Annual Conference, Part Two

I'm coming down off my Conference high while spending some time with my wife's side of the family in Baltimore, MD. It's been a good couple days, but I have to try to avoid starting every other sentence with the words "Oh, so at Conference...". You see, my father-in-law is a Baptist pastor in a Baptist denomination that has no idea what it means to be connected to something. I once asked him what kind of Baptist he is and he really wasn't sure. He used to belong to some sort of Association, but he doesn't think that he does anymore. My sister-in-law and her husband belong to an independant, young adult-ish church here in Baltimore that doesn't really pretend to be connected to anything else. Needless to say, they don't quite get Conference and when I talk about it around them, I get looks like I'm growing antennas. They try to understand, and they know that it's important to me, but they really don't know why.

Here's the problem...there are many Methodists who don't get Conference. Many of lay people have no clue why their pastor leaves for a weekend in June. Even the lay people who attend Conference don't always get it. I had one lady say to me this weekend "I'm not really sure what's going on." In fact, many lay people in our local churches see the Conference as their enemy. While we were in Hyndman, there were church members who had no idea what the Conference was, only that someone had told them that the Conference could stroll in and shut down there church whenever they might so choose. One of the churches where I did pulpit supply had members who spoke with their voice full of venom when they spoke about the Conference, especially when the decision was made to close down the church (A good decision, might I add. The church was 20 miles from civilization, had about 10 regular attenders who drove past a vibrant UM congregation to get to their dying one and they were getting to the point where they were paying so much for building upkeep that they couldn't keep up with any other bills. A no-brainer in my book, but they sure didn't think so!). My concern is that this lack of understanding stems from a lack of importance that clergy place on Conference. I know that there are clergy who attend as little of Conference as possible, and who dream of the day when they don't have to show up anymore. There are many clergy who find Conference to be a waste of time. There are many soon-to-be clergy who don't get Conference, either. Last semester,after my UM Polity final, I had a guy walk up to me and say "So, I know that Conference is important, but I really don't get it. Why does Conference matter that much? How does it affect local churches? Why should I care?" I've been thinking about that question ever since, and throughout last week I tried to think of an answer.

Last weekend, Conference truly was a means of grace in my life. I was able to spend time with my Dad and with my good friend Erik who is a student at Candler. Together, we dreamed about the day that we would come back to the Conference as clergy and we talked about the ways that we saw God at work in the Conference and how we might be called to be a part of God's work. I worshipped with the Hot Metal Bridge folks until tears were streaming down my face. I realized that not all "Contemporary" worship is the same (more on this later). I was inspired by the leadership of our Bishop and by the preaching of Bishop Fisher. And I legislated. As I stood up to deal with Special Sundays in my legislative section, I was reminded that God's Kingdom is big...big enough that we have Sundays for youth, people with disabilities, camping, rural life, children's ministries, and social outreach. When our local churches band together to support these Sundays, our impact across Western PA is expanded and God's Kingdom is furthered. That's what I really was reminded of at Conference...God's Kingdom is found in many places and God's Kingdom is at work through the work of many people...in Ambridge, at the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community, in Hyndman, in Erie, in Pittsburgh, in Louisiana and Mississippi. God's Kingdom is here on earth, and Annual Conference showed me the many ways that we are called to be a part of that. See, Conference matters because when we gather as God's people to worship, to fellowship, and yes, even to legislate, we have the opportunity to be witnesses to the Kingdom of God and the work of God in the world. We have to opportunity to discern what God is doing and how we might be a part of that. CONFERENCE MATTERS!! Hopefully, we can show that when we get home to our local churches throughout the Connection.