Leaning more on a fully virtual 51st General Conference
Rev. Teboho G. Klaas and Adv. Thabile M. Ngubeni
19th Episcopal District
The novel Covid-19 pandemic disrupted physical contacts of all people. Physical contacts have caused unfathomable misery that over 2,5 million lives their lost, globally. It affects all of humanity’s familial relations, including the religious.
Denialism breeds this deadly reality. We know it from the multiple deaths of white evangelical leaders and their followers where this is clearly calibrated.
African Methodism provided an exceptional leadership, over the past year. Its leadership, the Council of Bishops, directed that in-person worship encounters be halted. It still encouraged the membership to innovate their pursuit of the denominational mission and ministry. The postponement of 51st General Conference, last year, followed suit.
The protection and enhancement of life was uppermost and defined the motif of this leadership, without abandoning the Gospel of liberation and reconciliation. That is why pursuit of justice, at its intersection with racial, environmental and economic justice, remained a characteristic of ministries undertaken over the past year.
The decision of the General Conference Commission to hold a hybrid 51st General Conference, this July 2021, denies the reality of an unrelenting pandemic. It only promises to undo the age-old legacy of the esteemed leadership of African Methodism.
The gem produced by the leadership of our denomination is certain to tarnished by a plan to have people to gather in-person, travelling to and from Orlando, Florida. The plan demands unnecessary sacrifices to be made, including rights being waivered at the altar of global commerce.
We do not expect such from our denomination. A waiver of rights is an unfortunate deviation from its teachings, leaving our people hanging dry and vulnerable. What we expect our leaders and members to the conference to promote, defend and advance their rights than waiving them to an exploitative and denigrating world.
Global travel is restricted by governments, currently. They are likely to remain in place, somewhat tempered, by July 2021. They are going to affect church constituencies billed to participate in the conference from outside the United States. This risk does not seem to have been carefully considered in the decision.
The glimmer of hope offered by vaccines is but a nought in the face of a constantly evolving, capricious virus and its variants globally discovered, daily. A visionary leadership with an unmatched sound mission cannot place its members at such a fatal risk. Vaccines, essentially, do not license us to form crowds and travel around.
Instead, while encouraging the membership uptake of vaccines, encourage the maintenance of non-pharmaceutical prevention methods. Similarly, continue inspiring innovative ministries already underway.
The Commission must greatly explore hosting a fully virtual 51st General Conference, employing services of independent expertise in this regard. It is the safest, practical, humane and morally acceptable decision under the circumstances.
Where situations dictate a deviation such as in instances of difficulties posed by accessibility and affordability to connectivity as well as disruptive electricity outages, a plan must be devised. This is a definite reality for some in the Connection and must not warrant their exclusion. Instead, plans can be developed to accommodate them within humanly possible risk adjustment measures.
This option is not without its problems and difficulties, admittedly. They are humanly created problems, often. Virtual tools are inanimate, cannot be blamed and are resolvable. With the assistance of experts in the field of technology, they can be made to perform to the satisfaction of the church.
The lack of trust is the major source of human problems. Having been down this road be, we must conquer this just as it was done in previous General Conferences, especially, concerning voting.
Nothing is wrong to consider a further postponement of the General Conference, if problems related to virtual technologies are insurmountable, than revert to a tradition way of convening it when it threatens life.
Consensus must be arrived at to ensure that most immediate and pressing matters are dealt with. To be sure, these issues exist. They are, for instance, what do we do persons who must be retired and how to safeguard the church to continue to its operations of the church, by way of budgets? There are ways this can be resolved.
We are dutybound to promote life and enhance it! It is the immutable Gospel truth.
