Delegates get oriented on "hows" and "whys"
April 23, 2008
NOTE: Photographs are available with this report at www.gc2008.org <http://www.gc2008.org/> .
FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS) - The "hows" and "whys" of the United Methodist General Conference were the focus of several special orientations on April 23 before the opening evening worship of the legislative body.
Orientations were offered for delegates from countries outside the United States as well as for women delegates, racial and ethnic minority delegates and delegates under the age of 30.
In the morning, a ballroom full of international delegates was ringed by a half-dozen people translating basic information about General Conference into German, French, Portuguese, Swahili, Spanish, Russian and Korean.
Caroline Njuki, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries' Africa office, reminded delegates that they were free to participate in any meals or events sponsored by church agencies and caucus groups without feeling obligated to vote a certain way.
"You will be invited to breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the people who invite you will want to influence your vote," Njuki told the international delegates. "You are free to partake of their food, and nobody will be looking at you when you vote."
Women network together
For ninth time, the Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW) and the Women's Division of the Board of Global Ministries co-sponsored an orientation for women. Participants received information about legislation related to both groups and networked with others from the legislative committees to which they are assigned.
One legislative change that COSROW is supporting is the addition of "gender" as a category protected from discrimination by the church's constitution. M. Garlinda Burton, COSROW's chief executive, said the addition is needed because of the expanding, diverse membership of the denomination. "Some people have a different understanding of the equality of women," she said.
Harriet Olson, the Women's Division's chief executive, pointed to several proposed resolutions on issues where women, children and youth are particularly vulnerable, including "Sudan: A Call to Compassion and Caring," "The Girl Child," "Abolition of Torture, Resisting Hate" and "Mercury-Containing Drugs."
Going online
More than 55 of the 71 youth and young adult delegates, including first reserves, were given opportunity to meet one another during the orientation for delegates under 30.
One youth, Marshall Bailey, 17, a delegate from the Virginia Annual (regional) Conference, scanned the entire Advance Daily Christian Advocate and turned it into a PDF file for his computer. The advance materials were distributed to delegates as three books of bound, printed materials.
He made the PDF available to the youth and young adult delegates. The PDF also will be uploaded to a secure youth and young adult Web site in the youth and young adult General Conference hospitality room. "I personally prefer to carry my laptop (rather) than three heavy books," Bailey said. "I can search through it and locate points on a specific issue."
The delegates met the six youth and young adults who are delivering the first-ever Young People's Address at General Conference on April 24. Their peers laid hands on the six and prayed that General Conference would hear the voices of those under 30 and know that youth and young people are the future of the church.
Inclusion is vision, future
In the orientation for racial and ethnic minority delegates, the Rev. David Maldonado, chairman of the Inter-Ethnic Strategy Development Group, said, "We are here to support a very important vision and future for people of color in The United Methodist Church."
The orientation was designed to help delegates learn more about the needs of the people of color and the impact proposed legislation would have on the church, according to Erin Hawkins, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race. She challenged delegates to help the church "confront the sin of racism."
Don Hayashi, a consultant to the Inter-Ethnic Strategy Development Group, introduced a team of about 30 observers who will monitor the participation of racial and ethnic minority delegates in legislative and plenary sessions to "help the church become a more inclusive body." Hayashi said the group will provide a daily newsletter to help delegates to make better decisions.
*This story was compiled from reports by Linda Bloom, Linda Green, Neill Caldwell and Deborah White, United Methodist News Service reporters.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, e-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org.