Alright, I now feel sufficiently guilty. I've been "justifying" (alright probably making excuses) for not blogging for too long a time. The truth is that I am busy...too much to do with too little hours in a day...a bit overwhelmed by a full calendar...on vacation for a week...etc., etc., etc.
But then I did some perusing today of some of my colleagues blogs. One of those blogs you'll find on the sidebar of this page - "Perceptions of a Pew Boy," by my friend and colleague Eric Park. Eric is a clergy delegate to General Conference.
For those of who you might not know, General Conference is held once every 4 years in The United Methodist Church. It is The United Methodist's top legislative assembly, meeting April 23-May 2. 2008 in order to set direction for the denomination for the next 4 years. It is made up of equal members of clergy and laity from United Methodist Churches around the world, elected by their conferences.
They work long hours - starting at 8 am with worship and conclude with the last legislative/plenary meeting at 11 p.m. (maybe...unless the business isn't finished and then they meet until it is finished). As the top policy-making body of the international United Methodist Church, General Conference is the only body that officially speaks for our 11.5 million member denomination.
That all being said...back to my friend Eric. He's VERY busy as a delegate from Western PA at General Conference. And yet, Eric is finding the time to blog while he is in the midst of doing the work of General Conference all the way in Fort Worth, Texas. And he's got some very interesting, deeply thought-out blogs. If you're interested it's in the sidebar, or here's the link: http://www.chcumc.com/weblog/eric/. Point is...what are reasons and what are excuses for not blogging? Well, my friends it's a fine line.
I've been following General Conference every day for at least a little bit. I've checked out the progress of some of the pieces of legislation, listened to the sermons and watched some of the live streaming video. If you're interested, here's the link to peruse General Conference with me: General Conference Sights and Sounds - UMC.org
There's been a real effort to stress "holy conferencing." I receive an electronic version of UM Newscope, a "newspaper" published by The United Methodist Publishing House. As far back as August of 2007 there was a call for Holy Conferencing with 10 guidelines of how to disagree in love. "In much of the Western world, results are measured in terms of winners and losers. Holy Conferencing does not work that way. It focuses on discerning where God is leading us. It focuses on prayer, rational and respectful conversation; and a belief that with God all things are possible." (Bishop Sally Dyck of Minneapolis).
Despite that call and the guidelines for Holy Conferencing, there has been the need for constant reminders to do that during this General Conference...there have been disturbing stories of how some have tried to "buy" votes by giving gifts with strings attached... and there continues to still be some political maneuverings happening. But there is good news as well.
There are things happening that grieve my heart, but there are things happening at General Conference that give me hope that God is not finished with our denomination by a long shot! We ought to be very proud of our youth and young adult delegates. One of the proposals at General Conference this year is to develop a committee for the formation of a new hymnal. The thought of the General Board of Discipleship is that our current hymnal (about 20 years old now) needs to be revamped to be more appealing to the youth and young adults of our congregations.
Interesting thing as I watched that portion of General Conference: it was the older adults speaking in favor of a new hymnal. Overwhelmingly it was youth and young adults who stood up and basically said, "We don't need a new hymnal. The one we have is fine. When we want to sing newer hymns and songs we sing them. Take the money it would cost to do this study and develop a new hymnal and... get this ... buy hymnals and send them to our United Methodist brothers and sisters in Africa and in other parts of the world where they don't have enough money to buy any hymnals." WOW! That's a future with hope. We ought to listen to our young people - they sound like the church at work in the world.
Well, forgive me for being too lax in attending to this blog....and those of you who see me on a regular basis and think it's been too long for an entry, you might just want to gently hold me accountable. May God's grace fill your days.
By God's Grace,
Michelle
