Reflections on Annual Conference

Organized chaos!  That about describes my Indiana Annual Conference experience.  I have been running around like crazy since Wednesday evening when I left Terre Haute for Muncie to pick up my friend who came in all the way from Kuwait! (and roommate for the conference).  It was nonstop from there on out.  This was the first annual conference of the joint IN conference.  We were North IN and South IN, but now we have officially merged to be one IN conference.  This has its positive and negative implications.  First of all, the retirement and medical plans for retiring pastors was a huge issue.  We spent a few hours amending and debating the new plan for our retired pastors, making sure that they and their spouses will be taken care of properly in a way that honors their years of service.  Second, the budget proposed for the new IN conference leaves a HUGE hole in connectional and extensional ministries.  The new model revolves around the local church congregations, and this means that the individual churches in any given area are responsible for helping to fund organizations such as campus ministries, children's homes, and other ministries that reach outside the church walls.  I for one find this to be a poor way of doing things.  Many fear that these vital UM organizations will fall through the cracks because of this new plan.  The only thing we can pray for is for all churches to tithe 100% and have enough to help fund these programs without the help of the conference, because there will be little to no money available to help these ministries.  It's a scary time for these organizations, and a scary time to call ourselves United Methodists if we let these connections fall through rather than to uphold them in any way that we can.  Are other conferences doing things this way?  What does this look like to pastors outside of IN who are seeing a UM conference proposing this seemingly hopeless strategy?

Then of course, the debates about the constitutional amendments took place.  Unfortunately there was not much discussion on these amendments because we spent a lot of time fixing the retirement plan (which needed to be done, but still...)  For you non-Methodists out there, our General Conference proposed some changes to our constitution, which is found in our Book of Discipline.  The most "heated" topic was Amendment I, which proposed a re-wording of the statement of inclusivity of the church.  Here is the proposed amendment:

After “worth” add “and that we are in ministry to all” and after “persons” delete 

“without regard to race, color, national origin, status or economic condition” and after 

“sacraments,” add “and” and after “members” delete “, and” and insert a period and add 

“All persons,” and after “faith” add “and relationship in Jesus Christ, shall be eligible to” 

and after  “body” delete “of the Church because of race, color, national origin, status or 

economic condition”. 

 

 If voted and so declared by the Council of Bishops, ¶ 4 (¶ 4) would read: 

 

Inclusiveness of the Church — The United Methodist Church is a part of the church 

universal, which is one Body in Christ.  The United Methodist Church acknowledges that 

all persons are of sacred worth and that we are in ministry to all.  All persons shall be 

eligible to attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments, 

and upon baptism be admitted as baptized members.  All persons, upon taking vows 

declaring the Christian faith and relationship in Jesus Christ, shall be eligible to become 

professing members in any local church in the connection. In the United Methodist Church 

no conference or other organizational unit of the Church shall be structured so as to 

exclude any member or any constituent body. 

 

My personal view is that I do not understand these people who are trying to fight this proposed change.  God's grace knows no boundaries.  God came for us all.  Jesus accepted ALL, so why shouldn't we?  This amendment is not saying that just anyone from "off the street" can come in and join the church.  There are processes and things to be learned before membership is attained.  And it does say that those who profess faith in Jesus Christ may be admitted.  Membership works in many ways, and God is active in each person's call to become a church member.  The biggest opposition to this amendment has been about homosexuality, and that, my friends, is a very very sad reason to oppose this amendment.  I can't express enough that we CANNOT activate barriers to God.  There is no such thing!  Jesus came for all, Jesus died for all, and Jesus is FOR ALL.  The church should be a place that professes that message, regardless of who walks in the door.  Some worry about this amendment saying that those who have criminal records or other endless possibilities will want to become church members.  SO WHAT?  None of us are perfect.  Let's let the church be a place for all to come and be reminded of God's grace and that forgiveness can and does occur.  It's the age old question (haha), "What would Jesus do?"  And of course, we can't forget the UMC's motto, "Open hearts, Open minds, Open Doors."  Let's act on it.  There's my preaching for the day...all that to say, that as I'm writing this post, we still do not know the results of our conference vote.  Also, I just keep reminding myself that these are, after all, words changed or not changed in a book.  As a pastor, I can do all I can to be hospitable and welcoming to all persons no matter what.  That's the best I can do, no matter what the constitution ends up saying.

And then there were all of the other activities going on.  I got to meet with my covenant group which is always fun and interesting.  I got to meet some new people and see some friends.  I got together with some young clergy on one of the nights and had a really good time.  Corey came up on Saturday and we went to see my grandfather's grave (he's buried in Muncie- see picture below), and then we went to Target (yay!) and the mall.  Then I went to see My Sister's Keeper with my roomie last night...and it seriously was one of the saddest movies I have ever seen!

Overall, it was a really busy few days, but I also managed to have a good time.  This morning (yes, Sunday) was our ordination and commissioning service, and I got to be on the other side of the stage this time watching others get ordained.  It was really cool to see some of my friends finally reach this point in their ministry.  It was also a reminder that in the midst of the business of the conference, that we still pause to celebrate ministry, our connectionalism to one another and to God, and to praise God for all the things that God does.  And of course, I couldn't help but get excited about the fact that in 2 years, I will hopefully be fully ordained finally, and will be back on that stage to celebrate all the more!  

And tonight I went to the assisted living home and preached there (last minute), and shared with them how fortunate we are to be called by God to be Christians and to pray for one another, to help one another, and to serve others.  Even though I didn't have anything prepared, it was fine because I had so much to share with them about the conference and my thoughts about what it means to be in connection with others through Christ.  Then, of course, I joined some of the little old ladies for coffee and ice cream afterwards.  All in all, a fun evening.  Now, Corey and I are off to a cookout with some of our new friends.  I don't know when I'll be able to rest!

This has been a long post...but it just shows how much has been going on with me and how much I wanted to share!  Thanks for reading!  And as always...feel free to comment!