Annual Conference Dispatch

Ok, so this is the second Annual Conference without Melissa. Last year, she had been gone for about 3 weeks. Last year was the first year the boys missed Conference. Some of our best memories are from Annual Conference—some games we still play were invented at Annual Conference.

I am sitting pretty much in the same place I was sitting last year when I blogged a bit—at the Starbucks near Fourth Street Live, where I saw the Russian couple being all lovey-dovey. I took the chance to get away for a while to talk to some folks there’s not enough time with—Bill Hughes, Bill Kidwell, DG Hollums. And, oh, Leonard Sweet was there, too. I eavesdropped on him and DG’s conversation.

It has been a good conference. I like conference, seeing people I have not seen in a while. I get frustrated that here we all are together and we really need to get moving on being vital and we get sapped by too much procedure. I have no clue what the answer to that one is. I just know we need to get pumped up and challenged to reach the world for Christ. Leonard Sweet hit on a lot of that in his presentation—about the hostility of the world to the church, about the hard times, the pressure of being a minister. So many pastors are worn out and freaked out. They have a lot of education, put in a lot of hours, and the church in America is dying. What gives?

A lot of it is re-learning, I think. I think many pastors thought they could just show up, be a pastor and church would keep running. But in the end, you have to pound the streets, feed the hungry in Jesus’ name, and preach the gospel of sin, repentance, the Kingdom, and Holiness. Mostly, we talk about the Kingdom, and we do so in terms that make people think anyone can get in if they just want to. We don’t want to talk about sin or repentance.

Maybe, since so much of the world is hostile to the message of Christ, maybe we just need to go ahead and say, “yes, the church is your enemy. The way you are currently living is not a life we can endorse. So naturally, there will be tension in our relationship.” We have spent way too much time trying to make people like us. Finding ways to “repackage” the gospel. Instead of being comfortable, maybe we should just come out and say what we believe, and still live among the people. The best relationships I have in the community are with 3 people who flat out can’s stand the church and what they know of the gospel. What drives me is that I want them to know the truth before it’s too late. But uh-oh! That means that I believe some things that most Americans, most Christians even dislike (and here you can check for yourself): I believe in Hell. It’s where sinners who do not repent and turn to Jesus go. Jesus is the only way to heaven (not Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Canaanite religion, or New Guinea tribal faith).

Yesterday was the Memorial Service. Melissa was honored, and I had a part in the service, reading Scripture. It was not hard, because I believe what the Scriptures say. A few people were wondering if it was hard for Jessie. I can’t express to you how wonderful she is. She came to a memorial service for Melissa. She lets me talk about Melissa as much as I need to. She looks through pictures with the boys, asking them to remember Melissa to her. So, while it is hard, God is also good. I am remembering a weird moment at Conference last year. Melissa was friends with Rose King, the bishop’s wife. Rose was very good to Melissa during her illness. Anyway, when Rose saw me last year, she took me aside and said something like, “Melissa was a wonderful woman. But this work of ministry is going to be too hard for you to do alone. God is going to provide another wife for you.” I was shocked. Not in a bad way—a few people I told this to thought she was insensitive. Not me. I appreciated that she knew Melissa and spoke from the heart.

So here we are, Annual Conference. Rose sees me processing out from the Memorial Service. She grabs my hand and holds me a second. I thanked her for all her support, for cards, visits, stuffed animals for the boys. Remembering our last conversation, she said, “God has provided for you and those boys. I am so glad you did not wait.”

Annual Conference is a good thing. A fun thing, even. I think we should add a few days and then we could all meet together and hatch crazy plans for ministry! The future probably means more cooperation between pastors and churches.