Perceptions from a Pewboy

So, in the assigned seat arrangement for General Conference, I am sitting between two lay delegates from Western Pennsylvania: Luella Krieger and Matt Johnson. It’s a pretty sweet place to be!

Matt, a seminarian at Asbury and no stranger to our little blogland, is the chair of Western Pennsylvania’s delegation. He has worked very hard to make certain that our delegation is doing everything that it needs to be doing. I am grateful for his faithful ministry among us. You’ll be pleased to know that Matt’s twisted sense of humor provides frequent comic relief to the humble pewboy sitting beside him!

This morning’s worship service was powerful. Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher preached a wonderfully evocative sermon that celebrated the way in which Jesus Christ continues to transform lives around the globe through that peculiar portion of the Church called United Methodism. In what I found to be a particularly prophetic moment, Bishop Christopher told the Conference that, “for God’s sake, we must threaten the world with Resurrection.” Her use of the word “threaten,” of course, was not an expression of spiritual violence. Rather, it was an acknowledgement of the fact that resurrection will always be a threat to a world addicted to death. Good stuff.

After worship today, we heard from four of United Methodism’s General Secretaries: Bishop Felton May (Interim General Secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries), Larry Hollon (General Secretary of United Methodist Communications), Jerome King Del Pino (General Secretary of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry), and Karen Greenwaldt (General Secretary of the General Board of Discipleship). These four remarkably articulate leaders presented 4 foci that have emerged from a season of prayerful discernment among the leadership of the general church. It is hoped that these 4 points of focus will become an unprecedented opportunity for the United Methodist Church to embody our heritage and manifest profound unity in ministry. The four points of focus are essentially these:
1) Engaging in ministry with the poor
2) Creating new places for new people and renewing existing congregations
3) Stamping out diseases of poverty by improving health globally
4) Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.

Already, I am thinking about how these points of focus might impact the people of Central Highlands Church (the church that I am blessed to serve). Think and pray with me, people of Central Highlands! How might we be more intentional about engaging in ministry with the poor? Or how might we create a new community of faith? Or raise up new leaders? Or do something radical in the pursuit of global health? I’d love to hear some of your thoughts.

Later in the morning today, we heard the first ever “Young Person’s Address” at General Conference. It was a creative time of vision-casting led by several beautifully-gifted young people from across the United Methodist connection. A Russian woman named Kira Volkova spoke of the hardship of being a United Methodist Christ-follower in a post-communist culture that has been saturated with an ethos of atheism. Rebecca Farnum, a young woman from the West Michigan Annual Conference, dared to ask us who the “Samaritans” are in our lives that we are being called upon to love and embrace. Andrew Craig, from the Rocky Mount Annual Conference, spoke to us of the transforming unity that is to be found at the Eucharistic table. Jason Rathod, from the Nebraska Annual Conference, highlighted the dangers of both conservative and liberal fundamentalism. And Rev. Annie Arnoldy, a young pastor from the Rocky Mount Annual Conference, challenged us to commit ourselves to risky community with Jesus Christ at the center.

It was such an inspiration to be in the presence of such visionary disciples. And not one of them was over 27!

Our day concluded with the beginning of our work in our legislative sections. I am in the section called Church and Society #1. In our section, our task is to study and perfect the recommended legislation concerning the church’s relationship with the larger society. Our section will be looking at some 218 pieces of proposed legislation. The legislation is divided into the following categories:
1. Economic and worker justice (For example, what will our church’s position be on the issues of minimum wage and fair working conditions?)

2. Environmental Justice (Should the church care about things like global warming? And what should we say and do about it?)

3. Restorative/Criminal Justice (Think “death penalty” on this one.)

4. International Human Rights/Immigration (How will the United Methodist Church speak to the issue of immigration and the laws surrounding that issue?)

5. War and Peace (Enough said, I suppose.)

6. General (Every other piece of proposed church and society legislation that doesn’t fit into any of the other categories.)

Tonight, I spent three hours in my section (from 8:00 until 11:00) as we organized ourselves to approach the work that is before us. Tomorrow, we will spend the better portion of the day in our legislative sections.

If you are a United Methodist pastor or layperson in Western Pennsylvania, you would be very proud of the members of your delegation. They are working extraordinarily hard and representing their conference with great devotion and integrity. I am honored to be serving with them in this capacity.

My bed is calling out to me. Unfortunately, I won’t be there for long!

I am grateful for the way in which many of you are staying connected to me through prayer. It means the world.

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