| By
Michael Wacht
LEESBURG — More than 10 times the number of
people anticipated participated in the first gathering of the Florida
Conference’s Conference Table at the Life Enrichment Center here
Aug. 28-29. Approximately 150 Florida Conference laity and clergy
attended the two-day meeting.
The Conference Table was approved at the 2002
Florida Annual Conference Event as a forum at which conference laity
and clergy can discuss and discern how the Florida Conference can best
fulfill its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. Bishop
Timothy Whitaker is the chairman, and 17 other conference leaders are
expected to attend and participate. All conference laity and clergy
are invited to attend.
The Wednesday evening session was a time for
worship and team building among participants. Whitaker’s sermon
called participants to be in prayer throughout the process of
discernment and discussion.
The Rev. Jim Fogle-Miller, pastor of St. John’s
United Methodist Church in Winter Haven, invited participants to
explore the process of creativity, which he said involves four steps:
exploring new information, forming new ideas, judging those ideas and
implementing the good ideas. He said this first meeting was about
exploring and forming new ideas and asked participants not to jump
ahead and start implementing.
Much of the day Thursday was spent discussing
the Florida Conference’s current reality. Following Whitaker’s
opening address, participants broke into small discussion groups.
Participants were asked to first explore the
missionary context of the church in relation to the society and
culture of Florida. Most of the groups reported that a major
characteristic of the Florida Conference’s mission field is
diversity, including national, racial, cultural, economic and social
diversity. Others highlighted the constant change and mobility in the
larger culture, lack of community and sense of isolation, and the
demand for flexibility and options.
The Rev. Sue Haupert-Johnson, pastor of Tampa’s
Hillsborough United Methodist Church, said the church needs to stop
calling unchurched people “them.” She said church people talk
about unchurched people without having any significant contact with
them.
Participants then determined which of the core
values in the Wesleyan tradition are relevant for the mission of the
church in the present context. Many of the groups reported that John
Wesley’s emphasis on a combination of personal and social holiness
was important for today’s church. Others said Wesley’s focus on
ministry outside the church, unity and God’s grace were important
values the church needs today.
The Rev. Jim Harnish, pastor of Tampa’s Hyde
Park United Methodist Church and chairman of the Conference Council on
Ministries, said the first gathering was the “fun part” of the
Conference Table process. “It’s great fun to listen to each other,”
he said. “The hard work is saying yes to some things, which means
saying no to other things. The hard and really painful work lies
ahead.”
The Rev. Clarke Campbell-Evans, Miami District
superintendent, said he expects many issues will come to the front as
the Table continues to define the conference’s vision.
Bill Walker, director of connectional ministries
and one of the sponsors of the Conference Table resolution, said the
17 expected participants will provide continuity to the conversations
held at future Table gatherings.
Walker said the Table meetings will be held at
different locations around the conference to facilitate as many people
as possible participating. The next meeting is Oct. 3 at a location
yet to be determined in the southern part of the Melbourne District.
Full coverage of the Conference Table is
available on the Florida Conference’s Web site at http://www.flumc.org/conftableaug/.
Florida Conference laity and clergy are invited to comment about the
discussions and activities of the Conference Table by e-mailing their
input to ConferenceTable@flumc.org. |
