General Conference in Tampa made history as the most expensive ($1,500 per minute!), least productive, most fatuous assemblage in the history of Methodism. Sunday evening\u2019s \u201cA Celebration of Ministry\u201d\u009d fiasco was a metaphor for our nearly two weeks at church expense: four hours of belabored supplication by the General Commission on Status and Role of Women, five Ethnic National Plans, Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, United Methodist Men, Girl Scouts, Africa University and a number of other agencies I can\u2019t remember. A subtheme of that long night: even though we can\u2019t cite specific fruit, please don\u2019t force us to change or to expend less on ourselves.<\/p>\n
Even after suffering this abuse, General Conference succumbed to the agencies\u2019 pleadings. In a post-GC blog, Mike Slaughter (who with Adam Hamilton eloquently\u201d\u201dand futilely\u201d\u201dwarned GC that we must change or face certain death) told the truth: \u201cOur denominational systems continue to resist change by protecting archaic structures. From our seminaries to boards and agencies, institutional preservation was a strong resistant influence throughout GC. Entrenched organizational bureaucracies resist accountability \u201d\u00a6\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n