General Conference 2004

Rocky Mountain Conference News and Resources

Day 2

Tuesday, April 27, 2004
From General Conference Delegate Peggy Sewell

Delegates gathered at 8:30 for an hour and a half of orientation or, "a crash course about how to be an effective delegate," like knowing when to hold up your large yellow flash card in order to be recognized on the floor of the plenary session.

Break time found delegates and visitors of the Rocky Mountain Conference greeting old Rocky Mtn friends, like Bishop Ed and Carol Paup, Bishop Mary Ann Swenson and Bishop Roy and Kathy Sano.

Others were found checking out the very large onsite Cokesbury bookstore and getting a cup of coffee and some of those "Pennsylvania homemade cookies." (Remember when we in the Denver area baked thousands of cookies in all of our churches?)

The opening ceremony was the high experience of the day. We were drawn into the theme, "Water Washed, Spirit Born," through a combination service, remembering our baptism and celebrating our lives with holy communion.

Flowing blue and red streamers and banners led the procession symbolizing the water of baptism and fire of the holy spirit.

The service was filled with symbols of our diversity as United Methodists. Many languages were included in our ritual, Korean, Spanish, Swahili, French and English. Many cultures were incorporated through our singing, dancing, and special music, such as Native American, African American, Caribbean as well as Anglo. Many lands were experienced in our leadership: Eurasia, Nigeria, and the US.

The dancers came from across New England to Tennessee to Georgia. Choirs were there from 6 different churches, from Pennsylvania to Washington DC.

All ages from children to young people and adults were part of this leadership. Our worship leaders included all of the clergy orders and laity.

Bishop Rudiger Minor from Eurasia was preacher for the morning. He told of learning when he first went to Russia how baptism meant something very different to the people in Russia. It meant to be "scrubbed clean." And to do this meant immersion. This, of course, meant that the pastors also must enter the water and remember his or her own baptism each time.

Worship concluded with communion being served throughout the convention hall.

The afternoon began with the Episcopal address being delivered by Bishop Ken Carder of Mississippi. He challenged the church to join the bishops in conferencing around the world through 4 specific areas:
1) the new creation and the church's mission
2) sound doctrine and catholic spirit
3) personal and social holiness
4) watching over one another in love

The rest of the day consisted of establishing operating rules of the conference and in each of the individual legislative committees, as we gathered to begin this conferencing and dialog and decision-making with the 1300-plus legislative items submitted to the General Conference 2004.

Then it was time to rest after an inspirational opening day.

UMNS Daily Wrap-up: Assembly Begins with Worship, Bishops' Address
By Linda Bloom*
PITTSBURGH (UMNS) -- Different voices joined in a common song as the 2004 United Methodist General Conference officially opened with an April 27 worship service at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

In the afternoon's traditional Episcopal Address, Bishop Kenneth L. Carder of the Mississippi Area told the nearly 1,000 delegates that God is calling the church to be a sign and instrument of a new creation.

But the denomination's bishops also expressed concern about the international delegates who didn't make it to the church's top legislative meeting because they were denied visas by the U.S. government. About 25 delegates from Africa and the Philippines were unable to travel to Pittsburgh because of visa problems.

International presence was celebrated, however, in the worship, which featured drummers from diverse cultures, singing in Korean, Swahili, Spanish and French, and an African dance that reminded the audience of the words of Psalm 150:6, "Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!"

Water played an integral role in the service, as Bishop Janet Riggle Huie of the Arkansas Area and Bishop Peter Dabale of Nigeria scooped water from a large basin and let it fall, proclaiming the General Conference theme, "Water Washed, Spirit Born."

In his sermon, Bishop Ruediger R. Minor of Moscow, president of the Council of Bishops, remembered being sent to Russia 12 years ago and discovering that baptism was not about a few drops of water, but being scrubbed clean.

"We all need to be scrubbed clean, even if you've developed an expertise in cleaning the dark spots of other people," he said. "A symbolic washing won't do it."

In his later address, Carder reminded General Conference participants that while the church has extraordinary opportunities to live into God's vision of a healed creation, it is lacking in vision, will and financial commitment.

"God is calling us to be a community in which all know their identity as beloved children of God, where all barriers are removed and where justice enables the lowly to be exalted and the least and the last and the lost to be welcomed with joy at the table in God's cosmic home."

The Episcopal Address is the only time the Council of Bishops addresses General Conference. Bishops preside over plenary sessions, deliver sermons and participate in worship, but have no vote at the assembly. A proposal from the Committee on Plan of Organization and Rules of General Conference to have bishops chair each of 11 legislative committees -- rather than continuing the tradition of electing lay or clergy delegates to fulfill that role -- was narrowly defeated by delegates.

The bishops may expand their current Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty, according to Bishop Donald A. Ott, coordinator, to focus on points raised in the Episcopal Address. The proposed new initiative would reclaim the bishops' responsibility to be teachers of the church, Ott said.

In a lunchtime press conference, the bishops also expressed concern over the initial denial of visas to 42 delegates from Africa and the Philippines, and called the visa process both racist and unjust. By the time General Conference convened, 25 still did not have visas and were unable to attend. White European delegates had no problems securing visas, Bishop Felton E. May of Washington pointed out.

During the afternoon plenary, delegates remembered one prominent United Methodist and heard greetings from another. The passing of Boris Trajkovski, the president of Macedonia who was killed in a February plane crash, was marked by a moment of silence. First Lady Laura Bush, a lifelong United Methodist, sent personal greetings to the assembly, thanking delegates for their hard work. President and Laura Bush had received an invitation to appear at General Conference.

Some 82,500 cookies, compliments of church members throughout Western Pennsylvania, are being provided during breaks at General Conference. Convention center rules required the cookies to be placed in sealable plastic bags, three to a pack, labeled and placed in pizza boxes for delivery.

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*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer.

General Conference links:

*Please note: people have been experiencing access problems with the GC site and related pages, probably due to the high volume of traffic they are receiving.  Don't be afraid to try again later!* You can also try the General Board of Global Ministries General Conference 2004 site.

General Conference 2004 Web site

General Board of Global Ministries GC2004 site.

Please keep the Rocky Mountain Conference Delegates in prayer: Janet Forbes, Youngsook Kang, Olon Lindemood, Chuck Schuster, Aaron Gray, Judy Hill, Brad Laurvick, Dan O'Neill, Liwliwa Robledo, and Peggy Sewell.