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GC2004 Updates
NIC
VOICE General Conference Update #
39
If you have links to
GC2004 Reports that may be of interest, please send the link to:
nicvoice@nicvoice.org.
ALL ITEMS
ARE NEW
or UPDATED!!!!
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New Press Articles
Methodist
split not seen as answer, bishop says (has
commentary from Louisiana Bishop Hutchinson)
Times Picayune, LA - May
14, 2004
... indications this week that Hinson's
proposal was merely the public introduction of a grass-roots
campaign to build conservative support for a Methodist
split. ...
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Recommend
Reading: NEW GC2004 CONTENT! |
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This amazing collection
of information has links to a collection of news articles, audio
clips, video clips and full transcripts and has been recently
updated. It is provided by
Gateway Church.
The United Methodist Reporter is
recognized as a source of international
religion news and a national forum for
United Methodist opinion about faith issues.
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Letters to the Editor
NEW! 05/19/04...
Readers respond to the United
Methodist Reporter's General Conference coverage.
Continued » |
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UMC's budget 'invests in future'
NEW! 05/19/04...
United Methodist congregations will be asked to "invest
in the future" of the denomination by funding a
four-year, $612.5 million budget.
Continued » |
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Congregations to engage 'holy mystery' through communion
study
NEW! 05/19/04...
When United Methodists come to the Lord's Table, they're
not only remembering Jesus and his acts, they're
encountering the Holy Spirit in a profound, immediate
spiritual experience.
Continued » |
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COMMENTARY:
Connectional Table will serve UMC well through 21st
century
NEW! 05/19/04...
"Many things coming out of the 2004 General Conference
will affect significantly The United Methodist Church as
the denomination moves forward," writes Lonnie D.
Brooks, a delegate from the Alaska Missionary
Conference.
Continued » |
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COMMENTARY:
Stem-cell research: Do United Methodists 'hear a Who'?
NEW! 05/19/04...
Amy Laura Hall, assistant professor of theological
ethics at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C.: "Having
served on the United Methodist Bishops' Bioethics Task
Force that wrote a document on embryonic stem-cell
research, I grieved as the 2004 General Conference in
Pittsburgh gutted the proposal."
Continued » |
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HERE I STAND:
'Dark heart of judgment' contradicts the very purpose of
God's incarnation
NEW! 05/19/04...
The Rev. Gary Keene, senior pastor of Holliston UMC in
Pasadena, Calif.: "As a baptized Christian and ordained
elder ... I am disappointed, ashamed and angered at the
words and actions of the Rev. Bill Hinson, a fellow
United Methodist pastor."
Continued » |
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General Conference sermons
NEW! 05/19/04...
United Methodist bishops from the Congo to California
called on General Conference delegates to make allies
out of enemies and give until it heals.
Continued » |
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General Conference actions back Igniting Ministry, other
initiatives
NEW! 05/19/04...
Delegates to the 2004 General Conference took action on
a wide range of program issues.
Continued » |
NEW!!!!
COMMENTARY BY REV. DANIEL TILLY
(published with permission)
There will always be sinners in the church, and there are always
proponents of unorthodox viewpoints, etc. But in our case, we have
no mechanism in place to discipline those who habitually disregard
the covenant. Methodist people not only want us to uphold the
orthodox faith...they want us to disfellowship those who habitually
reject the orthodox faith. And that is where our problem is. Until
that is corrected, we will continue to debate this issue. We will
continue to lose faithful pastors to more disciplined communions,
and we will continue to lose members to other churches.
Furthermore, if we do not correct this problem soon, a day will
come when the votes will begin to shift back in the other direction.
In fact, I predict that at the next GC the votes will already be
shifting toward the wrong direction. And I predict this in spite of
the fact that the South is getting more representation and in spite
of the fact that we have picked up more votes from 3rd world
countries. The South is not going to be able to save this church,
because the South, though at present, strong against homosexuality,
is weak in its underlying theology.
We must accomplish the following:
1. We must go to the next General Conference with a plan, and the
will, to discipline the apostates - from bishops to pastors to
conferences. We must put in place a way to disfellowship them from
the community, both for their sake and ours. This should NOT take
the form of a schism, but rather a disciplinary step. Up to now this
is the one thing we have refused to do, and it is the only step that
can ward off a future disaster in the church.
2. We must strengthen the theological foundations of the church.
This can only be done through slow and methodical discipleship of
clergy and laity. Otherwise, once-held convictions of moral/social
evils will shift. From courses in seminary to bible/church studies
in the local church, we must begin a process of instruction that
will firm up our orthodoxy in the hearts and minds of our people. We
are far too biblical/theologically illiterate.
Dan Tilly
Pastor, Rehoboth/Center United Methodist Churches
Newbern, TN
Memphis Conference
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Pittsburgh, Pa. -- May 11,
2004
The 2004 General Conference of the United Methodist
Church had closer votes on homosexuality matters than it did
four years earlier in Cleveland. Keeping the phrase that
homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching" had 66
percent support in 2000, but it dropped to 60 percent in 2004.
But the 2004 General Conference tightened up the language
to make the position more "clear," in the wake of the trial of
the Rev. Karen Dammann (that acquitted her of violating the Book
of Discipline for being an open lesbian while serving the
church).
Read More (including quotes from various participants - see
following)
James Preston
(Northern Illinois Annual Conference): In the Church
and Society Committee we "found common bond in our love, our
deep and abiding love for the United Methodist Church...A
majority of us felt that the Holy Spirit had moved much as the
Spirit moved in Acts, Chapter 2...I also believe the majority
report speaks the truth. I work with youth in my local United
Methodist Church, and part of what I think is critical in our
life and ministry together with them is to ask them to live in
truth...That we disagree is in line with scripture and speaks
the truth."
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Following are GC2004 reports
from 12 (out of 15 annual conferences) in the South
Central Jurisdiction.
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LOCAL HEADLINES- click on headline for story
REBEKAH MILES' GENERAL CONFERENCE REPORT-PART 1
REBEKAH MILES' GENERAL CONFERENCE REPORT-PART 2
2004 General Conference - MAY 6, 2004
PICTURES FROM GENERAL CONFERENCE - MAY 6
By Lisa Elliot Diehl
Kansas West Coordinator, Marketing and Communications
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(selected Links
to UMNS Information)
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The 2004 General
Conference of The United Methodist Church will be held
April 27- May 7 at the David L. Lawrence Convention
Center in Pittsburgh. Nearly 1,000 delegates from around
the world will gather to set policy and direction for
the Church.
Files are posted below in PDF format.
You must have Acrobat Reader to open them. If you do not
have Acrobat Reader, you may download it free
here.
Delegates
Missouri's United Methodists will be represented by nine
ordained clergy and nine lay delegates. Find out more
about the delegates
here.
Litany for the blessing of
General Conference delegates
in PDF form
General
Conference information
For more information about the General Conference, visit
www.GC2004.org.
In addition to General Conference news, you will find
the legislative tracker program there. The legislative
tracking software will keep track of petition activity
during the conference.
News from
General Conference
General Conference news updates may be found at
www.GC2004.org. Additional
servers have been added to help handle the heavy traffic
load. The site was working well by afternoon April 29.
Early news updates, found below, are from the first days
of General Conference. If web traffic at www.gc2004.org
slows down again, we will attempt to post stories here.
Daily wrap-up from 4/27
Episcopal address
UMNS news briefing 4/27
Bishops set plan to expand ministries with
children/poor 4/27
Bishops say God is calling church to new future 4/27
UM Bishops charge racism in visa denials 4/27
UMs cook up snacks for delegates 4/27
Delegates hear restructuring proposal, reports on
ministries 4/28
Shared
Prayer daily listserve
Includes General Conference delegate to pray for each
day, plus prayers and information on the day's
activities. Click
here.
Peggy Eshelman, coordinator of formation and justice
ministries, has compiled more information that may be
found
here.
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UPDATES FROM YOUR
N.M. DELEGATION TO GENERAL CONFERENCE 2004
April 26 evening update
April 27 evening update
April 28 evening update
April 29 evening update
April 30 evening update
May 1 evening update
May 3 evening update and photos
May 4 evening update
May 5 evening update
May 6 evening update, photos from the floor of convention
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General Conference 2004
Today at General Conference
General Conference News
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OIMC Delegation Returns Home from 2000 General Conference
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