Well, a good bit more like early Methodist conferences than now, to be sure. Though I have to say, I actually think much, much better. Those earliest conferences, after all, were really fairly dominated by John Wesley asking and then answering his own questions.

What you’re talking about is actual, real life holy conferencing– and no doubt powerful testimony to what God is actually doing in our midst rather than endless arguing and politicking over how we want to try to exercise our “voice” to control our own pet areas of our commonlife and structures in the denomination.

I keep proposing to the General Conference Commission folk I know this radical, but simple, idea. Stop doing legislation every four years. Do legislation just every eight. Between legislative sessions, do 10 days or real conferencing on just two or three major things we really need to learn or give witness to about how we’re discipling people in the way of Jesus in our various global contexts. No legislation at all allowed those times– just holy conferencing.

And maybe, after we’ve lived those questions and testimonies together for another four years, maybe then we might have something actually useful to legislate about.

And even more– maybe instead of thinking about the rhythm as “Holy Conferencing interrupting or delaying legislation” it might be “legislation interrupting Holy Conferencing.”

Peace to one and all…

Taylor Burton-Edwards