One of the highlights of attending a portion of General Conference 2020/2024 was to worship with the global church. The house band was excellent, often beginning a familiar hymn then singing it in French and Korean. There were several guest musicians including a Filipino choir, a large choir from a neighboring church and several Native American delegates singing Hallelujahs in their native language and scale.

We also celebrated several relationships. We celebrated full communion with the Moravian Churches and the Episcopal Church in America. And we honored our ecumenical and pan-Methodist partners.

I was surprised as to how moving the memorial service was (watch it here). This is a common feature in our conferencing schedule. And it is regularly moving. The preaching is often about the essences of life. The scriptures employed are classics and favorites. The music is comforting. I think I’ve always felt like an underling in the church. I identify as a grunt just working the trenches of the local church, rarely even leaving my county. Bishops, however, lead the global church. They’re ‘up there’. My surprise was my own personal connections to several of the names lifted up.

Bishop Dale White

Bishop Dale White commissioned me when I became a US-2 (now called Global Mission Fellows). It will forever be one of the most moving moments of my life. I don’t remember the actual congregation, but it was near the old Georgia Dome. I do remember Bishop White preaching on Chief Seattle and the need for environmental work as ministry. At the time, it felt a little odd. A later learned of his work In Defense of Creation, about nuclear disarmament. It made me understand Bishop White’s perspective of the church as a force in crucial matters. Did he also understand US-2s as a cog in this work of the church? I can only assume he did. Nevertheless, when his name was read and the bell rung for Bishop Dale White, I marveled at the connection between the Bishop’s ‘up there’ and the grunts ‘down here’. And I gave thanks for our momentary but monumental (to me anyway) connection.

Mr. Jeff Swenson

I only met Jeff Swenson once, when Bishop Mary Ann Swenson came to preach at my congregation in 2016. General Conference was in Portland and I had heard of Bishop Swenson’s ministry at Orchards in the late 1970s. What I learned is that Jeff was an apt partner for an ambitious and deeply caring clergy-wife. We spoke only briefly in the fellowship hall. He was humorous and turned the tables on me a bit: I was technically the host pastor, but he turned on the hospitality in welcoming me into his old stomping grounds. Since that time, I have learned of the Swensons’ tandem bicycling, their love for the global church and their deep memories of all the places they have served. I have always found Bishop Swenson’s regard for me to be to be of the highest warmth and sincerity. She even stopped an important conversation with a top dude to greet me at General Conference. So when Jeff’s name was called and the bell rung, I gave thanks for Jeff. I know that Bishop Swenson has needed a loving supportive partner in her ministry. That she found it in Jeff is a ringing endorsement in my book.

Bishop William Boyd Grove

Bishop William Boyd Grove was my ordaining bishop. Bishop Ernest Lyght had taken ill earlier in the year and Bishop Grove was called in to preside over Annual Conference. Bishop Lyght preached some really good Ordination Sunday sermons, so I was initially disappointed. But Bishop Grove hit an absolute home run in the Ordination sermon delivered to me and my fellow ordinands.

He called us to the ministry of “interruption,” whereby the minister holds some very good news and cannot wait until a polite moment to deliver it. He gave us 3 metaphors for being these agents of interruption. 1) “It is not a crime to steal second base.” In this baseball metaphor, Bishop Grove imagines a great base runner on first base. A great base runner makes the pitcher nervous and continually looking over his shoulder to keep the base runner in check. “I want the principalities and powers of this world looking over their shoulder at the church!” 2) “Walk 2 miles everyday and carry someone else’s baggage.” In this metaphor, Bishop Grove imagines an engaged, strategic evangelism that works creatively at the cogs of oppression to bring good news to the whole world. Later he would declare that evangelism “is not just an encounter between two people, an evangelist and a potential convert. It is the whole church interrupting the whole world with some good news indeed!” 3) “Be very careful whom you put near the door.” Bishop Grove gave a beautiful story about a parishioner named Wayne who wanted to hand out bulletins on Sunday mornings. Wayne made it clear to Rev. Grove “Everybody doesn’t know they’re welcome here.” Is that not still the case? Welcoming, warm, genuinely loving people of all kinds need to be near the door. Gatekeepers and the like can serve somehow else.

As Bishop Groves name was called and the bell rung in his loving memory, it has caused me to go back to that ordination sermon and remember the charge I have been given. What wisdom! Is it not still the calling of the church to interrupt the world with our good news.

Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar

Bishop Devadhar, in terms of giftedness, has given me the most surprising gift. Bishop Devadhar was one of our Evangelism teachers at Drew. For the most part, his co-teacher (a guy named Doug Ruffle) ran the class. I remember classes where Rev. Ruffle would have a plan, but Bishop Devadhar would sweep in and command the hour. He was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. But it always felt like a disruption.

But then Bishop Devadhar had this crazy plan: he wanted to take the youth of the New Jersey Annual Conference to Taize. I was familiar with Taize music, but I was unfamiliar with the Taize community. As the plan unfolded, students from Drew would serve as chaperones taking about 15-20 youth from the NJ Annual Conference to Taize. As I needed a cross-cultural credit, this was my ticket to one of the most blessed experiences of my life.

Taize changed me. I recall conversing with other young adults around the Brothers’ teachings. I recall a young mother lamenting the difficulty of prayer when the demands of motherhood were so many. I recall singing in many languages. We began singing “Bog jest miloscia, miejcie od-wa-ge zyc dla milosci. Bog jest miloscia. Nie le-kaj-cie sie.” I quickly figured out a group of Polish youth were near me: when they heard their own language being sung, their voices lifted with both volume and passion. “God is forgiveness. Dare to forgive and God will be with you. God is forgiveness. Love and do not fear.”

The example of Taize still lives in me: not just the music, but the possibilities of worship, community, service, compassion and justice were all exemplified in the Taize community. I even saw 5000 people be fed 3 times a day. Bishop Devadhar having both a large and local view of ministry made that trip happen. And it is still paying dividends within me.

As Bishop Devadhar’s name was called and the bell rung, I gave thanks for the gift of Taize that he gave me.

I will probably always be a grunt. That’s not a complaint as I love my life in the local setting. But I honor those who answered the call to serve on a different scale. We are all ultimately connected. May it always be so.