’s report on Sunday that GC costs about $500/minute?)
The Area Celebration was held tonight, but it deserves front and center attention. Let’s do that tomorrow.

Short day for some of us...

This morning was full of some interesting debate on the floor of the conference . Worship was phenomenal, as usual, with the Trinity UMC in Arlington leading us in worship. They were absolutely wonderful and a joy to listen to. I got to sit on the floor for a couple of hours because some of our delegates were out. I got to vote on a couple of consent calendar items and other issues! I felt very honored and excited to actually sit on the floor! Hopefully sometime this week I will get to do it again.
As business began on the floor of the conference, someone made a motion to change the calendar and agenda for the day. His motion passed basically giving the legislative committees more time in their sessions and taking more time away from the conference floor for business. From my understanding chaos ensued behind the scenes trying to get translators, pages and Marshall's to the convention center for the morning, when they didn't need to be at the convention center until 1:30. After a lengthy debate over the make up of the central conference (international delegates) committee another motion came to the floor to rescind the motion for the calendar change to the original agenda calendar. Confused yet? Welcome to the business of the UM church. A lot of time today dealt with the process and not necessarily the issues. The motion passed and they continued the floor business until lunch. Since my Local Church committee finished all their work last night we did not have to meet this afternoon or this evening. So I get to go to my real job as a youth pastor and spend time with my students! Tomorrow starts all the discussion and debate on the main floor. I am excited to see all the action! Stay Tuned...

What do they do with the extra pieces?

Saturday sessions are always a bit strange because they come after the end of a “normal” workweek for most of us. This day started with the worship and plenary session. Bishop Bill Hutchinson preached and pressed for involvement and moving beyond the expected and ordinary. The African Children’s choir closed out the worship service with gusto. We were busy doing support stuff in the Commission office; so, I had to watch on the large monitor.

Worship was followed by an order of the day. That simply means that it is a set slot on the agenda and involves folk that are there for that specific report or presentation. This particular presentation was lifting up the growth of selected rural churches; thus, it was called Rural Life Celebration. There were instances of churches around the world that are in rural settings and have very slow or no growth in area population. In spite of this, they have grown in size and ministry. The key appears to intentionality. They individually showed that a focus on hospitality, invitation (remember the Laity Address), and being open to change can bring a turn around in their fate. Some were in impossible situations (impossible without their trust in God) that were redirected into becoming the center of the community. I’m sure this report will be reprinted in UM publications—watch for it.

Today also marked the first day that the legislative committees had a large block of time to work on “their” petitions. The report from the petitions secretary at the morning’s plenary revealed that they had dealt with only 11% of the 1500 or so petitions. Their efforts had been in the selection of officers and setting the ground rules (in other words defining the turf issues, politically) up to this point. The ground rules are that no legislative committee can generate change in The Discipline unless that paragraph is opened by a petition. Once that paragraph is opened or amended b a petition, all is fair game. This allows for a lot of tinkering. Sometimes, they haven't gotten the horse back in front of the cart. The committees deal with every petition by either accepting it; amending it or rejecting it. The subcommittees work on a small group of petitions and then bring it back to the full committee for action. If the larger committee agrees with the action and has less than 10 dissenting votes, the calendar item goes on the Consent Calendar by #. If the petition is rejected by the same level, it goes on another consent calenday for all similarly rejected petitions. This allows the Conference to deal with a large number of petitions in plenary without discussion. All this is to explain the importance of our representation on the committees. Most of the legislation goes through on the Consent Calendar. This is an expeditious way to deal with a large volume of material in such a short time. It does concentrate the representation to a much smaller number of delegates. It may not be necessarily a bad thing or a good thing, but it does require that all involved pay attention. I have actually known some folks that came to General Conference with a specific and personal agenda. I don’t want you to be too concerned; just remember God is still in the house!

Business and little sleep

Last night the committee I am observing went until 11pm. There was some very interesting discussion on vows of the church, membership, and much more. A lot of the time is taken up in the meetings by the discussion of process and Robert's Rule of Order.
This morning started with a 6:45 meeting with our delegation to discuss what is going on in the other 12 legislative committees. It was very interesting to hear the way other meetings were going and the way they were run. Some experiences were great, some were hurtful, and some expressed wanting to bang their heads into a wall with frustration.
This morning was a large plenary session full of worship and business. Bishop Bill Hutchison brought the message about renewal of baptism and a call to action to all members of the church. He was quite funny with a lot of tongue in cheek comments about the Methodist church. The worship service ended with a fantastic African American youth choir that brought the whole conference to their feet. Back to the grind with the committee and petitions to bring to the conference. Stay tuned...

These Addresses aren't for your mail

In the Connectional Table presentation, the new organization is looking as the local church and what it is doing among us rather than seeing the church as a problem to be solved. They have focused on the people back home along with their general church work. They are convinced that our movement is stronger than an institution. Those who are familiar with the concept in Re-engineering the Corporation will recognize the effort to remove the walls and silo effect to increase cross communication between the church agencies. The report indicates that the level of competition between the General Boards has been lowered and shared vision is growing. They appear to be looking realistically at our situation as a United Methodist Church. The hard realities of membership loss in the U.S.; the aging of our membership, 42% of churches not receiving any Professions of Faith. I feel that they have made a significant effort to make the Connectional Table.

The Episcopal Address pressed for unity. The bishops have recognized the polarization that is so pervasive in society and the politics of the secular world. They express concern that the church is reflecting the fear and divisiveness so prevalent. The feeling is that the UM soul is fractured because of this divided world. The bishops called for a “living our forgiveness.”

With their unfettered and unfiltered view, the Young People’s Address called for the church to action, now. They have modeled the global nature of the church by holding their convocation in South Africa. They also modeled holy conferencing in that convocation. The address presenters ranged in age from 16-29. They were from various states in the US and one from Russia. The address was the first for this group and joined the traditional Episcopal address and Laity Address which have been a part of the GC agenda. Volkova of Russia told us that the situation in Russia is much the same as in the US in that young people find happiness in drinking, drugs, and smoking. The United Methodist Church is a safe haven for support and understanding. They said, “ We want the church to trust our input for change and we want to stay active in the church.” “We want to make a difference in the world, but we don’t want to wait.” Their message was –They are ready—Are you?

My sympathy was with Lyn Powell as she began the Laity Address. First it was my privilege to chair the committee that presented the first Laity Address in 1984. Then, having heard the Episcopal Address and the Young People’s Address, I knew they would be hard acts to follow. Add this to the fact that she was beginning at 2:30 PM. This was deadly combination, but Lyn brought the focus to sharply bear on the responsibility of the laity to build up the church. The call went out to the Disciples Transforming the World. Consider three idea-1) invite, invite, invite; 2) keep the name of Jesus with you and 3) one member, one ministry. Find a passion—find a ministry. The continuing theme was to get out there and get involved. Laity outnumber the clergy by a long way and they need to be the ones carrying the message to the world.

A highlight of this moning's plenary session was the announcment the the United Methodist Church has received a $5 million grant from the Gates Foundation for Nothing But Nets campaign. the vision is to collect at least $100million for the antimalaria project in the next few years. Does that make the money raised by the local basketball tournments insignificant? No way! The $5 million does less for the education of the general public than the concetrated efforts of our local efforts.

Legislative committees

I guess you all are expecting some earth shattering news or some incredible moments that happened this afternoon. I will try to see what I can do. This morning's worship was quite traditional compared to the previous worships this week. There was organ, choir, and some traditional hymns. During worship and the sang at the end of the service, there was a folk group that got us all pumped up and ready for our business session! Speaking of the business session, we had nominations for the University Senate, which oversees all United Methodist Colleges and Seminaries. We also had nominations for the Judicial Council, which is like the Supreme Court of the United Methodist church. There were many names were put up for nominations from around the world and we will vote on them on Monday.
The morning finished off with us in Legislative Committees. There will be a lot of these committee meetings over the next 3 days. These committees work through proposed resolutions and petitions that have been submitted. Many will be reworded, discussed, debated, and prayed over before going to the floor of the conference for a vote. I am observing the Local Church sub-sub committee dealing with membership and pastoral authority as it relates to persons joining the United Methodist church. If you really want to know more about it then I will probably have to take you to lunch to explain it all. The coolest thing about this sub committee? A young lady in her late 20's is chairing it and it is her first General Conference. She is doing a fantastic job so far! Stay Tuned...

ANOTHER DAY /ANOTHER COOKIE BREAK

The first actions of GC2008 involved the Procedural Rules. After the high of an awesome worship service, there comes the tedium of setting the proper wording of all the rules. I am reminded of Piggy in Lord of the Flies, when he announced that the group of boys on the island would need to have “lots and lots of rules.” There was concern over the way subcommittee chairs would be elected; whether or not the bishops would be involved; and would there be secret ballots or not. I guess this affects the ultimate coming of the Kingdom of God, somehow. Ultimately, it seems that all items on the evening’s agenda were covered and Bishop Huie moved the body to the conclusion of the day. I have served on the Commission on The General Conference, this quadrennium. The chair of the commission, Dr. Gail Murphy-Geiss, presented the collusions of the commission. In that speech, she knotted that the cost of General Conference is about $500 per minute. By shortening the meeting by on day we have lowered the total cost, somewhat. The cost of hold GC is approximately, $6,000,000. The largest expense is the travel, housing, and feeding of the delegates. A recommendation of the commission (presented as a petition) is that we reduce the number of delegates from a maximum of 1000 to 600. The current GC has 950+ delegates. The reasoning was that it would be better to have a smaller number for better communication and dialog in the meeting. It would reduce the number of representatives from each conference. The cost is high, but does the church want the power concentrated in fewer people? A plan for restructuring is being presented the Connectional Table (comparable to the Ad Council in the local church) that may take care of the issue. I will get to that in a later Blog.

Thursday saw the presentation of the Episcopal Address. This is the State of The Church as viewed from the Bishop’s perspective. The Young People’s Address presented by six dynamic young people from around the world. The Laity Address was after lunch. I will try to give highlights of these addresses later on; so as, to keep these to a readable length.

Thursday evening, the legislative committees were set to their task of dealing with the petitions that have been assigned to them. This evening was spent in the attempt to get officers elected and subcommittees organized to accomplish their monumental task before May2. Interestingly, the task of the Commission office is to resource these committees and the major item is—You guessed it—PAPER and COPIES. Some must have had a problem getting the officers elected because we were called on to provide small pieces of paper for ballots. These are the nights that go on until morning. It would be nice to have a golf cart to run our “paper route”. This is the part of the conference that is new to me and now, if aware of the servants that have served others and me over all these years. A major component of the next week will be caffeine. Your can take pride in your conference’s servants at the cookie breaks. It takes, not only, many dollars to run a GC, but it takes thousands and thousands of cookies.

Young People's Address

The Methodist church never ceases to amaze me. I sit right now in the afternoon session and they asked what everyone thought about the young people's address? There was not only a loud roar and audible yells of joy and appreciation. I have never heard more honesty and passion come out of young persons mouth than I have here today. Two youth, two college aged persons, and two young pastors spoke in a very unique and very honest way. Speaking from different parks of the arena, bringing in drums for breaks between speakers and transition, with lights that equaled a rock concert, and a passion from the mouths of youth was truly inspiring. There was a very diverse group of six persons from around. The lady from Russia spoke in her own native tongue and spoke on what seemed like similar issues that youth face today. A young gentleman spoke from the side of the arena and he spoke of diversity and coming together as a church. He closed with a great song of "God will take care of you". A fantastic young college person from Nebraska spoke directly to us in very honest tone of how he wants to see the church not divisive but together on all issues. I loved the way a young adult pastor from FUMC in Grand Junction Colorado spoke about churches needing a place for young people to belong. She challenged all churches to look within their own churches and see if it is an inviting place where young people want to be. Not only did he say to look within, but she also talked about looking beyond the walls of our own church. The young people today are in the cafes, bars, restaurants, parks, schools, and the outdoors. How are we reaching out to them and inviting them into our own churches? All of the speakers in some form or fashion spoke of letting our own agendas not interfere with what God's will is for us. They overwhelming say "LET GOD WORK!" Did I mention that this was the first ever young people's address at General Conference ever? My opinion - The best address yet of the conference. Are you surprised? I welcome you not only to read, but comment me back about my blog. Would love to answer questions or hear what you have to say. Stay tuned...

Awesome Beginning

General Conference opened with an awesome time of worship and call for unity. Bishop Janice Huie lead us through a worship service that "Celebrated God's Promise of Hope". Interlaced in the message was a call for true servanthood of selfless commitment to becoming and continuing to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I heard her call for us(the UMC) to become the image in the mirror that reflects the face of Jesus and not the image of what society values most. Special interest groups did not seem to hold a "special" place in her view of the church's mission and ministry. There was much pagentry and celebration in the music and dance as we remembered those who have gone on to the Church Triumphant in the communion service. The choirs set the stage for the service with over an hour of splendid music. The combined massive choir and orchestra were moving as they brought the color that only music can bring to worship. I would be remiss if I tried to recreate the evening with words because more is required in the way of writing talent than I have. You simply have to experience with sight and sound all that is opening worship at General Conference to fully appreciate it. One scene will stand in my memory for years to come. In the midst of the communion the celebrants (clergy) in white robes circled the giant round red cedar table and formed a cross with the dancers, also in white, in a symbol of unity and community. There in the brilliant light of the spot lights was the call to all to understand Jesus' call to discipleship and repentance. Add to this, there were abut 6,500 people adding energy to the worship with singing that defys description. As we began the service Janice Huie called us to ask God to sanctify the convention center as a place of worship and celebration. The amount of energy and passion that was in the room last night was of God and will stand good stead for the remainder of GC 2008. God is in the building!

A small human story occured on Tuesday night as 40 delegates arrived after a long and tiring journey after the banks and other instiutions that offer currency exchange were closed. The Host Committee was in instant action to see that they were cared for. At first, we considered splitting them up and going to several places to get them fed. Instead a quick call to their hotel, assured us that the hotel's restuarant was open and as guests, they could sign for their food. The solution turnde out to be fairly easy, but I was impressed with the concern exhibited and the personal nature of the solution offered by those providing "Gracious Hospitality"

Opening Night of General Conference

As I got out my car to walk a few blocks to the convention center I decided to listen to my Ipod. I was in the mood for the David Crowder Band so I turned it on and the first song that came up was O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing. This is one of my favorite hymns since I can remember. How ironic that when worship started this evening that the hymn to open worship was O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing. Ahhh yes... God is great. I knew tonight was going to be awesome!

As I walked into the convention center I was amazed at the amount of people that were here. The amount of organization that went into this is phenomenal. The thing I am most proud is the amount volunteers that I saw from our own Central Texas Conference. Smiling faces, welcoming hands, and loving hearts were abundant and plentiful. Great job!

Worship! Wow is all I can say. The pre-worship music was incredible from the FUMC Hurst, FUMC Mansfield, and White's Chapel UMC. The stage was at one end of the arena where there are enormous screens and material where lights and graphics can be projected. Some of it in the shape of a tree on the stage stretching to the ceiling of the arena. At the base of the tree was the altar and fount that were made out of salvaged wood from hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. There is also an amazing round table staged at the middle of the floor of the arena that was used for communion and centering for worship. During worship Bishop Janice Huie, president of the council of bishops, brought the opening message. She spoke openly and eloquently. There were many youth and young adults involved in the reading of scripture and singing. It was a great evening to worship with 6500 united Methodists.

As I write this blog it is 10:30pm and the delegates are still meeting in there first session. There has been a lot of discussion and amendments already and looks to be and interesting 10 days. Stay tuned!

The Day before

Chaos does describe somwehat the registration of Delegates and Visitors. There were the enevitable questions about changes of address, newly elected delegates and where to go to find any number of places and things. In and through it all, the army of volunteers kept answering the questions and smiling. The level of frustration was at a minimum. Like a old time trail boss, Henry Radde kept everything going in the right direction as he moved through the booths and lines wearing his big black hat and looking like Fort Worth, Texas was still the Cow Town of old. It was impressive to see how many peolpl that it takes to host this large gathering of United Methodist Christians. The groups were already forming to present their causes and boundaries were established for the presentation of ideas and materials. The preparation has come to a height that says, "Tomorrow, we get started for real." The meeting hall is being prepared for lights, sound and video with tests of equipment, and presentations. The Episcopal Address was being rehearsed by Bishop Sharon Christopher-Brown. Even the light that governs the time limits on speaches had to be assembled and tested. You can be very pround of the people, the facility and the staff as they are poised to bring the train into the station. .Stay tuned, I think I hear the whistle blowing.

My first View from the Backside

One of my favorite authors, Ellsworth Kalas, writes many books looking at scripture and situations from the backside. His writings are from an unusual angle and perspective. That will be my view of General Conference 2008. For the first time since 1976, I will have the opportunity to see the workings of the conference from the backside. There will be no agony of the chair; no balancing three or more books on my knees and shuffling through 2000+ pages of reports and legislation. There will be the opportunity to serve as i have been served for so many times. Now, the view will include how the church hosts over 3000 United Methodists for 10 days. I look forward to seeing the inspiration that comes from music, word and spirit. We will see the inevitable tedium that comes from dealing with the necessary details of essential matters. The process will be invaded on occassion by the Holy Spirit moving through the parliamentary procedure. Follow the three of us as we course our way from April 23 to May 2 seeing the same things at times from very different angles. I will be looking through the lenses of many who have already joined the Church Triumphant. As I watch the process, there will come memories of those who have gone before and pave the way for where we walk today. I will be reminded that none of us got here by ourselves. Ultimately, we will be reminded that as in the past, God uses our mistakes as often as our successes. When we come to May 2, it will be clear who provides not only the HOPE but also the FUTURE in which to live out that journey of hope.

Excitement is Everywhere

“A Future with Hope" or “Hope for the Future” no matter how you say it, the United Methodist Church is alive. There is great excitement everywhere. The Waco District is on the move with cookies, cookies, cookies everywhere. Our District Cookie Wrangler has been working overtime as well as the United Methodist Women to make sure that there cookies for everyone. The clergy and lay members of Waco District are ready to travel to Fort Worth on April 29th (Waco District Day) to extend "Gracious Hospitality” the way only the Waco District can do. John Wesley said and I quote “My fear is not that our great movement, known as the Methodist, will eventually cease to exist or one day die from the earth. My fear is that our people will become content to live without the fire, the power, the excitement, the supernatural element that makes us great". Well, Mr. Wesley, I don’t think you have anything to worry about, I have witnessed the fire, the power and the excitement throughout the Central Texas Conference as preparations have been made for the 2008 General Conference.

Check with me daily beginning Wednesday, April 23 through Friday, May 2 as I share with you how we, the United Methodist Church, are keeping the Flame Alive.

Pre-conference Excitement

Can I tell you how excited I am about being a part of general conference? This being my first time as a delegate I can feel the excitement simply among the persons at my church First United Methodist Church Mansfield. The amount of people I have had the opportunity to sit down with and discuss the issues, to talk about volunteering, UMW ladies that are baking dozens of cookies, my students in my student ministry department to talk about the Methodist church as as whole is simply amazing. Am I sounding a little over the top and excited? Probably so. I compare it to the first time I was asked to be a young adult delegate years ago for the then Fort Worth West District at annual conference. I was so excited, yet overwhelmed with all the details and information and not knowing what to expect. I think I am feeling the same way about general conference, as I did over 10 years ago for annual conference. I am sure I will find out that there will be some incredible moments that we will all celebrate and be proud to call ourselves Methodists. Other times that I will be bored to tears about a report where someone that is too long winded. There will be times of great discuss and debate. However the one great thing I know is that we all do this for the Glory of our God and that he will be among us. I am so grateful to be a part of the conference and look forward to sharing my experiences with those who read this blog!