Adam Hamilton: “We’re not serving up leftovers that we nuke in the microwave.”
Last night, during the opening session, Adam Hamilton graced us with his gifts. As he talked about leadership of pastors and laity in the local church he pointed out that we are an aging denomination. One that is dying faster than we are birthing. It is a true sign of the time, and our struggle to change. I think Hamilton really got it right. We have to be willing to examine ourselves in a manner that leaves us with an honest assessment of the time and who we have become. Have we become complacent with the way things are? I think we have. Is this a bad thing? Yes; and, here’s why I say that: we want to be everything to everyone all at once. When we become comfortable with who we are, we begin to be the church. Every church wants the large youth group, but you may not be a church serving youth. It’s amazing, though: when you become comfortable living into the purpose God has given to you, it’s freeing–a release happens. Be present in a way that fills the spiritual and physical need of who God is sending to you.
As I sat and listened to Hamilton, I couldn’t help but think about Calvary United Methodist Church, in Lewiston, Maine. They live out their baptismal covenant every week. On Wednesday afternoon and Sunday morning they serve a meal. This congregation of 50 or 60 people service hundreds of meals every year. Their pastor knows every person that comes for a meal, and if she doesn’t know someone she will by the time the meal is over. She not only knows them, she knows who their children are, what issue they had dealt with that week, and the joys they are experiencing. She is fully present to who they are. This congregation saw a need and began to fill it.
This morning, as I write, Hamilton is talking about Preaching and Worship. He’s emphasizing, again, meeting people where they are. Feeding them spiritually in worship, preparing adequately for the sermon. I took a Preaching class with the Rev. Elaine Hewes, who’s the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, in Bangor, Maine. She taught us that in order to effectively prepare for preaching, we must know the people we are speaking to about God. We must be able to engage the person sitting in the pew, because they almost didn’t come to worship. Engage their life in an exciting and uplifting way.
Last night, after Adam Hamilton spoke, we began voting on resolutions and some organization stuff. For the first time, in anyone’s memory, the motion was made to include the balcony as part of the bar of the conference–where you can be to have your vote count. It was uplifting to see so many more votes included.
Before I close, Rev. Karen Munson, Pastor of Torsey Road and Jesse Lee UMC in Readfield, Maine and Chaplain at Kents Hill School, in Kents Hill, pointed out no one knows who I am! So, here’s my bio:
Jordan G. Shaw is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington, with a Bachelor of Arts in an Individualized and Interdisciplinary major in Sociology and Religion (2006) and is currently an M.Div. student at Bangor Theological Seminary, in Bangor, Maine. He was a delegate to the International Christian Youth COnference on Evangelism in Jordanstown, Northern Ireland (2002), a student delegate to the National Council of Churches for Christ’s Faith and Order Commission’s 50th Anniversary Celebration: On Being [Becoming] Christian Together (2007). He is the founder and analyst of the Greater Augusta, Maine Inter-faith and Interdisciplinary Task Force to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (2008), and is set to be a delegate at the 4th International Young Adult Conference on Palestinian Christianity in Tel Aviv, Israel in July of 2009. He resides in Wales, Maine.
We’ve Arrived
We’ve finally arrived at Gordon College. I drove down with Bob Packard early this morning, leaving Camp Mechuwana: The United Methodist Camp of Maine, about 5:30am, swinging into Lisbon Falls to pick Bob up at the Packard-Littlefield farm, and arriving here about 9am.
When we arrived we checked in and headed off to do some minor problem solving, mix ups in paperwork, and visited the Cokesbury store. One of the greatest parts of Annual Conference is the bookstore. A small section of the Cokesbury resources that are available on the website are available for purchase, at a good price, here. After this we headed toward the learning centers–a time to hear about research and projects that others are working on. The one I was hoping to hear, Muslim-Christian Dialogue, was cancelled. It is scheduled for another time tomorrow, as well, so I’ll catch it then.
After dropping my suitcase and other things off, I am now sitting in the dining hall with Kelly Harvell, Pastor of Rumford UMC; Tom Frey, Pastor of Dresden-Richmond UMC; Patsy Frey, daughter of Tom– catching up on last year’s events and discussing things about Camp Mechuwana–logistics about the upcoming Elementary Music Theater camp.
Another Annual Conference, Here We Come…!
Another annual conference is upon us! I think I saw that our district, Mid-Maine, was the last to host their Pre-Conference meeting–which was Sunday afternoon, hosted by People’s United Methodist Church (UMC) in Waterville. It was great to be able to catch up briefly with people from all over the district that I hadn’t seen in quite some time.
Jim McPhee, Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Connectional Ministries for our conference, spoke most of the time. The reality this year is that there is very little money. It’s sad, though, that Youth ministries and camping ministries get hit when we’re in these situations. There’s very little we can do about it, that’s the reality–if you add 0+0 you get 0.
The other big topic will certainly be Vermont. We’re set to re-adjust the boundaries of our Annual Conference to accept Vermont back to New England (history buffs take note, I’ll explain all this later on.) It’s exciting that some of our clergy are being appointed to Vermont churches and vice versa this early in the process. It will certainly make the transition a bit more smooth.
Jim spent some time explaining what would go on at annual conference, for many of the new folks who have never been before. This is really important. The process can get confusing at points. After our meeting I had a conversation with Bob Packard, who is the lay rep from Lisbon UMC, Lisbon Falls, Maine, he talked about it seeming a little overwhelming, but that before retirement he was an administrator for the education system in Connecticut and that they ran on Robert’s Rules or Order too, so he thought he would be all set. It’s helpful, too, that Ralph Odour, our conference secretary, added a section in the conference booklet as well–for folks to refer to if they want to be a part of the debates that go on.
I’ve been working my way through the conference booklet and everything that will be put before us. At first it seemed like it would be a pretty low key year, but with discussions and votes to be had from General Conference, I suspect that there will be some pretty interesting debates over issues, more on this at a later time.
Oh! Make sure to check back periodically leading up to Annual Conference. I should be posting everyday or so leading up to the event, to explain things like the conference boundary restructuring and why holy conferencing is an important part of our tradition, and then pretty regularly throughout the 2 1/2 days that we are all at Gordon College. My hope is that this will help folks at home stay connected to what’s going on, and maybe make the process a little easier to understand and be a part of the excitement.
