Two Starts to GC... Will They Ever Come Together?

General Conference has begun! As usual, the most hopeful and powerful part of coming together is found in the ways in which we worship and share our stories.

However, there were two very different starts...

At lunchtime today, hundreds of people jammed into First Christian Church for the Parents Reconciling Network (PRN) Luncheon at First Christian Church in Fort Worth. PRN's mission is: "We envision a United Methodist Church which in both policy and practice accords all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, full participation in the life of the church." Here are some highlights from the luncheon:

This year's Hilton Award was given to Helen King. Among many of Helen's contributions to PRN has been the public witness of the stoles project. For this General Conference her team and of volunteers hand made over 2,000 stoles, enough to give one to every delegate and Common Witness volunteer in Fort Worth. You can see a stole in the next picture... the stoles have become a national public witness for the call to build a United Methodist Church that lives out Jesus' call to unconditional love.

Rev. William Taylor was the keynote speaker at the luncheon event and shared his story of how he was shunned and eventually forced to leave the church he was serving because of he and his wife, Roxanne's, support of their gay son, Dawson, who is now a United Church of Christ Pastor. You can actually here some of this powerful story at this RMN Website.


Retired Bishop, Ray Chamberlain, from the Virginia Annual Conference also shared the story of his family as he discovered that he had a "beautiful daughter who happens to be lesbian". He reminded all of us that every time we label someone in any way, we move them one step away from their humanity in our minds and make it easier to justify treating them in hurtful ways.

We ended the event in the sanctuary, commissioning hundreds of volunteers. Everyone was given a medallion and blessing, reminding us that we are living examples of a mustard seed hope and faith... that can and will move mountains; "and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20.


At 6 PM, the second start to General Conference began. The two-hour worship service featured interpretive dancers, praise bands, a full orchestra, choirs, music, prayers and Scripture in many tongues, and symbols of the Christian faith using ordinary elements of glass, wood, bread, fruit of the vine and water. Over 6,500 people were in attendance.

General Conference's theme for 2008 is “A Future with Hope: Making Disciples for the Transformation of the World" and worship centered on that theme. The altar, lectern, baptismal font, communion table and rail were made from trees salvaged from Gulfside Assembly in Waveland, Mississippi; destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Gulfside served as a retreat center and meeting place for African Americans before the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Iowa Area Bishop Gregory Palmer and Houston Area Bishop Janice Riggle Huie officiated at the Communion service.

Bishop Huie’s sermon sounded a clear call that, even in the midst of a world filled with AIDS, malaria, violence, global climate change and fear, United Methodists are called to live a life with hope – resurrection hope - that "transforms lives and changes the future." "Tonight, through us," said the bishop, "the people of The United Methodist Church gather around this table filled with resurrection hope.”

Following the opening Communion service, the assembly adopted the rules of order delegates would be following for the next nine days. Some 1,500 petitions will first be considered in 13 legislative committees before they are brought to the full plenary sessions for final action. Those committees will begin work tomorrow.

Also worth noting: Today was (to the day) the 40th anniversary of when the Evangelical United Brethren Church united with the Methodist Church to create The United Methodist Church, and we were within 40 miles of where it happened in Dallas. As a body, we are delegates from 129 annual conferences and 50 countries. Our task will be to establish policies for the 11.5 million-member denomination and to declare positions on social justice issues.

So General Conference has begun... one start at a nearby church... another start in the arena of the Fort Worth Convention Center. The question is, "will they ever come together?" Will the segment of our church that is trying to embrace broader diversity, inclusive love, and a "future with hope" for everyone; ever be able to have a place at the table of the church that can bring 1,000 people together from 50 different nations (over 10 days) and produce such powerful and dramatic worship? There was a lot of talk in both beginnings about celebrating diversity, sensitivity and being reconciled unto God and each other. Can we ever do it with integrity, rather than simply talking about it in terms of hope?

My hope and prayer for these next 10 days is that we move closer to becoming the change we "hope" to be.