The morning began with words of welcome, call to order and the first episcopal ballot. The exciting news for the Kansas Area is that Rev. Cheryl Bell had the third highest number of votes. Since we are electing three Bishops, she is in the running. However in subsequent voting, she has dropped a spot is on the bubble. The question all of us were wondering is if she was a legitimate candidate outside of Kansas. The answer is an obvious yes. On the third ballot, Rev. Earl Bledsoe from the Texas Conference was elected. This was not unexpected, but it was a surprisingly holy moment when it happened. His wife was was sitting just in front of me and to be helped to her feet she was so overcome with emotion. As the standing ovation ended, the conference began to sing the Doxology. It was one of those moments where the Holy Spirit broke into the politics of the church.
Following the first vote we heard a State of the Church address and a Laity address. While neither was overly inspiring, I have to be honest that the Laity address was an embarrassment. It began with a "dumb blond" joke (seriously, you read that correctly) and was followed by an address that was so memorable that I could not tell you what was said. One theme that stood out in both addresses was that things are not going well in the UMC so we need to change and do better. Unfortunately that has been a constant message for 40 years. I get tired of hearing the same thing over and over. Maybe it is time to change how we talk about the church. Instead of lamenting how often we fall short, why not celebrate all the things we do right. There are churches that are thriving, lives being changed, ministries that are effective. We can do better.
The other issue of the day was the Bush Library and Institute at SMU. A motion was made to accept the library but to reject the Institute. Many speeches were made for and against, some very entertaining. However after the debate threw is hours behind schedule, the Jurisdiction voted to do nothing and the Bush Library and Institute can breathe easy.
In the evening we returned for more reports and ballots. There was a motion supported by a number of women's groups (and others) to remember that we need to be aware of our call to Holy Conferencing. The tasteless "blond" joke was mentioned as well as some poor behavior by delegates and one Conference who was already negotiating for their new Bishop. Rumor has it that they were making it clear that they did not want a female Bishop. I can not confirm or deny, but they were called out even if not by name. There are more ballots left this evening that I will report on if a new Bishop is elected.
You are absolutely correct in that the church needs to celebrate what we do well rather than always being pessimistic. the positives have to be real and tangible or else it falls into just "feel good" diatribe. Being negative all the times becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've always wondered if the people who speak in these terms come from dying congregations rather than vibrant ones.
Posted by: Patrick | July 19, 2008 at 05:47 PM