The conference is your family, not your enemy
By Nathan Malone
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am very intentional with that greeting because I see each of you as family. I want to share some concerns and issues I have coming out of our recent Annual Conference session (or family reunion, if you will). I am addressing these concerns to all members of our churches throughout Holston, but specifically to those representing congregations at the June 8-11 session in Lake Junaluska, N.C.
I often hear the phrase "the conference" spoken as if it is some foreign entity that is the enemy. This is particularly true if the person believes that something is being done by "the conference" that may cause them discomfort, if not pain. If an issue about which there is disagreement is brought to the Annual Conference session by leadership, those leaders are no longer seen as family, but as "the conference" trying to "act like a big corporation."
I got to see this "up close and personal" at Annual Conference because I am a member of the Council on Finance and Administration (CFA). Many seemed to see the CFA as big, bad bullies ("the conference") who tried to push through something that might hurt some churches. I humbly remind you that every person on the CFA comes from churches of all sizes from across this conference.
I myself grew up in a small-membership church on a four-point circuit. Anytime I contribute to a decision that affects all of the churches, I think about my home church. My first appointment as a pastor was to two small-membership churches. We averaged about 25 in attendance on Sunday morning. Anytime I contribute to a decision that affects all of the churches, I think about those two churches. I pray about those decisions, as I know every other CFA member does. We agonize over possible impacts our proposals might have on those churches.
However, that is all we bring: proposals, recommendations. For we are not "the conference." "The conference" is made up of all the churches from Radford, Va., through East Tennessee and a few in North Georgia.
More specifically, "the conference" that makes decisions for all Holston churches is comprised of representatives elected by those churches. Sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions with which not everyone will be pleased.
The issue at this session that produced the most widespread anguish was direct billing. What troubled me most was the number of members who were prepared to vote on the issue based solely on whether their particular church would benefit or not. I must be blunt and firm here. That is un-Christian. To think only of oneself is not the way of Christ. Jesus taught us that when we only seek to save our life, we will lose it, but when we are willing to lose it for his sake, we will gain it.
I want you to know that I love you all, even when I disagree with you. You are my family. IÕll see you next year at the reunion!
The Rev. Malone is pastor at Middlebrook Pike UMC, Knoxville District.
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