Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Reflections and Plenary

Part of being a Marshal is building a community with other Pages and Marshals.  To that end, we took our off time to go to the Fort Worth Stockyards to share a meal and some of our lives together.  It is amazing how the Holy Spirit can work to bring together people who can be good friends!  With thanks to Marlene( who drove from the convention center), Tim (who drove home), Mary K., Jane, and David.....thanks for the friends you are!

I had to arrive for an early shift today and I got to spend some time passing out handout for delegates and preparing for the session.  the Hope for Africa Children's Choir from Uganda has sung yesterday and was preparing to sing today.  These were children who were orphaned, some by AIDS, and had no future, until a UM sponsored school gave them hope and life and food and an opportunity to praise God.  Their story is truly one of hope in Africa and they were here!  I got to high-five everyone of them and it was great to hear them sing again!

Hearing the president of Liberia speak today was moving.  The first democratically elected woman as head of state in Africa in a country that has been through revolution and upheaval, 
Ellen John Sirlea told the General Conference that she was proud of the church that had educated and helped to influence her life and that the church was relevant to face the challenges not only of Africa, but of the whole world.

The rest of General Conference actually seems a bit slow, but anxiety is building with the amount of legislation still to be worked.  Today, there were some actions taken that had some effect, like potentially changing the number of bishops in 2012 in the U.S.  What lies underneath is a feeling that Bishops are inconsequential to the growth in U.S. Churches, but vitally needed for church growth in Africa.  Visionary leadership is important and helpful, but many of the delegates wanted action now while others wanted a study to best deploy bishops throughout the Central Jurisdiction.

A significant piece of legislation that General Conference chose to table indefinitely was that of the Church and Society Endowment Fund for the Building in Washington, D.C.  The outcome will leave the lawsuit out of the hands of the discipline and the minority report turned out to be non-factual.  

Beyond this, the wheels of General Conference are moving very slowly.  There are three days left in which to accomplish a lot of work.   Let us see what develops!

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