General Conference Preview

Once every four years, delegates representing the entirety of the world-wide United Methodist Church gather to worship, discuss the myriad issues facing the church, and to set policy to govern how the church as a whole will operate during the following four years.  Because it is a top to bottom look at the church, this is an exciting time.  However, the vast number of issues that have to be addressed during the 10 day conference is almost overwhelming.  Here is a summary of the biggest issues facing the church:

• Being more Worldwide:  United Methodist Churches in the US have declined in membership and attendance for the last forty years while the church in Africa and the Philippines have grown.  Thus, 40% of all the delegates at this year's conference will come from outside the states.  As we consider how to organize ourselves, increased emphasis is being placed on giving leaders from outside the US a proportional place at the decision making table.

• Restructuring:  Driven by the continued decline in the US church, a major restructuring has been proposed.  We currently have 13 different agencies  that help to conduct ministry throughout the world.  The most prominent restructuring plan would combine most of the agencies into one body and then appoint 15 individuals to oversee their work.  Considerable concern has been raised as to whether that is shrinking the church too far and whether we will still have a diverse range of voices giving input into the direction of the church if power is invested in the hands of so few.

• Clergy Effectiveness:   One of the most controversial proposals is a major change to the relationship between clergy and the conference.  Currently, clergy agree to be appointed wherever in the conference the bishop deems they are best needed.  In return, upon ordination, clergy have been guaranteed that they would receive a full-time appointment if they remained in good standing.  Some have expressed concern that this allows clergy who are no longer effective to remain in pulpits and that as the church continues to shrink, we may not have places to put all clergy.  Many clergy have protested to say that the growth of a church has far more to do with the attitudes and openness of the people in the church and that removing the guarantee without giving the clergy a choice of where to serve is fundamentally unfair.

• Social Issues:  The UMC is a living organism that constantly tries to sense where God is calling us to be on social issues.  As such, at General Conference we adopt both policy and position statements that reflect where we are as a church.   This year, the most prominent issue regards working toward inclusivity in the church (with sexuality and sexual identity being the most debated).  Furthermore, issues of immigration, abortion, health care, economic justice and Peace in the Middle East will receive prominent discussion.

I will be attending the conference as a legislative monitor on behalf of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition and have been tasked specifically to work on the restructuring issue.   The hours will be long, but I look forward to being part of the discussion about how we can be church for many years to come.  I will appreciate your prayers and support.  You can follow all the action at General Conference at gc2012.umc.org.