Thoughts on Annual Conference

I was going to break this up into three different posts, but after thinking about it further I decided that they all go together, at least in my mind. So try to follow me, friends.

Yesterday we were voting on social issues for the conference. One was about mental health awareness. A woman stood up to add an amendment for "mental retardation" Sunday. That didn't sit well with me, especially since I am currently reading Nouwen's book Adam and with my deep appreciation and admiration for Nancy Eiesland. So I made an amendment to the amendment to name the service for "differently abled". It's been interesting to see the reactions I've been getting to my amendment, which passed. Some people understood what I was advocating for, a removal of stigma. Others said that we should still recognize people as mental retards. Wow. That made me sick to my stomach. 

It also made me want to lead a workshop on ableism. I want to play a game where I give each person with a post it note describing a single characteristic such as "fat lips", "limp", "obese", etc. For the rest of the training the people only could be described by that characteristic, disregarding an gifts, talents, or other defining features they may have. I want to see how it makes people feel. I'd be interested to see how people react. 

I was told by one person that offense leads to legislation, thus we should always side on the side of the freedom of speech. But as children of God, we should never use freedom of speech to deny another child of God's worth or to box them in or define them in a way other then how God sees them. And freedom of speech does not mean that we accept what others say without responding, encouraging, or rebuking. 

All too often the church has become part of the political system of America. Politics comes from the greek word polis (πόλις) which can be translated body of citizens. Well, friends, I am part of a polis, but it is not America. It is the body of Christ, the city of God, the Kindom. The Kingdom. And in that polis, we have to tell people they are LOVED* and WORTHY and the BELOVED, beautiful and special to God and to me. What would our freedom of speech allow us to say then? How would we act? 

This polis requires that we rethink (what the entire annual conference has been about) who we are and what we are about. It means that we need to dismiss our old ways of doing things if they aren't in line with God. I think the polis of the annual conference need to rethink some areas where we are stuck in our old ways: Environmentalism and Ableism.

Environmental Issues - even though we are an A Rocha college committed to sustainability, Messiah, for annual conference, we create so much waste between plastic bags, excess printed paper, and poor recycling habits on top of the trash from coffee cup upon coffee cup. We need to start thinking about how be sustainable as we gather for the three days of Holy Conferencing as well as in our home churches. 

Ableism - how we treat people of different abilities. Are we treating EVERYONE as a child of God and see them as blessings to the community? Are we trying to heal people who aren't seeking healing because they make us uncomfortable? Are we using language that sets people apart in order to make us feel better about ourselves?Are all really welcomed in your church? All too often we think the ministry is over if we are accessible to wheelchairs, but still treat people poorly. No. It's time to rethink church in this conference. 

* When I was walking down the halls of Messiah, I noticed cards with the signature "You are LOVED!" after the name of the sender. It made me smile with deep joy!