AS a member of the Order of Ministry it is an expectation that I attend (I would say requirement--which it is--except so many of my colleagues seem to have missed that part).

HOwever I have argued for several years that having these meetings 2 out of every 3 years is enough (we are only required to have them 1 out of every 3).  But not enough people at the meeting have thought like me to vote in favour of the motion.  I actually rather enjoy the meetings, I just think they cost too much in time and money and energy for what we accomplish.

This year I am not expecting much, given what has been sent to us already.  But there is always the potential for a surprise when we get there tomorrow...

Which one will you be at Gord?

 Hi Pinga,

I will be attending Hamilton Conference's 85th Annual General Meeting in Fergus from Friday morning till sometime Sunday.

The Reverend Anthony B. Robinson of The United Church of Christ is to be our theme speaker

One of the proposals, coming out of Erie Presbytery seeks to make participation in the national payrol service optional rather than mandatory.  

Of interest to myself and the congregations I serve will be my nomination as commissioner to General Council.

Other than that I suspect business as usual.

We have switched the celebration of new ministries to Saturday Evening rather than Sunday Afternoon and President, The Reverend Rick Hawley has invited all clergy to robe and process into the service together.

It should resemble "What Not To Wear" the Clergy edition.

Grace and peace to you.

John

lol, revjohn, i will see you there...

I'll be at Montreal and Ottawa CAM, on the 5th-7th of June.  I've already been elected as a commissioner to GC, so that suspense is settled.

Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. We are meeting in Winnpeg this year

Are any of your conferences looking at a petition to remove the 20 articles of faith from the Basis of Union. Just wondering........

Hi Revjohn, 

He is amazing!  I went to a workshop with him last year.

Could you explain how commissioners to General Council are selected?  And how the GC agenda is determined?

Thanks ... P3

Not us, crazy.  Sadly.

hmm, well, we recommend from our presbytery folks to go to GC, then, they go to conference and are voted upon.

in addition, proposals are brought forward by presbytery members  at the presbytery meeting, which are then voted upon  by the court of presbetery and sent to conference.  (Someone can correct me on the wording, it is with or without concurrence, i think).  All of ours went with concurrence.

Conference staff pull them together, and then, bring to the the regional conference gathering.  Ours is in Fergus, ON, this weekend.

At the regional meeting, we will do the standard dialogue / voting process.  (Someone can let me know if we have table groups on this item)

Also, at that regional meeting, we will vote on General Council (GC) delegates.  They are to include a cross-section of lay and ministry delegates.   There is a formula for the numbers that are sent, though I don't know how detailed it is.  (Ie..does it specifcy x must be youth delegates, y must be lay, z must be ministers...does it sub-define z.)  (The formula  is likely listed on your conference site).   Individuals going to youth forum at general council are not included in those percentages and also attempt to be both regionally represented and diverse.

hmm, well, we recommend from our presbytery folks to go to GC, then, they go to conference and are voted upon.

in addition, proposals are brought forward by presbytery members  at the presbytery meeting, which are then voted upon  by the court of presbetery and sent to conference.  (Someone can correct me on the wording, it is with or without concurrence, i think).  All of ours went with concurrence.

Conference staff pull them together, and then, bring to the the regional conference gathering.  Ours is in Fergus, ON, this weekend.

At the regional meeting, we will do the standard dialogue / voting process.  (Someone can let me know if we have table groups on this item)

Also, at that regional meeting, we will vote on General Council (GC) delegates.  They are to include a cross-section of lay and ministry delegates.   There is a formula for the numbers that are sent, though I don't know how detailed it is.  (Ie..does it specifcy x must be youth delegates, y must be lay, z must be ministers...does it sub-define z.)  (The formula  is likely listed on your conference site).   Individuals going to youth forum at general council are not included in those percentages and also attempt to be both regionally represented and diverse.

ps...i am a relative newbie to this stuff...someone who knows manual offbyheart or is a long-timer, may be able to speak to regional differences as well as correct me

Posted earlier - I'm going to Maritime Conference next weekend.  It will be my first Conference so I will mainly be an observer there to learn as much as I can, with hopes of participating more next year.

yeah, seeler.

It will help if you can read the proposals before you go.

see if they are on the conference website, or..if you can get a copy from conference.

GC delegates are technically chosen by Conference, but the mechanism for doing so is at the discretion of the Conference.  So there are some wide differences.  In my last Conference, delegates were chosen the year ahead (more time to make travel plans, I guess).  In both that one and this, most of the seats were given to Presbyteries to hand out as they see fit.  Other Conferences keep some or most of that glory for themselves.

Hi Paradox3,

He has a very dry sense of humour.  I was in stitches during the sermon he delivered for the retirees worship.

He also speaks quite candidly and clearly without a whole lot of jargon (either that or I understood his jargon and followed along).

In Hamilton Conference we are allowed to send 38 Commissioners to General Council.  We split that evenly between Lay and Clergy reps.  Some officials in Conference are automatically selected. (Typically they are the President and the President Elect of Conference--We also send at least one Youth Delegate).

Each Presbytery in Conference is allowed to submit 4 preferred candidates as Commissioners (2 Clergy and 2 Lay--they typically are chosen unless the field of prospective Commissioners is huge).  This year all 19 Clergy presented for discernment for the office of Commissioner were acclaimed (if there had been 20 names submitted it would have required a ballot).  22 Lay members had their names submitted for consideration so 3 Lay members were passed over this year.

I suspect that the agenda is shaped by the GC-Executive with respect to ongoing action stemming from previous General Councils and the rest will come out of the work of the proposals committee and the agenda and planning committee.

In that regard it is very similar to how a Conference or a Presbytery and even a pastoral charge would set their Agenda's.  Whatever is pressing gets time.  It's my first time in this capacity so there will no doubt be stuff I am unclear on.  I've got a few months to get up to speed though.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Hi Pinga,

Of course everyone raved about my ability to accessorize my Genevan Gown with my sandals.  I switched to a clergy shirt but kept the shorts.

I thought my colleague sitting next to me was going to drown our section.  White Alb (What are they going to wear after Labour day!) over formal attire in a hockey arena without the air on max.  Fashion disaster and edging towards medical mishap.

None of the photos of the procession caught my clergy style in all its glory.

Grace and peace to you.

John

If anyone is interested you can find a summary of the Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario meeting

thanks Gord. Very interesting