Highlights and Lowlights
By Jim Nibbelink
This was a day of contrasts. Following yesterday’s action of voting for full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, our preacher of the morning was Bishop Mark Hanson of the ELCA. Bishop Hanson is the leader of the ELCA, which will vote on full communion with the UMC next year. Bishop Hanson told us that as we are rooted in Christ, we will bear fruit ... so make the choice to be so rooted! As he explained, the “root” command is to love one another.
Another high point was the return of the Hope for the Children of Africa Choir, an exuberant group of children rescued from homelessness or orphanage situations and taken in to a church-sponsored boarding school. These kids represented some 200 children at the facility. Although very young, the children have learned English while learning to perform by singing and dancing. In constant motion, the choir members brought joy, enthusiasm, tears, wild applause and fun-filled music to the entire Conference.
In a special moment, the General Conference voted to officially expand the Mission of the UMC to be: “To make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” This improvement reflects the church’s recognition that we are making disciples to serve God’s creation in addition to bringing people to Christ.
There was a rare and very special time this afternoon, when the General Conference received a visit and address by Her Excellency, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia. President Sirleaf is a lifelong Methodist and a graduate of a church-sponsored high school prior to her graduation from Harvard University. She has worked tirelessly for economic justice for her people and for all the people of Africa. She is the first elected female head of state in Africa. The Conference was delighted to host President Sirleaf and listen to her message of hope and purpose. She challenged us to keep faith with Africa as countries on this huge continent continue the struggle to emerge from colonialism. She recognizes and appreciates the significant assistance that her own UMC provides in Liberia and across the continent. President Sirleaf is a gracious and warm woman, with great presence and an inspiring message. We were very fortunate that she was able to be with us on a day in which the Conference recognized ecumenism and the world-side nature of our church.
From high to not so good ... The General Conference voted to reduce the number of Bishops in the United States, based on the idea that Bishops should be allocated by church membership rather than by the size of the geography of a given area. Four US Jurisdictions will have one less Bishop beginning in 2012: Northeast, North Central, South Central and our own Western Jurisdiction. We have no idea how the eight Annual Conferences will be realigned in 2012 to accommodate this change. Given that we are in the fastest-growing region of the US, it was very disappointing to have our leadership limited in this way. It appeared that the Conference made its decision based on an assumption of scarcity, rather than recognizing the abundance of God to provide our needs for mission and ministry.
Jane Tews had surgery on her broken ankle today and is resting comfortably. A plate and some screws were placed to stabilize the bones that need to heal. The plan remains for her to return to Phoenix on Saturday.
Only three days left and many miles to go before we sleep. Keep all of the delegates and especially those of us from Desert Southwest in your prayers.