Holy Conferencing or Wholly Conferencing?

Photo montage courtesy of PNW Communications Staff.

Holy Conferencing or Wholly Conferencing? | By Ellen Johanson

I’ve been a Methodist for 50 years and I’ve never paid much attention to General Conference until this year. Perhaps that is not unusual given that during previous General Conferences, I didn’t work in a Church Conference staff position. Also, the technology to allow instant access at my fingertips to all that was transpiring (in plenaries, worship services, and legislative committees) either didn’t exist or wasn’t as sophisticated and prevalent as it is now. Regardless, my attention has been piqued and I have to admit, my reaction has been mixed.

I’ve been surprised at how connected I feel to what is happening: I’ve enjoyed reading the blogs from Oregon-Idaho and PNW delegates and I’ve tuned into streamed worship services and looked forward to decisions being made. General Conference has become “real” to me – not “virtual” – but real. I have been praying for our delegations and all the people participating in this very large event. It has been a good feeling, but I’ve also been disappointed by some of the votes and actions of the delegates. Doing away with guaranteed appointments really shocked me — I guess I should have paid more attention to my clergy friends to whom this seemed to come as no surprise. The fact that there was no discussion of this HUGE change on the floor was also a shock. How did we Methodists who seem to discuss and analyze everything to death let something as important as this slip on by in the Consent Calendar without comments from the body on the floor?

Although I really enjoy reading the blog entries, I’m surprised at some of the harsh comments, both in tone and context, that are being posted — attacks against bishops, bullying and hurtful comments directed at individuals based on their sexual orientation, and strategic changes to financial formulas that will make it harder for Connectionalism, one of our common and most historic core values, to thrive. Are we in the world or of the world? Are we connected as the body of Christ and united as Methodists or not?

It seems to me that we can and must do a better job of being the Christian Church or we will cease to be relevant altogether. Our church is first and foremost commanded to love God and our neighbors, to share the Good News, to follow Jesus Christ, to preach and baptize and make disciples of all nations. Nowhere do our scriptures say that we are to fight, argue, manipulate, ignore and wound each other for the sake of maintaining or furthering the institutional church structure.

I haven’t spent 50 years in this church because I love the Book of Discipline or because I love the church structure—important though they may be. My life is entwined with the branches of this church because I know that God loves me and I love God. My United Methodist identity teaches and empowers me. It gives me the theology of grace, forgiveness, salvation, faith AND ways to express that faith in love towards my neighbor wherever and whomever that neighbor may be. It’s time to get back to basics. If nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, then let’s act that way towards each other and stop calling our maintenance of church polity and politics Holy Conferencing. Perhaps what we do every four years is Wholly Conferencing. We become wholly engrossed in business, politics, money, power and the squabbles that accompany prioritizing the things of the world above the things of God’s kingdom.

Is that really the mission of our church?

Ellen Johanson serves as the manager of the Regional Media Center.
To learn more about the Regional Media Center, visit www.facebook.com/rmcumc.