Ponderments as I Sit in an Annual Conference Session

It's good to see many colleagues I haven't seen since last year.

The preaching this morning was quite good.

Why do we expect clergy to pay way too much money for a dump of a cottage at a conference they are required to attend?

The members of Annual Conference sing beautifully.

Certain people speak on the floor during a session because they love the sound of their own voice.

We have some people who speak quite eloquently.

Democracy moves slowly.

We do some important business.

Every year we waste too much time. Conference could be shorter if certain people didn't insist on their fifteen minutes of fame.

Some of my colleagues are starting to look old.

Some of colleagues have told me that I have gotten more gray in the last year.

Why does it appear that an institution in decline speaks of doing things differently but continues to operate in the same way? Instead of moving forward it simply seems as if we are only circling the wagons.

The ordination service was powerful!

I hate it when people quote John Wesley out of context. If someone uses his words, "If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand" one more time as a justification for doctrinal and/or moral laziness, I'm going to put in my earphones and listen to my iPOD.

I wonder how the Annual Conference will look in ten years? Twenty years?

As a Conference we have a wonderful collective sense of humor.

It's been good to be at Lakeside, but I am ready to go home.