Wireless GA?

[Jim Franklin]

I am wondering when GA will go wireless and stay home so we can save the cost personally and denonationally and use those saved funds towards building up our effort to "make disciples in the nations."

[Craig Laughlin]

I am wondering when GA will go wireless and stay home so we can save the cost personally and denonationally and use those saved funds towards building up our effort to "make disciples in the nations."

Amen.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

I am wondering when GA will go wireless and stay home so we can save the cost personally and denonationally and use those saved funds towards building up our effort to "make disciples in the nations."

Amen.

[Hans - apologies for breaking the rule of the thread. Feel free to break this off beginning with Jim's comment to a new thread along the lines of "To Assemble or Not?". Oh, and I've been nominated, but not elected to serve as delegate. We plan at the moment on being there either way.]

Jim & Craig - I disagree.

While I think we should do all that we can to use technology to encourage as much participation as possible, I tend to think that to dis-assemble generally would do the internationalization process a disservice. I believe it was a delegation from Africa - I was told - who, in committee discussion about lengthening the period between Assemblies, stood and spoke to the effect that they greatly value and appreciate the ability to come and rub shoulders together internationally.

While it might seem good in assumption that this would "save money" to all (including non-US delegations), have you actually asked them? Or are we simply adding to the blind assumptions that we make concerning the thoughts of people unlike us?

I used say the same thing about short term missions ("save the money and put it to good use"), yet to rid ourselves of global assembly would serve much in the way: it would neuter the Body of intangibles that occur in incarnational worship, fellowship, networking, and more. Further, a decision such as this also serves only to re-emphasize how much we rely on money, and not on God.

Not to mention that not gathering to assemble regularly as a global body would only further demonstrate to us and to the world watching that we really ARE just about legislation, legalities, and law-making. If we assume that Assembly is only or even mainly to occur for the purposes of enacting legislation, I too vote that we save our money. GA needs to go through major shifts and changes, but to cut it off completely and finally seems to me to be a response of giving in to hopelessness.

Now, if you want to talk about having Assembly outside of the US, I'm all ears.

[David Pettigrew]

John Wesley said that Annual Conference was a means of grace.

[Craig Laughlin]

The saving money was the lesser motivation for me. The primary motivation is the greater participation of the world church in the power structure of the denomination. While coming to GA is great for those that get to come those elected but unable to come for any number of reason are shut out of the process. The first purpose of GA is governance. The best solution I see to that is technology. It also has the advantage of saving us money which could indeed be used for more missional things than overhead.

[John Kennedy]

John Wesley said that Annual Conference was a means of grace.

So that's why each annual conference alwasys began (and maybe still does?) with the singing of Charles' hymn "And are we yet alive........."