General Conference - Day 2

Oh my. It's been a long day. I have been to class and to a banquet for my RA staff at Tufts University, but most importantly and heavy on my mind, I have been listening in and watching the live feed and the twitter feeds of General Conference. I'm not sure where to start with my thoughts or my feelings about all that has gone on today. There have been plenary sessions, legislative committee elections, presentations from Adam Hamilton (and others) about the Call to Action, and much, much discussion on vital congregations and the aging, dying United Methodist Church. Yes, the UMC is aging and dying. Statistics tell us that just 5.61% of UMC clergy are young adults. Only 5%?! That's crazy! We are certainly an aging church, but what's more disturbing than being an aging church is the fact that we are failing to empower young people in our churches and in our ministries.

This far, my assessment of General Conference has been that there is a significant lack of voice and presence of young people. While there are indeed young adult delegates and there was a phenomenal young adult address given at this morning's opening plenary session, there needs to be more engagement with young adults. Where are the young adults in the committees? Several tweets lamented the fact that the individual was one of just a few, or at times, the only young adult in the room. Where are they? How can we, as faithful followers of Jesus Christ engage youth and young adults for the present and the future of our church? And why is it that we only care about young adult clergy? What about young adults who are laity? Don't we need them too! (Here's a hint - WE DO!!!!)

I have found myself involved with Twitter often today. A networking tool which I once dismissed has now become a lifeline for me and an avenue of discussion while I await my own trip to General Conference. I wish I were there now, but between the live feed on the internet and the live discussions on twitter, I feel ALMOST as though I am a part of the discussion. One of the most important tweets I have seen today came from a young adult (Matt Miofsky) who reminded General Conference goers that "Jesus died at 33. Just sayin' UMC, young people can lead. Don't just include them but let them lead." His words rang true in my heart. I want to lead! I am young and I believe that I have something to offer the church. And so do so many of my fellow young people. We want to serve the church, but first, we want the church to stop telling us what it thinks we want. There have been lot of assumptions today. In all it's talk about young people, the UMC has forgotten to ask many young people what we think. We [young people] have been lumped into one big group, all loving new things and music, all hating tradition and calling for radical change to the very fibers of what makes us Methodists. But that is not what we all want. Sure, some of us do, but I for one, am not among them. I am a United Methodist because I love my church. I was raised as a Methodist and I will be a Methodist for life. I love tradition and liturgy, Wesleyan hymns and "old" "High-Church" worship services. While the debate about young people in the UMC has focused largely on what people think that young people want, many have failed to listen to our hearts and to hear what we really want.

This evening, while listening to Rev. Adam Hamilton present about the Call to Action legislation to the body, I found myself getting angry at the way that he portrayed young people and their place in the church. At first glance, he gave some shattering statistics. The average age of the UMC is 60 something. Just over 5% of clergy are under the age of 35 and are considered to be "young." At first, I found his presentation inspiring (aside from my previous dislike for the Call to Action.) I thought, finally! Someone who cares about young adults in the Church! But then, I continued to listen. It's not that I don't' think Adam Hamilton and others don't care about young adults - I think they do! It's just that the portrayal of young adults and the way that they are using the lack of young adults to scare people into voting for their proposal is concerning to me. I am a young adult and I care about worship and the Church. I am a young adult who likes the "contemporary" and the "traditional." I am a young adult who values the voices of all around the table, whether 2 or 102. Whether from my theological/ideological/political or other value system or (and especially) of another. I want to be in dialogue, I want the church to grow, I want to transform the world by making disciples of Jesus Christ. But I don't like the way that young people and the lack of young people in our churches is being used as scare tactics. In a twitter discussion during this presentation, another tweeter (Shawn Foles) posted: "I think what I find most offensive is the idea all YA's want an elaborate production and wish to throw orthodoxy and liturgy away #gc2012" To him, I replied: "@sfoles Amen to that! I'm young and I like orthodoxy and liturgy!" Why is it that we must decide that all of our young adults hate liturgy and orthodoxy? Isn't there more to the story?

It's probably already clear: I don't like the Call to Action. I think that the things that this report and the attached pieces of legislation ask of the church is too much. And I wonder, how do these changes affect who we are as Methodists? How do they help us spread God's love? Where is Christ in all of this? How does the Call to Action critically engage the four dimensions of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience? I think the emphasis on vital congregations is good.... but let's not stop there! Let's be transformative! Let's change the world! But is restructuring and getting rid of security of appointment, etc, etc, etc really the way to do it?

Okay, okay... this blog post is long enough. So let me leave you with one of my own tweets, which I hope, shows my continued love for the UMC. I want to lead, I want to serve, and I hope that the UMC will let me. So, to end tonight's posting, I leave you with this: During his presentation on the Call to Action, Rev. Adam Hamilton asked the question: Who will be there to minister to the five year old and the ten year old in the crowd? To that, I replied: I'll reach the five year olds and ten year olds in my town! You just have to trust me and let me lead! #gc2012 #gcyp