I am off to Methodist Conference this evening (it starts tomorrow in Dublin). A few light reflections:
The reading of stations is the most boring thing I know. You have a list of where minsters are being stationed, they then tell you of some amendments and clarifications, and then the whole thing is read through. It takes nearly twenty minutes to be read. Someone suggested that they might have to read it for legal reasons. If so (and I don't think so) get an auctioneer to speed read it!
The food is always over-priced. You are expected to pay above the odds for conference lunch. It is much more pleasurable to keep your money and check out the local eateries. Last time they had conference in Dublin they suggested that there were no convenient places to eat (rubbish, there was, they just wanted you to sign up for the catering!).
Because conference is so boring only people who think that the current structures of Methodism are wonderful can bare it. As a result radical change is unlikely to happen (I say that in bitterness because I was disappointed with the discussion on itineranc at the Cork conference).
It can be a good time to get a little reading done. At my first conference I purchased the Irish Times but wondered if it would be too rude to read. Soon two senior ministers were reading it. If it is okay for them to do it must be okay for me. I think that ear plugs might be too rude though!
Certain people are guaranteed to give their opinions from the conference podium. There are a few that will give an opinion on a variety of issues. Yet only a small minority will actually speak. Some will value their opinion so much that they will feel the need to ignore the red light that goes on to tell them to shut up!
2 comments:
A frank admission there, Paul.
I'll try to cheer you up by telling you it's a good chance to catch up with old friends.
Plus, you can come and hear me on Saturday night.
I'm interested in your comments that, as conference is , in a manner of speaking, self-selective, we can never hope to achieve radical change.
I guess I would like some kind of reassurance that it's not ALL that bad. I know that in a larger committee, an, thus, conference, the tendency is to keep the status quo for the sake of convenience.
Still, isn't the reality that radical change just happens, and that meetings tend to play catch-up?
Oops. There's my red light.
It is good to catch up with old friends. And I am looking forward to hearing you at youth night. Nevertheless I do find conferance a great bore. I have a love/hate relationship with it - while I find it hard to tolerate I would be gutted not to go!
Paul
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