At Annual Conference - July 16

It's day 3 of Annual Conference. We're here listening to a woman present about the history of the Methodist Church of Mexico. Wednesday was the first day, with the Conference kicking off with a worship service with several well-known hymns. It was nice to hear these hymns and other songs to set the tone for the remainder of the conference. On the way to the conference, Miranda and I rode with Miguel (our English-speaking friend from the church in Tulyehualco) and his father. During our 1 1/2 hour commute we talked about the church and what was likely to happen during our time here. Never having attended Annual Conference in the U.S., I really didn't have any expectations. We knew coming to conference (through our conversations with Miguel) that this year would include a lot of elections and voting. Every 4 years, a new Bishop and Cabinet are elected, as well as other officials within the larger church. Like our Annual Conference, there would be some time when voting on changes in the discipline would be done. In between all these elections of varying sorts, we have listened to different talks and updates about what is going on in the Methodist Church here.

However, even though we have a had an agenda of the entire conference, it has been somewhat difficult to follow along. We often don't have any idea what people are saying or why. We don't know or understand the history; we don't understand the present and the current status of things; we don't understand where the church hopes to go. It is very frustrating, even though we have some written materials. These things help us follow to a certain extent but we're still regularly in the dark about things here and what's going on in their presentations and discussions.

We are still looking forward to tomorrow when the ordination/consecration service will take place - for the new Bishop and those entering the ministry. (We found out yesterday after the elections that the man elected as the new Bishop is the director of the seminary where we visited with Sonia a week or so ago. Sonia and Jorge seemed pleased with the outcome of his election.)

Even though there are clear uncertainties about our understanding of things in Annual Conference, I do know a few things about the church where everything is taking place. The name of the church is Balderas - which is named for the street. This is common for many of the churches, especially those in the downtown part of the city. I have a few pictures I hope to share to show just how beautiful it is. The sanctuary opens up into three parts separated by great columns on each side. The pews are wooden benches throughout all parts of the sanctuary. There are beautiful chandeliers that light the sanctuary - something not commonly seen here in Mexico. The detailed painting on the walls is pretty spectacular. It's clear that someone spent a great deal of time on this. Finally, the most beautiful part of the church - in my opinion - are the stained glass windows. Each window seems to have a very different, but equally beautiful design.

This particular church is the second oldest Methodist Church here in Mexico City. It was founded by the missionaries who were part of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. (The oldest church, Gante, was where we visited our first Sunday here in Mexico and was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church North. Both are equally old and spectacular churches.)

Hopefully, there will be more interesting things to learn during our last day here, which is Saturday, July 17. However, one interesting story from today to share is about a public ceremony held at the Benito Juarez Plaza near the church. After singing the Mexican National Anthem, a huge group of demonstrators passed by. It was a little frightening that we were in the middle of this, but fortunately, we were also in a very large group of people in the church. As the singing continued, the group passing by stopped to salute the flag. The whole experience was just pretty strange.

I hope that during our time here tomorrow - the final day of the conference - we will have the opportunity to experience much more.