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Commentary
GEN-X RISING: Can UMC rejuvenate itself just like Newby? Andrew C. Thompson, Jun 11, 2007
COURTESY PHOTO
Paula Newby Frasier Hudacek
By Andrew C. Thompson Special Contributor
'Tis the season for annual conference.
With annual conferences ongoing across the connection, the words of God spoken through the prophet Jeremiah are on my heart and mind: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).
Those are words for the church. And I trust the hopeful future God promises is for the United Methodist Church in particular.
Since General Conference meets in 2008, all the annual conferences will spend part of their time this year electing the delegates they will send to Fort Worth.
Gen X'ers and Millennials from across the UMC regularly connect through blogging, and one of the topics that has come up regularly is the need to elect some younger delegates to General Conference.
In my own annual conference, I have been encouraged at the number of younger clergy and laity who are standing for election. It shows that young Methodists are truly interested in the future of the church.
What's more, it shows they believe in the conference structure itself, which is important, since it is fundamental to who we are as a church.
Of course, there are many young people who are also very cynical about both annual and General conferences. Many would argue that the church's present structure has become too bureaucratic and too fossilized to be rejuvenated.
And to those people I offer just one word: Newby. Or, more accurately, four words: Paula Newby Frasier Hudacek. But you can call her just plain Newby. Let me share her story.
Newby is a 20-year old housecat in Jackson, Tenn., named for a famous triathlete. And for the past several years, Newby has had endurance like a triathlete herself.
Newby's owners were worried four years ago when they prepared to move to a new house. Their cat was 16, and seemed to be on her last legs. She was overweight, and had bad teeth and poor eyesight.
What's more, Newby had always been an inside cat. The move to a brand new home, though, prompted her family to decide that all pets had to stay outside. Things didn't look good for Newby.
But when moving day came and Newby was turned outdoors, something miraculous happened. She lost her extra weight-seemingly overnight. She gained energy. And she found new life in a world that she had previously only known through the living room window.
At 20, Newby is "like a teenager again," according to her owner. In cat years, she's more like a kitty-Methuselah. But she shows no signs of slowing down. Newby roams her new neighborhood with kitten-like abandon. It appears she just hasn't worked all the way through her nine lives yet.
Newby's fountain-of-youth experience begs an important question: Might God be willing to also breathe new life into the dry bones of our conferences? Could our annual gatherings find the kind of rejuvenation that has marked Newby's past few years? Like Newby, we don't need to reinvent ourselves. We only need to rediscover the way of life that kept us young to begin with. We need less of a business-as-usual approach at our conferences, with their endless reports, petitions and Robert's Rules of Order. Conference does not have to be run like a mini-Legislature.
What I consistently hear from other Gen X'ers is that they want to move conferences toward a greater focus on prayer, worship and conversation about ministry and mission.
I'll be the first to admit that electing younger delegates to conference is not a cure-all. But the very fact that Gen X'ers and Millennials are interested in conference at all is a hopeful sign. Listening to what they have to say might help the church rediscover the genius that once marked Christian conferencing in the Methodist model.
And just like Newby, we Methodists may find that God isn't done with us yet.
COURTESY PHOTO
At 20, Newby is "like a teenager again," according to her owner. In cat years, she's more like a kitty-Methuselah. But she shows no signs of slowing down. Newby roams her new neighborhood with kitten-like abandon. It appears she just hasn't worked all the way through her nine lives yet. 
And just like Newby, we Methodists may find that God isn't done with us yet. 
