Task force will seek ways to streamline General Conferences
4/10/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. NOTE: Artwork of the 2004 General Conference logo is available with this report. By Jackie Campbell* PITTSBURGH
(UMNS) - In an effort to better control costs, a newly formed United
Methodist task force will examine ways to improve the operation of the
church's top legislative assembly.
The group's goal will be to
produce a document that looks at the pros and cons of current and
proposed procedures for conducting the church's business at General
Conference. The assembly draws nearly 1,000 delegates together every
four years to make decisions affecting the church's operation, laws and
stands on social issues. It will meet again April 26-May 7, 2004, in
Pittsburgh.
The Rev. James Perry, chairperson of the church's
Commission on the General Conference, appointed the task force, or "jump
start" subcommittee, at an April 3-4 meeting in the host city.
"2004
is the first time that finance is going to be the driving force in
issues in General Conference," said Bishop Bruce Blake of the Oklahoma
Area. The church should consider proposals that could streamline
operations, including examining the petition process by which
legislation is brought before the assembly, he said. Members may also
look into the frequency and length of General Conference sessions.
The
cost of hosting the General Conference provided an example of the need
to study alternatives. The Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference host
committee for the 2004 gathering has a budget of $300,000 - nearly eight
times more than the $40,000 cost of hosting the event in Pittsburgh in
1964, said the committee's Rev. Alan Morrison.
Because the
current cost is too great for a single annual conference to bear,
Morrison said, Western Pennsylvania has asked for contributions of
$5,000 from each of the conferences in the Northeastern Jurisdiction. It
also will seek help from the church's general agencies and the United
Methodist Foundation.
The subcommittee will work to provide
information for future General Conference commissions to consider in
proposing change. Members of the task force include: the Rev. Gail
Murphy-Geiss of Centennial, Colo., facilitator; the Rev. Paul
Extrum-Fernandez of West Sacramento, Calif.; Roland Siegrist of Linz,
Austria; the Rev. Denny White Jr. of Charlotte, N.C.; and Aileen L.
Williams of Rochester, Minn.
In other action, the Commission on
the General Conference approved a proposal from the host committee to
defray costs by selling the badges required for visitors to the
conference for $2 each. The committee has designed a souvenir welcome
badge that will sell for $2. T-shirts and denim logo shirts also will be
sold.
The commission also spent time working on language-related
concerns. The group decided to ask that bishops in the church's central
conferences - regional units in countries other than the United States -
be responsible for notifying General Conference planners of the names
of delegates who will require translators for legislative work sessions
and other activities, and the languages they speak.
Plenary
sessions of the 2004 General Conference will be simultaneously
translated from English into five languages - German, French,
Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili.
For legislative work sessions,
requests for translators in any language must be made in advance.
Organizers said they would attempt to secure services for consecutive
translation in any language if a request is received before the General
Conference.
The commission selected the languages for simultaneous translation based on input from bishops of the central conferences.
"There
was unanimous support among the bishops for Portuguese and French
translation," Blake said. "And the Congo bishops felt very strongly that
Swahili was needed in simultaneous translation."
The 10
million-member church has more than 1 million members in Europe, Africa
and the Philippines. Most of the delegates who represent those areas at
the conference speak English, German, French or Portuguese.
The
Advance Daily Christian Advocate, which contains a delegate handbook and
other conference materials, including proposed legislation, will be
produced in English, French, German and Portuguese. The cost of
translating the voluminous document from English into the three other
languages is about 17 cents per word, or an estimated $605,000 to
$675,000. The 2004 conference will be the first for which the book will
be available in a language other than English.
A suggestion to
provide Advance Daily Christian Advocate material in Spanish was not
accepted. The Rev. Roberto L. Gomez of Mission, Texas, a Hispanic member
of the commission, said the benefit would not justify the cost for a
small number of Spanish-speaking delegates - in contrast to a greater
number of delegates who would speak only French, for example. He said
funds could be better used to translate changes made in the Book of
Discipline and other materials for Spanish-speaking church members after
the General Conference. He also noted that it was more important that
the National Plan for Hispanic Ministry be given 30 minutes for a
presentation during the assembly.
The commission heard a report
from worship planners, who said they envision a General Conference
opening service that surrounds delegates and church leaders with songs
from all over the world. The songs will celebrate a renewal of baptism
and Holy Communion, emphasizing the conference theme, "Water Washed and
Spirit Born."
Banners, dancers and a variety of drummers and
musicians will emphasize the worldwide nature of the gathering in the
opening service, said the Rev. Barbara Day Miller, dean of worship at
Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta and music
director for the General Conference. "It will emphasize the
transforming, renewing spirit of God, using words from the hymn 'Wash, O
God, Your Sons and Daughters' by Ruth Duck."
The Rev. Carlton R.
Young, the editor of the United Methodist Hymnal, has produced an
expanded arrangement of the hymn for the opening service, Miller said.
Representative
choirs from throughout the church will participate in worship each
morning of the General Conference. Other groups will be invited to offer
music or dance at various locations around the Convention Center.
"We
had 75 groups apply to participate, and we will be choosing some of
them to invite," Miller said. Applications came from throughout the
United States and from international groups, as well.
# # #
*Campbell is a staff writer for the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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