Bishop urges ‘spirit of hope’ as General Conference begins

Key points:

• Council of Bishops President Thomas J. Bickerton preached during opening worship for the postponed 2020 General Conference, encouraging delegates to commit to the revitalization of The United Methodist Church.
• He warned delegates not to go back to a narrative of “finger-pointing” that blames others for the state of the denomination.
• The Commission on the General Conference said that 751 out of 862 allotted delegates are registered and present as of noon on opening day of the lawmaking assembly, which continues through May 3 at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Council of Bishops President Thomas J. Bickerton opened the postponed 2020 United Methodist General Conference on April 23 with a bold question: “Do you want to be in this room?”

He was speaking to delegates from Africa, Europe, Asia and the U.S. who are gathering to consider major proposals that could dramatically change the denomination.

“Are you willing to move forward in a spirit of hope and embrace a season of reformation, commit to the revitalization of The United Methodist Church and work for a culture marked by compassion, courage and companionship?” Bickerton asked.

If not, he said, “Maybe you are in the wrong place.”

During the opening worship service of the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., on April 23, Bishop Karen Oliveto blesses a delegate during a period in which participants were encouraged to remember their baptism. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

After opening worship, Kim Simpson, the chair of the Commission on the General Conference, said that 751 out of the 862 allotted delegates were registered and present as of noon on opening day of the lawmaking assembly, which continues through May 3 at the Charlotte Convention Center. That total includes 273 delegates out of 370 from the central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. Simpson said registrations are still ongoing.

General Conference is the only entity that speaks for the denomination. The 2020 General Conference was postponed several times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning the last regular session of the lawmaking assembly took place eight years ago.

Since that time, more than 7,600 U.S. churches, about a quarter of the denomination’s U.S. congregations in 2019, left The United Methodist Church under a policy that expired at the end of last year.

 

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“I think it is OK that we have had a delay,” said Bickerton, who leads the New York Episcopal Area. “We are a completely different church than we were just four years ago. A bit of dust has settled, and we can see that there is a future with hope and possibility.”

However, he warned the delegates not to go back to a narrative of “finger-pointing” that blames others for the state of the denomination.

“Do we really want to go back to a church where words like racism, sexism, restrictive, colonialism, decline and disaffiliation have literally dominated most conversations we have heard in recent years?” he asked.

Referring to past General Conferences, Bickerton reminded delegates that sometimes in the heat of the moment, “humanness steps up to the plate, bringing anger, anxiety and fear.”

Be careful it does not happen again here in Charlotte, North Carolina, he warned.

“There have been conversations about COVID, post-COVID, declining sustainability, disaffiliation, racism, exclusion. Conversations that at times gutted our souls and our hope,” he said.

He declared this General Conference a seminal moment. “It is time to move forward as a denomination with new purpose and energy,” he said.

Laughing Bickerton acknowledged he knew that some in the audience are convinced that the revival of the church will happen with legislation or during a business session.

“Maybe our primary work in this space is about our motives,” he said. “And maybe our preparation should be more about asking, ‘How is it with your soul?’ more than ‘How is it with your legislative committee?’”

Bickerton said before every sermon, he prays, “Oh God, remove me from me and fill me with you.” He invited everyone to have a similar prayer as they make decisions for the future of The United Methodist Church.

“Are you ready?” he asked. “What do you say we do it right this time — for the glory of God?”

Gilbert is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee.

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