by Amanda Smith
From June 11th through 14th, I had the privilege of traveling to Des Moines for the United Methodist Annual conference. It helped me grow in faith and I learned so much! Did you know that we have an entirely French speaking church in Iowa? In fact, we have many diversities: African, Asian, Native American and Mexican as well.
The venue was decorated with quilted artwork of rainbow colors and many different pieces of art from all cultures of the Methodist peoples in Iowa. It was very inviting and created a wonderful theme of love and inclusion that was very much tied to the scripture in the book of Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." cited by Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai in the opening sermon reminding us that believers met and shared their prayers and meals together. Not in a closed community but as ONE that included all peoples.
The Bishop highlighted many struggles and strengths of our church, state, and country. 1 John 4 summarizes the heart of the Christian ministry is rooted in Christ's ministry of outreaching love that makes all people sacred. She shared the Methodist mission statement to "Love Boldly. Serve Joyfully. Lead Courageously."
- Loving boldly requires inclusion of enemies, immigrants, strangers, the poor, and the LGBTQIA. How are you living into that spirit of inclusion?
- Joyful service requires the building of giving practices and extending helping hands. Where do you apply the spirit of giving to our community?
- Lead courageously by setting the example of standing up for the vulnerable and marginalized. How are you living into this in our church?
She shared a statistic that has really stuck with me. 1 percent of the United States population owns as much as 90 percent of the population. This greed is creating many obstacles in these destabilizing times. It is an abuse of power that breeds fear in the marginalized. She encourages us all with this acronym. S.H.I.N.E.
- Shift the narrative.
- Hear the call of God to build beloved communities.
- Inspire each other to grow the impact of the church.
- Notice where God is already working and build on that further.
- Empower each other and our leaders to live into the vision to Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, and Lead Courageously.
Purpose, vision, and passion in our church helps us all become vital to our community. Each of us has a "Next Step" in their faith journey. What is yours?
There was a clergy delegate from BUMC elected to General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Rev. Brian Milford, son of longtime late members Ken and Betty Milford.
We also had a lay leader delegate in the vote. Shannon Meister, who graciously opted to step out of the vote to give a younger delegate the opportunity to serve and grow into our mission.
I must say that the voting process for Clergy is much more complicated than for our Laity. It is the exact same process, but our Clergy representatives are extremely passionate about the direction of our future, determined in their decisions, and verbal about all of it. I love the level of dedication of the entire Iowa United Methodist conference. Knowing that issues are heard and discussed at length so lovingly gives me reassurance and confidence in our future direction as United Methodists.
Among the issues discussed there were two in particular that touched my heart. The first being that it was approved that each church can make decisions for how they choose to aid the ever-growing situation of homelessness in each of our communities. Second, it was approved that any and all practices of "Conversion Therapy" be completely abandoned citing it as harmful and discredited as we are completely supportive of inclusion of the LGBTQIA.
Finally, I must mention re-centering music and "half time show". The many musicians were so wonderful and created such an awesome opportunity to connect to the spirit of Christ in love and community, in many languages and styles. It was a major contribution in the joining of hearts in worship. I'm still humming the songs that lifted all the hearts of the conference attendees.
The "halftime show" was a presentation of skits and speeches from many different groups and causes. Camps. Schools. Women at the Well. United Women in Faith. and more. It was a fun way of informing everyone in attendance of all the directions our faith is reaching and can be built upon.
The Conference was definitely an experience I will never forget and would gladly do again. Thank you BUMC for entrusting this mission to me. I continue to grow and learn the ways of Christ through your constant fellowship and guidance more and more every day and I look forward to seeing how we continue to grow into Loving Boldly, Serving Joyfully, and Leading Courageously.