It was another busy but successful day in South Africa. We begin each day with worship and Holy Communion, and it is a blessing to be able to prepare our hearts and minds before we move to our important work. This morning, we heard from Rev. Dr. Diane Ury, the National Ambassador for Holiness with The Salvation Army. For those who are not aware, the Salvation Army is a part of the larger Wesleyan tribe, and so our theological convictions are aligned. She reminded us that God’s holiness not only convicts, but it also converts. She challenged us to stop making excuses for why we cannot be holy and allow God to change us as only he can.

Ragan spent the day serving with our mission team in the city. Just like yesterday, most of my day today was spent in committee meetings. However, we did have a plenary session this morning, so I can report some final amendments to the Book of Doctrines and Disciplines.

A quick reminder (or explanation) on how our work is done at General Conference. There are 448 petitions properly before the General Conference. The petitions are divided up amongst eight committees. This way, the work can be done more efficiently. These committees review the petitions and decide whether to accept them as written, amend them, or reject them. In this process, we may start with one petition but borrow ideas from another to create the best possible version of what we want to accomplish, since many amendments address the same paragraph in the Book of Doctrines and Discipline. This year, every part of the BODD is available to be amended. Once the committees have done their work, it is sent to the full body, or “plenary.” They can do the same, accept as written, amend, or reject. We can also put items on a “consent” calendar if they are passed by 90%. These are items we don’t expect to need discussion and that are widely favored by the body.

My committee (Ministry) finished their work at 9:50 pm this evening, just before the convention center was set to close at 10 pm. All of our current petitions have been processed, and we hope to see them adopted in the plenary.

Each day, I will try to provide brief descriptions of the items passed in the plenary. It will not be comprehensive, and in most cases it won’t be super detailed. It’s just an attempt to let you know what is going on. I will also let you know of any important news, announcements, or items of interest.

Items from the plenary:

• We clarified and strengthened language around the nature of ordained ministry and the relationship between the pastor and the church.
• We added questions about a candidate’s relationship with Jesus Christ to the required questions for ordination.

News/Announcements:

• It was announced that a new draft book of liturgies would be available October 1^st, and our churches would be encouraged to use them in worship as applicable and provide feedback to the writing team before the final draft is published. I have been eagerly awaiting this announcement, and I am thrilled that we will be able to have input on this vital resource.
• There was a report on a new strategic planning framework that helps clarify the relationship between the local church, the annual conference, and the Global Church. It was a very effective and informative diagram. I wanted to share it with you.

That’s about all for today. Much more will happen tomorrow, including our CELEBRATION OF AFRICA. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.