As business wraps up at the 2016 General Conference, a delegate asks, ‘What comes next?’
REV. LAURIE HALLER
Clergy Delegate, West Michigan Conference
Every day I walk more than a mile to the Convention Center from my hotel in downtown Portland. My journey takes me past a homeless shelter and over a bridge across the Willamette River. This morning several homeless men were standing on the bridge, and one asked me, “Ma’am, is this Friday?” “Yes, sir. It’s Friday. God bless you.”
It’s Friday, the last day of General Conference. Where are we? Have we accomplished anything? At lunch yesterday with two of our young adult reserve delegates and several visitors, I asked what they thought of General Conference. Here are some of their responses. “We haven’t done much.” “I am surprised at how often delegates treat our bishops and each other with disrespect.” “There’s a lot of listening.” “The voices of all delegates are important, even if it’s their first time or if English is not their first language.” “There’s a lot of maneuvering behind the scenes.” “We could all benefit from some professional parliamentary help for our bishops.”
It’s Friday, and we are wrapping up our business with many important petitions still on the docket. As I continue to ask others how they are feeling on this last day of General Conference, most are positive. A great sign of hope was the formation of a special commission to discern a way through our human sexuality dilemma. This commission would be named by the bishops and comprised of representatives from every part of our United Methodist Connection. The commission alone, however, will not solve our problems. Each United Methodist must make a commitment to engage others around this issue so that we can understand and learn from each other.
It’s Friday, and as the delegates get on the light rail to go back to our hotels or the airport, we cannot fail to see the huge signs splashed all over the sides of the trains as well as on several buildings in Portland. “United we help millions. What comes next? www.umc.org.”
What comes next? Well, Sunday’s coming. As Bishop Elaine Stanovsky reminded us in worship this morning, we cannot seal Jesus in the tomb. We must not keep Jesus in the tomb of our own scriptural interpretations and comfortable, self-serving stances on a variety of issues. Rather, our faith calls us to be open to the radical movement of the Holy Spirit by sharing our stories, listening carefully to the stories of others and springing into action together to transform our world.
The United Methodist Church continues to help millions of people through thousands of life-saving and transformative ministries that reach out to the least, the last and the lost around the globe. We continue putting our faith into action by practicing both social and personal holiness. We continue to move from a North American church to a global denomination that is finding its collective voice.
It’s Friday, but God is not finished with us yet. Therefore, we go!
Last Updated on October 23, 2023