REPORT OF THE 2009 FLORIDA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Do you remember the first time you saw the Apollo 11 photo of the entire earth from outer space? The keynote speaker at our Florida UM Annual Conference said her life was never the same after seeing that photograph. She knew that religion and science would be her calling. Dr. Laurel Kearns used scripture to explain how the Christian faith and caring for creation are intimately intertwined. In fact, Noah’s Ark might be considered the first endangered animal protection act. She encouraged churches to have creation care committees and stressed that environmentalism is a justice issue.
More than 1700 lay and clergy members, including some 120 youth and young adults, gathered June 10-13 at Bethune-Cookman University with the theme “Transforming the World by Cherishing The Creation”. Environmental issues were considered from both a theological and practical perspective.
During the plenary sessions, members voted on 32 amendments to the denomination’s constitution. Twenty three of these amendments address the possible future structure of the worldwide United Methodist Church. All United Methodist annual conferences will vote on the amendments, which must be ratified by two-thirds of the total voting membership in all annual conferences. (There are seven central conferences: Africa, Congo, West Africa, Germany, Central/Southern Europe, Northern Europe and the Philippines. There are 63 annual conferences in the US and 59 more in the seven central conferences.) If the 23 amendments pass, this will lead to a new global structure with a less US centric nature. The Central Council of Bishops has recommended we vote in favor of those amendments, which would change the central conferences and ours to ‘regional conferences’ with more autonomy.
Our annual conference voted “No” on these 23 amendments. Some felt more information was needed on a new potential structure. For instance, by 2012, over 40% of United Methodist members will be located in one hundred thirty different countries. This points up the fact that membership in the UM Church in the US is decreasing while membership in many parts of the world is increasing. Incidentally, there are 26 autonomous Methodist Churches that are not part of the United Methodist Church structure. These are mostly in Latin America.
Amendment 1 dealt with inclusiveness in the church and proposed that church ministries and membership be available to “all persons”. This was a change which would remove…”all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, status or economic condition”. This was defeated at our annual conference even though it was approved at General Conference. (Read more about other actions at www.FLUMC.ORG.)
An important part of the Florida Conference’s global outreach involves our Haiti/Florida Covenant, our Cuba/Florida relationship, and our East Angola partnership. Churches and delegates gave an offering of some $62,000 in support of the Angola School of Theology and to support the work of the reverend Armando and wife Icel Rodriguez and their daughter, Amanda, as our missionaries to East Angola for the next year.
Especially worth noting were the “Green” Film Festival, workshops, Bible studies, Exposition Hall, Memorial Service, Ordination and the gospel choir. A sacred moment for me was the reading of James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation” with ethereal music and liturgical dance accompanying the poem.
Many hours of study and prayer are needed before attending conference and even more to process the experience. It was an exhausting three days. Pray earnestly that our church will be given the wisdom to resolve our differences and the will and energy to be God’s servants in a hurting world. What a blessing it is to feel a part of our connectional church. Thank you, church, for giving me the opportunity to represent you as your lay delegate.
Nancy Burkholder
