A first breath after the General Conference dust storm

Over the next several posts I would like to share some General Conference reflections as now the dust is settling. These posts will not so much look at the bits of legislation that did or did not pass. These posts will use specific conference actions as examples for a larger point. These posts are designed for those who did not attend, don't care or are tired of reading what did/did not happen, or those who are looking for the larger Spirit of the UMC as lived out at the General Conference. These are only my thoughts and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of the Central Texas Conference or her delegation or Bishop. 

In order to better get a sense of where these posts are headed here are the topic headings:

• Language Monopoly
• Sit, Stay, Go - A Dilemma in Table Manners
• Double Victory in an Age of Winners and Losers

And so while I am still processing all that happened in the ten days and the fall out of General Conference there is still ministry to be done. Until these forthcoming GC posts arrive. I invite you to hear/watch (beginning at the 30 minute mark) this sermon called "Why did Ananias and Sapphira really die?" It is the story in Acts when two people dropped dead after it was discovered they held back money from the Church. It is an odd story, however, it relates to General Conference and the state of the UMC. Peace.

#umcgc Twitter Feed and our Church

First of all I am sorry to anyone who was on the #UMCGC Twitter feed for a bit this day who saw images that were not appropriate. It was not too many (I think I saw 1/2 a dozen or so) but one is too many. These images were created and posted by spammers and no one from the General Conference.

When this happens on Twitter, there are a couple of options. 1) The people can decide to change the way they label (known as tagging) tweets so the inappropriate images do not appear or 2) people can clean up the current tag and report the spammers. 

What was interesting is there were those on Twitter who wanted to split from the original #UMCGC tag while there were others who asked people to report and block the spammers.

Cleaning up a Twitter feed takes time and it is not immediate, it takes about 30 minutes and it also requires individuals to stay on top of it to report every piece of spam that may show up. Additionally, once the feed is cleaned up, there must be a rebuilding of trust among the users to use the original tag. There is a hesitation to look/use that tag in the event that the inappropriate images appear again. 

The group that wanted to break away to start a new tag (#gc2016) forget to remember is that spammers will find that tag as well. Then they will have to create a new tag, only to be exposed to spammers again. 

Unless we are willing to do the hard and continuous work we will always be breaking off to start new Twitter tags. We will never able to have a pure and unified Twitter tag for users that is always safe and following the orthodox intent of creators of the hashtag. 

Rev. Dr. Maria Dixon Hall giving voice to feelings held by right/left at #UMCGC

The Rev. Dr. Maria Dixon Hall is an associate professor of organizational communication/Non-Profit studies at SMU in Dallas, Texas. She is a progressive and has a history that is longer than me. She is a Deacon, African American, professor, and theologian that gives me pause to think on a number of things. She has given voice to feelings that many people I have visited with at General Conference 2016 have stated. 

While Rev. Dixon Hall is a progressive and speaks from that position, I can tell you that I have heard conservatives and other progressives at the conference say similar things. Progressives have said to me, I am with the cause but these demonstrations nudge me away from the cause. Conservatives have said to me, the more I see these types of disruptive demonstrations the more I distance myself from the cause.

And so as a white, heterosexual male I have hesitated to share these personal feelings, however, I can only say "Amen" to the good Rev. Dixon Hall.

Read the whole thing here: Progressives Playing with Fire: Mad Methodists, Berners, & the Myth of Prophetic Arson