Western North Carolina delegate Dawn M. Hand follows legislation at the United Methodist Church's 2004 General Conference in Pittsburgh. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
Commentary: Life as a delegate
Editor’s note: Dawn Hand, the communications director of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and a lay delegate to 2004 General Conference, will offer her thoughts during the two weeks of General Conference in Pittsburgh. Dawn was in our conference to conduct an Igniting Ministry workshop three years ago.
By Dawn Hand
May 4, 2004
This schedule is grueling! To be in your seat by 8 a.m. for worship, and then to close committee meetings after 10 p.m. makes for a long day. And I’m not a night person, so I shut down.
I’m staying 10 blocks away from the convention center, and walking here helps me prepare myself for what’s ahead. The evening walk back gives me a chance to debrief.
I went for a jog on the morning of my birthday (April 30), thinking it would be a good day to get out and run. The night before, I had made a motion in the finance committee to table the budget vote. I was calling for an evening of prayer, to come back in the morning and make our decision. So the next morning I was out tackling these bridges over the Allegheny River and working things out in my mind. I came off the bridge near the convention center and the next thing I knew, I was crashing down into the rocks. The first thing I did was look around to make sure no one had seen me, and then I picked myself up and realized I’d scraped my knees pretty badly. But I decided to keep going because I hadn’t finished my discernment time yet.
The hospitality here has been wonderful, and it’s good to have some snacks to recharge our batteries. I’m trying to take advantage of the free lunches! Last night, we walked over to a nearby restaurant that had a big sign out front that said, “Welcome United Methodists!” Their special is called the “Big Ass Burger,” and it was very funny hearing all these United Methodists ordering them.
The setting for this General Conference is better than in Cleveland in 2000, where the long and narrow hall made us feel detached from the stage. Here we’re all much closer, and the closer you are to stage the more engaged you feel.
It’s interesting to talk to other delegates and get their takes on things. Two people can read the same document and have an entirely different thought process. That happened in our legislative committee.
I like the process we have, where things happen in committees before going before the whole conference. That way, people feel they can speak before the committee, even if they would be hesitant to stand and speak before the whole plenary group. There are points along the way where people’s voices can be heard. And yet the decision is not over until the whole body votes.
In my legislative committee, we grappled over the budgetary decisions which we make on behalf of the whole church. We decided to adopt a budget of $612 million, and it was a tough decision. The overwhelming refrain is that the church simply cannot afford to do this. But we heard presentations that it is possible, and passionate speeches about not putting constraints on ourselves. I got up and said at one point that we need to turn fear into faith.
Most all of the delegates have experienced similar tough decisions in their committees, and I think the general church appreciates that we have a tough time. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is an honorable thing to do.
My fellow delegates have done a lot of hard work to get us to this point. All of us need to be led by God in all that we do. General Conference is the most political process in the life of our church. The U.S. government has nothing on us in terms of lobbying. I know people come here because they intensely feel they are charged to do something for the church. I applaud people’s passions and their strong convictions. But there is not one single mission or ministry that solely defines the church. There are many issues that make up the United Methodist Church.
