Since I've asked my group to keep a journal, I spoze I should do the same. "My Group" is the ten or so people from Williams Institutional CME Church who will be traveling together to the Connectional Youth and Young Adult Conference in Orlando, FL.
This is one of the CME Church's quadrennial conferences. This one is geared towards youth, ages 12-17, and young adults, ages 18-35. Its purpose is to challenge youth, young adults, and church leaders "to consider new and prophetic ways of ministry in the areas of formation, leadership, nurture and mission."
I'm all for that. It's a bit disheartening sometimes to look objectively at something so emotion-packed as ones religious beliefs or practice. If an omnipotent God is the background upon which we consider our reflections, they will always fall short. Someone said that all we do is "pay money to go to meetings to pay money." That may be a slightly simplistic way of expressing it, but many of our connectional meetings do seem to lack any focus other than a fiscal one.
For me, the issue is two-fold. On the one hand, I desire to be a good steward of the gifts God has bestowed upon me. It's getting harder and harder to justify travelling somewhere, staying in a hotel for five days, for -- what, exactly? There is a certain value in fellowshipping with people, but it's hard to fellowship when everyone's in meetings. And I can't help but think that the meetings would be more democratic, more effective, and more purposeful if they were done via teleconference or satellite or something -- instead of having people spend money on hotels, why not invest that money in the local churches and the local church infrastructure? You could then have congregants gather at the local churches, and have the meetings that way. Not only would it be more cost-effective, but it would be a step towards lessening the digital divide that exists in our communities.
Perhaps that would also allow us to address the second issue I see with our connectional meeting structure. That is the substance. While there has been an attempt of late to provide workshops and sessions for the conference attendees, I have to say that much of the thematic organization of our larger conferences is lost on me. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, I'm saying it's lost on me.
I'd like to see a variety of conferences offered throughout the year, on a variety of themes. I'd like the ability to choose which conference I attend, and for there to be some tangible benefit to attending the conference. For instance, when I go to AAR, I get to meet people who are potential employers, and I get to go to lectures and workshops by people in a variety of fields. The result is that I can engage in detailed discussion in areas of interest, or I can sit, listen, and learn about other areas. This makes the conference worthwhile before we get to the discounted books in the basement.
While I'm ranting, it seems to me like the only time Jesus got mad was when He was headed into the temple, and the guys were sitting around selling animals (presumably for sacrifice) and changing money. How is that different from our connectional conferences where, to get from session to session, one has to run a gauntlet of vendors? Just like the guys were sitting around outside the temple selling animals for sacrifice, these vendors are selling any kind of junk they think they can -- as long as it has "Jesus" plastered on it, or has a pseudo-religious saying or logo. While I've certainly been guilty of impulse buying, and while the case could probably be made that they offer Christian-themed goods that are not readily found in other places, I can't help but wonder if those vendors aren't taking advantage of folks who 1) have poor impulse control (myself included); or 2) somehow are confusing their faith with superstition, are believing their salvation to be a result of their actions, or are otherwise equating the purchase of Christian-themed goods with any aspect of their individual faith journeys.
But nobody ever challenges having the vendors there, and nobody ever draws a parallel between the vendors outside our meetings (or outside our places of worship, since we gather for worship every day at these meetings) and the vendors that Jesus whipped away from the temple.
It would probably be a good idea to outline what I'm going to say before I start blogging. There was some other point I wanted to make, but now it escapes me. My hope and expectation are that the attendees at this conference, with the Isaiah 43:18-19 "Doing a New Thing" theme -- my hope and expectation is that the attendees will come away emboldened, equipped, and empowered to do a New Thing in our CME Church.
On another note, I spoke with Dr. Moody-Shepherd just now. Not only will I be teaching the online Church History class for the Certificate Program in the fall, but I've just found out that the course offering she has for the Holy Land trip is through the same group with whom I'm going to Israel. So we'll be able to partner together for future trips to the Holy Land. I'd like to offer them through NYTS, the CME Church, and possibly Phillips School of Theology, the seminary affiliated with the CME Church.
It's 6 pm. I'm spozed to be here til 7 and then return at 10, but think I'm leaving now, going to the Y for a swim, home to play with the Wii, and then heading back here. I'll be here from 10 pm til 3 am, and then will head to church for the day.....
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