Troubled Water

I have big shoes to fill and a tall order, literally. I am the reserve delegate tonight sitting in for Ken. So in case you have not heard, we have had quite the afternoon. All of our work for the past two weeks in regards to the restructuring of the United Methodist Church was all declared unconstitutional by the Judicial Council.

It felt like a blow to the gut. You could hear the gasps echoing off the cement floor, bleachers and the faces of the Bishops. Dismay and anger. Everyone agrees that our church needs to change in order to be relevant and mission minded to make disciples for Jesus Christ. We have a hurting world that desperately needs to know the healing love of saving grace. Somehow we have to be a missional movement as Wesley encouraged. It feels like we are moving through mud. Slow and messy. Stuck and spinning wheels.

I know that in discussions such as this, in plotting out the plans for how to accomplish turning this ship, it will always be up for criticism and will always lay blame on one agency, group, or caucus. General Conference has taught me one thing. It is easy to pick ideas and people apart. It is easy to rip and tear and make enemies who disagree. It is easy to overlook what is good about the differing ideas, people agencies. The level of distrust among this body is thick. It is a heavy fog of suspicion and we forget to see that everyone here loves Jesus and Christ's church. We even love the United Methodist Church. The rumor is that this has been one of the hardest conferences in memory. The votes are indicative that we have a soulful problem. Our mission has to be more about the restorative love and healing of our communities and our lives more than the temptations of power, and the idea that everything has to be the way "I" want it to be in order to be a part of the community. Relationships are hard. And without the human will to allow to be directed by a God whose love draws all to the Table for good, relationships are even harder. Let's do something radical and nurture the best in each of us. Believe in the best in each of us. Love endures all things, hopes all things. Love never ends.