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.