Hello, friends!
I found Internet Access! It wasn't as readily available in our room as I thought, so I ust saved my previous blog and posted it this morning. So, once again, ignore the time stamp - I wrote it last night.
I hope to be posting throughout the day, so check back!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Soaking It All In
Soaking It All In
Day One and I’m already pooped!
Our flight was fine...you know, I get more stressed out about getting to the flight than the actual flight itself. I know some people have a fear of flying. The flying’s the easy part for me. It’s the security, being on time, and praying they don’t lose my luggage that stresses me out! But, everything worked out well, and if I start going into details from 8am this morning, we’ll be here all night, and as it’s 12:30am (Wednesday morning, actually), that should give you some indication that this will be long enough!
Flight, good. Hotel, well....our room’s wonderful, now that we’re actually here. They’re doing construction on the hotel. I’m beginning to think Texas does construction on their buildings like Tennessee does construction on their roads—constantly. The lobby is a mess, and the second floor where Mark’s office is set up is pretty much a mess, too. But the room is nice. It’s a Sheraton, it better be nice! (And even nicer that I don’t have to pay for it! Yea Mark traveling for work!)
It did take us, well, until about an hour ago to actually get into our room. We arrived at the hotel right about noon, maybe 11:30, and the room wasn’t ready yet. We bummed around for about 2 hours, Mark worked on setting up the office, I read some pamphlets that were supposed to tell us where we were and where we could get food (they didn’t), and by about 1:30, the room still wasn’t ready, so we left our luggage behind the counter and headed to the Convention Center.
First order of business, after acquiring food, of course, was to head to the Young Person’s Orientation. This was good - saw several people I was hoping to see here! Also ran into several of Mark’s co-workers, so he got to catch up with them. All good. The orientation was pretty standard, here’s how committees work, things move fast, make your voice be heard, etc. They did introduce the 6 young people who will be giving the first ever Young Person’s Address to General Conference (tomorrow morning (actually, today...ugh) - 11:35am - you can stream it at www.gc2008.umc.org) and you can also check out the blog of one of the speakers at www.generalconference08.blogspot.com.) At the YP orientation they also got people together who were on the same legislative committees so they could talk and know a friendly face when they actually get into the committees tomorrow.
We met a couple of friends for dinner and talked about the recent ongoings in the TN Conference. Then back to the Convention Center for opening worship and the first session.
Worship was really good. I had a hard time deciding whether I really wanted to be behind the scenes creating and supporting the beauty, or if I wanted to be out there leading it. Still haven’t made up my mind, but I do know I don’t want to be in section 308! I definitely need to be more involved. I’m sure that comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me.
After worship, they did a session, which was the first time they’ve evidently done a session after opening worship - they usually wait until the next day. All in effort to get everyone out of here sooner and shorten our time here. It certainly made for a long meeting tonight!
On the agenda was setting of the bar, adopting the rules, report of the General Conference Committee and a couple of other things. It was interesting to see the work of the body begin. Some issues have already come up, though we’ll have to see how they pan out in the committees before we really know anything. Some that came up:
20 Under 30: requiring that GC and the General Board and Agencies have 20% of their representation under the age of 30.
Removal of petition: question was raised as to whether or not someone can withdraw a petition after submitting it but before General Conference (came up because GB of Church and Society withdrew its petition about divesting from Caterpillar)
Reducing GC to 500-600 delegates, as opposed to 900-100
Constitutionality of petitions - this came up, someone referred the petitions regarding 20 under 30 and other minority representation on boards and agencies to the Judicial Council to review their constitutionality
After we set the rules (amazing work...they adopted all 40 rules in one fell swoop!) they did some presentations, the main one on “Sensitivity Training.” I have to say, it was pretty good. They used clips from The Office - hilarious! They took the ones from the inclusiveness training that they did, where the guy talks about being a “HERO”, and Dwight goes on about how to be a hero you actually need to have a super power and have had something tragic happen to you in childhood that needs to be avenged (opened with that one). They took the one where Michael tells Pam she needs to be the cheerleader for their basketball game (used that to talk about women and equality), and they used another clip for inclusiveness in race. It was good...they didn’t talk about age inclusiveness, which was interesting. Though, let me plug in here that the young people were on their toes tonight - they caught several things that needed to be corrected and made some good points. Also voted emphatically for only audible cell phone use to be banned from the floor (texting is in! not that I have it...) The information they shared about inclusiveness of non-English speaking people was very good, though. They were real about it, honest, even in the filmed presentation they had prepared.
Alright, seeing at it’s now 1:00am, and our bus leaves at 7:15 am, I’m going to bed! They young person’s lounge has free internet, I believe, so hopefully I can give updates throughout the day tomorrow instead of waiting until evening. I also am at least planning on taking out my computer and taking notes during the sessions, because there are so many things I wanted to talk about that my tired brain has simply forgotten about. Each day, I’ll just get better and better at this! If you’re reading this, thanks!
Day One and I’m already pooped!
Our flight was fine...you know, I get more stressed out about getting to the flight than the actual flight itself. I know some people have a fear of flying. The flying’s the easy part for me. It’s the security, being on time, and praying they don’t lose my luggage that stresses me out! But, everything worked out well, and if I start going into details from 8am this morning, we’ll be here all night, and as it’s 12:30am (Wednesday morning, actually), that should give you some indication that this will be long enough!
Flight, good. Hotel, well....our room’s wonderful, now that we’re actually here. They’re doing construction on the hotel. I’m beginning to think Texas does construction on their buildings like Tennessee does construction on their roads—constantly. The lobby is a mess, and the second floor where Mark’s office is set up is pretty much a mess, too. But the room is nice. It’s a Sheraton, it better be nice! (And even nicer that I don’t have to pay for it! Yea Mark traveling for work!)
It did take us, well, until about an hour ago to actually get into our room. We arrived at the hotel right about noon, maybe 11:30, and the room wasn’t ready yet. We bummed around for about 2 hours, Mark worked on setting up the office, I read some pamphlets that were supposed to tell us where we were and where we could get food (they didn’t), and by about 1:30, the room still wasn’t ready, so we left our luggage behind the counter and headed to the Convention Center.
First order of business, after acquiring food, of course, was to head to the Young Person’s Orientation. This was good - saw several people I was hoping to see here! Also ran into several of Mark’s co-workers, so he got to catch up with them. All good. The orientation was pretty standard, here’s how committees work, things move fast, make your voice be heard, etc. They did introduce the 6 young people who will be giving the first ever Young Person’s Address to General Conference (tomorrow morning (actually, today...ugh) - 11:35am - you can stream it at www.gc2008.umc.org) and you can also check out the blog of one of the speakers at www.generalconference08.blogspot.com.) At the YP orientation they also got people together who were on the same legislative committees so they could talk and know a friendly face when they actually get into the committees tomorrow.
We met a couple of friends for dinner and talked about the recent ongoings in the TN Conference. Then back to the Convention Center for opening worship and the first session.
Worship was really good. I had a hard time deciding whether I really wanted to be behind the scenes creating and supporting the beauty, or if I wanted to be out there leading it. Still haven’t made up my mind, but I do know I don’t want to be in section 308! I definitely need to be more involved. I’m sure that comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me.
After worship, they did a session, which was the first time they’ve evidently done a session after opening worship - they usually wait until the next day. All in effort to get everyone out of here sooner and shorten our time here. It certainly made for a long meeting tonight!
On the agenda was setting of the bar, adopting the rules, report of the General Conference Committee and a couple of other things. It was interesting to see the work of the body begin. Some issues have already come up, though we’ll have to see how they pan out in the committees before we really know anything. Some that came up:
20 Under 30: requiring that GC and the General Board and Agencies have 20% of their representation under the age of 30.
Removal of petition: question was raised as to whether or not someone can withdraw a petition after submitting it but before General Conference (came up because GB of Church and Society withdrew its petition about divesting from Caterpillar)
Reducing GC to 500-600 delegates, as opposed to 900-100
Constitutionality of petitions - this came up, someone referred the petitions regarding 20 under 30 and other minority representation on boards and agencies to the Judicial Council to review their constitutionality
After we set the rules (amazing work...they adopted all 40 rules in one fell swoop!) they did some presentations, the main one on “Sensitivity Training.” I have to say, it was pretty good. They used clips from The Office - hilarious! They took the ones from the inclusiveness training that they did, where the guy talks about being a “HERO”, and Dwight goes on about how to be a hero you actually need to have a super power and have had something tragic happen to you in childhood that needs to be avenged (opened with that one). They took the one where Michael tells Pam she needs to be the cheerleader for their basketball game (used that to talk about women and equality), and they used another clip for inclusiveness in race. It was good...they didn’t talk about age inclusiveness, which was interesting. Though, let me plug in here that the young people were on their toes tonight - they caught several things that needed to be corrected and made some good points. Also voted emphatically for only audible cell phone use to be banned from the floor (texting is in! not that I have it...) The information they shared about inclusiveness of non-English speaking people was very good, though. They were real about it, honest, even in the filmed presentation they had prepared.
Alright, seeing at it’s now 1:00am, and our bus leaves at 7:15 am, I’m going to bed! They young person’s lounge has free internet, I believe, so hopefully I can give updates throughout the day tomorrow instead of waiting until evening. I also am at least planning on taking out my computer and taking notes during the sessions, because there are so many things I wanted to talk about that my tired brain has simply forgotten about. Each day, I’ll just get better and better at this! If you’re reading this, thanks!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
General Conference
I'm headed to Fort Worth, TX tomorrow morning for General Conference! I'm pretty excited. It'll be an interesting event, as always. I haven't read many of the petitions coming forth, but there are some major issues. Of course, the staple, homosexuality. But they're also dealing with our relationship to Caterpillar and basically the structure of the UMC. There are evidently several petitions to change jurisdictional lines in the US, to do away with one General Conference and have each country act as its own General Conference, and various other things.
I attended GC four years ago for about 3 days, just as an observer. I'm going probably as an observer again, but as second reserve, I may actually get to sit in on something, depending on how everything works out. I'll be there for a week this time, so hopefully I'll get to see a lot!
I'm planning to get there in time to go to the "Women Delegates' Briefing" and the "Young Adult Delegates' Briefing" tomorrow. I'm interested to see what they say at these, especially the Women's one (mainly b/c there isn't a "Men Delegate's Briefing").
You have to pay for internet at the Convention Center, so I'm probably not going to have access to that. But, I think I'll have access at the hotel at night, so I'll post my thoughts from the day each evening (though, probably very late, because I don't think I'll be getting back to the hotel until after 11pm).
Thank you all who have supported me going! It'll be an adventure!
I attended GC four years ago for about 3 days, just as an observer. I'm going probably as an observer again, but as second reserve, I may actually get to sit in on something, depending on how everything works out. I'll be there for a week this time, so hopefully I'll get to see a lot!
I'm planning to get there in time to go to the "Women Delegates' Briefing" and the "Young Adult Delegates' Briefing" tomorrow. I'm interested to see what they say at these, especially the Women's one (mainly b/c there isn't a "Men Delegate's Briefing").
You have to pay for internet at the Convention Center, so I'm probably not going to have access to that. But, I think I'll have access at the hotel at night, so I'll post my thoughts from the day each evening (though, probably very late, because I don't think I'll be getting back to the hotel until after 11pm).
Thank you all who have supported me going! It'll be an adventure!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
I've Got Something Better
I saw my second Nooma video Wednesday night. It was called Kickball. It's about not getting what you want. If you're familiar with the series, it's by Rob Bell, and he talks about something each of us face in our lives, and relates it to a personal story or something, and then connects it to our relationship with God. Before we watched the video, the leader asked us to imagine something that we really want, that we've asked for, but haven't yet gotten. Of course, the first thing that comes to my mind is a new job.
I have a great job. It pays well, has great benefits, is extremely flexible, and will look great on a resume. But it's not what I'm supposed to do for the rest of my life. I'm not meant to spend my days behind a computer screen in a brown cubicle. But I just can't figure out what it is that I'm supposed to be doing. But, we don't need to get into that now. Suffice it to say, when I'm asked about what it is that I really want, but haven't gotten yet, the first thing that comes to mind is a new job. THE job, the one that challenges me just right, allows me to use all of my God-given gifts, and that invigorates me, instead of leaving me exhausted.
In Kickball, he tells about how he and his wife took their son to the mall. And as they walked down the mall, they came to a kiosk that was selling all these toys. And his son saw a toy that he wanted, a ball attached to a string that you attach to your arm and then throw, and it comes back and you catch it (if you can stop it from hitting you in the face). Now, his son's two and a half. And, like all two and a half year olds, he didn't really understand reasoning. Rob talked about how he and his wife had talked about getting their son a kickball, and they were planning to go to the sports store after their trip to the mall to get him one. But, of course, that means nothing to this two and a half year old standing in the mall, begging and crying for the toy that is in his sights.
So he tried to reason with his son, telling him that he doesn't really want this ball, that it'll just get all tangled and won't be any fun to play with, and that they're leaving to get something better.
Rob then talked about how there's always something we want. And we always think we know what we want, what's best for us. But God, God knows what we need, and when we need it. God is (yet again), like the parent who knows there's more, something better waiting just across the street.
After the video, we talked about it, fairly shallowly, because it's just an hour session with drop-in people - no real covenant group formation or anything like that. But to end the session, the leader asked us to close our eyes and imagine ourselves standing at the kiosk, looking at what it is that we want. And she leads us through this guided imgaining process.
So, I imagine myself standing at the kiosk. On the second shelf down is my perfect job. I don't even know what it is, but it's wrapped in one of those plastic packages that's impossible to get into. I reach out and pick it up. I'm holding it in both hands, gazing at its beauty. This job, this true meaning and fulfillment in my life is in my hands. It could be mine.
Then, God places his hand on my shoulder and says, "No. I've got something better."
I've got something better.
Then God puts the job back on the shelf, picks me up, and carries me out of the mall.
Tears are coming to my eyes, and I try to hide them because I don't really want to get into this right now with others. But it hit me again. God's got something better for me. I don't know what it is, but it's better. My waiting is not for naught. Some day, I have to trust, something better will be here.
It's so frustrating, because I'm such an impatient person. I want it now. It's in my hand, for heaven's sake! But I continue to be told and reminded that where I am is where I'm supposed to be.
So here I am. Until it's time for the something better, I'm here. And all I can pray for is that God will continue to give me the strength to do what it is that God wants me to do, which is obviously to stay right where I already am. So here I am.
I have a great job. It pays well, has great benefits, is extremely flexible, and will look great on a resume. But it's not what I'm supposed to do for the rest of my life. I'm not meant to spend my days behind a computer screen in a brown cubicle. But I just can't figure out what it is that I'm supposed to be doing. But, we don't need to get into that now. Suffice it to say, when I'm asked about what it is that I really want, but haven't gotten yet, the first thing that comes to mind is a new job. THE job, the one that challenges me just right, allows me to use all of my God-given gifts, and that invigorates me, instead of leaving me exhausted.
In Kickball, he tells about how he and his wife took their son to the mall. And as they walked down the mall, they came to a kiosk that was selling all these toys. And his son saw a toy that he wanted, a ball attached to a string that you attach to your arm and then throw, and it comes back and you catch it (if you can stop it from hitting you in the face). Now, his son's two and a half. And, like all two and a half year olds, he didn't really understand reasoning. Rob talked about how he and his wife had talked about getting their son a kickball, and they were planning to go to the sports store after their trip to the mall to get him one. But, of course, that means nothing to this two and a half year old standing in the mall, begging and crying for the toy that is in his sights.
So he tried to reason with his son, telling him that he doesn't really want this ball, that it'll just get all tangled and won't be any fun to play with, and that they're leaving to get something better.
Rob then talked about how there's always something we want. And we always think we know what we want, what's best for us. But God, God knows what we need, and when we need it. God is (yet again), like the parent who knows there's more, something better waiting just across the street.
After the video, we talked about it, fairly shallowly, because it's just an hour session with drop-in people - no real covenant group formation or anything like that. But to end the session, the leader asked us to close our eyes and imagine ourselves standing at the kiosk, looking at what it is that we want. And she leads us through this guided imgaining process.
So, I imagine myself standing at the kiosk. On the second shelf down is my perfect job. I don't even know what it is, but it's wrapped in one of those plastic packages that's impossible to get into. I reach out and pick it up. I'm holding it in both hands, gazing at its beauty. This job, this true meaning and fulfillment in my life is in my hands. It could be mine.
Then, God places his hand on my shoulder and says, "No. I've got something better."
I've got something better.
Then God puts the job back on the shelf, picks me up, and carries me out of the mall.
Tears are coming to my eyes, and I try to hide them because I don't really want to get into this right now with others. But it hit me again. God's got something better for me. I don't know what it is, but it's better. My waiting is not for naught. Some day, I have to trust, something better will be here.
It's so frustrating, because I'm such an impatient person. I want it now. It's in my hand, for heaven's sake! But I continue to be told and reminded that where I am is where I'm supposed to be.
So here I am. Until it's time for the something better, I'm here. And all I can pray for is that God will continue to give me the strength to do what it is that God wants me to do, which is obviously to stay right where I already am. So here I am.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Response
I went to the "listening session" Monday night (April 7) with the Bishop and Loyd Mabry. It was...interesting.
Gavin has posted an audio of it at his blog, gavoweb. I'd encourage you to listen to it and see what you think.
I'm having a hard time. I appreciated the bishop's apology. It disturbs me that he's trying so hard to distance himself from the decision that has been made. I guess it's good, because he knows it was handled badly, and he's trying to not have the blame fall on him, but as the bishop, shouldn't it? It's apparent from other conversations that the bishop wasn't getting the whole story.
And then there's Rev. Mabry. He, apparently, doesn't see anything wrong with what happened. He still thinks he did the right thing, in the right way, and isn't willing to apologize, even though several people opened the door for him to do so.
I did speak, though I don't know how helpful it was because I got emotional and cried. My concern is with Rev. Mabry's response - that he doesn't think he did anything wrong. My concern is when something this atrocious happens, and the person at fault isn't willing to admit fault and apologize, then it can and will happen again.
I got involved in the youth ministry of the Tennessee conference when I was in the 7th grade. I've worked on committees; design teams; district, annual, jurisdictional, and general level committees for over 11 years, supporting the youth and young adult ministries of the TN conference. My mother has been the Coordinator for the children's ministries of the TN conference, working and supporting the ministries in that area. And, out of nowhere, the director of Connectional Ministries decides everything we've been doing is wrong. What does that say? It invalidates me, personally. They kept saying this wasn't personal, that we don't need to make this personal. They were saying that we shouldn't make this about the people who were let go, but it is personal - it's about me. It's about the ministries and missions I've devoted my life to for years, and in one fell swoop, they've made me feel like everything I've worked for over the past 11 years is worthless.
And, back to my concern, if those in charge don't see that they've done anything wrong, what if I do get on board with this "new vision." Say I move past this hurt and continue to be involved, and devote the next 11 years to this new outreach idea to at-risk, unchurched children and youth. What's to say that in 11 years, someone else, or even the same people, come along and wipe out everything we've been doing and usher in something new, following some new buzzword, and invalidate us once again.
Something I kept hearing was numbers. Rev. Mabry must have spouted off 10 different statistics, pointing out various "problems" and so forth. The problem is, ministry is a process, a journey, if you will. Ministry can't be about the numbers. It's not quantity, it's quality. We have to be offering quality ministry - relationships, care, grace, truth. Now, I will grant that the minsitries of the TN conference aren't as good as they could be. There's always room for improvement, and I know there are some who don't feel involved or inluded in the creation and development of the programs. But that can be changed without completely erasing everything that's going on and starting over. And that's not what I'm hearing as the reason behind these moves. The reason is that only 5% of people living in Middle Tennessee are members of United Methodist Churches. If we don't have numbers, what we're doing isn't working.
I feel worthless. And I feel helpless, unable to do anything to change the situation.
The petition is still going to be presented at Annual Conference, so hopefully we'll talk about it there. Other than that, I'm at a loss for what to do.
I apologize - you'd think that nine days after the meeting I'd have my thoughts a little more organized. But with being sick (I had an ear infection for 3 days before and five days after the meeting - fun) and trying to get caught up at work, I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about this. And part of me, I think, is still in shock, or devastated, and I just don't want to think about it. I mean, who really wants to dwell on the feeling of worthlessness and spend her free time mulling over conflict? I, personally, just want to go to bed.
Gavin has posted an audio of it at his blog, gavoweb. I'd encourage you to listen to it and see what you think.
I'm having a hard time. I appreciated the bishop's apology. It disturbs me that he's trying so hard to distance himself from the decision that has been made. I guess it's good, because he knows it was handled badly, and he's trying to not have the blame fall on him, but as the bishop, shouldn't it? It's apparent from other conversations that the bishop wasn't getting the whole story.
And then there's Rev. Mabry. He, apparently, doesn't see anything wrong with what happened. He still thinks he did the right thing, in the right way, and isn't willing to apologize, even though several people opened the door for him to do so.
I did speak, though I don't know how helpful it was because I got emotional and cried. My concern is with Rev. Mabry's response - that he doesn't think he did anything wrong. My concern is when something this atrocious happens, and the person at fault isn't willing to admit fault and apologize, then it can and will happen again.
I got involved in the youth ministry of the Tennessee conference when I was in the 7th grade. I've worked on committees; design teams; district, annual, jurisdictional, and general level committees for over 11 years, supporting the youth and young adult ministries of the TN conference. My mother has been the Coordinator for the children's ministries of the TN conference, working and supporting the ministries in that area. And, out of nowhere, the director of Connectional Ministries decides everything we've been doing is wrong. What does that say? It invalidates me, personally. They kept saying this wasn't personal, that we don't need to make this personal. They were saying that we shouldn't make this about the people who were let go, but it is personal - it's about me. It's about the ministries and missions I've devoted my life to for years, and in one fell swoop, they've made me feel like everything I've worked for over the past 11 years is worthless.
And, back to my concern, if those in charge don't see that they've done anything wrong, what if I do get on board with this "new vision." Say I move past this hurt and continue to be involved, and devote the next 11 years to this new outreach idea to at-risk, unchurched children and youth. What's to say that in 11 years, someone else, or even the same people, come along and wipe out everything we've been doing and usher in something new, following some new buzzword, and invalidate us once again.
Something I kept hearing was numbers. Rev. Mabry must have spouted off 10 different statistics, pointing out various "problems" and so forth. The problem is, ministry is a process, a journey, if you will. Ministry can't be about the numbers. It's not quantity, it's quality. We have to be offering quality ministry - relationships, care, grace, truth. Now, I will grant that the minsitries of the TN conference aren't as good as they could be. There's always room for improvement, and I know there are some who don't feel involved or inluded in the creation and development of the programs. But that can be changed without completely erasing everything that's going on and starting over. And that's not what I'm hearing as the reason behind these moves. The reason is that only 5% of people living in Middle Tennessee are members of United Methodist Churches. If we don't have numbers, what we're doing isn't working.
I feel worthless. And I feel helpless, unable to do anything to change the situation.
The petition is still going to be presented at Annual Conference, so hopefully we'll talk about it there. Other than that, I'm at a loss for what to do.
I apologize - you'd think that nine days after the meeting I'd have my thoughts a little more organized. But with being sick (I had an ear infection for 3 days before and five days after the meeting - fun) and trying to get caught up at work, I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about this. And part of me, I think, is still in shock, or devastated, and I just don't want to think about it. I mean, who really wants to dwell on the feeling of worthlessness and spend her free time mulling over conflict? I, personally, just want to go to bed.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
My Letter to the Bishop
Lots has been going on around here, and since I don't have very many readers of this blog, I'm assuming if you're here, you already know what's going on. So, here's my letter to the bishop that I e-mailed last night and will be snail mailing today if I don't get some sort of response:
Bishop Wills and Rev. Mabry,
I have personally experienced many emotions over the past days as I have tried to understand the recent events of the Tennessee Conference. At first I was angry that two friends in ministry of mine had been treated in a way that left them upset. Then I became gravely concerned about the future of the children, youth, and young adult ministries of the Tennessee Conference. And finally, I became very saddened at the lack of communication that I have witnessed.
I believe that the situation with the program ministries of the Tennessee Conference is one of the gravest disasters our conference has ever made. Not because Beth Morris and Susan Groseclose are no longer employed by the Tennessee Conference (though I do mourn that fact), but because there has been a systematic breakdown in the organization of the Tennessee Conference.
My husband, Mark Hagewood, and I drafted a resolution that we will be sending to the Annual Conference for inclusion in the Pre-Conference booklet to be discussed during Annual Conference that affirms the importance of these age-level ministries in the Conference and calls for these positions to be reinstated. You can read this resolution online at www.ipetitions.com/petition/TNUMCProgrammingPositions/index.html. I do not know what the outcome of this resolution will be, but I will do my best to see that this conversation is had at Annual Conference, whatever transpires between now and then.
I have been reading the e-mails and blogs that have circulated over the past few days as we try to understand what has happened, and the bottom line is, we don't. I have heard from several people who have spoken with you both directly, but I am very interested to hear from you myself before I make my own decisions about the future. The past is another story.
I am open to change. I understand that the way we've been doing ministry is no longer cutting it in our world, as the church loses members left and right every year. Change keeps us focused on the goal. We need to be looking forward, developing leaders, reaching out to others in new and innovative ways.
But the keyword here is WE. In the responses I have heard from people who have talked with you, you have mentioned a new vision, a re-structuring. It is my understanding that vision comes from the community, is embraced by those involved, and shared with those affected. A vision is not a top-down mandate, where the one in charge tells others what their vision will be. Your words say vision—your actions say agenda.
Even if the vision you have for the children, youth, and young adult ministries of the Tennessee Conference is a wonderful, God-inspired vision, the path you have taken to "share" that vision has alienated the very people you should need and want as a part of that vision. I am appalled that not one of the persons currently active in children's, youth, or young adult ministry has to this point even been told officially of what has occurred. We spend a great deal of time and energy working to sustain and develop the ministries of this conference, and I personally feel completely shut out of the current process. The connectionalism of the United Methodist Church works when we use it to its fullest ability. It's a system set in place for the furthering of visions and plans. When you go outside of the system, it dilutes it, and renders it useless for the future.
I have experience with the political system of the United Methodist Church. I've been a delegate to Jurisdictional Conference twice now, a member of the Annual Conference for nine years, and served on the Annual Conference and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference Youth organizations. My father is a pastor in this conference. I know politics are involved, and that we often hold our cards close when we don't trust the other people involved. But how are we to be in ministry with people we don't trust?
As I write this letter, 278 people have signed the resolution in agreement of having the positions reinstated. Whatever the vision for the future is, it is imperative that we have staff persons who see that the present transforms into the future. We cannot place a break in time by halting what is currently going on with vague plans in the future to start up again with something new. Ministry is an ever-flowing experience, and we all know change in the church happens slowly. While a new vision for the future may be called for and interpreted, we cannot dismiss the past and present for the sake of that future.
I hope that you will engage me in your conversations with those concerned about the ministries of the Tennessee Conference. In seeking God's will, we will, together, find God's presence and vision for our church.
Bishop Wills and Rev. Mabry,
I have personally experienced many emotions over the past days as I have tried to understand the recent events of the Tennessee Conference. At first I was angry that two friends in ministry of mine had been treated in a way that left them upset. Then I became gravely concerned about the future of the children, youth, and young adult ministries of the Tennessee Conference. And finally, I became very saddened at the lack of communication that I have witnessed.
I believe that the situation with the program ministries of the Tennessee Conference is one of the gravest disasters our conference has ever made. Not because Beth Morris and Susan Groseclose are no longer employed by the Tennessee Conference (though I do mourn that fact), but because there has been a systematic breakdown in the organization of the Tennessee Conference.
My husband, Mark Hagewood, and I drafted a resolution that we will be sending to the Annual Conference for inclusion in the Pre-Conference booklet to be discussed during Annual Conference that affirms the importance of these age-level ministries in the Conference and calls for these positions to be reinstated. You can read this resolution online at www.ipetitions.com/petition/TNUMCProgrammingPositions/index.html. I do not know what the outcome of this resolution will be, but I will do my best to see that this conversation is had at Annual Conference, whatever transpires between now and then.
I have been reading the e-mails and blogs that have circulated over the past few days as we try to understand what has happened, and the bottom line is, we don't. I have heard from several people who have spoken with you both directly, but I am very interested to hear from you myself before I make my own decisions about the future. The past is another story.
I am open to change. I understand that the way we've been doing ministry is no longer cutting it in our world, as the church loses members left and right every year. Change keeps us focused on the goal. We need to be looking forward, developing leaders, reaching out to others in new and innovative ways.
But the keyword here is WE. In the responses I have heard from people who have talked with you, you have mentioned a new vision, a re-structuring. It is my understanding that vision comes from the community, is embraced by those involved, and shared with those affected. A vision is not a top-down mandate, where the one in charge tells others what their vision will be. Your words say vision—your actions say agenda.
Even if the vision you have for the children, youth, and young adult ministries of the Tennessee Conference is a wonderful, God-inspired vision, the path you have taken to "share" that vision has alienated the very people you should need and want as a part of that vision. I am appalled that not one of the persons currently active in children's, youth, or young adult ministry has to this point even been told officially of what has occurred. We spend a great deal of time and energy working to sustain and develop the ministries of this conference, and I personally feel completely shut out of the current process. The connectionalism of the United Methodist Church works when we use it to its fullest ability. It's a system set in place for the furthering of visions and plans. When you go outside of the system, it dilutes it, and renders it useless for the future.
I have experience with the political system of the United Methodist Church. I've been a delegate to Jurisdictional Conference twice now, a member of the Annual Conference for nine years, and served on the Annual Conference and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference Youth organizations. My father is a pastor in this conference. I know politics are involved, and that we often hold our cards close when we don't trust the other people involved. But how are we to be in ministry with people we don't trust?
As I write this letter, 278 people have signed the resolution in agreement of having the positions reinstated. Whatever the vision for the future is, it is imperative that we have staff persons who see that the present transforms into the future. We cannot place a break in time by halting what is currently going on with vague plans in the future to start up again with something new. Ministry is an ever-flowing experience, and we all know change in the church happens slowly. While a new vision for the future may be called for and interpreted, we cannot dismiss the past and present for the sake of that future.
I hope that you will engage me in your conversations with those concerned about the ministries of the Tennessee Conference. In seeking God's will, we will, together, find God's presence and vision for our church.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sign this petition!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TNUMCProgrammingPositions/
The Programming Positions of the Tennessee Conference have been eliminated. The United Methodist Church is in a leadership crisis, and these ministries directly impact the development of current and future leadership in our church. If you've ever been affected by the programs (children, youth, young adult) of the Tennessee Conference, sign this petition to have these positions reinstated.
The Programming Positions of the Tennessee Conference have been eliminated. The United Methodist Church is in a leadership crisis, and these ministries directly impact the development of current and future leadership in our church. If you've ever been affected by the programs (children, youth, young adult) of the Tennessee Conference, sign this petition to have these positions reinstated.
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