Boarding in Detroit for Annual Conference and there are a lot of different feelings from excitement to nervousness that are playing out. Annual Conference has had a somewhat of a sense if mystery to it. I have to admit when I was younger it simply signified a certain Sunday in the summer where the senior pastor wouldn't preach. Annual Conference always seemed to have an air of exclusivity to it. I felt as though I wasn't "Methodist" enough or that I didn't know enough John Wesley quotes to be a part of the meeting. Annual Conference seems to have a different meaning now, it is now an opportunity. An opportunity to come around a similar table and do our best to see how the church translates the Spirit of God that works within us to the reality we encounter around us. It seems that there are sometimes such intense arguments, but behind the arguments there is such intense passion. I look forward to Western NC Annual Conference to share what little knowledge and experience I have as a person attempting to discern the movements and will of God and to share the experiences of a US2 Missionary in the United Methodist Church.
So we have touched down in Charlotte and early tomorrow morning, Lake Junaluska here I come hopefully with an open heart and mind and of course my running shoes.
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