Streamlining the Institution

As I write this, almost 1000 people are gathered in Fort Worth, TX voting on various issues important to our United Methodist Church. While some may see this as just another massive bureaucratic gathering accomplishing little, I want to focus on how these massive bureaucratic gatherings just might be a means of God’s grace to hurting people.

First of all, let me get my bias out of the way: I love massive bureaucratic gatherings anyway. That’s right—love. There’s something about these gatherings that energizes me. I grew up watching CSPAN2 (that’s right, the stuff that’s not exciting enough to be on CSPAN) and was hooked. I loved watching the legislative process, the ins and outs of parliamentary procedure, and all the niceties between otherwise bitter opponents. Thankfully, we don’t have that many “bitter opponents” at United Methodist conferences, but the niceties are still there…which is nice.

But I recognize that most people find such things to be incredibly boring, a waste of time and resources, simply adding more hot air and CO₂ in the atmosphere. And I understand that too. While I do like these gatherings, I don’t like gathering dust any more than the next person.

And now is not the time for United Methodists to be gathering dust. Like many mainline denominations, we are a church at a crossroads: we can choose to continue on the same path which leads us to division and dissolution, or cast a new vision which leads us into a bold new future in a new world. On the first day of General Conference, the Bishops and other leaders in the church made their choice, outlining the four goals of the church in the coming years. They are:

1. Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world;

2. Creating new places for new people by starting new congregations and revitalizing existing ones;

3. Engaging in ministry with the poor; and

4. Stamping out killer diseases by improving health globally.

Wow. Now that’s a vision! Specifically, the church is aiming at increasing the number of clergy under 35 (that’s right, more like me…scary, I know), starting 400 churches worldwide and 650 in the US (while recruiting 1000 church planters), increasing our ministry to the poor by 25%, and reducing malaria deaths by 66%. If you call that gathering dust, General Conference may not be for you. But if those visions get you excited, you know why I love these gatherings. And our Annual Conference meetings are similar, especially this year with our strategic plan.

Also exciting is to see the worldwide nature of our church. Each day I watch, a delegate from Africa, the Philipines, or other places around the globe makes a speech. I’ve enjoyed being able to see the Methodist District Superintendent of Estonia, who I met last year, on camera. And the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf addressed the body on Tuesday the 29^th (the first African leader and first female President to make such and address). It’s exciting to see how our church has grown from a small club of wealthy white men in Oxford, England, to a worldwide church that reflects God’s kingdom. And it’s more exciting to hear how our church plans on continuing to follow God’s mission to the entire world.

Sure, there are boring speeches, inane uses of Robert’s Rules of Order, and mind-numbing minutia, but the end result is a church more open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, more prepared to address the challenges of a new world, and a church willing to deal publicly with difficult issues to see where God wants us to go. That’s why John Wesley called “Holy Conferencing” a means of grace. That’s the real reason why I can’t take my eyes and ears off the proceedings of General Conference. That’s why I’m excited about the coming Annual Conference. That’s why I love being a United Methodist. Catch the Vision!