News
Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church
Live From Fort Worth: 1:45 a.m. (CST)
April 29, 2008
This is the first report in The Call's on-site coverage of General Conference, and the topic is a source of pride for many Holston members gathered here in Fort Worth, Texas. On Monday morning (that would officially be "yesterday" as of now), Jay Garrison was elected first alternate for the Judicial Council.
Garrison, an attorney in Knoxville, Tenn., has served as Holston Conference chancellor for many years, and will now serve in the denomination's "top court." As first alternate, Garrison is expected to see a lot of action and will be the first substitue when other decision-makers cannot be present. This UMNS story explains more about the election and the newly elected.
What you won't learn from the article -- but you would hear from delegates if you were chatting them up during breaks -- is that many United Methodists were surprised when former Judicial Council members were not re-elected, and five new ones were elected at the recommendation of the Council of Bishops. The Judicial Council has become increasingly visible following such controversial rulings as Decision 1032, investing "discretion in the pastor-in-charge to make the determination of a person’s readiness to affirm the vows of membership."
The Holston delegates looked tired tonight. Meetings go well past bedtime and start all over again at 7 a.m.
Other UMNS links of interest::
- Monday's wrap-up story
- Photo of Rev. Eddie Fox
- Photo of Bishop Ken Carder
- For complete coverage and lots of media features, visit gc2008.umc.org.
I'll be back tomorrow. -- Reported by Annette Spence (e-mail me)
You will find The Call's reports for the entire week available here.
