Rocky Mountain Conference Challenged
“Church for the Rest of Us” was the theme of the Rocky Mountain Conference
session held in Denver, June 18-21. Preaching by Bishop John R. Schol, Washington
Area, Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., Rev. Dr. Melanie Rosa, and presentations by
Diana Butler Bass, author of “Christianity for the Rest of Us” fleshed
out the theme. “Dramatic and unprecedented” schedule changes in the
carefully-planned session had to be made because of flight cancellations on the
itinerary of guest speaker Bass. But the wait was rewarded with presentations
which, according to Director of Mission and Ministry, Skip Strickland, “have
created a great buzz” in the Conference.
Dr. Bass said that these times are a "500-year flood," a metaphor
brought to mind by the recent floods in Iowa. Just as the residents of
many areas in Iowa had never seen flooding like this, we have never experienced
the kind of change that is now occurring in the world. The level of cultural
change we are now experiencing was last seen in the Reformation 500 years
ago. The “river has moved” but there are churches now which
are building new bridges where it is, not where it used to be.
Bishop Schol called for more courage as churches in decline “walk
the Pentecost path.” The trouble is, he said, that "we want
quick fixes without change … want solution without sacrifice, Pentecost
without the fire, Pentecost without trying to figure out all the languages,
and the Pentecost crowds without making us uncomfortable. We want the church
for the rest of us without taking the journey.”
Bishop Brown, preaching on Sarah’s laughter, reminded ordinands
that strangers can come to our churches, bringing a future with hope. God
calls us to live beyond our fears and those things that enslave us and
keep us from being truly free! And Dr. Rosa preached a memorial service
reminding us that we can be strong at the broken places as we “remember
hope."
Bishop Brown was given a gift of gratitude for his eight years of service
in the Rocky Mountain Conference with a $77,000 pledge to the Nothing But
Nets initiative. The winner of a NBA basketball signed by bishops was the
churches of Utah, who went together and pledged $15,000!
In other giving news, the Conference was thanked for giving over $50,000
to the Global AIDS Fund in the last quadrennium, and challenged to give
that much more in the coming one. Offerings taken at the Conference totaled
over $22,400, with over $9,000 going to our sister conferences in Angola.
Decisions made included a painful one following an 8-year study to enable
the Trustees to sell one of the camps in the Conference. Janet Forbes,
senior pastor at St. Luke’s Highlands Ranch, was nominated as an
episcopal candidate. The “Majority Report” of Church and Society
Subcommittee II at General Conference was affirmed as a way for this Conference
to move forward on issues of human sexuality. Adjustments were made to
the “Church Tithe” way of funding Conference ministries. A
budget of $6,045,244 was approved. Six elders and three deacons were ordained;
five probationary members were commissioned. Five outstanding lay people
were honored with the Bishop’s Award, given for outstanding service
in their local church and local community or in the United Methodist Connection:
Betsy Keyack of St. Luke’s UMC of Highlands Ranch, James Sauls of
Peoples UMC of Colorado Springs, and Hope and Les Law of Evanston UMC of
Denver. A special Episcopal Leadership Award was given to the Rev. Dr.
Harvey Martz for his outstanding and lasting contributions to the Rocky
Mountain Annual Conference.
Total membership at the end of 2007 was 64,757, down 4.6%. (By Ben Roe,
as submitted to Newscope.)
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