Tomorrow is OPENING DAY!!!

I don't know exactly how many there have been, but the first "General Conference" was what is called the Christmas Conference that started on December 24, 1784, and we have been meeting pretty much every four years ever since. Thomas Coke, sent by John Wesley to America, and Francis Asbury, elected by 60 of his peers, were the first two Bishops - called co-superintendents at the time. This is part of the legacy that we have when we begin tomorrow. Philip Otterbein (founded the Church of the United Brethren in Christ) was one of those in attendance and participated in the laying on of hands for Asbury. It wasn't until April 23, 1968 (in Dallas) that Otterbein's United Brethren (merged in the 1940's with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren - EUB) and Coke & Asbury's Methodists came together and became the United Methodist Church. So, technically, this is only a 40 year old denomination, but our roots are much deeper and we have a long and rich heritage.

So tomorrow is our 40th anniversary and the opening of this General Conference - WOW! My schedule tomorrow is kind of easy until we officially start with worship at 6:00 p.m. There is a Parent's Reconciling Network's Luncheon at 11:30 that I think I will go to, and then our NIC delegation is getting together at 5:15 for a short gathering. Until the start, this might better be called Orientation Day. There are "orientations" for: 1 - Heads of Delegations, 2 - Marshals and Pages, 3 - Delegates from outside the US, 4 - Women Delegates, 5 - Delegates under the age of 30, and 6 - Racial & Ethnic Minority Delegates, I don't fit into any of those groups, and if I tried to sneak into 4, 5, or 6, I think I would be noticed. Today was, as I had hoped, generally a restful day. As I mentioned yesterday, I have a printer, and naturally the first time I printed something I get a message that I was low on ink. So I went next door to Staples and got ink. That was easy. Then I went to Target to get a new hanging bar for my car since the other one sort of bent on the way down here. I took the Purple Bus Route Shuttle to the Convention Center, and it worked very well. I plan to keep using it until it proves to not work. At 2:00 I registered, and that was it. I went to dinner with Sally Chipman & Alka Lyall (from NIC who are staying at this hotel), and that was the day. Very uneventful.

When we checked in we were given an envelope, and inside was a card telling about the prayer ministry here. There is a Space for Prayer, open from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm, and there are small tents spaced around the Convention Center where you can sit and pray. On the back of the card was this hand written note: "Dear Friend in Christ, Welcome to Fort Worth. I will be praying for you during General Conference. May you surrender to the care and guidance of the Holy Spirit during this time of holy listening, holy conversation and holy conferencing. Your sister in Christ, Judy Tutt"

Each of us from Northern Illinois also has one of the Jurisdictional Delegates as a silent prayer partner. We don't know who - but we know that there is one that, in addition to prayer for the whole group, has singled out each one of us. When you figure that there are over 8 million United Methodists, and only 1000 of us delegates, there are a whole lot of people watching and praying for each one of us.In addition to the 100+ that I send this email to, it is now being posted as a blog at www.umcnic.org and the link is "Dispatches from General Conference" I have a camera, and have been trying to send pictures to be posted there. The first time I tried it was 16 mb - a rather large file. We will keep working to get the pictures there - or somewhere where you can see them.

Special prayers tomorrow for my wife, Deb as she travels to Lagos, Nigeria to visit with special friends and help Barrett celebrate his 3rd birthday.

It's only 11:00 p.m. and I will send the first official GC email tomorrow night - probably later than this.

Peace to all, Jack