General Conference Thursday, May 26

Started the day on the 38th floor of an office building a couple of blocks from the Convention Center for the Duke Divinity breakfast. The view was amazing and it's always good to be with Dukies. Got to eat with one of our very best friends from seminary, Kelly Clem. Katie and I also had some great grits which we had wanted to have since we got here. Then it was off to legislative groups. I serve on Church and Society B. We will be dealing with all the legislation that comes forward dealing with maternal health, reproductive rights, human sexuality, etc. I am in the sub-group dealing with reproduction, maternal health, and a few others. Tomorow, we will be dealing with the multitude of legislation on abortion. Today, we talked about our hearts and abortion. I was moved by the two Central Conference (non-US) delegates who spoke of how abortion is illegal in their home countries with resulting bad abortions being performed to the harm of women, especially young women who had been raped. They pointed out how important it is to have "safe abortions." It won't be easy to tackle some of the legislation but I do hope we can maintain our current statement which is pretty moderate. Tonight we welcomed our affiliate friends from around the world. Now, we are receiving nominations for our Judicial Council, like our Supreme Court and our University Senate (which is our body that approves schools, universities that are affliated with United Methodist). After this we will worship. I arrived a little early and the National Choir of Cote d'Ivoire was singing. They will be in worship tonight at 7:30 CT (8:30 ET) if you are near a computer. You can also find previous worships online. Last night was great. Til next time: Peace