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Index
Notes on Annual Conference, Friday, June 23, 2006
By Diana Huerta, co-lay leader, Metro District
The sights and sounds of Friday were punctuated by the contrasts:
joy and pain, music and quiet reflection, celebration and deliberation.
The day started with the Church and Society breakfast, focusing
on Peace and Justice. After sharing a meal, we celebrated with
the presentation of Lifetime Peacemaker Awards to Moyna and Tom
Hudgens and to Dr. Clarence Snelling, and the presentation of the
2006 Peacemaker award to Dr. Phil Tompkins. We then had the opportunity
to share in the journey of a young girl’s life, an American
whose life ended in death while she peacefully protested the destruction
of homes, neighborhoods and families by the Israeli army. Rachel
Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was a courageous
American who travel to the town of Rafah, and stood before, and
was mowed down by, the bulldozer that was destroyed yet another
family home. Her story was told by her parents Cindy and Craig
Corrie, and was painful to hear. Their life has been changed by
their daughter’s commitment to peace, and as they tell her
story they hope that our lives will too be changed, changed by
our desire to become involved for peace. Cindy believes that Rachel
left footprints that continue to guide her in the quest for peace,
and she invited us to join in that quest.
The Laity session was full of energy and joy, and reminded us
of our role in the Conference and it’s mission efforts. The
opening worship was led by the Conference Lay Speaker Leadership,
and gave us a chance to align ourselves with the sacred journey
of the day. Our music for the session was “We are the Church”,
and as we sang it over the morning session, we felt called to make
the church what we want it to be! The Bridge of Love offering gave
us a chance to bring those funds our churches had been collecting
for a year and “gloriously share our wealth with others”,
as articulated by our Lay Leader Judy Hill. Half of the money will
go to Angola, and the other half to the Gulf Coast. Heather Wilson,
bold in her faith, challenged us to answer how friendly is our
church? How friendly is it, not just to us, but also to the person
off the street, off the mountain, off the farms, off the plains – how
friendly are we to the stranger? We are the Bridge of Love – a
church powered by the people, by the laity, powered by God. What
is a Bridge of Love? It is hospitality, and purpose, and truth.
A bridge can separate and contain us, or it can be the support
for our connections. We watched a video presentation by a lay missionary
in the Philippines, Sun Sook Kim, and were reminded of the message
of Matthew 28:19-20 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the
end of the age." As a sign on the door of a church proclaimed: “How
can you worship a homeless man on Sunday and reject him on Monday”?
Heather reminded us that to grow spiritually we must go where we
don’t want to go – this is where we meet the divine
face to face.
The Laity Session had a new type of teaching moment, this one
led not led by Heather Wilson, but by a talk show host (Jerry Herships,
minister of young adults at St. Andrew)! The game was The Annual
Conference Challenge, and the red teams and yellow teams competed
to see how deep their knowledge was about our faith, our church,
and our history. Did you know that the United Methodist Church
had over 11 million members when it started in 1968, or that our
own Bishop Brown was ordained as a Deacon in 1973? The participants
had to take risk, jump in and play, and sometimes act when they
really didn’t know it all – what a great description
of our role in the church today! This spirited exercise was engaging
and fun, and we even learned something in the process. That was
followed with presentations about the upcoming Lay Speaker courses,
the Lay Convocation, the Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation,
and the Young Adult Ministries – details for all of these
events and efforts can be found on the Conference Website at http://www.rmcumc.org
(If you do not have a home computer you can access the website
at your local library). Sandra Taylor shared her story of training
supported by the Laity Scholarship, and funds were collected for
that effort as the laity left this session for lunch and relaxation.
The afternoon Teaching Moment was again led by Heather Wilson,
and the tool she shared for today was making the gospel relevant
through serve. The question then becomes: but who do you serve?
She reminded us of the words of John Wesley “ Earn all that
you can; Save all that you can; Give all that you can”. The
issue for our church today is not that there is not enough money
(the Western Jurisdiction gave $11 million dollars to the Gulf
Coast when the need was there!), but rather what we do with it.
We each need to find our way to serve, and Heather shared some
examples that can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org. Mission
has changed because not only has the world changed, but missionaries
have changed! Find your own way to be a missionary...
The afternoon session started with a vision; that is, a report
from the Mission / Vision / Values Team. Envision includes vital
worship, justice, evangelism, social outreach, foundations, and
spiritual formation. This is the body of Christ moving toward the
love and the reign of God. We received a report from the United
Methodist Church Foundation, with a long history of churches supporting
churches as well as information about the Treasurer’s report
from the Conference Statistician. The reports and Appointments
from Mile High Peaks and Plains and Western/Utah Districts were
shared and celebrated, and the following legislated actions were
taken. Consent Calendars were adopted as recommended (and occasionally
amended) by the legislative groups. Adopted were AC01-11, 13-16,
18, 19, 21-26, 28, GC 41, 42, 47. The new Conference Structure,
AC13, was adopted unanimously! The plan is here in PDF (Portable
Document Format) form.
The day ended with a presentation by Mr. Andrew Craig, a youth
member of Park Hill United Methodist Church. As he exclaimed “adults,
what a world you have brought us into”, he shared his dream,
and the dream of all of his generation to have world that still
has hope. In many ways, Romeo and Juliet had the best of adolescent
life – they were youthful, beautiful, childless and debt
free! But their stories’ end is not what we want for our
youth today. It is essential for youth to stay connected with each
other and the church, and adults need to find ways to support those
efforts; that is where the hope can be found. It is the job of
youth to keep busy doing God’s work to help them find there
way in the world. Andrew finished his presentation by singing The
Impossible Dream; and as we finished that day’s sacred journey
we all believe the dream is possible!
Index
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