I’m finally getting to my recap of the 2009 North Alabama Annual Conference. This was my 3rd year to go, my first as the actual Lay Delegate. The last couple of years I kept a journal (I call it my plog, Paper Log) of my experience at Conference. This year was no exception. What follows are the notes I took over the 2-day conference. They are transposed here exactly as written (well, almost exactly) I will editorialize a little. Those parts are in red.
Opening Worship 6/5/09 9:00am
Directed Prayer from the screen. (I liked this concept. I wrote down everything I could. I missed some stuff. It was a time of silent reflection guided by the words on the screen.)
Remember when you first heard the story of Abraham?
The Good Samaritan? (There were others I didn’t get written down.)
Who told them to you?
What is your favorite Bible story?
How has it formed you?
What is your story?
Does it relate to Moses?
Ruth? (Again, there were others.)
How does it connect you to those who came before?
Sitting in Opening Worship @ Annual Conference. Right now I’m completely distracted trying to figure out what kind of guitar that guy is playing. It’s a hybrid of some sort. I think. Maybe an Ibanez? (I think this was finally settled through Facebook or Twitter. We settled on a Taylor T3. Now I’m thinking it might have been a Michael Kelly Hybrid.)
The theme this year is “Empowering a New Generation.” We’re focusing on recruiting young people into ministry. Both in lay ministry, but also into ordained ministry. Our sermon is split in two, one part by a younger pastor, the 2nd an older.
By the way, I’m the only person here wearing shorts. It’s June for Pete’s sake! It’s 80°. Lighten up! Show a little knee! (I should probably also point out that I was in the minority age-wise. I did see some others wearing shorts, but they were all under 20. Not sure what that says about me.)
I really like the symbol on the altar. I’ll try to draw it. (That’s it, but it’s rough) Sort of a different take on the cross. I like it because it’s open to interpretation. • I see someone opening his or her arms offering an embrace to someone in need. Offering the love of Christ. • I see someone with his or her arms lifted to heaven. Asking for help. Calling for intervention. Cursing God for their plight. Or in worship. Thanksgiving for deliverance or blessing. • I see a dove. The symbol of the Holy Spirit. God’s spirit here with us. Guiding us. Counseling us. Convicting us. A promise of God’s presence in our everyday life. I really like that symbol.
I have a feeling I might get tired of hearing about young clergy in the next 2 days. Maybe not. I really should pay attention.
“Change” vs. “New” – Instead of wanting to change, let’s do things new. This was said by the older of the two preachers. I like the idea. Change is a scary word for a lot of people, especially in the church. “Change” means different. Different is bad. “New” has more positive connotations. “New” is less threatening. I’ve used this recently, even though I can’t remember where. Maybe in a prayer.
Lay Orientation Session – 6/5 – 10:00am
Dr. Jack Stevenson speaking on NCD. So far I like him – despite his Gatorness.
Not a lot to journal about here. Mostly academic stuff.
I took some notes, but they are in a different notebook, and they are boring!
I feel like I should cut it off here. The next section will get dicey. It involves voting on amendments to our church Constitution. I didn’t make a lot of notes; I was too busy listening in awe/horror/shock/admiration/disgust of some of the things being said.
The main discussion was concerning Amendment 1. I’ll get into it more next time, but the gist of it is this: The section to be amended now reads “All persons without regard to race, color, national origin, status or economic condition shall be eligible to attend its worship services…” The amendment would delete the italicized text. Which leaves us with, “All persons shall be eligible to attend worship services…” The amendment would also add the bold text to the following sentence, “All persons, upon taking vows declaring the Christian faith and relationship in Jesus Christ, shall be eligible to become professing members in any local church in the connection.”
I missed that part. I'm not really sorry about it after I heard what all was said.
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