120 To Go
By Jim Nibbelink
General Conference began with 1,564 petitions. As of tonight, there are 120 to go. Most have had close votes in Legislative Sections, so we expect that there will be close votes on the floor. This means lots of amendment attempts, minority reports and somewhat obscure parliamentary maneuvers. Fascinating and tedious at the same time!
Today began with another stimulating worship event, highlighted by the preaching of Bishop Violet Fisher. Bishop Fisher reminded us that Jesus did the hard work, made the difficult choices, and went into dangerous territory to bring the Gospel to life. A case in point was when he journey through Samaria and met a woman at a village well. Jesus could have taken the safe, normal route around the east side of the Sea of Galilee, but he chose to travel through the land of the Samaritans, a people despised by “pure” Jews. Demonstrating that racism should not, and cannot stop love and grace, Jesus broke down barriers of the time including gender, faith perspectives and purity laws, along with defying the boundaries of racial hatred. In order to be faithful, we must be prophetic, acting with courage in spite of the demands or expectations of the prevailing power structure. Bishop Fisher pointed out the Jesus did not need the affirmation of his disciples before he acted. He didn’t hold a meeting or conduct a study. Jesus acted. An offer of fellowship, compassion, inclusion and grace need not wait for popular opinion to spur us to action. A lot to think about!
We celebrated the amazing success of Africa University, a United Methodist school in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe. The University was just an idea in 1984 and come into being in 1992. Sixteen years later, there are over 2,500 graduates, a student body representing some 22 countries and several thriving courses of study. Of the graduates, twelve are here acting as translators and several are delegates to this General Conference. Africa University, supported in part by our apportionments and a Special Sunday Offering each year, is making a difference in both the lives of the people touched by the school, but in the character of the societies represented in the student body. We rejoiced to hear of the progress at Africa University and enjoyed a performance of the world-famous Choir.
Among the notable business dealt with today included the adoption of a new Social Creed. The new creed is in litany form and will appear along with the current Social Creed for use in our worship services. A special feature of the new creed is that it was designed to be singable. We’ll be singing the creed during Friday’s worship.
We adopted a Resolution defining homophobia and heterosexism that declares that these perspectives and their resulting behaviors are not appropriate to Christian living.
Vows for membership in a local congregation were changed. The new vows will have persons joining declare their support for the United Methodist Church by their prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness.
The General Conference continued to reflect its reluctance to deal compassionately with the issue of homosexuality. There are marked differences in the perceptions of members from the US and the parts of the UMC outside the US. These differences and the fears fed by some factions result in little change in our official stances relating to ordination and full acceptance of gay persons in our church. I pray for the day when God’s Spirit will move all of us to a deeper understanding of the cost to our humanity of prejudice and fear.
Everyone from Desert Southwest who is attending General Conference was invited to our delegation dinner at a local BBQ restaurant. The food was yummy and the fellowship wonderful. The Conference presented a hymnal engraved with a special General Conference logo to Bishop Carcaño and each member of our delegation. A touch much appreciated and a nice reminder of our experience and service.
Thursday is the last scheduled full day of General Conference. There’s still a lot to do, including shaping the final budget. It promises to be a challenging time!