In UM news…
African students reject restructuring proposal
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) — The Africa United Methodist Student Movement, which represents about 150 members from 10 African countries, has issued a response to the proposed consolidation of nine general agencies under a 15-member board. Nine members recently attended the Pre-General Conference briefing for African General Conference delegates in Harare, Zimbabwe. After prayer and study, the group announced its response “in rejection of the proposal as it fails to be considerate of the needs and circumstances of the African church.” The United Methodist News Service Daily Digest will publish statements from General Conference delegations and other groups as they are received and space is available.
Missional Methodists Blog
[From the administrator: One of the WI delegation's goals with this blog is to provide links to other United Methodist conversations. The views presented on the links are the responsiblity of those writers and blogs and are not to be confused with the opinions of the WI delegation. We want you to have all the information you can as we approach the 2012 General Conference. We'd love to hear about the blogs, news sources, and resources you are reading. Make a comment so others will have access to the information too.]
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Are you a Missional Methodist?
In recent months there has been a great deal of conversation throughout the United Methodist Church about the future of our church. Spurred by concerns over continuing church decline, and the Call to Action project of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, people throughout the church have been talking over meals and via Facebook about their hopes and dreams, and their fears and concerns about where the UMC is headed. For the Council of Bishops, this conversation has evolved into the Vital Congregations initiative — an effort to translate the learnings from the Call to Action study into measurable, quantitative practices upon which to hold church leaders accountable. These measures are a step in helping our church address the adaptive challenges that we face.
In parallel with that conversation, a group of clergy and laypersons have been thinking intentionally about the underlying mission of the church. Spurred by conversation throughout various Christian groups around the “missional church,” this group believed that it was important to identify common values as United Methodists which provide meaning and purpose to the practices of vitality. It was in the longing for a statement of vision and values that the Missional Manifesto for the People Called United Methodists was born.
To read more – http://missionalmethodist.org/.
George Tinker to keynote repentance service
NEW YORK (UMNS) — The Rev. George E. “Tink” Tinker, renowned indigenous advocate and theologian, will be the keynote speaker for The United Methodist Church’s “Act of Repentance to Indigenous Peoples,” April 27 in Tampa, Fla. The service will take place during the denomination’s 2012 General Conference. Tinker, a citizen of the Osage Nation, serves as the Clifford Baldridge Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at United Methodist-related Iliff School of Theology in Denver and is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
We See A New Church
First Hand Experience: Diane Schobert
I have been a lay member of the United Methodist Church since 1969 and my faith has grown through nurture and support of many faithful members and leaders – both lay and clergy from the small children in my small local Sunday school to the Episcopal leaders across the world.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf addressing the 2008 UMC General Conference
I have been active in the WI Annual Conference for a couple of decades and in 2008 was elected as the First Reserve Layperson for General Conference. Many people encouraged me to seek this election. A very dear friend said that it would be like getting my PHD in United Methodism- in a very short period of time. And truly he was correct.
It would have been impossible to imagine, in advance, the depth of the daily work, especially the legislative sessions that began early in the morning right after worship and proceeded through to the late night. They were very long days! Over time, I think it is crucial that we be sending younger delegates who can “handle” such a workload.
Worship within the UMC has always been very meaningful to me but I had never experienced such beautiful powerful worship as that of the General Conference 2008 in Fort Worth, TX. The breadth of the music, the visual art and most of all the extremely passionate sermons by the many Bishops of our denomination all left a lasting impression in my heart and soul. I often think of those days and wish some of that passion could be “bottled up” and shared over and over in our annual conferences between the General Conference sessions. I also would like to see the leaders of the delegation be able to share much of what they learn and experience at GC/JC more visibly within the Annual Conference when they return.
I do think that it is very important to prepare yourself for such an experience as General Conference. It appears to me that this delegation is working very hard at doing just that and also by connecting with many groups, organizations and individuals prior to their work at GC and JC. My prayers and wishes for continued blessings are with each of the delegates.
First Hand Experience: Fran Deaner
I was honored to be elected to the Jurisdictional Conferences of 2004 and 2008. It’s always very interesting to be part of the process of the election of Bishops for our church! It was even more interesting to have clergy from Wisconsin who were endorsed by our delegation as a part of the process. The election of Bishop Hee-Soo Jung in 2004 was a very exciting experience. Having someone elected from our delegation was truly memorable.
Marjorie Matthews served WI as the first female Bishop in the UMC
I also served as a volunteer page at the 1980 Jurisdictional Conference in Dayton, Ohio. I had just transferred to the Wisconsin Annual Conference a year before but was embraced by the delegation and included in many “strategy” sessions. It was then that I learned that the Wisconsin Conference is a very open and inclusive conference. At that time at least one fourth of the clergy had transferred in from other conferences. The highlight of the 1980 Jurisdictional Conference was the election of Bishop Marjorie Matthews, the first woman Bishop in the United Methodist Church! It was even more exciting to have Bishop Matthews assigned to Wisconsin that year, receiving the first woman Bishop to serve among us.
Just your typical delegation meeting…
WI Delegation Meeting, January 26, 2012 All the information we need to have handy during the meeting's discussions.
The 'other' delegates who called into the meeting.
There was an update on the blog and a plan for letting ‘people in the pews’ know about the blog and what is happening at GC by April 1st. You can help us by recommending this blog to members of your congregation or by publishing the link – wigc2012.wordpress.com – in your church bulletin or
- Dorthy Radley, John Lawson, and Dan Schwerin
John Lawson gave a report on the NCJ Nominations. These are positions at the Jurisdictional level that our delegates will fill for the next four years.
We also heard feedback from the Conference groups and caucuses. Delegates volunteered to talk to boards, agencies, committees, caucuses, and special interest groups around the WI Conference about significant issues they see coming to GC and JC.
- Lisa King and Steve Zekoff
Lisa King, head of the delegation, and Steve Zekoff, secretary, head just returned from the GC News Briefing in Tampa. This is a pre-GC event to talk about the logistical pieces of having so many people from around the U.S. and world in one place. Lisa and Steve also heard about changes to petitions and learned what to expect when they arrive in Tampa with the WI delegation in April.
That’s a lot of reading!
Curious about the number of petitions delegates will need to read, discuss and vote on at General Conference?
The number of petitions per legislative section (rounded to the nearest 10) are:
100 Church and Society I 
140 Church and Society II
20 Central Conferences
80 Conferences
40 Discipleship
90 Financial Administration
30 Faith and Order
110 General Adminisration
60 Global Ministries
40 Independent Commissions
100 Judicial Administration
80 Local Church
180 Ministry and Higher Education
50 Superintendency
TOTAL: 1120
To read the petitions in full check out the online version of the Christian Daily Advocate at gc2012.umc.org/ADCA
Group proposes alternative restructure
WASHINGTON (UMNS) — Uneasy with the Call to Action’s proposed restructuring, leaders of one special-interest group have submitted an alternative reorganization for The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking body to consider. The Methodist Federation for Social Action, an unofficial progressive caucus, is the only one of the denomination’s unofficial progressive and evangelical caucuses to submit legislation regarding restructuring.
First Hand Experiences: Wesley White
This coming General Conference will be my 7th in a variety of roles – interested person, press, alternate or elected delegate. Here are three bone-deep remembrances:
1. The amount of preparation needed.
Receiving action items to be voted on means reviewing documentation a foot thick. How does one balance investment of time for the future against always pressing current schedules?
Becoming acquainted with special reports (maybe a record this time) means thinking in meta- and future terms that is more than likes and dislikes. How to reflect on how one part of a report affects another part of another report and is this the direction to go?
Focusing on particular legislation in the area I had specific responsibility for meant evaluating hundreds of proposed changes in light of the current Discipline and Book of Resolutions and realities in people’s lives. How can one effectively cross-reference and evaluate needed change?
2. The depth of disconnect between the preaching/worship experiences and the legislative debate and voting.
I don’t remember missing a worship service – the music, enlivening; the liturgy, thoughtful; the preaching, excellent. Worship is the vision of the church for years to come and stands in contrast with the nitty-gritty work of getting a majority vote in a system open to manipulation through dis-information and even bribery.
Even though I should know better by now, I still expect that worship and scripture will have a carry-over into our legislative work. On the occasions when such is attempted by someone, they are often quickly reminded by silence and a quick return to debate points how far we have compartmentalized our piety from our mercy.
For a people named Methodist our methods can become chaotic, adding to the suspicion of anyone in an elected position, just like the presidential politics currently going on in the nation. [Note: General Conference is held the same year as US Presidential Elections and this usually adds another wrinkle or two as church takes place in a larger context of world.]
3. How tired the body and mind is after 10+ intensely physical and spiritually testing days.
Helping shape hope into language for years to come takes all one has in the best of circumstances. Wrestling with theological differences between Arminian and Calvinistic Methodists and the realities of different parts of the country and world (cultures also desire their due) complicates processes as one moves from individual preparation to communal decision making.
There is never enough per diem to cover actual costs. This results in attempts to arrange less expensive lodging further from the activities, adding a time burden, and to put off a next meal or catch more fast food than usual. These realistic limits affect our best interactions.
General Conference never only takes place between the setting of the legislative bar and adjournment. Years-long work in public and private settings seeks to advantage one interest group or another. Even the electing of procedural officers for legislative sessions has come to be a scripted event with pre-selected candidates and nomination-closing motions coming quickly. It takes energy to engage power plays in as healthy a manner as possible. General Conference is local congregational politics writ large as people go to great lengths to protect the God significant to them.
Words do make a difference and General Conference has a lot of words – just try reading the verbatim daily reports. For 40 years I’ve joined others trying to remove discriminatory language regarding gay and lesbian Christians from the Book of Discipline and preventing additional legislation against bisexual, transgender, and intersex Christians. You can see one way our ideals are split apart from very compromised laws by going to http://kairoscomotion.org/2010/vision_v_reality.pdf
Yet, with all the difficulties of General Conference, it is an every four-year check on how we are doing with a Living God inviting us into a better future than following our desire for privilege, security and the comfort of the usual. I appreciate that I am but one among many and value the opportunities I have had to witness to the expansive and expanding Love whose name we know as God and Spirit and Jesus and you and me. I hope to see more from Wisconsin in Tampa as, together, we discern how to move ahead, together, trusting not my or our will be done, but that which benefits all of creation, together.
