Bishop Fisher Challenges Us

On Wednesday morning we were honored to have a timely and inspirational message from Bishop Violet Fisher. In her message Bishop Fisher stated “God is calling the church to be the church”. She stated that necessity calls the church to take a more challenging route to end racism. “If we are going to be serious about the future of our church around the sin of racism, some tables will have to be overturned.” Bishop Fisher went on to quote Bishop Leontine T. C. Kelly in her message by saying “Racism does not belong in the church”! This is so true, racism, in any shape fashion or form has not place in the church neither does it has a place in society. Bishop Fisher challenged the denomination to put the elimination of racism.

John Salley presented a report on Africa University. In his report Mr. Salley stated that the Africa University is bringing about a continental and global change in the name of Jesus Christ. He stated the education that Africa University provides is evident in the 2008 General Conference. Attending the conference are twenty-four graduates who are providing some type of leadership in the General Conference. Of the twenty-four, nine are delegates and the other fifteen are providing translating services to the General Conference Delegates. John Salley told of the political situation in Zimbabwe, location of Africa University, the inflation rate is over 200,000 percent which is the highest inflation rate in the entire world. He said that most residents live in poverty. To explain this he said that sixty percent of the people live on less than two dollars per day and thirty one percent live on less that one dollar per day. Mr. Salley went on to say that because of African University and the support of the United Methodist Church insures the students a brighter future.

The last couple of days have been hard for me because I have seen some very disturbing things to take place. I am not going to get into it at this time but we must be careful and not let special interest undo what has been done. As we leave this place we must continue the work that has been started, we must draw together as the United Methodist Church and continue to follow Wesley’s three simple rules “Do Good”, “Do No Harm” and most of all “Love Good”.

This will be my final blog from General Conference 2008, but I will do a wrap when I return home to summarize my impress form GC 2008.

Today the conference was had the good fortune to be entertained by the Africia's Children of Hope Choir. These children exhibited a energy that I have never seen before. You have heard about the energizer bunny, well they reminded me of the energizer bunny. They kept going, going and going. With such energy being exibited the delegates and vistors of the conference could do not but to feed off of the energy. When watching these children perform and hearing where they came from, I could feel nothing more than hope and I truly believe that they are the future and the future is now. Not only were entertained by the Africian Children of Hope Choir but we were honored with an address from the President of Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Her message of hope was well received by the delegation. President Sirleaf told us that Africa is on it way back and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. She inspired us by letting us know that American will change and confirmed tht our world can be a future with hope and promise. I truly believe that The United Methodist Church is on it way to be a worldwide church and a church that anyone can feel welcome.

Central Texas Conference Takes Two

Tonight my comments will be short because I have been observing the general sessions today.


Today the entire body started to hear, debate and vote on petitions. The has been a day of passion, frustration, excitement, hard work and fatigue. It is apparent that all will not agree with what is decided but it is my prayer that the best decisions are made for the entire church.

On last evening, I said that I would give a report on the Nothing But Nets Competition between the Central Texas Conference and the North Texas Conference. Here are the results:

Men – North Texas Conference won.
Male Youth/Young Adult – Central Texas Conference
Female Youth/Young Adult – Central Texas Conference
Yea! CTC

We Have Reasons to Celebrate

Last evening I forgot to mention the potato drop. All of you remember that we had one last summer well believe it or not there been one here at the GC. This time it was a sweet potato drop. Approximately 40,000 potatoes were taken to the Tarrant Area Food Bank, soup kitchens, food pantries, older adult centers, after-school programs and other agencies. Yes, even when in conferencing we are in mission. The Nothing but Nets Basketball tournament did take place on yesterday and as soon as I find out the results I will surely let everybody know.

This morning was a historical one for those of us who was a part of the old Central Jurisdiction. It was a celebration of the anniversary of it dissolution. The service was very tastefully done. If you get a chance go to the GC website and look at the celebration, it is very enlightening and well done. While the Central Jurisdiction was set up for the wrong reasons, lots of good came out of it. Several of our African – American leaders in the church grew up in the Central Jurisdiction. One such person that I can attest to is Bishop James King. Bishop Jonathon B. Keeton commended the conference for approving the “African American Heritage Center “. This video reminded me of where we have come from and gave me a new appreciation for where we are today. We had a celebration of the accomplishment of SBC2008 and it was a very educational experience tool. We were reminded that in order to transform our churches we must leave the pews and pound the pavement. The operative word is “transformation”. The challenge is to transform our thinking so that we will be able to transform the world. The delegation was introduced to our new officers for the Council of Bishops. In this we have two African American.

In observing the legislative section, it became apparent that we have lots of work to do. We are trying , but we must begin to think about what is good for the worldwide United Methodist Church and not just about the United Methodist Church in the United States. In the legislative session in which I was observing we were reminded that we must be more intentional when change the wording of the discipline as well as how we say things. This has not changed, just as we are sensitive to certain words the same relate to others. Sometimes a word that may seem innocent can translate differently in another culture. This is something we should do in our everyday lives. Why not start now thinking before we speak. Ask the question how would I feel. Several years ago the United Methodist Church published a study course titled "Words that Hurt". Maybe we need to revisit that course for our sake. I am not going to get on one of my soap boxes but all I ask is to think first and speak later. Until next time

Celebarating our Heritage

This morning I attended one of the most moving worship services that I have attended in a long time. The service was lead by Bishop William Hutchinson. This service was to me a recommitment service and a remembrance of our baptism. The message was very inspiring and the music was once again spiritually moving. It was wonderful to see some of the young adults were involved in the worship service, To most this is a once in a lifetime experience. In fact one of my dear friends had a young adult from her local church to participate in the worship service and it gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to experience her excitement.

There was also a celebration of the “Rural Church”; being a person reared in a rural church it was great to see the celebration. Banners of beautiful pastel colored butterflies (approximately 20,000) were carried to the arena to open the celebration of the Rural Church. Each butterfly represented a rural church that is a part of our denomination. All who attended the morning worship received a package of seeds to represent the seeds that have been plant in Rural America. The celebration again made me feel very proud to say I am a United Methodist and a product of a rural church. It was also great to see an individual whom I knew as a youth stand on the stage and tell his accomplishments in the United Methodist Church.

I am looking forward to the rest of the conference especially next week when all of the legislative work goes to the floor of the conference. Yes, I know it sounds like a term that all of us have used when studying about our U. S. Government. If you really want to know how the government works attending the General Conference is a real good example. Tomorrow we will be recognizing the Retiring Bishops and this includes our own Bishop Ben Chamness. We will also Have a strengthening the Black Church Initiative and celebrate the 40th dissolution of the Central Jurisdiction. After all of that we will go back to work to finish our legislative work. Stay tune tomorrow for “the rest of the story”…..

Day Three and still excited

Today is the third day of my adventure into Methodism. Last night was the first night to be broken into Legislative committees. The committee in which I selected to sit in on earlier during our preconference preparation was Local Church. This committee will be dealing with petitions that have been submitted that will affect the local church and believe me there are quite a few. The first thing on the agenda was election of officers. After which we had a dinner break, returning to the meeting with lots of work to be done. Shortly after the officers were elected, we broke up into subcommittees and begin to work on the petitions assigned to us. Last night we worked until about 10:30pm and were expect to be back here at between 7:00 am and 7:45am this morning to continue the task as hand. When they talk about long hours at General Conference believe them. I have really been fortunate, I mentioned that I met a person from the North Georgia Conference and we talked about things than only a person from around my hometown would know. Today, I met a woman from Tuskegee, Alabama, now this is a small world; we spent the entire lunch discussing the South Alabama/West Florida Conference. What a wonder experience it is to talk to persons from your native land. To at lunch we were treated to a concern given by a band ands the music had a jazz flair about it. I have watched the African delegates walk around in some outfits to die for. The vibrant colors are so rich and the style will flatter all. It is amazing the creative that has gone into the making of the crafts that are for sale. The jewelry is fantastic and to listen to how and why the items are made is fascinating. I have seen jewelry made from the seed of a fruit that is native of parts of Africa as well beads made of paper. There are beautiful handbags made from tree bark and artwork carved from different types of wood. When I examined the product, it was obvious that a lot of love and care goes into the making of them. My, it is hard to express how wonderful it feels to be a part of such an international community who has a great love for God.

Today, I have been busy observing a legislative committee and it has been more than an experience to see how the, process works and what the individuals really think about the petitions presented for consideration to be included in our next discipline. It has been also interesting to see what happen to petitions that are rejected and how it affects the author or a person who has a personal interest in the acceptance. Well I could go on and write about the process but you will have to see it to believe it. We as the United Methodist Church have been very warm and welcoming to each, I can feel the love and respect that we have for all of our brothers and sisters each time that I walk into the room or attend a worship service.

As I close now to continue my task, I ask all of you to pray for the General Conference as we are in session because the decisions that are made during this time will affect us for the next four years.

There is Hope

Today has been wild, but first let me tell you about last night. The opening worship for the conference was awesome. The power of the Holy Spirit is with the United Methodist Church. The service was full of hymns and songs of praise. Yes, these are song that can be found in one of many our hymnals, including the Official United Methodist Hymnal. The service was a celebration of our diversity as well as our unity. Passing the peace and sharing Communion with my many brothers and sisters in Christ really left a feeling of spiritual fulfillment in me. The service was had another very special meaning; it was a celebration of the birth of the United Methodist Church. Yes, you are reading this right, I said the birth of the United Methodist Church not the Methodist. On April 23, 1968 (40 years ago) in Dallas, Texas at General Conference the merger took place and we became the United Methodist Church.

Now about today, the conference opened this morning with a worship service which included the Episcopal Address by Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher. Bishop Christopher’s message was about the “Foundation of Hope”. The message along with the again the music was a message of hope. In fact the entire day has been a message of hope. Although the Bishop’s address was good this morning, I must really praise the young people. Their messages really inspired me, because through them I defined know that we do have a future and our future is in good hands.

Today has been an exhausting day, because I have walked from one end of the convention center to the other at least 30 times. I have again admired the cultural garments and the native dances of our brothers and sisters from countries other than the United States. Oh, the dancing, I have not seen praise dancing so eloquently done.

I can’t leave without expressing how hard our United Methodist Women are working up here and the comment that I have heard about the cookies. All of the members to General Conference are enjoying the cookies that our Churches have prepared.