The Armchair Delegate - Central Texas Conference Merging?

My friend and online community pastor at White's Chapel UMC, Kyle Roberson, once gave me the nickname of the "armchair delegate" when talking about my role in the the General Conference 2016. In all respect to Kyle, I am redirecting that title to these series of posts about my experience with the General Conference 2016 of the UMC.

The first thing I wanted to share is what I have come to understand about the future of the Central Texas Conference. Long story short, the General Conference may choose to make the South Central Jurisdiction (SCJ) one Episcopal Area smaller than it currently is. That means the SCJ has to consider the possibility of loosing one bishop. In anticipation of this action, a task force was created called "Mission 21". Their task was to consider and recommend to the SCJ ways to function with one less bishop. You can read their entire report here in case you wanted to see it all. 

What is interesting to me is that the Central Texas Conference (CTC) faces the possibility of being redrawn in some form that will forever change the way the CTC looks and functions. While I do not know what the task force will recommend I find it uprisings that so little of the work of this task force has been discussed within the CTC. Even if there is little that the conference can input into the process, it is not beyond the imagination of the Church to join the work of the task force in the form of prayer.

The work of this taskforce is not over, nor has their been any action of the GC to force this action at all. Meaning that there is no merger or re-drawing lines of the SCJ at this time. Will you join me in prayer for this task force and their recommendations to the SCJ, if so called upon to make such a recommendation.

General Conference 2016 - Learning to breathe in a dust storm

Every four years the UMC gathers as a global body to have conversation and make decisions that will guide the UMC for the next four years. This body, called the General Conference, is the only body that can speak on behalf of the entire Church. It is this body that makes rules, clarifies doctrine and approves social principles that govern the UMC. It is composed of approximately 850 voting members of the UMC representing different communities from around the world. I have been elected by my conference to be a part of the delegation from our area. To be clear, I am the last reserve delegate. This means I have a place at the table, I will not be able to vote at General Conference unless the seven people elected before me are unable to vote. 

In preparation of the GC, delegates around the world have been given a copy of the book The Causes, Evils, and Cures of Heart and Church Divisions by Francis Asbury. One can image that since this book was shared, there is a possibility that the UMC may break apart over the issue of human sexuality. I may be naive, but while it is possible that individual churches may leave the UMC, I do not see the church splitting in half. 

By Mrcricket48 at en.wikipedia, CC BY 3.0

Over the coming months, I wanted to take some time to share thoughts and insights into this process of the General Conference. I know these posts will not be applicable to most people but in case you are interested in these topics I hope they are helpful, informative and faithful. 

The first thing that I notice is that when GC2016 is talked about there is always a strong sense that it could be really crazy and wild. It is human nature to think that things will be the worst and conversation about the GC2016 is no different. There are different groups and coalitions and movements and thoughts that are all converging - as they do every four years. The metaphor that I continue to see is that the CG2016 if like a dust storm. The problem is that many people are trying to breathe while in the middle of the storm and it is killing them. So will you join me in efforts to invite people to step back. Breathe deeply. Pause and listen. May we remember that no issue is too great. Judaism continues to exist even after the genesis of Christianity. The Catholic Church continues to exist even after Luther. The Church will continue even after the issues of human sexuality have been argued.

Why your pastor should love complaints

There are 150 Psalms in the Christian Bible and roughly 1/3 of them are laments. Laments are structured ways to complain against God and as Rev. Estee Valendy noted in her sermon, interwoven in the lament are expressions of faith and hope. 

Humans love to complain but hate to hear them. Irony at it's finest. But the reality is, your pastor should love complaints. Complaints are ways for people to deal with their feelings and emotions. It is natural and healthy to share these feelings, remember 1/3 of the Psalms in the Bible are complaints. However, our culture does not like those who complain. So what are we to do with these feelings? Most of the time we push them down and do not allow them to surface except when we rehearse the script of what we want to say while we are driving. We do not have a healthy place to confront these feelings and complaints and they begin to fester in us only to manifest in other ways, such as road rage. 

The fact of the matter is part of the reason pastors should love complaints is that there is one place left where complaints are accepted and heard - the Church. The promise of the Church is that when you come to complain, the Church will not leave you or cast you aside. The Church of Christ hears your cry and will not take it personally, but will have the courage to sit with you even as you cast stones at her. 

Pastors should love hearing complaints because it means that people are finding ways to address their feelings in mature and healthy ways. And ultimately that is role of the pastor, to help people move toward maturity in Christ.

So I remind you that if you have complaints, don't push them down. Perhaps write them down, but do not fear your complaints. And if you are afraid of your complaints, then share them with your pastor. We are here to stand by you so you are not alone.