Annual Conference - A Christ-like Attitude

Phillipians 2:1-5 (NIV) "Imitating Christ's Humility"
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness, and com passion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

This learner was asked to attend the United Methodist Annual Conference June 5-8, 2009 in Springfield, MO. It was a totally awesome experience on my faith journey. A friend recently said during lunch that, "...attending this conference is an opportunity every United Methodist should have." Amen! I am thankful I was asked to attend and that the church trusted me with their vote on some important items that will b e discussed in later posts. In the United Methodist Church the term "annual conference" can refer to a regional body (we are part of the Missouri Conference), the central office professional staff associated with that regional body, or, as in this case, the yearly meeting of all clergy members and an equal number of lay members selected from the local churches. The purpose is to share information and strategies, but also to transact business of the Conference. It lasts from 3-5 days and is presided over by the Bishop.

The theme for the conference this year: Somewhere Out There: The Outwardly Focused Congregation.

I identified with the theme somewhere out there immediately as I walked up to the table to pick up my name tag and found there was not one. So we moved to another line. I had received information for two months so I knew they knew I was out there...

Bishop Schnase opened the conference with a warm welcome and introduced Bishop Joaquina Nhanala, newly elected Bishop of Mozambique. Our conference has been outwardly focused for some time through the Mozambique Initiative. The Bishop pointed out that the goal of every conference is to comfort and strengthen one another through our relationships, and presented these five expectations for congregations: Christ-centered, Fruitfulness, Excellence, Accountability and Collaboration. Ways to achieve these expectations were explained and demonstrated throughout the conference.

Embrace the Mystery and Float in the Unknowable Sea

One of the themes of our study of the Five Practices was doing your best and then having faith that it was good enough. That related back to a PBS special that we watched some time ago. "Frontline: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero" was very difficult to watch, but there was one idea that really stuck with me. One of the clergy discussed the fact that we would probably never know why these events happened and that was a part of the nature of God. We - humans that we are - cannot know and understand everything. And that is OK. We need to embrace the mystery of the universe and God - accept that it is and that is all. Embrace the mystery. Easier said than done.

We have all been in some difficult positions that made us cry out like Job. Why? Why me? Whether our hard times were financial, health related or had to do with relationships we all know what it is to feel persecuted, downtrodden, frustrated and even hopeless. We think that if only we knew there was a purpose in our tribulations, if only we could know why we were suffering it would be more bearable. We hunger for the control and certainty that we mistakenly think such knowledge would give us. Occasionally we have experiences and insights that lead us to an understanding of why we pass through difficulties, but more often than not we simply don't know why bad things happen.

In my imagination embracing the mystery is a bit like swimming in the ocean. You can float in the water, but lots of things are going on around you all the time. If you try to fight against the current you can get into trouble. There are some things you can do to direct your progress, but it is easier to give yourself up to the current and let it take you where it will. We simply need to have faith that it will all be OK in the end, God loves us and wants what is best for us. We just need to stay out of the way, embrace the mystery, and float in the Unknowable Sea. Easier said than done...