On the 8th laity ballot the following were elected as lay delegates to General Conference:

1. Judy Benson
2. Frank Denny
3. Bill Junk
4. Donna Roberts
5. Bob Anthony
6. Harold Wright
7. Herschel Beard
8. Sarah Malloy-Nichols
9. Tom Junk

On the 1st clergy ballot for Jurisdictional Conference (5 clergy delegates to be elected) the following was elected as a clergy delegate to Jurisdictional Conference:

1. Tom Harrison

On the seventh clergy ballot the following were elected as clergy delegates to General Conference:

1. Robert Long
2. Guy Ames III
3. Brian T. Bakeman
4. Margaret Ball
5. Linda Harker
6. Frankye Johnson
7. Darrell Cates
8. Mouzon Biggs
9. Joseph Harris
10. Jessica Moffatt Seay

This fulfills the number of clergy delegates that need to be elected to represent the Oklahoma Annual Conference at the 2008 General Conference.

On the seventh laity ballot the following were elected as lay delegates to General Conference:

1. Judy Benson
2. Frank Denny
3. Bill Junk
4. Donna Roberts
5. Bob Anthony
6. Harold Wright
7. Herschel Beard

On the sixth clergy ballot no clergy were elected.

On the sixth laity ballot the following were elected as lay delegates to General Conference:

1. Judy Benson
2. Frank Denny
3. Bill Junk
4. Donna Roberts
5. Bob Anthony
6. Harold Wright

On the fifth clergy ballot the following were elected as clergy delegates to General Conference:

1. Robert Long
2. Guy Ames III
3. Brian T. Bakeman
4. Margaret Ball
5. Linda Harker
6. Frankye Johnson
7. Darrell Cates
8. Mouzon Biggs
9. Joseph Harris

On the fifth laity ballot no new laity were elected.

There were no clergy or laity elected in the 3rd ballot.

On the fourth clergy ballot no new clergy delegates were elected.

On the fourth laity ballot the following were elected as lay delegates to General Conference:

1. Judy Benson
2. Frank Denny
3. Bill Junk
4. Donna Roberts
5. Bob Anthony

On the second clergy ballot the following were elected as clergy delegates to General Conference:

1. Robert Long
2. Guy Ames III
3. Brian T. Bakeman
4. Margaret Ball
5. Linda Harker
6. Frankye Johnson
7. Darrell Cates

On the second lay ballot the following were elected as lay delegates to General Conference:

1. Judy Benson
2. Frank Denny
3. Bill Junk

On the first clergy ballot the following was elected as a General Conference Delegate:

1. Robert Long

On the first laity ballot the following was elected as a General Conference Delegate:

1. Judy Benson

It is interesting being at Annual Conference and not being able to vote on General Conference delegates. This issue had not previously occurred to me, because I hadn’t thought about it. But now that I am here, it is a weird feeling. In case you don’t know what I am talking about, every four years annual conferences throughout Methodism elect lay and clergy delegates to represent their conference at General Conference, which is the official voice of the United Methodist Church. Lay members of Annual Conference vote for lay delegates. Clergy members of Annual Conference vote for clergy delegates. The catch is that probationary members and local pastors are not members of Annual Conference. Therefore, they have no voice in who represents the church and they also cannot be elected to go to General Conference.

Why can’t people who are pastoring churches vote on General Conference delegates? We are the only group of people who officially have no say in the future of the church, at least for the next 4 years. This year it has really felt like probationers and local pastors are second class citizens. It it hard for me to understand why retired ministers have more of a say in the future of the church than do the pastors who are struggling along the road to ordination and are literally the future of the church.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this or your explanation of why this is an important policy.

The latest sermon in the “Family Matters” sermon series is now online. You can find it by clicking on the deeply committed sermons link on the right side of this page, or you can click here to go directly to the podcast.

Also, a few folks have mentioned some problems with hearing the podcast. When you go to the podcast page, the latest sermon may automatically begin playing. If you are wanting to listen to an older sermon, click the pause button under the heading “revkevinwatson’s podcast.” Then scroll down and find the sermon you want to listen to, and click the green play button. A new window should open and begin playing the sermon. If you still have problems, please post a comment or email me.

As always, this sermon will soon be on the lamontumc.org page soon as well.