From Indexed by Jessica Hagy.

I admit it. I’m never happy.

Or, better, I’m happy for a while and then I need a change.

So, yet another home for Overstatement. The good news is that I was able to import the most recent posts from my old Tumblr site. The bad news is that my comments didn’t carry over. You can still visit the old site at http://bthooper.tumblr.com/.

So, Overstatement is back. And we’ll see how long it stays here before I get bored again.

My blogging has slowed down since I returned from General Conference.

To all my many fans: don’t worry – I’ll be back in true form soon enough.

A last day controversial issue was our membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. By a very narrow margin, our membership was retained. I worked with Planned Parenthood New York when I pastored there and helped them construct a clergy statement entitled ”Reproductive Justice in a Just Society,” so I’m happy that we will continue to support reproductive justice, though I am concerned about the narrow margin.

Well, things are winding down here at GC 2008. I must say that I have not paid as much attention to the legislative process as I might have liked. I noticed the big things, but I imagine there are many little things that passed under my radar screen that will pop up later. It’s been an interesting experience.

To be honest, the whole thing seemed a little more low key than past conferences. I didn’t feel the presence of the caucuses as much as in the past. There was a real effort to focus on “conferencing” as opposed to “fighting.” And, on the hot-button sexuality issues, not much changed.

We did revive a focus on mission, which was refreshing. The Nothing But Nets campaign was a central focus, with Bishop Bickerton’s basketball becoming a very successful fund-raising tool. We also emphasized our four areas of focus and seven pathways. And there was much good to celebrate and rejoice in – lives saved from malaria, a renewed focus on HIV/AIDS, a recommitment to combat poverty, an emphasis on new church starts. The main highlight for me was our worship, which was creative, energetic, diverse and high-quality. The preaching was generally excellent and inspiring, the music beautiful and moving.

I have often wondered what General Conference really means. I still do. It seldom seems to touch the basic mechanics of the local church, and when I return to my congregation I wonder what difference GC really made. My experience is very little. Churches that are open to gays remain so. Churches that are homophobic remain so. Churches that are growing continue to grow. Churches in decline continue to shrink. To be sure, local churches do change, but seldom is it because of an action at GC.

Does that make GC irrelevant? I guess I am starting to think that GC is increasingly meaningless, though not yet irrelevant. It is increasingly engaged in conversations that aren’t that interesting, debating issues that it can’t resolve, struggling with funding agencies and institutions that seem disconnected from the realities of the local church. Perhaps that is a bit jaded – the agencies do provide much to the local church – but I can’t help but think that local churches just keep on doing their thing, and GC just pontificates to itself.

What could make GC a more meaningful event? What would it take to make GC more relevant to the local church and to the communities we serve?

Bishops Huie (past president of the Council of Bishops) and Palmer (current president) respectfully lifted their hands in pray during the “witness” in support of full inclusion of sexual minorities.

Metholebrities #3,4,5: Steve Bauman, Clayton Miller, Kent Millard. Need I say more.

Metholebrity #2: Mike DuBose. Chances are good you’ve never seen Mike. But chances are even better that you’ve seen his work. Mike takes an awful lot of photos for UMCom – and he’s travelled the world photographing various Methodist projects. Look at the credit line in Methodist publications, and you’ll likely find his name under many photos….plus, he’s a really nice guy.

“The church today has become known not for its pursuit of love and justice, but for its opposition to gay people.”

- From Adam Hamilton’s blog. Read the entry for a thoughtful, respectful perspective that I don’t agree with very much. I appreciate Adam’s careful consideration, but I would diverge from him on many points, obviously.

Homosexuality Witness: You can now get a streaming version of the witness at the UMC General Conference web site. I recommend you watch it and listen.

Those of you watching the video stream online may have noticed that the stream was down during the witness in solidarity with sexual minorities. That was too bad – because it was one of the most genuine and powerful moments of all conference. And IRD headline read “Gay Rights Protestors Storm General Conference.” Nothing could be further from the truth. A respectful, generous, impassioned witness was offered by brothers and sisters in the United Methodist Church. They were not “gay activists” – they were faithful Christians – faithful United Methodists. They did not “storm” – they came in singing, during a recess, at the instruction of the presiding Bishop.

It is too bad this was not streamed – supposedly the policy is to take the stream down during any recess. Hopefully, there will be pictures online soon to give everyone a glimpse of what happened.

This morning, a powerful witness was offered, calling for justice and inclusion of all God’s people. Bishop Mel Talbert spoke as well, and asked the General Conference to reconsider it’s decisions yesterday regarding homosexuality. It was a meaningful, emotional moment. Bishop Park from New York was among the bishops that came down from their seats to join the witness. He shared with me a long and sincere hug on the floor.

I snapped a few photos and will try to have them up later. I’ll also try to track down a copy of the statement -which was very well done and carefully worded.

This morning I woke up with anger and despair in my heart. I thought to myself: Those bastards! Who wants to be part of such a cruel group of people? Don’t they know how far they have strayed from the teachings of Jesus? What place does judgmentalism and hatred have in our church? I was entertaining the idea of turning in my credentials and becoming a social worker.

Then, as I walked into the Convention Center and I heard the music of Mark Miller. He was leading the delegates in a rousing rendition of “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” I wondered how Mark felt when he woke up – when the church that he loves decided that his relationships were invalid and unholy. I don’t know how he felt – but I do know that he got up, and that he led his church faithfully in worship, that he sang his songs, and did his thing – that he followed his God through the valley of darkness.

And I thought, if he can get up and do what he is called to do, so can I.

Editorial addition: I hope it is clear that I was trying to recount in this post my emotional response. I realize that people of faith disagree on this issue, and while I am hurt by the decision of the conference, I respect the challenge and struggle that delegates wrestle with when they conference together. It angers me. It saddens me. It disappoints me. But we are still in covenant together. Don’t worry – I’m not about to actually turn in my credentials. I love my job!

“

The UMC is not a church. It is a system. While Reconciling UMs rely on scripture and the theology behind those words, our adversaries rely on laws – and they make up new laws at their whim.

This system does not allow life for LGBT people. The system crushes us.

”

- From the Official Blog of the Reconciling Ministry Network.