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April 27, 2004
THE NEW CREATION AND THE CHURCH'S MISSION
EPISCOPAL ADDRESS
GENERAL CONFERENCE 2004, APRIL 27 2 p.m.
GREETING
Your bishops greet you in the name of
Jesus Christ, who "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation ? through him God was pleased to
reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven."
(Colossians 1:15-16, 19-20). Grace and peace to The United
Methodist Church and the church universal as we gather for this time of
holy conferencing.
THANKSGIVING
We thank God for bringing us together
as a diverse community from around the world. We are grateful to God for
sustaining our brothers and sisters in times of poverty, terrorism, and
war since we last met. Thanks be to God for the faithful witness of
General Conference delegates and our bishop colleagues, who have joined
the company of 'saints and martyrs' and now are part of that great cloud
of witnesses that encompasses us.
We acknowledge with gratitude the
congregations, institutions, boards, and agencies across the church that
invite, nurture, and send forth disciples of Jesus Christ. We are grateful
for those who give of their resources for the fulfillment of the church's
mission, and who prophetically and courageously proclaim the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
We give praise to God for the many
annual conferences that have continued the repentance of racism initiated
at the 2000 General Conference and who bear the fruits worthy of
repentance.
We express thanksgiving for responses
of the church to the Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty. God has
blessed that Initiative through signs of new life, the forming of new
communities that reflect Christ's solidarity with the least of these, and
commitment in many places to ministry and fellowship with those who live
in poverty.
In the words of the
Apostle Paul: [We] thank [our] God every time [we] remember you,
constantly praying with joy in every one of [our] prayers for all of you,
because of your sharing in the gospel" (Philippians 1:3-5).
EXPANDING
HORIZONS AND NEW CHALLENGES
We gather as 'people called Methodist'
in the foyer of a new century. A year ago we celebrated the three
hundredth anniversary of John Wesley's birth. We gratefully remembered
"the rock from which we were hewn, the quarry from which we were dug"
(Isaiah 51:1). But we are not content to remember the past. We also
anticipate a new future as we await the fulfillment of God's promise of "a
new heaven and new earth ?" (Revelation
21:1-2).
Your bishops firmly believe that God
is calling 'The People of The United Methodist Church' into a new future
while remaining firmly anchored in our Biblical and Wesleyan foundations.
At the heart of the biblical witness and our Wesleyan heritage is the
promise of the New Creation. That new creation includes hearts and lives
changed by the power of God's grace. It includes cultures and social
structures transformed by God's righteousness and justice. And, it
includes the healing and reconciling of the entire cosmos. This promise of
a new creation provides the foundation and vision for the church's mission
in this new millennium.
Central to the biblical message and
our Wesleyan heritage is that through the "new birth" God transforms human
hearts and lives. "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away; see everything has become new!"
(2 Corinthians 5:17f). God's new creation does not end with changed
individual hearts and lives. God's salvation extends to human social
relationships, institutions, and cultures. "See everything has become
new." Families and neighborhoods, politics and economics, personal
identity and social relationships -- everything
is seen through the lens of the new birth in Jesus Christ.
God's new creation involves the entire
natural order, the whole cosmos. Hear this promise from the New
Testament: " ? the creation itself will be set
free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of
the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in
labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves
?" (Romans 8:18-23).
God is, indeed, expanding our limited
horizons and revealing a new creation. Could it be that God is
challenging a myopic worldview that fosters parochialism, nationalism, and
chauvinistic arrogance? Just look at this magnificent, vast universe! Our
earth is but one among billions of planets in one small galaxy among
billions of galaxies. Hear again the probing prayer of the Psalmist: "O
Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! ?
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and
stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are
mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"
(Psalm 8:1,3-4).
Is the gospel comprehensive enough to
answer that ancient question with convincing insight to a generation
viewing the earth through the lens of the Hubble telescope? We answer
with a resounding YES! God's creativity and mercy know no
boundaries of time or space. God's salvation embraces the whole creation,
nothing less than "a new heaven and a new earth,"
(Revelation 21). Jesus Christ "is the firstborn of a new creation
(Col. 1:15-16). "In Christ God was reconciling the world [cosmos] to
himself?and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us"
(II Corinthians 5:19).
Yes, God cares about the inner life and
personal needs of every individual. Yes, God cares about cultures and
nations and institutions. And, God's attention is also directed to the
interaction of the countless stars in the vast heavens. God's cosmic
salvation in Christ Jesus challenges us beyond preoccupation with
institutional structures and narrow agendas to being the Body of Christ
for the salvation of the universe.
But the minute is not lost in the
infinite reaches of space. While the telescope exposes the mystery of the
macro, the microscope reveals the wonder of the minute and invisible. Just
think! Each human being consists of 60 trillion cells, each cell
containing undiscovered mystery and potential. And, we human beings are
but one of 1.7 million known species on earth. It is estimated that there
remain between 10 million and 100 million species yet unexplored in the
depth of the oceans, the fertile rain forests, and the rugged terrain
dotting the planet.
What incredible good news! While God's
domain extends to the yet uncharted planets in unexplored galaxies
innumerable light years away, God cares about and is present with the DNA
in every one of the 60 trillion cells in every one of the 6.3 billion
people on earth! This God whose mission is the salvation of the whole
creation "numbers the hairs of our heads" and "marks even a sparrow's
fall."
Yet, sin ravages the human family and
threatens the creation itself. Are we surprised that as knowledge of the
outer and inner world increases, so also do the misuses of these
discoveries? We know all too well that the remarkable advances in science
and technology also make available new instruments of destruction and
death. While developments in science and technology offer resources for
healing and renewal, troubling signs of potential devastation of
cataclysmic proportions also abound. The widening gap between the rich and
the poor, the pervasiveness of market forces dominated by the wealthiest
of nations, and the prevalence of personal and corporate greed threaten
the very existence of vast populations and the ecosystem itself. The
reliance on violence and military solutions to conflicts destroys life and
compounds terror in the name of resisting terror. Suspicion, fear, and
hatred of those who are different plague the human family precisely at the
time when interdependency, mutuality, and new depths of community are
possible.
The people of God live with the tension
between the old creation dominated by sin and death and the promised new
creation healed, reconciled, and transformed by God's love and power in
Jesus Christ. But we can proclaim with boldness and hope the message that
was the hallmark of Jesus ministry: "The time is fulfilled, and the reign
of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news" (Mark 1:15).
God's vision for the world, the cosmos, has dawned in Jesus Christ. It is
a vision that encompasses the far-reaches of an infinite universe and the
depth of the microscopic cell.
THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH AND THE CHURCH'S MISSION
God in Christ has
called the church to be a visible sign, foretaste, and instrument of the
new creation. This is our mission: To point to God's reign of compassion,
justice, peace, generosity, and joy; to provide a foretaste of living in
the new heaven and new earth; and to be an instrument by which God's
promise for the world becomes a reality. This is why we make disciples of
Jesus Christ. This is why we as Wesleyans are committed to personal
salvation and social transformation. This is why we exist as a Church!
What characterizes God's vision for
the cosmos? The qualities of the new creation are revealed in Scripture
and incarnate and brought near in Jesus Christ. They include at least
these:
When God's work is completed, all
creation will be reconciled and healed, from the distant and yet unknown
galaxies to the microscopic cell. We know from our Wesleyan tradition
and from our own experience the power of God's grace to save and transform
the human heart. Yes, John Wesley's heart was strangely warmed; yes, he
instructed his preachers to do nothing but save souls; yes, the hymns of
his brother plumb the depths of divine parental intimacy. But there is
more! What is less familiar to many heirs of Wesley is his conviction that
God's grace will heal the entire cosmos, from the wayward, falling stars
to the destructiveness of wind and fire and the turbulence of roaring
waters. Toward the end of his long life, he shared this vision: "He that
sitteth upon the throne will soon change the face of all things, and give
a demonstrative proof to all his creatures, that 'his mercy is over all
his works.'" (Sermon, "The New Creation")
In God's new heaven and new earth,
social relationships and the entire creation will be transformed. God
"will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and
crying and pain will be no more" (Revelation
21:4). Children shall live beyond infancy, old people shall live out their
days, those who build houses will live in them and those who plant gardens
will eat their produce (Isaiah 65:20-22), swords will be beaten into
plowshares and spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4). "The wilderness and
the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the
crocus it shall blossom abundantly" (Isaiah
35:1-2) "The mountains and the hills ? shall
burst into song, and the trees of the field shall clap their hands"
(Isaiah 55:12). "The heavens will proclaim God's righteousness and glory
and the firmament will declare God's handiwork" (Psalm 19:1, 50:6). God's
creation will be healed!
The church as a sign, foretaste, and
instrument of God's healed creation is embodied in those laity and clergy
who serve in Christ's name among the hurting, wounded, and dying in our
communities. We call to mind healthcare workers, scientists and
technicians who are devoted to preventing and relieving suffering. We
think of environmentalists who safeguard endangered species, government
officials and advocates who protect and justly distribute finite
resources. The church's witness to the healed creation is seen in those
who support social and economic policies that make the earth's resources
accessible to all of God's beloved children.
When the new creation in Christ is
completed, people will know their identity and worth as beloved children
of God, made in the divine image and redeemed in Jesus Christ. No
longer will human worth be based on such fleeting externals as physical
appearance, achievements, titles, or political or religious labels.
Rather, everyone will be valued simply for their status as a beloved,
forgiven child of God for whom Christ died. Every person, every person
already has infinite worth and dignity bestowed as a priceless gift from
God. As the First Epistle of John joyfully announces: "See what love the
Father has given us, that we should be called children of God;
? Beloved, we are God's children now; what we
will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is
revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is"
(I John 3:1-2).
As a creature bearing the divine image,
every person has a God-given right to the resources necessary to
flourish. The church exists to point all people toward their true
identity and worth as beloved, 'Water Washed and Spirit Born' daughters
and sons of God. We are to give them a foretaste of what it feels like to
be treated with infinite worth and dignity and unconditional love. The
church is to be an instrument whereby systems and governments and
institutions preserve, nurture, and enhance the value of every human
being.
Because our identity, worth, and
dignity lie in God's claim upon us as beloved children, barriers among
human beings will be removed and reconciliation will be complete in the
fullness of God's reign in Christ. Indeed, Christ has given us a
shared dream of the Beloved Community. But the beloved community is more
than a distant vision. God has acted in Jesus Christ to bring it near by
breaking down all dividing walls of hostility. "So he came and proclaimed
peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. . . So
then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the
saints and also members of the household God"
(Ephesians 2:19). "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer
slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all are one in
Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
When we welcome the stranger, extend
hospitality to the marginalized, embrace with agape love the despised and
rejected, we are pointing toward Christ's redeemed and reconciled
community. Participation in efforts to overcome barriers within the
Christian community through such efforts as the dialogue between The
United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and
the Episcopal Church, pointing toward full communion, are signs of
reconciliation within the body of Christ. Our cooperative mission
involvement that is moving beyond paternalism to partnership is another
means by which we become answers to our Lord's Prayer in John 17 that
"they may be one, as we are one"(v.11). When we live the oneness of the
human family that Christ makes possible, we are providing a foretaste of
the heavenly banquet when people will come from the north and the south,
the east and west and sit at table with Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and
Mary, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mary McLeod Bethune, Oscar Romero and
Mother Theresa, Desmond Tutu and Albertine Sisulu.
When God's new heaven and new earth
come to completion, justice will permeate all relationships, institutions,
and policies. Biblical justice is defined primarily as extending God's
loving righteousness throughout the whole of human existence, enabling the
poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized, "the least of these" to have
access to God's table of abundance and to flourish as God's beloved
children.
The God of the Exodus and Jesus
"defends the orphans, the widows, and the aliens." God identifies so
closely with the poor, the oppressed, and the prisoners that what is done
to them is done to God. Jesus, the incarnate God, was born as a
vulnerable child of a young peasant girl, lived the first two years of his
life as an alien in Egypt, grew up in a working class family, was executed
as an abandoned criminal, was buried in a borrowed grave, and even in his
resurrection was mistaken as a grave digger. He defined his mission in the
language of the prophet Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to
let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor"
(Luke 4:18-19). This was the text from which John Wesley first preached in
the open air in England on April 2, 1739. Wesley's own experience and
understanding of grace was formed and empowered by his life-long
relationships with the marginalized and impoverished, those whom Charles
Wesley called "Jesus' bosom friends."
Nations and churches will be judged in
the new creation by their response to those who live in poverty as victims
of economic and political exploitation, neglect, and oppression. Through
our Initiative on Children and Poverty, the Council of Bishops has called
the church to be a visible sign of God's justice and compassion. In
keeping with our Wesleyan tradition, we have attempted to challenge the
church to be a beloved community shaped by the God who has chosen to be in
solidarity with "the least of these." History documents that whenever the
church has turned its face toward the poor, there is revival and justice
springs forth as a flowing fountain in a parched land.
As an instrument of God's justice, the
church is to evaluate all personal actions, governmental and business
practices, economic and taxation policies on the basis of the impact on
the impoverished and faithfulness to the God who has chosen the poor and
vulnerable as special recipients and means of divine grace. We must ask of
our salary systems, our church extension strategies and building programs,
the targeted populations of our evangelistic efforts, and the spirit of
our mission programs, our stewardship practices: Do our practices reflect
the One who though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, the One who
"emptied himself" on behalf of the whole world? What is the impact on
those who live in poverty in our neighborhoods and world?
We thank God that United Methodist
people live and serve around the globe. It is important that we resist the
temptation to mimic the current mood of political imperialism. We are part
of a global Methodist and ecumenical family much larger than The United
Methodist Church. Wherever we operate in the world, we need to be
particularly sensitive to, respectful of and receptive to our Methodist
sisters and brothers in other Conferences and Connections. Justice within
the Methodist family would come closer to reality by instituting authentic
interchanges at the highest levels of judicatories within the Connection.
God's justice means entering solidarity with and receiving the gifts of
those with less voice or power. We must heed the wisdom that comes from
God's global family, many of whom bear witness to the Gospel in
circumstances of poverty, disease, danger and war. Justice demands it.
When God's new creation comes to
completion, hope will triumph over cynicism, insecurity, and despair.
Fear, cynicism, and despair dominate the old world. Violence, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, and the crumbling of familiar foundations and
institutions shake our confidence. Our failure within the church to
resolve long-standing conflicts over such perplexing issues as human
sexuality adds to our fear, suspicion, and cynicism. We are tempted to
seek certainty and security by removing all ambiguities, adopting dogmatic
pronouncements, and multiplying the rules.
Fear, however, is not the only force at
work in the world. This is God's world! God has provided a more excellent
way in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the
Crucifixion, God took on the principalities and powers of sin and death.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is God's everlasting and
resounding NO! to those principalities and powers. Easter is God's
eternal and cosmic- echoing YES! to the promise of a new heaven and a new
earth. We, therefore, need not fear. God's victory in Jesus Christ is
coming! We need not resort to cynicism in the face of unresolved
differences, for we are bound together by truth incarnate in love. We need
not resort to violence and coercion for the one who prayed from the cross,
"Father, forgive them" triumphed over hatred and violence and he will
pronounce the benediction on history. Christ is Risen! We are an Easter
people, living toward God's new creation in Christ!
TURNING TOWARD THE NEW
CREATION
So, we enter this third millennium with
hope! The Church has extraordinary opportunities and resources to live
God's vision of a reconciled, healed creation. For the first time in human
history, we have the means of preventing most of the 10 million deaths
each year from poverty related causes. We have the technological means to
eliminate hunger and starvation and to prevent most childhood diseases.
HIV/Aids ravages the human family as a population-destroying plague,
especially on the continent of Africa and in India. Yet, resources for the
prevention and treatment of such devastating illnesses are now available.
What are lacking are the moral vision, political will, and financial
commitment.
Amid the horrid conditions of
eighteenth century England, John Wesley pointed to the Methodist societies
as signs of God's work in bringing the new creation into being. Could God
be calling the heirs of John Wesley to be signs of hope in this new
millennium? When faith falters in the face of the immensity of the
universe, when hope staggers under the weight of dangers and difficulties
of the world's violence, poverty, and injustice, let us remember how
crucial is our role in giving dramatic evidence to those who fear and
doubt the coming of the divine reign of justice, compassion, and joy.
God is calling us to be a community in
which all know their identity as beloved children of God, where all
barriers are removed, and where justice enables the lowly to be exalted
and the least and the last and the lost to be welcomed with joy at the
table in God's cosmic home. Indeed, we can hear with heightened joy and
expectancy the announcement of Jesus, "The reign of God has come near."
We can sing with new meaning and hope: "Finish, then, thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation perfectly
restored in thee."
REPENTANCE AS TURNING
TOWARD THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
Jesus'
announcement of the coming near of the reign of God is followed by a
life-changing invitation, "Repent and believe the good news." It is an
invitation to turn away from the
old world of sin and death toward the new world God is bringing near in
Jesus Christ. An initial step toward being that sign of hope is
repentance.
We know the renewal of being
reconciled to God through Christ when we confront the reality of our
personal sin and receive God's forgiveness. But we also know that when we
walk with Christ, we learn his passions, his priorities. In addition to
our personal sins, we find ourselves repenting for other systemic sins for
which Christ died. Acceptance of the good news of the dawning of a new
creation in Christ requires that we squarely and honestly face our
personal and collective bondage to the old creation. Such repentance
means naming our participation in that which thwarts the fulfillment of
God's dream and intentionally turning toward a new reality.
As we gather to engage in Christian
conferencing, let us begin to name our realities and
turn in new directions. I invite you to join with me in confession as we
turn toward the new creation.
We confess our amnesia, our lost
memory of the story of God's mighty acts in history and supremely in Jesus
Christ. Lost memory means lost identity, lost direction, lost mission,
and lost hope. Amnesia contributes to moral and ethical disorientation and
confusion. The call for recovery of doctrinal and theological foundations
is a longing for recovered memory of who we are and whose we are and the
source of our strength and hope. Our doctrines are lenses through which we
view the world. Those doctrines must be our anchor as we grapple with the
implications of modern astronomy and microbiology. Both dimensions of our
theological task as defined in The Book of Discipline must be
rigorously and humbly pursued -- doctrinal
standards and theological exploration. Thereby we can move from crippling
and blind amnesia to identity, mission, and hope rooted in memory of God's
mighty acts of salvation and God's promise of final victory. (Silence)
We confess our anesthesia, our
numbness in the face of the world's suffering, injustice, violence,
exploitation, and death. The enormity and complexity of the problems
confronting our world and the church, the constant bombarding of our
senses with competing and consumerist images and temptations, and the
hectic pace of modern life numb us to the suffering with which most of the
world's peoples persistently cope. We can move from anesthesia to
compassionate engagement as we remember and commit to the God who sees the
misery of the people, who hears the cries of the oppressed, who knows and
feels their suffering and comes to deliver, and who in Jesus Christ has
taken unto God's own being the humiliation, rejection, suffering, despair,
and death of the whole world. (Silence)
We confess our alienation, our
estrangement from one another and our disconnection even within our
Methodist and Christian connection. Within the Christian community, we
perpetuate divisions based on race, our Social Principles, polity,
liturgy, and doctrine. We allow jurisdictional, national, and political
loyalties to transcend our oneness in Christ. Even the central activity of
the church, worship, has become in many congregations a source of tension
and conflict between 'contemporary' and 'traditional' expressions. We
often label and malign those with whom we differ, rather than humbly and
sensitively listening and engaging one another in meaningful disagreement
in common pursuit of transcendent truth.
Our fears and insecurities, our greed
and excessive individualism, the economic disparities, our preoccupation
with privilege and personal power, and our failure to understand other
cultures and religions separate us from members of the human family and
alienate us from creation itself. While science reveals an interconnected
universe and exposes the rich diversity and unity of biological life, we
human beings long for, and yet resist, the community called into being by
Jesus Christ. Still, the good news remains steadfast: Jesus Christ has
already broken down the barriers. The Holy Spirit is moving us from
alienation and disconnection to Christ-formed community and missional
connection. (Silence)
We confess our anemia, our
powerlessness, and our failure to trust the power of love.
The enormous problems of the contemporary world and the challenges within
the church itself confound us. We feel helpless and scared. The world
turns to violence and coercion for security. In the church, we rely
increasingly on legislation, political maneuvering, and juridical
processes as means of control and self-protection. Yet in Jesus Christ is
revealed authentic power. It is the power of the Cross, which remains
foolishness to the world, and, sadly, to the church. At the Cross of
Christ, we accept our own powerlessness and vulnerability. We put aside
our pretense to power, admit our own complicity in thwarting the new
creation. And we assume the role of servant and enter the suffering, the
alienation, the powerlessness of others in the solidarity of love,
forgiveness, and commitment. Through God's power made known in the
Crucified and Risen Christ, we can "mount up with wings like eagles, we
can run and not be weary, we can walk and not faint." (Silence)
In joyful and
obedient response to the good news of God's reign in Jesus Christ, let us
turn
- from amnesia
to identity-forming, mission-giving, hope-restoring, memory;
- from
anesthesia to sensitive engagement with the world's suffering and pain;
- from
alienation to Christ-formed community and missional connection;
- from anemia
to Cross-empowered courage and servanthood.
INVITATION
The first Methodist
conference was held in June 1744. John Wesley defined the goal for the
conference as determining "how we should proceed to save our own souls and
those that heard us." The focus was upon clarifying doctrinal
understandings and commitments and how to form 'the people called
Methodist' in accordance with those doctrines.
The considerations that
dominated the agenda of that first conference become challenging questions
for those of us gathered at this General Conference. We need to raise
again the questions that shaped that first Methodist conference: What
shall we teach? How shall we teach? What shall we DO to affirm and live
our doctrine, discipline, and practice? If we approach these questions as
people of faith with open hearts, open minds, and open doors we live out
the spirit of Wesley who saw 'the world as our parish' and the whole
creation as the realm of God's reign.
To answer these questions
your bishops invite you to join us in a quadrennium of Methodist
conferencing around the world. We anticipate exploring again the Wesleyan
roots of our foundational teachings and practices while listening for the
Spirit's guidance in living toward the New Creation. Your bishops will
give priority in our episcopal areas to conferencing on key themes in
Wesleyan theology and practice, using the best of our pastoral leaders and
scholars, lay and clergy. We invite all members of the Methodist family
around the world to join us in this time of conferencing. We invite our
boards, agencies, and academies to resource the church in this effort. We
propose Methodist Conferencing around the world for the 2005-2008
quadrennium focusing on the following themes:
"The New Creation and the Church's
Mission:" God's new creation of
our hearts/lives, new social structures, and the whole cosmos. Special
attention is to be given to our relation to the earth and to the most
vulnerable as demonstration of our hope for God's new creation.
"Sound Doctrine and Catholic
Spirit:" The essential
doctrines and distinctive emphases of Methodism and their meaning and
relevance for the emerging scientific worldview and the formation of God's
vision of beloved community amid diversity.
"Personal and Social Holiness:"
Wesleyan principles
of personal and social ethics with emphasis on how our personal and social
economics may and must reflect divine love and contribute to the new
creation and authentic security.
"Watching Over One Another in
Love:" Discipleship in the
Methodist tradition, with an emphasis on being accountable to one
another and to the "least of
these" for lives that reflect the Beloved Community.
CONCLUSION AND BENEDICTION
John Wesley assessed the
results of the first Conference
in 1744 in these words: "We conferred together for several days, and were
much comforted and strengthened." As we confer together these days and
engage in Christian conferencing in forthcoming months and years, may the
concerns that dominated that first Conference permeate everything we do:
What to Teach, How to Teach, and What TO DO.
As Water Washed and Spirit Born
children of God, we journey toward a new
heaven and new earth. The One who inaugurated the new creation and won the
decisive victory journeys with us. The Risen Christ left this promise:
"Remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew
28:20b).
"Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who have an undying
love for our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 6:23-24)
For the Council of
Bishops,
Bishop Kenneth L.
Carder, Presenter
Bishop Ruediger R.
Minor, President
Bishop Sharon
Zimmerman Rader, Secretary
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