By JOHN LOVELACE
Special Contributor
In the eight-state South
Central Jurisdiction of The
United Methodist Church,
stretching from Nebraska to
Louisiana, only one bishop
is said to reserve one day per
year to meet with the laity.
On Saturday, Jan. 21,
at McKinneys Stonebridge UMC, Bishop W. Earl
Bledsoe held his fourth
annual give-and-take
session, attracting about 150
laypersons and a handful of
clergy.
Bishop W.
Earl Bledsoe made
a point with Susan
Leddy of First
UMC Blossom.
Both conference lay
leader Richard Hearne and
the bishop cited Eastman
Kodak as an example of what
happens "when we keep
doing the same things the
same way," referring to the
camera giant's clinging to
film as the industry moved
to the digital era. Eastman
Kodak, which, ironically,
invented the digital camera
in 1975, recently filed for bankruptcy.
Bishop Bledsoe labeled
2012 "a defining year"
for The United Methodist
Church, with its once-every-
four-years lawmaking
General Conference
convening this spring in
Tampa, Fla.
The four points in the
church's Call to Action, he
said, are:
- Leadership
development.
- New places for new
people.
- Ministry with the poor. "John Wesley's kinship with
the poor keeps us grounded,"
he said.
- "Things going on in
the world." He mentioned
Nothing But Nets, a program
promoted by the UMC,
the National Basketball
League and others to send free
mosquito nets to help stop
children's deaths from malaria.
As for issues he backs for
approval by the 2012 General
Conference, he listed:
Creating the office of a "set-aside" bishop, perhaps a
retired bishop, to "help deal
with issues." He said he spends
more time "in the air" between
meetings than he does in the
North Texas Conference.
Eliminating guaranteed
appointments for all elders. "Some clergy," he noted, "say it's OK for them not to
do much because their next
appointment is guaranteed. The
bishop can't do much about it.
There's no place to put them."
Reducing the number
of churchwide agencies. This "could free up $60 million for
vital congregations and other
work closer to home," he said.
Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe and a Laity Day participant exchange
viewpoints at the annual event.
After a midmorning
break, which the bishop
spent in multiple one-on-one
conversations, Lay Leader
Hearne called for questions.
Asked what can be done "to get information beyond
the pastor's desk," Hearne
recommended that local
church lay leaders go on the
conference website at least once a
week and share what they find
helpful.
The bishop was asked
about the data that local
churches are required to
gather."I'm not interested in
merely gathering more data,"
Hearne said. "What does the
church have to say about
unemployment, for instance,
and what are we doing about
it? Understand what God is
calling you to do, then you can
understand the data. . . . We
are called to do acts of justice
and mercy, and we're better at
mercy than we are at justice."
From left:
Wilford Job,
Robin A. Phillips,
Jenna Morrison
and John Bodnar,
representing
different NTC
churches, joined
together for lunch.
In preparing for lunch,
Hearne urged participants: "Don't sit with the people you
came with; talk about issues in
your church."
The suggestion apparently
worked.
After lunch, handwritten
notes passed to the bishop
helped him choose laity to tell
about their churches' work in
such fields as prison ministry
aid to special-needs children
and women's ministries.
Formula for a successful
Laity Day? The bishop speaks,
the people listen. The people
speak, the bishop listens.