Annual Conference 2013 - Day 1

So what is Annual Conference like? It's a lot different than it was when I began attending twenty-some years ago. For one, we're much more high-tech (or we are when the tech folks are paying attention) and there are a lot more people. When I began, we were the North Indiana Conference, covering just the northern half of the state. Now we are the Indiana Conference, and so we have laity and clergy from every church in the state. That's a lot of United Methodists to descend on downtown Indianapolis!

My first day was filled with seeing people I haven't seen in a while, talking with some about what's happening in Portage, and getting to connect with some good friends. I got to attend the luncheon for alumni and friends of Asbury Seminary, and while the food itself left something to be desired (box lunch, really, for that price?), the fellowship was good. And we closed our time together by singing the unofficial (come on, Asbury, when are we going to make that official?) Asbury anthem, the great hymn by Charles Wesley, "And Can It Be?" I love that hymn, having first discovered it at an InterVarsity camp when I was in college (before I knew it was a "Methodist" hymn), but it's best sung by a group of Asburians.

And can it be, that I should gain

An interest in the Savior's blood?

Died he for me, who caused his pain?

For me, who him to death pursued?

Amazing love, how can it be

That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing love, how can it be

That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

From that luncheon, we went into a brief time of worship and an opening business meeting—mostly, it seems, to set up and prepare people for the full business meeting tomorrow. As I sat in the Convention Center, I kept wondering about the folks who work for the center, at least some of whom, I presume, are likely not Christians. What do they see when they watch us talk about the business of the church? Is there any way in which they see, in this conference, the light, love and hope of Jesus Christ? I wonder.

The final meeting of the day, for me, was the clergy session, at which we vote on retirements and new pastors. I tweeted about some frightening numbers: 56 retirees this year, 13 ordinands (those who have been through the three-year provisional process and will now become fully ordained pastors), and 10 to be commissioned (the first step toward ordination). And we closed 12 churches this year, plus combined others into what we call "two-point charges" (two churches served by one pastor). Those numbers are bound to catch up with us in one way or another eventually.

At the end of the clergy session, we heard a message from heaven...literally. Rev. Stan Buck, a good and faithful pastor, died this last year from a brain tumor. Stan had stood on stage last year at this time and shared he was in remission...then the cancer came back with a vengeance. And so, before he died, he recorded a message to his brothers and sisters among the clergy: don't worry about anything except being faithful to Jesus. Strive to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And then he prayed for us. In the midst of those holy moments, we also sang this song:

And, Lord, haste the day, when my faith shall be sight

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend

Even so, it is well with my soul!

It is well with my soul...

It is well, it is well with my soul!

And so may it be with yours as well.