Message from the Bishop
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Holy conferencing is a means of grace. Conferencing is a way God is known to us through others and a way God offers us direction.
Conferencing is listening to one another with deep respect, believing that God might well speak through the other, even another whose ideas are very different from our own.
Debating is using arguments to prove why we are right and the other, our opponent, is wrong. This methodology results in winners and losers.
Conferencing is a seeking of new truth. Listening to many voices, we have the opportunity to move toward deeper understanding. It is a way of discerning where God is leading us. We take our time. We are invited to listen and understand, rather than just win.
Of course in any conversation, even conferencing, persons can manipulate the process. Sin is real, but with God's help we can choose a path of integrity. There are ways we can operate inside boundaries that make us more open to God's truth. I appreciate some guidelines that Bishop Sally Dyck suggested to a recent gathering of South Central Jurisdiction leaders. These boundaries were employed when Methodist youth from around the world met in South Africa last December. Here are the guidelines:
1. Every person is a child of God. Always speak respectfully. One can disagree without being disagreeable.
2. As you patiently listen and observe the behavior of others, be open to the possibility that God can change the views of any or all parties in the discussion.
3. Listen patiently before formulating responses.
4. Strive to understand the experiences out of which others have arrived at their views.
5. Be careful in how you express personal offense at differing opinions. Otherwise dialogue may be inhibited.
6. Accurately reflect the views of others when speaking. This is especially important when you disagree with that position.
7. Avoid using inflammatory names or an excited and angry voice.
8. Avoid making generalizations about individuals and groups. Make your point with specific evidence and examples.
9. Make use of facilitator and mediators.
10. Remember that people are defined, ultimately, by their relationships with God—not by the flaws we discover, or think we discover, in their views and actions.
As we continue our journey in Nebraska, these guidelines are useful for us. We can have conversations about hard issues without trying to destroy those who think differently than we think. We can learn from one another. We might even catch a glimpse of God's light in very unexpected persons and events.
This is true for the Nebraska Annual Conference. This conference has the capacity to see new visions, dream new dreams and discern God's will together.
This way of life together is also possible for every congregation in our conference. Even when our concerns are deep and our decisions critical, each church can seek God's guidance, following these guidelines. What a witness this kind of conversation is. People outside the church are drawn into our life and worship as we live in a grace-filled, loving community.
May God continue to work among us as we seek to be the respectful community God calls us to be and become. May our life together be a witness to God's Spirit among us.
In Christ,
Bishop Ann Brooshire Sherer
Nebraska United Methodist Conference