Conference

Last week we held our Annual Conference in Athens, Georgia. For those who don't know, the United Methodist Churchis divided into geographic areas known as conferences. They are one f the key units in our organization. Each year (the "annual" part) delegates from the churches in the conference gather for several days to worship, to do the business of the Conference, and to tend to other matters relating to our life and work. Our conference covers roughly the northern half of Georgia, hence the name, North Georgia.

There are lots of reports from agencies and ministries in the Conference. Some are more well done than others, but some are truly inspiring. We have a session where retiring clergy have a few minutes to say goodbye, and that is generally a moving time for me. it was so this year.Our new Associate Pastor, Mandy Flemming, was commissioned at teh Ordination service, and our choir and brass were part of the music on Tuesday night, so those were special times. One thing always enjoyable for me is th echance to see and visit with ministerial riends that I don't get to see too often during the year. I also got to have lunch ione day with one of my former Glisson camp staff, and had supper with my son, Josh, on Wed. night. God times.

Politics are very much a part o fthe life of the church, especially this year as we were electing delegates to our national conferences to be held next year. I was heavily involved in a group of moderate/progressive clergy who were working to have a group of diverse, moderate candidates elected. To the surprise of some on the more conservative side we did very well in the elections. It was a vry tiring process for me, but I feel very good about the outcome. And I think there may even be a groundwork for some dialogue across theological lines - a dialogue that has not always been possible.

One of the very enjoyable parts of Conference this year were daily videos, of close to Daily Show quality, that poked fun at the ways of Conference. They were hilarious and much appreciated by all of the delegates. The team that put them together is very talented - and pretty brave to boot. At least twice the Bishop was the focus of their good-natured fun.

I serve as one of the Associate Secretaries of the Conference, which means I get to take minutes of some of the business sessions and outlines of the worship services. It is an interesting vantage point from which to observe the goings on on the sessions.

Much time and energy went into th eelection process, and I was as tired as I have ever been when th eweekwas over. But all in all, a good Conference. I did reflect as I left on what was not done nor addressed while we were in Athens. There are so many issues facing the world right now, and we did very little to wrestle with what the gospel calls us to do when facing these issues. We also didn't do much to take a hard look at why we are so often ineffective in our ministry, especially with young people. Maybe next time.

Jimmy