Western Jurisdiction Conference July 16-19, 2008

Western Jurisdictional Conference Report Friday

The Conference Delegates have just returned from their lunch break to a report of the 8th ballot. Those receiving 5 or less votes are not being reported.

This is the report:
Grant Hagiya 41
Janet Forbes 30
Elaine Stanovsky 27
Youngsook Kang 22
Renee Extrum-Fernandez 14
Frank Wulf 11

We will keep you up to date during the voting this afternoon.

Skip Strickland

Report from Delegate Melanie Rosa

Spending beautiful July days in a sterile, windowless hotel ballroom in Portland may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but your Jurisdictional Delegates have been representing you, our sisters and brothers of the Rocky Mountain Conference, faithfully and well. Friday was a very long day, and by 8:00 tonight there was still no Episcopal election. Then, like a gift from a surprising God, on the first ballot after dinner, we elected Grant Hagiya on the 16th ballot. He is from the California-Pacific Conference, having recently served 8 years as a Superintendent in the Los Angeles District. Grant will be a blessing to the whole denomination.

While the Episcopal election process has been slow, and at times frustrating, the work of the Jurisdiction is most encouraging. Today we voted to be a Reconciling Jurisdiction, practicing extravagant hospitality in ministry to all of God's children, particularly the marginalized and excluded. We expect all of our churches to be inclusive and welcoming in every way, as we train our pastors and lay leaders in the art of inclusion. The Western Jurisdiction is leading the way in living into God's future. I am proud to be a part of this Jurisdiction, and am thankful for the opportunity to serve with our dedicated delegation in this important way. With any luck and the power of the Spirit, we will elect the next Bishop before midnight!

Melanie Rosa

Report from Delegate Emily Dawson-Peterson

Forward on the trail God blazed…

And if not that, then around and around on the trail the dog made in the backyard.

I’m not a mountain climber, but a few years ago I climbed Longs Peak with my cousin. We started in the wee hours – 3 am with a headlamp and a ready attitude. I felt great! I could do this!

Walking in the dark for more than two hours, I just put one foot in front of the others. In the dark and in the woods is a tough place to get a good view of anything more than just the path under your feet. In some ways, it was great. Because I couldn’t see how steep the hill was, it seemed like my legs and my lungs didn’t know how steep it was. So, step-by-step, I just kept going.

Then the sun rose.

“Oh, how beautiful!”
“ What vistas!”
“ What grandeur!”

Then I looked up. In the light of the day, I could see what lay ahead. A big mountain. (No, seriously. It’s big.)

Hours of hiking passed under my feet. And more hours. Out of the woods. Across the high tundra. Over the boulder field. Through the keyhole. Up a cliffside. And then another. And then… the top.

“Oh, how beautiful!:
“ What vistas!”
“ What grandeur!”

Eat a Powerbar. Snap a pic. And now its time for the long walk down. No time to doddle. No time to reflect. No time to revel in accomplishment. Because the walk back down still lay ahead.

So this is our story this weekend. Hours of voting with momentary glimpses of hope, of love, of possibility. But mostly a big challenge ahead with some rocky and painful moments before we reach the goal. Who will make it to the top? Who will be left at the boulder field? And at the end of the day, did we follow the trail God blazed, or was it just a lot of trips around the well-worn path old Rover has beat down in the grass?

We have elected a bishop (as of 12:00 am 6/19/08 MST), and we have another to name. Even though we’ll have time tomorrow to experience joy in the consecration of our new bishops, there isn’t much time to revel. If you’ve ever climbed Longs, you know that as soon as you arrive at the top, you have to turn tail and get back down. The storms roll in during the early afternoon, and lightening will strike. Every year, people are killed. It’s a dangerous place to be!

The lightening of declining memberships, falling giving, a lack of young clergy, stagnant congregations and uncertainty about how we will live out our role as a global church is striking all around us. The very survival of the church is at hand! But the opportunities will strike as well. Opportunities to build both creative (new) and supportive (sustaining) ministries are at hand. Opportunities to light the fire of passion in the hearts of young and old alike about social justice. And opportunities to spread the mission and the message of Christ Jesus – that the future is filled with a hope of justice, equality, peace, love, mercy and grace. Thanks be to God! If God’s trail is blazed on the side of a mountain or through unknown and unchartered territory, we must be there. And if God’s trail is blazed in our own backyard, we must be there also. The time is now!

Emily Dawson Petersen

Forwarded by Skip Strickland
Director of Mission and Ministry
{We are still voting}

GRANT HAGIYA ELECTED ON BALLOT 16.

MORE INFORMATION TO COME.

On the 16th Ballot of the Western Jurisdictional Conference, The Rev. Grant Hagiya, of the California-Pacific Conference, was elected as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church. I have included information that Grant placed on the Western Jurisdiction Conference Web site. There is still another person who will be elected Bishop sometime this evening or early tomorrow morning. The assignments of the Bishops to an Episcopal Area will be announced on Saturday July 19th.

We will continue to send updates through out the evening following the progress of the election. You can also find ballot reports on either the UMC.org web site or the web site of the Western Jurisdiction.

You may be proud of your delegation as they work hard on your behalf with grace and integrity.

Blessings.

Skip Strickland
Director of Mission Ministry
Director of Communications
Rocky Mountain Conference

Grant Hagiya's Profile (PDF)

Progress Report

[This is a progress report by Ben Roe. We also just joined in singing Happy Birthday to Josh Davies. There is other business that takes place at the conference. The balloting continues. Skip Strickland]

Progress story

The Western Jurisdictional Conference has elected a Bishop! Grant Hagiya, of the California-Pacific Annual Conference was elected on the 16th ballot.

The Conference continued today with a short worship service at which Bishop John Wesley Jordan preached. Balloting and reports continued. Ballot results are being regularly posted here on the UMC.org web site: http://tinyurl.com/5t47zj. It appears at this time, 5:45 p.m. on Friday, that the balloting has been at something of a "plateau" for several ballots. Here are the ballots 9-15:

Former RMC interim treasurer Paul Dirdak presented a request from the Central Conference Pension Initiative, that each Conference have a conversation with Dan O'Neill to discuss creative funding options including finding donors, to help relieve the poverty that we have created over 150 years. One individual has already given a million dollars. You have the opportunity to consider supporting this program to support our clergy sisters and brothers in Central Conferences.

The Conference has approved a plan to use a consultant to enhance the web presence of the Western Jurisdiction and help conferences tell the story of the Jurisdiction and a special Sunday once a year to celebrate the stories of the ministries of the West. This has grown out of conversations about how we in the West have unusual ministries and life-affirming values to share with the larger church that can help move the church forward into a new future.

Another part of communication is the proclamation of God's "Extravagant Hospitality." The Conference has adopted this as a theme for the coming quadrennium, based on a desire "to respond first to the extravagant love of God for all creation and all peoples, respond to deep hungers of our world," including enduring peace, and end to poverty. The origin of this are in the discussions of this Conference, bishops, informal gatherings. Mary Elizabeth Moore, Cal-Pac clergy said, "We have repeatedly said we need to respond to hungers, deepen our faith, be the church, do church in new ways, welcome all--all, share our Western Jurisdictional gifts with the larger church and move forward on the 'Trail that God has blazed."

A series of resolutions was adopted this afternoon, with each vote being either unanimous or overwhelmingly approved.

A "Resolution on Human Sexuality in Western Jurisdiction" introduced and affirms the "Majority Report" from General Conference, similar to the resolution adopted by the Rocky Mountain Conference last month. The resolution says, "This statement was and is a product of honest and genuine holy conferencing and represents a reflection of both grace and truth of which United Methodists throughout our connection can be proud. The spirit of this statement is clearly the heart of our future and a reflection, we believe, of the grace and truth of Jesus Christ."

The Western Jurisdiction has decclared itself as a "Reconciling and Welcoming Jurisdiction." In another resolution, the Conference recalled the spirit of the 2000 and 2004 sessions when the "We Will Not Be Silent" statement was adopted and expanded. This statement committed the Jurisdiction to "continue our witness to the denomination and challenge the wisdom of recent decisions made at General Conference 2008." The statement goes on to "stand with our gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (glbt) brothers and sisters" and for this time and place "where people long to be welcomed and included in our communities of faith, long to be recognized in their relationships..."

This resolution names and claims "our ministries as welcoming and reconciling....We open our doors to all persons regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, we open our hearts to those who have been shunned, we open our minds to radical obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even when at odds with The Book of Discipline, in order to further the work of God's justice and the creation of the beloved community." The full text will be on the WJ web site and the RMC web site siib,

In another resolution entitled "Marriage Equality and Pastoral Support," celebrates the May 15, 2008, California Supreme Court ruling that marriage is a basic civil right, and offers support to same-gender couples who choose to enter into the marriage covenant and encourages "congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care care for these families."