Albert Einstein said,
”
I want to know God’s thoughts. The rest are details.
”
Listening
… it’s all about grace. Gathering music and colors of cloth
streamers exploding with light high above us … sapphire blue,
purple, sky, and aqua. … A single bell tolling remembrances of
those who have left this earth.
Albert Einstein said, “I want to know God’s thoughts. The rest are details.” Listening … it’s all about grace. Gathering music and colors of cloth streamers exploding with light high above us … sapphire blue, purple, sky, and aqua. … A single bell tolling remembrances of those who have left this earth. The room awed during roll call when Rev. Alfred Chandler steps up to the mic to answer for his 70th year of attendance at Annual Conference. Choirs strong and children’s cries, here and from villages everywhere. Prayer is the handclasp of hopefulness and hopelessness. This past week a number of Gilroyans made the trek to Sacramento to attend Annual Conference Session 2003 held by the northern California/Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church. Every year, people like Gilroy music teacher Gretchen Vandenberg, Suellen Rowlison, Morgan Hill pastor Ted Pecot, and Gilroy’s Alison Berry (among others) join 1500 other Methodists for five days at the Sacramento Convention Center, which is just across the street from California’s Capitol building.
This year’s session opened with 75 members of the Filipino American Ministry Caucus, who danced, sang, drummed and chanted in opening procession. Dressed in white, gold, and green, young girls walked with candles balanced on their heads, while similar performers in the audience answered them with corresponding candles. African American Bishop Beverly Shamana officially opening the first full session using her handmade gourd drum, saying she was opening with a “global gavel.”
Bishop Shamana heads the CA/NV Conference, which is made up of seven different districts. Each district is made up of a varying number of churches, such as the San Jose District, to which Gilroy belongs, which is comprised of 105 churches. Every Methodist church in the United States belongs to a Conference, as do all other Methodist churches throughout the world. The Conferences within the United States are partnered with sister Conferences outside the United States, and the two work together globally to exchange ideas, help, work, and information. Representatives from Gilroy were there this week in order to vote on issues affecting all the churches in our conference. Each representative voted according to his or her own conscience but with his or her own church community’s wishes and values in mind. There is controversy on the floor at times, with someone asking to suspend the rules for a moment: “I’d like to try an amendment,” Myrna suggests. “Knock yourself out,” comes the answer from above.
Being part of a connectional church like the Methodist church brings both joys and sorrows. The joy of sharing in new urban church starts, like a second generation Chinese Methodist church, or a second generation Korean church in the Santa Clara Valley, or a church which has gathered people together and formed itself, and then asked the Methodist Church, “Will you adopt us?” The sorrow of a Bakersfield Church that is closing now that the average Sunday attendance has dropped as low as 3-5 members. The sorrow of learning a pastor with young children has an aggressive cancer. The joys of celebrating the 300th anniversary of the existence of the Methodist Church, founded by John Wesley, an Englishman who pastored for 53 years, traveled 250,000 miles, and preached 40,000 sermons.
This week people from Gilroy joined people from all over northern California and Nevada to be the living network that connects them to each other and to the world. Those from Gilroy came back with renewed resolve to “do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” (John Wesley).
