Andy Stoker | Leadership Training Consultation » hope

General Conference 2012 – Day Four

Andy Stoker — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:38:30 +0000

There is something about seeing the global Church come together. The languages, the faces, the dress, the handshakes are all different but there’s something about smiles that bring us together. When we smile together, we are bridging the miles and experiences that separate us. Smiles invite us into a greater relationship; it is the first step. The smiles then bring a willingness to listen.

Today, I was with a group of Congolese delegates as they were describing an act of violence (certainly reminiscent of other acts committed in the name of change, democracy and freedom). The delegates were insistent that the Church needs to speak out against those acts of violence, that the Church apologize for its silence, and that the Church needs a prophetic witness in creating a better, brighter future for our children and our children’s children.

Tonight, we worship a God who urges us to repent, to be shaped by a love that will take us far into the future. Stepping forward in faith, knowing our sordid history, we press on reaching for the Love that ultimately brings us together…maybe, just maybe, one smile at a time.

General Conference 2012 – Day One

Andy Stoker — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:08:45 +0000

What am I doing on a plane to Tampa? Has my career, education and experience led me to this place? I cannot imagine that as I was taking United Methodist polity courses that I would have found myself around the tables, hallways and byways with some great minds in Methodist Christianity.

Sitting now in the auditorium I see the delegates from all over our world who, in their own communities of faith and service, are shaping the lives of children, youth and adults. Last Sunday, these persons preached and taught about the disciples being called to ministry. For centuries, now millennia, those called by Christ have tried to make their communities of Christ better; that’s what we are about these ten days as well.

We are talking about denominational restructuring, ministers in transition, and eliminating poverty and disease. There is hope in the world! Pray that we are encouraged by the Spirit to remember the children and youth who will follow us! Pray also that the Church is better after these ten days than it was when we first began.

[Please follow this blog or #revdrandystoker on Twitter through May 4, 2012.]