Speed walking at GC

This is not a post about the health initiatives of GC. Its about how we work. It's like those times on the treadmill when you set the pace to where you are walking as fast as you can without jogging. General Conference deliberations are like that. Fast pace, but not not getting anyway.

That's the way it felt last last night as we worked throught the last of the petitions that have financial implications. Those we approved last night are now sent to the Gen Council on Finance and Administration, and then they will come back to us later in the week for approval or disapproval. The late session wore us out. I got to the hotel after midnight and just went right on to bed. Then it was up early for the Emory University breakfast (the Candler singers were Great!), and now back in session.

Couple of big petitions last night. We approved extending the age of retirement for bishops to age 68. That means we will likely approve extending the age of retirement for elders (to 72) when that comes before us. We also approved the UM Publishing House beginning a new hymnal. Adam Hamilton has a great post about this and says this will be the last printed hymnal we have, since in the future we will use something like iHymns for singing. He's probably right, but just think, such a move to music being controlled totally by the worship leaders, is another step of removing the worshippers from full participation. I learned to sing thumbing through a hymnal and it is sad to me to think of a day when that won't be possible.

The chair of the Supertendency Leg Committee just gave us a good laugh with the following poem:
Mary had a little lamb
It never became a sheep.
It followed her to General Conference
And died from lack of sleep.