UMC Re-draw of Conference Lines

Last week, Nebraska, Kansas East, and Kansas West all voted to become one conference, the Great Plains Annual Conference.  One of the big reasons cited to why we should join together is a sharing of resources.  Why should we have three separate boards, offices, and committees that do the same work? Why not join them together and let them share resources?  That got me thinking; what if we did that for more annual conferences?  Right now there are around 55 or so Annual Conferences. Here is a map of them:

http://lenwilson.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/UMC-Conferences.jpg

So, after sitting down and taking the figures I found here:

http://lenwilson.us/the-top-25-united-methodist-annual-conferences/

I sat down and redrew the conference lines.  Yes, I am aware that this probably proves that I have no life, and, no, I don't expect this to go any further than, "what if's?"  but I thought it'd be kind of fun/ interesting.  When I started out, I made a couple of rules for myself:

1) Do not split a state into two different conferences. (this was more a "for-fun" rule than anything, and kept me away from the temptation to make some of states with bigger membership in the UMC into more annual conferences) 

2)Every Annual Conference has to above 100,000 members

3) No annual conference should go above 525,000 members

4)No unrealistic size (aka: you can't have an annual conference stretch from California to Kentucky or from North Dakota to Texas)

 So here it is folks: The NEW conference boundaries (as made up by one Bryce Bowers)

(Edit: I made an error on the map.  The Bay Area AC is nonexistent.  It was an Annual Conference that exsisted in the early part of my research that was made up of New York and New Jersey, but I combined it to help New England with membership according to rules)

Like I said, proves I have no life.  I also made a chart of what the membership would look like in all the annual conferences.  Obviously, these numbers aren't perfect, and I'm willing to admit that I may have made a mistake but, here it is:

Obviously I had to break one rule in favor for another.  North Carolina and Texas as states have more than 525,000 United Methodists in them.  I elected to keep those states in tact.  At the beginning of the process, I had different annual conferences.  I had New Mexico and Texas as an Annual Conference, I had an entire Annual Conference made up of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois before it had to go to the way side so I could make the membership of some annual conferences greater.  I even had the Carolinas as one conference and Georgia/Florida as one conference.  I thought that was a good idea until I saw that those conferences topped out at almost 800,000 members!  (I figured that was too big).

After I redrew the conference areas, I went a little further and thought some more about how this plan would look, and came up with a few things:

1) All Missionary Conferences would remain the same.

2) Jurisdictions would be eliminated.  The United States would become one Central Conference and would have a meeting every four years the week after General Conference, and in the same city as General Conference.  Also, we would shrink General Conference to one week.

3) There would be an excess of bishops currently.  We could solve this problem in one of two ways 1) More than one bishop serves a conference and 2) (my preference) We would have one conference where all bishops would be up for appointment.  A committee would work out which conference wants what bishop, and the bishops left over could go back to being elders in their home annual conference.  Once the US Central Conference came around again, those bishops could run for election, as well as anyone else who wanted to run for bishop.

I'm sure there would be a lot of other complications, and this system would not work out perfectly and has a couple of flaws.  But, could you image what COULD happen?  Could you imagine the Gulf Coast Conference coming together and forming one large clean up day of the Gulf?  Or Methodists from Portland, helping a park chaplaincy program in Wyoming?  Or Red Sox fans getting together with Yankee fans and helping build a new campus ministry center in Maine?  Or Methodists coming together from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, to collaborate and decide how to reach people that might need the love of Christ, together?  I think it could be awesome.

But again, this is just a dream.  An experiment.  And a bored 21 year-old Methodist geek wanting to brainstorm a different way.

(If you actually read through all this, feel free to leave questions or feedback)

Go On and Scream it from the Mountains

Sometimes, I have no idea what I want to write about.   This is one of those days.  I cannot tell you guys what I want to write about, but I really feel like expressing myself...so...here we go:

Things have been tough lately.  I've been challenged to trust God.  It amazes me how many times we say, "Just trust God, and everything will be ok."  That is TOUGH.  That means letting go of everything, absolutely EVERYTHING, and trusting it will be ok.  That can mean leaving a lot behind.  It could mean leaving behind very secure situations, great place, and even people you love.

However, there is something that I've really seen and learned in all of this.  God does want the best for us.  God is a just God.  But he is a loving God.  He knows what we need.

But, how would God know what we need?  How come we don't know what we need and just go after that?  Cause, quite frankly, we don't know.  How are we to know?  There is so many things that I don't know.  There are more things that I don't know than there are grains of sand in the ocean.  However, it has been my experience that whenever I do let go, things seem a lot better.

There is a story in the Bible, in Mark 4, about Jesus and his disciples being stuck on the sea when a huge storm comes up.  These guys were shaken and scared, so they go talk to Jesus (who was sleeping) and say "Teacher, do you not care that we are drowning?"  Now the scriptures paint this as a pretty picture.  But quite frankly, I picture these disciples, wet, tired, exhausted, and fear in their eyes, SCREAMING, yelling at Jesus, asking "DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE DROWNING?!?!?!" with the most desperation in their voices than there has even been in their entire lives.  These guys thought they were going to die.

That is how it feels sometimes.  It feels like we are going to die.  Maybe we know we won't literally die, but it feels like everything we have known will disappear.  We fight, we try to survive, we try to put the boat under control.  Than we come to Jesus, exhausted and desperate,  and ask, "WHY DON'T YOU CARE?!"  

In the Bible story, Jesus goes to the deck of the ship, and tells the storm to be quiet.  And the storm does.  I can only imagine this scene.  (I feel like when we read the Bible, we sometimes make it more tame than it actually was).  Usually, when one talks about the story, that is where they stop.  However, I feel like the power in this story is in the next line.  Jesus turns to the disciples and says:

"Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?"

Boom.

Those two sentences carry so much power, and so much weight.  Ya see, when we go through these storms in our lives, we try to fix it on our own, and we try to get our own way.  When it doesn't work out for us, we cry out to God, asking "DO YOU NOT CARE?"  But guess what, of course he cares.  He's always cared.  He's always been there.  Why are we so afraid?  Do we still have no faith that God will carry us out of it?

We must trust him during the storm.  It says in Psalms 34 that God is closest to the brokenhearted.  He promises us that.  He never promises us that those storms will be easy, or that trusting Him will be easy, he just asks us to do it, and return he will be there for us.

So, I challenge you (and myself) today to let go.  To trust that God can calm the storm in your life.  It might not be the way you want it to be, nor may it be in the time you want it to be.  We are all poor and powerless, but with God, we can make it through, because surely, he is God.  Go on, scream it from the mountains.

Why I LOVE religion and Jesus (a response to a video)

So I guarantee many of you have seen it.  It is all over facebook.  I have seen my friends from all different walks of life and proclaim that this video speaks to the heart and that it is a wonderful piece of work.  I will not deny that it brings up some interesting points, but I think there is more going on here than what is on the surface.  If you have not seen it, here is your chance.  Go ahead and click on it:



So, what did ya think?

It is a great message.  Jesus did come to save the world. He did come to bring salvation to a broken people.  If you watch this video you would come to a conclusion that religion is bad, and needs to go away.

Wait....what?

There seems to be a disconnect here.  Did Jesus really come to abloish religion?  What is religion?

Well, like any good young adult, I googled the definition of religion.  This is what came up.

So from this, to summarize, it is a belief, a worship, a discussion, and a system of faith.  Did Jesus really come to abolish that?

I've grown up in the church my entire life, so maybe I'm a little biased.  I've been a part of a lot of different things that one could call "church."  I've been apart of this religion known as Christianity for a long time.  I was taught how to love God and others.  In partaking in this "religion" I've broken down when facing life decisions or pains.  I've had to comfort my brothers and sisters who are going through the same thing.  I've sang songs with some wonderful people, and I've been up late at night discussing deep theological issues of the world.

But apparently, Jesus came to abolish it?

This is not a new thing.  For years I've heard this claim of "It's about a relationship, not religion."  May I propose a different outlook?

Both are needed.  A relationship with Jesus is a very vertical connection.  Jesus guides us on a path.  We need that relationship.  We need to walk with Jesus on this road, no matter what path he needs us to go on.  We need to grow and experience Christ in a relational level.

That's not all though.  I've seen so many people come to Christ and believe and call him Savior, but that is it. This world is a TOUGH place.  Sometimes we need other people to be on this journey with us.  We waver in our faith.  How do we strength it?  We get challenged from other people.  We get accountability from others.  We discuss our faith with others.  We worship God together.  You see, religion is a horizontal connection.  It is the people of Earth reaching up to God and bring heaven down to Earth.  It is feeding the hungry as a worship to God.  It is supporting each other.  We need to share that faith connection with people around us.  Man cannot live a lone.  We are made to be with others.

Now, I am FULLY aware that this religion has done some not so great things.  I cannot ignore the oppression and hatred that has been done in the name of Christianity.  But here is the thing, to those of you saying that you want to leave the church because of the oppression and hatred made by Christians...STOP!  TURN AROUND!  WE NEED YOU!

We are not a perfect people.  No one is.  The fact that there are a vast majority of you that believe religion needs to be dismissed because of the hurt it causes means that we need those same people to come help us change it.  Perfection is a journey.  We don't get it right.  We need your passion and your fire for Jesus Christ so we can do His work here on Earth, to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth.  I am begging, yes BEGGING, you to stay.  I will not pretend that I have it all right.  I will not pretend that religion has it all right.  We are a messy messy people.  But together, we can go on this journey.  Jesus commissioned Peter to start a church, a community of believers, a religion.  My life has been changed and shaped by religion.  I believe that Jesus came, not to abolish religion, but to fulfill the law and the Prophets.  Let's break bread together and celebrate this gift and this miracle and this love.  That is what religion is about.  We need to walk with Jesus and go in his ways and trust him.  That is what being in a relationship with Jesus is about.  We need both.  We need both belief, and practice.  Another beautiful collision.

If ya want a cool video to go along with it, check this one out:



A really good article on this subject can also be found here (warning:it is a VERY long read)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-morrell/jesus-and-religions-relationship-status_b_1213243.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

(Hopeful) Happy New Years!

So, if you have read my blog for a while (whenever I post something) you know the last two years I have posted a Christmas post.  I love Christmas, and I was going to do it again this year, but I had no computer to write a blog post on.  Now, I do, and have decided to reflect on something else;

New Years

My second favorite time of the year.  The turning of the calendar is something that I always love.  I've always said that I want to go to those big New Year's parties with the balloon drop, and champagne, and the works.  So far in this life, I have not gotten that chance, nor do I have any plans (yet) for this year.

However, those celebrations encompass something more; hope.

The turning of the calendar is not merely a technically thing.  For many people it is a new start.  It is a fresh year.  It marks the start of something new.  Granted, from December 31st, to January 1st, not much will have changed.  I'll still be working at the same job, live in the same town, go to the same school, even be the same weight.  But, it'll be 2012, the start of a new year, with new possibilities.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED 2011.  It was a GREAT year.  However, 2012 has so many great things in store.  Some people even think it is the year of the world's demise!  Regardless, it is the time for hope.  It is a time for hoping for a new start, a new beginning, and new challenges.  Therefore, I leave you with these two things;

1. Make a New Year's Resolution

2. Set Goals

What better time to start something like a resolution or a goal than now?  Teresa and I have already made the resolution that we will work out at the gym (or run) three times a week, and cut down on going out to eat in order to work on a healthier lifestyle.  As for a goal, I currently have a 3.6 GPA at Baker.  This calendar year marks my last year at Baker.  My goal is to finish with at LEAST a 3.67.

Again, I encourage you, even if its small, set something to push yourself to bettering yourself in the new year.  Here is to a Happy (and hopeful) New Year!

Positions vs Ideals

So, I got kind of nostalgic today.

I had my last unoffical meeting with the Greek Life Advisor at Baker as IFC President.  Don't get me wrong, I've been ready for the responsibility to leave my hands for the last couple of weeks, but seeing it be real is a little weird. 

The last year of my life I've kept my cell phone at my side every weekend just in case something in the fraternity world comes up.  I've ran meetings with some of the top Greek leaders on Baker's campus.  I've talk to potential new members on behalf of the entire Greek communtiy.  I've talked to various faculaty and staff on campus about Greek Life.  Myself and four other men have stood for Greek Life and the ideals that fraternities exist for. 

Now its over...

It's made me realize something very important.

You cna pour your life into a position, a job, a career, or an activity, but it is not that you should be pouring your life into.  What you should be pouring your life into is the ideals that you stand for.  I loved being IFC President and doing those duties.  However, it wasn't ever about being something, it was standing for something.  It's standing for the ideal that fraternties are a place where men grow into competent leaders and make the world better.  If I'm just pouring my life into being IFC President, and NOT the ideals that I'm trying to uphold, then its pretty pointless.

We should never do something because we want to be something, its because we want to stand for something.

For example, you don't take an accoutning job just to be an accountant.  You take it because you want to provide for your family because you believe that is an ideal you believe in.  Or you do it because you love the work, and you stand for the ideal that you want ot be happy.

I don't know, I'm still working through this idea, but, stading for something in what you do is much more important than just doing it.  A purpose.  A reason.  Isn't that what we are all searching for?

RESTART!!!

So, looks like I need to restart my blog, and to do that I need to reset and go to where I am.

I am still at Baker University, and I recently found out that I will be graduating early.  Yup, in December of 2012 I'll (hopefully) be walking across the stage with my Bachelors of Science degree in communication.  This is all very exciting.  I do not know what I am going to do immediately after that.

I have been discerning about it, and I'm leaning towards sticking around the area before heading off to Washington DC in the Fall of 2013 for seminary.  Teresa and I are looking to check out Wesley in DC at some point soon, as well as talk with some of my Zeta Chi brothers of taking a road trip to Chicago where I'll check out my 2nd choice (Garrett).  Of course I'll also visit St. Paul's (KC) at some point, just to see if it sparks my interest.

I think I've nailed down what direction I want my life to go and where I am being called to.  I am very solid in my call to go into ordained ministry, and I want to focus on church revitalization and conflict resolution in churches.  I really enjoy both of these topics, and I feel that is where my focus will be.

Speaking of churchy things, I am not a jurisdictional delegate for the Kansas East Conference of the United Methodist Church!!!  What does that mean?  It means in April, myself and 11 others from the eastern third of Kansas will go to General Conference in Tampa, FL.  General Conference is the only body that can officially speak for the UMC.  I will be a reserve delegate, at that conference, and a regular delegate for the jurisdictional conference in Oklahoma City in July, where we will elect bishops, among other things.  This means I will try and blog about issues coming up at that conference as well.

Other things in my life?  I am still with my girlfriend Teresa.  We are almost at the year mark, which is REALLY exciting for us.  I work at Arrowhead Hardware in Baldwin City, KS as a part-time "do whatever they tell me" guy.  I have been president of the Zeta Chi fraternity this past semester and I was just elected to serve another semester in that capacity.

I have also been a leader in a "Freshman Salon Class" this past semester.  I will do the same thing this coming semester.  The class I will be co-teaching with Baker Campus Minister Ira DeSpain is on "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White" by Adam Hamilton.  I will also try to blog on things I see from that book as well.  I will also be taking a class on "Communication in the United Methodist Church" another class I may blog about.

Is that it?  Ummmm....I cleaned my room yesterday....it looks nice.  I think that is about it.  I'm going to blog more often, promise!

Search Me

Wow its been a while...

So I just got shot.

No, not physically shot.

A spirtual shot.

A wake-up call if you will.

Latley I have been really struggaling with my call. Going into ministry is the only thing I've seen myself doing. But I have started to get anxious about my future. Is the church really going in the right direction? Will I make enough money to support my family? Am I going ot fit into a ministry setting? If I am a methodist elder, how will moving around effect my (hopefully eventual) family? This had started getting to a point where I decided that I was no longer going to go into ministry. I didn't tell anyone this, but it is what I felt.

However, God started talking.

It started with my girlfriend, who, at times, has a much better perspective on life than I, saying, when I told her that I was thinking this, said, "I don't want you to give up your dreams for material gain." At this point it had gotten so bad that I almost just shook it off. However, deep in my heart, I felt smethign screaming saying "YOU IDIOT!!!! SHE IS RIGHT!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!" That voice was too distant to listen to though.

The next occurance happened when I talked to a VERY wise professor, who happens to have a lot of expereince on this issue, and who also just happened to be my advisor. I told her what I was thinking, and she acted kinda shocked. She walked me through what it would take to get into Human Resources (the new career path I was looking at). She also listened to me talk about my issues with becoming a pastor, and said she saw my opinions and my reasonings on all my points. She told me one thing though that caught my off guard. "Bryce, you shouldn't dismiss the idea of being in ministry, because you have such a heart and personality for it, you could think about ministry in other ways besides being a pastor." That same voice came back, this time saying "Alright, now she's saying it, she validated how you are feeling, but are you really going to give up on this?"

Then, I went into the Career Development Center to talk about how to get a HR internship. The person I was talkin gto had all sorts of contacts and possiblities for me. It was quite amazing to see the possiblities. However, my heart was burning, and all I could think was "this isn't right...this isn't right...this isn't right..." it just did not feel right. The only time it gelt even close to right was when she suggested doing an HR internship in a church. Voice: "Are you ready to accept this yet?"

Finally, just 30 minutes ago, I was sitting at my house in Burlington, and for some reason, a memory, that has seemed to become more and more distant as the days have gone past, I went back to Youthfront. I remembered the worship services, I thought of the people, staff and campers. Then I remembered the connection I had with the Lord. I had to listen to the music again. So I listend to "Search Me" by Mike Crawford and His Secret Siblings.

That is when it happened.

I was shot.

With a shot of realization.

"Search me and know my heart, Oh God, test me and know my anxious thoughts"

Everythign came back. God knows my heart. He knows who I am. And for the majority of my recent life, I have felt called to a mission. That is where my heart is. My heart is to go into ministry. Material gains or not, it is what I am called to do.

What does this mean for me?

Well...I really need to find a summer ministry job. I've applied at one place so far, but I really need to find other possibilties too. I want to learn, I want to be shapened, because ministry is what I want to do. It is the life I am called to. I do not know excatley what kind of ministry that is. It might be pastor, it might be something else, but it is my call, and now I need to start figuring it out.