Meet the Messengers

Written: 4/21/2008

Meet the Bloggers

Experience General Conference from 3 different perspectives

Bringing coverage of the 2008 General Conference April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth is an ongoing blog from three distinctively different perspectives – all with an eye on localized involvement and impact of legislative actions.

Sharing their perspectives are:

•  Pat Stroman of Waco, a veteran delegate of eight General Conferences whose role in 2008 is on the Commission on General Conference;

•  Jake Allen, youth director at First United Methodist Church in Mansfield and a first-time reserve delegate;

•  Corliss McBride of Waco, active in United Methodist Women, the Conference Executive Leadership Team and also a first-time reserve delegate.

For those who are unfamiliar with blogs, it is a form of journaling – sharing thoughts and impressions about what you have witnessed or experienced.  Often bloggers will share their opinions, but our bloggers will attempt to refrain from opinions, simply being our eyes and ears at General Conference.

They will be posting their thoughts in the form of one or more paragraphs at least daily, but probably more often.

 Truly representative of the young adults in the Central Texas Conference, Jake is the experienced blogger who will bring a fresh, new response to the inner workings of the church's highest decision-making body as well as the excitement of worship and fellowship at an international level.

Balanced with his responses will be the more in-depth reporting by Pat who is quite interested in seeing how effectively the church is working in light of the many decisions he helped to mold as a delegate to past General Conferences. He is especially interested in how the Connectional Table is functioning as a replacement to the former General Council on Ministries.

For Corliss, an accountant by trade and Certified Lay Speaker since 1986, GC08 is a new experience filled with promise. As a lifelong Methodist who grew up in Alabama amidst the Civil Rights Movement in the South, she was active in several multicultural organizations even when it was not popular or perhaps acceptable.

"Through my experiences growing up I learned to have a great love for all people and truly believe that all are created equal," she says. "Not only are we all created equal but, given a chance, anyone can succeed," she says with conviction.

As our eyes and ears at General Conference, Corliss says, "I look forward to seeing our very diverse church come together to work for the good of all and not for just the few. I know we are many members of various backgrounds, but we are one in Christ."

Our bloggers begin posting their thoughts this week as General Conference begins. For access to their running blogs just click on BLOG SITE. We hope you read and enjoy the reporting from these difference perspectives.

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