“If you make my Word your home, you will indeed be my disciples. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:13 New Jerusalem Bible.)”
Each article I write for this column is based in the guidance of a particular Scripture passage. I trust these reflections and information will assist you in your own service as a Disciple of Jesus Christ.
This past Sunday evening, the final episode of the PBS six year series, “Downton Abby”, was seen around the world. For those of you unfamiliar with this series, it was a depiction of life in the household and community of the Lord and Lady Grantham in England during the years of approximately 1910 to 1925. The series took you through the challenges of relationships, WWI, cultural shifts and the implications of these changes on the economic and social order of England at the time.
Preceding the final episode was the showing of the awards ceremony that took place in England last year. The cast of almost fifty persons gathered on the stage to receive the award and thank all those who watched the series. They also had the crew of nearly 300 stand and receive the appreciation of everyone in the theater. That moment triggered for me an image that parallels our Michigan Area, preparation for the 2016 Annual Conference and our continued steps toward creating a new united Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church.
There is an Area Design Team and Area Annual Conference Program Committee who consists of both “the cast and the crew” who are working on the details toward this new creation and an Annual Conference experience in a different facility. The hopes of this “cast and crew” is that through a “new Conference” there will be a positive impact on the more than 800 Michigan Area congregations as they are committed to transformation across the state and around the globe and 2,000 clergy and laity who will attend Annual Conference as they represent the more than 160,000 United Methodists in Michigan. The Bible verse that seems applicable comes from II Corinthians 5:17 “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has passed away and behold the new has come.”
As the Apostle Paul writes of this transformation he makes it seems so easy. The Design Team and Program Committee continue to be hard at work on the myriad of details that will help this “new thing” become a reality. There is a 300+ volunteer member “Grace Team” being recruited from congregations within easy driving distance of East Lansing. Their specific goal is to help all who attend annual conference to readily find the details and locations that will be important to them. Here is how you can help. Be sure to register before the deadline and read the materials that will be provided to you. The website is already active and registration will open soon.
There are a small number of building names with which you will want to become familiar: Breslin Center – this will be the location of all the plenary sessions; Brody Complex – this is the large multi-menu eating venue and dorm complex where all meals will be provided, the location of the Cokesbury book store, the Health Clinic, some of the sub-committees/LEAD Groups, and the on-campus dorm housing; Kellogg Center – some of the legislative sub-committees/LEAD Groups will be held here; Wells Hall – some of the legislative sub-committees/LEAD Groups will be held here.
There will be no golf carts on which to catch a ride. There will be several shuttle busses that will run continuous routes between these key venues so that those who have difficulty walking are comfortably transported from one venue to another.
The primary walking will take place on sidewalks along Harrison Road between the Brody/Kellogg location to the Breslin Center (a leisurely 10 minute maximum walk.) Most of the parking will be adjacent to the Breslin Center or immediately across the street at a parking ramp. This ramp has just been constructed this winter on the former site of the Michigan State Police building. For those with handicap parking eligibility, who will park near the dorms and then have access to the shuttle busses for ease of transportation.
There are a number of words the Area Program Committee would desire you
hold in your mind and heart: flexibility, patience, kindness, creativity, inspiration, encouragement.
The committee recognizes that this will be “new” for every one of us. They have spent a great deal of time thinking and talking through a variety of scenarios so that as many details could be planned in advance and we can all have as positive of an experience as possible. There will also be some construction in some of the Breslin Center complex for which we and MSU have made accommodations.
We will not be seated in bleachers. We are able seat almost 1,000 persons in chairs on the arena floor and the remaining will be in the lower seating sections in the center in chairs with backs and armrests. There are also platforms at the main entry level that accommodate wheel chairs or those with walking limitations. Stairs and a large (25 person) elevator will be the main access points for those persons seated on the arena floor.
More importantly than all the physical logistics is the content of the Conference. Our emphasis upon being “Sent” is a theme throughout our days. Learning about and engaging in mission, worship, conferencing, celebrating and visioning will be a consistent part of our time together. A special experience we are calling “First Steps” has been designed to help us engage in the first steps toward acts of repentance and reconciliation with Native and Indigenous People. We believe this will be a powerful experience of learning, inspiration and action.
Doing a “new thing” is not our first nature as humans. We tend to like constant, steady, predictable and peaceful. God on the other hand is all about the necessary changes so that we are closer to God, stronger in our relationships with one another and transformational in our impact upon the world. I encourage us all to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our days before Annual Conference and throughout our time together.
Peace, Benton R. Heisler
Director of Connectional Ministries WMC
Last Updated on March 8, 2016