General Conference, for those not in the know, is the big, worldwide Methodist church meeting that happens every four years to (essentially from what I could tell) make folks in the denomination either feel really good about the future or really angry :-). I agreed to help a good friend a few years back at this conference, so yesterday (and will again next Thursday) I was his "shadow", which meant I did a few odd jobs, etc. So, here are some of the interesting things I soaked in as I wandered halls, answered questions, etc.:
*** I don't think I saw another volunteer under the age of 45. Well, not entirely true...but there may have been 5 out of a few hundred volunteers that would qualify...what does that mean??? Interesting possibilities...
***What I will call "non-feminine" women outnumbered those qualifying as "feminine" something like two-to-one. That is not necessarily a commentary on one's possible sexuality, but why is it that many women in ministry positions within the Methodist Church (at least in America) just seem to do all they can to minimize their femininity???
***Apparently the thing to do (according to my mom) is go to the Cokesbury Bookstore displays in the exhibit hall and loudly argue among the bookshelves about various issues at hand. Seriously, my mom said she had to almost yell over folks at times as she was trying to explain her products she sells to folks as others were about to go all WWE on each other nearby...
***I guess the official way to make your specific "passionate points of support" known to all without saying a word is to wear specially designed scarf/mini-vest-thingys around. Certain colors or designs abounded...
***Along those lines, I also noticed groups of folks probably just trying to be "cute" wearing matching funny hats, etc., most likely because they all came from the same church, or state, etc. I seriously saw a group walking around wearing what could be best described as "owl hats". No lie. I almost started laughing (AT them), which would have TOTALLY violated my "hospitality guidelines" as a volunteer...
***REAL Africans (as in, from Liberia, Nigeria, etc.) wear REALLY cool stuff. The traditional garb was awesome. One lady (I'm not kidding) looked exactly like the Queen of Zamunda from "Coming to America". Very cool, and added to the true global flavor. I do think the majority of folks here are American, but I was impressed by the still-large amounts of Africans, Asians, Latin Americans (I even saw my buddy Gary speaking Spanish to a Peruvian...and he was obviously of indigenous stock...very cool), Europeans, etc....
***I didn't realize folks in the Methodist Church still wore "priest collars", but apparently many do. Gary told me some were "bishops", and in some countries pastors still wear them. One difference is apparently the memo got around to all wear light-purple shirts with your "priest collars"... I'm sure there is a reason.
***The actual voting sessions (where official decisions are voted on, things like changing the "The" in article V, page 67, line 9er to "An" in the Book of Discipline, or even more controversial stuff that I'll leave alone for now...) are DULL, D-U-L-L (well, maybe controversial votes wouldn't be so dull, but I would probably be saddened by all the dis-unity...even on issues I have a side on...). I snuck in one once as I was waiting to report on my walkie-talkie that, "The cookies are being eaten" (no joke)...and I wanted to poke my eyes out. Bless folks who are passionate about all that...I'm just not.
That's all I can think of right now. If I think of more, I'll update...
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