In the spirit and tradition of St. Paul, Clement (Bishop of Rome) wrote to the church at Corinth in order to deal with a problem. That problem? Schism. Some fifty years after Paul\u2019s letters, in which he pleads with them to avoid party strife, Clement writes to exhort them for the exact same thing. Ouch! Imagine it: A whole generation lived and died in the Corinthian church, expe-riencing \u201cchurch\u201d\u009d as broken, full of strife and hostility. Hmm.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking about Corinth because of General Conference. Delegations are meeting to get ready. In nine months they will gather in Ft. Worth, TX. The tension is already building. We are dealing with the scuttlebutt on various kinds of tactical and contentious matters: \u201cWhat do you think of the Connectional Table?\u201d\u009d \u201cWhat will happen if the United States becomes a Central Conference?\u201d\u009d \u201cWill the homosexuality vote split the church?\u201d\u009d What about the Commission on the Study of Ministry recommendation to go another four years?<\/p>\n