General Conference News Update
May 16, 2016
What happened Monday:
Bishop Cynthia Harvey offered the message at Monday's morning worship, saying, “I am convinced that if we are willing to erase the imaginary line in our imaginary fellowship or conference floor and put on the robe provided for each and every one of us, regardless of where we are from — central conference, the United States. Whether you are progressive or conservative, gay or straight. Rich, poor. Black, white, Latino. Fit or misfit, broken or not, we will experience transformation that will turn the world upside down.”
Soon after the session reconvened, a demonstration entered the bar of the conference. Protestors chanted “Black Lives Matter” and other slogans as they stood on the plenary floor, marched around the room, and finally circled the communion table at the center of the room while they chanted. See more in a video report by Rev. David Valera of the Pacific Northwest Conference.
In the afternoon, delegates recognized 150 years of the United Methodist Women and the 25th anniversary of Africa University.
And here's a link to the UMNS wrap-up for May 16.
Greg Nelson, Director of Communications
A look inside a legislative committee
It's difficult to share the details of what happens inside a legislative committee. They are complicated meetings with challenges of language, culture, and politics.
Christy Thomas, of The United Methodist Reporter, sat down with a lay member of the North Texas Conference to get a glimpse of one aspect of the process. Read her report.
Lack of youth delegates leaves
General Conference commission slot unfilled
The lack of youth delegates among the 864 delegates to General Conference 2016 means that for the second time in a row, the commission that runs the denomination’s top legislative assembly won’t have a youth delegate.
Only one voting delegate and one reserve delegate are 18. That makes both too old to serve on the Commission on General Conference as youth representatives, according to the Book of Discipline. Read the rest of the story on the Rocky Mountain Conference website.
“In the eyes of General Conference, there are no youth delegates,” said Doug Palmer, 20, first lay delegate for Rocky Mountain Conference, who nominated 18-year-old Harvey Tukutau to serve on the commission. “We need to put a young voice here and we’ve failed to do that.”
Delegates respond to Black Lives Matter protest
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In the midst of a 20 minute disruption of the afternoon plenary session on May 16, the Rev. David Valera spoke with General Conference delegates on the floor to get their perspective on what was happening.
Appreciation to the Revs. Michael Slaughter and Donna Pritchard, Mr. Jowey Celzo, and deaconess Mrs. Emma Cantor Orate for sharing their reflections with us.
Watch the video
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A $20million Coup in the #UMC
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An observer and monitor in a committee at General Conference witnessed a truly disturbing plan that makes PlanUMC look like a reasonable proposal. The scary part? It passed in committee, so it only needs to pass the floor of 864 delegates to be enacted in The United Methodist Church. Read on for info and informed commentary on the website Hacking Christianity.
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Archives:
Pre-Conference:
Did you miss Update #1? Read it here.
Did you miss Update #2? Read it here.
Looking for Update #3? Read it here.
And update #4. Read it here.
Updates during Conference:
May 10 update, May 11 update, May 12 update. May 13 update, May 14 update
