Random thoughts Day 4

Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be nice, There is no such thing as a free lunch, laughter is a universal language, Robert Rules, Name Rank and Serial number, Roam if you want to, Fashion accessories of GC2008, Personal Day.

OK, here is my promised rant regarding the Judicial Council (here after called JC) process. About two weeks before General Conference I began receiving mailing for JC candidates. I had a hunch there were from “conservatives” but the mailings were pretty vague and said things about the candidates. Then a few days before GC I received a very nice looking two page full color brochure advocating for a slate of JC candidates and the brochure made it clear that this was endorsed the “Good News” group.

The process for Judicial Council is essentially this. The bishops bring a list of nominations to the floor. Then the floor is invited to add names to the list. Then 48 hours later voting begins (Monday for this year.) You can see the advantage of having and advanced slate to advocate for. Name familiarity is important in elections and getting the names out early seems like a good idea.
Well, upon arrival to GC2008 the western jurisdiction and other moderate to liberal groups had as of yet to identify their “slate.” This is totally my humble opinion but sometimes us liberals are too dang inclusive for our own good. We want everyone to have an opportunity. So we are reluctant to name our favorites in the fear we might hurt someone’s feelings. Meanwhile the organized fundamentalist group is kicking our butt!

OK That was the first rant. rant number two. When I was in college one of my history professor’s loved to use the phrase, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” (He was a United Methodist layman too by the way.) Anyway, I mentioned before the controversy of the cell phones that were handed out to 150 central conference delegates. I understand they have been put in an awkward position. On one hand they have simply accepted a free gift like others of us have accepted free lunches, dinners, pedometers, water bottles, Hymnals etc. However, if the Good News group wanted to simply offer the gifts with no strings attached they certainly wouldn’t have suggested who the delegates should support for Judicial Council and they could have considered giving the gifts anonymously! (Hmmm, seems like the gospel says something about giving alms in secret . . .) I hope this one backfires on the Good News group! This obvious attempt to buy votes is just not on.

During the lunch break I sat in with David Valera on a gathering of the Filipino delegations. (Did David tell me there are 21 Annual Conferences in the Philippines? I think he did!) It was a great gathering to be a part of as they were full of laughter although I couldn’t understand most of the conversation, it seemed like a family gathering. I could also see that David has a good relationship with them. I hope that I get an opportunity in the next couple of years to go and experience the Philippines for myself.

OMG, I have been very surprised at the lack of expertise the committee chairs have shown regarding basic parliamentary procedure. One committee I was observing was in total shambles as they spent an HOUR discussing how to process the work of the sub-committee. I was going crazy in the visitor area. Eventually a parliamentarian was called, then the problem was magnified in that the chair and vice chair didn’t know how to explain the mess the committe was in. It was excruciating! I expect these sort of moments at Annual Conference but GENERAL Conference! We have over 100 Bishops hanging around. Can’t we find 13 retired bishops to sit in on the committee meetings to act as parliamentarians? When the GC plenary is in session the presiding Bishop always has two others sitting behind her or him and often they discuss what the best ruling is for the chair.

I also wanted to mention one of the interesting social aspects of General Conference. There is a clear hierarchy. Delegates have a red background on their name-tags, reserve delegates have brown, some group has green (marshals and pages?) visitors have white, I think bishops are purple but they don’t seem to wear their name-tags much (they have those cool episcopal lapel pins after all.) And there is always this fun experience when meeting someone and they stare at your name badge to learn your ranking and/or where you are from. Oh, a reserve from the PNW, you can almost see the ranking going on in the delegate’s mind.

The advantage of being a second class General Conference citizen is that you are free to observe any committee at any time. So today instead of staying with one I went to three. The disadvantage is that I didn’t get to learn many specifics (although, I can report that the sexuality committee is really dedicated to their agreement to disagree, which led to a crushing defeat of some of the most scary exclusive language petitions. ) It was good to observe more of the General Conference in action.

There are fashion statements to be made at General Conference. Actually, I have been surprised at how few suits there are. And today the Kansas delegates were all wearing Kansas Jayhawk NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion 2008 T-Shirts. Apparently Bishop Jones is a big fan and he also was wearing a T-Shirt. They have challenged the delegates of North Carolina, Cal Pac and Tennessee to beat their donations to the Nothing but Nets campaign! HOWEVER, the real fashion accessory for General Conference is what I call “The Wheelie Bag” they come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors but they all have one thing in common. They are a pain to wheel through the crowded halls of General Conference. I went and bought a large computer bag with wheels and a handle to carry the many books and my computer around the conference. Apparently every other delegate had the same idea. Perhaps Marie should get video of all of us wheeling our bags around the corridors.

Well, Tonight I am not setting the alarm and I am sleeping in!!! I then intend to go to church at my friend Wes’ church. Wes and I were buddies at seminary and we went to England at the same time. So I am really looking forward to seeing him.

Peace Y’all