The final day of the 2023 Spring Meeting of the General Conference Executive Committee on Tuesday, April 11, saw open positions filled by the nominating committee. The rest of the business meeting consisted largely of the reports that are standard at GC meetings. With key agenda items wrapped up on the first day—including the Treasurer’s Report and an announcement of a Human Sexuality Taskforce—little remained to stir controversy.
Two things: If the President of the church doesn’t know why local churches don’t get excited about GC-level initiatives, somebody and their departments are not doing their jobs. It’s responsible to pass resolutions (I’m on a Board of Directors that does this all the time) but without a follow-up structure and timeline (my BOD has this), it’s just smoke and mirrors, Ted.
The second item: using a dull fake person to deliver dull information just about guarantees that the information was forgotten immediately. And if this Artificial Intelligence being is the personal assistant to the President, things are crazier than I imagined.
Mr. Wilson urged everyone to go back to the Word - I would encourage them to read “How the Bible Actually Works” by Peter Enns, or his earlier book “The Bible Tells Me So”. It helps.
They keep promoting a top-down approach. Plans and strategies developed by the GC are passed down to the next level–division, union, local conferences–until they reach those on the frontlines. How about reversing the process? Start listening and paying attention to the expressed needs of congregational pastors and local church leaders!
Surely TW, the issue is not the internet, or the local conferences. And I doubt that it is the local church. The issue is relevance, and until that is recognised and resolved, there will always be a disconnect between the pew in Hometown and the ivory tower in Silver Springs.
