I’m still resting up after last week’s trip to Burlingame for the 2014 California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  I took three of my grandchildren with me.  They attended the Annual Conference youth program during the day, and we spent time together at night.

Alex and Malina, both ten years old, were recognized by Bishop Warner Brown for raising money, rolling coins, and bringing it forward in a big jar for the “Imagine No Malaria” campaign, which provides nets for children in Africa. Alex spoke to the group (about 1000 people) and answered the Bishop’s question of why he had worked on this. Alex said (to great applause), “There’s no difference. They’re just like us.” The Bishop gave them each a big hug. Malina said later, “He was proud of us.”

I had drafted two of the resolutions that conference attendees worked on during the day.  The first, “A Call to Stop Drone Killings,” passed on the Consent Calendar with no debate.

The second, “Go Fossil Free,” was a call to our United Methodist Board of Pensions to divest from fossil fuel companies as a response to climate change.  It passed in the preliminary voting Section with a two-thirds favorable vote.  It would probably have passed on the floor of Annual Conference, but with much debate.  After brainstorming with colleagues, another approach came to mind.  A substitute resolution was drafted: “Resolution in support of an investment screen expressing United Methodist Social Principles on The Natural World.”  Instead of urging the Board of Pensions to divest from oil, coal, and gas companies on a company-by-company basis, this substitute resolution engages several of our Conference Boards in a collaborative effort with the Board of Pensions to establish an across-the-board screen that would accomplish the same thing.  I spoke in favor of the substitute, and it passed with no debate.   The resolution also calls for a report to be made at next year’s Annual Conference and “the timely submission of General Conference legislation for the denomination as a whole.”

I’ll be posting each of these resolutions here within the next couple of days, along with the rationale behind each of them.  I’ll also write more about the process of changing the fossil fuels divestment resolution to a resolution on establishing an investment screen.

Other important resolutions also were passed, including “No More Deportations,” “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” “Healthcare for All,” “Truth in Imports from Palestine/Israel,” “Prison Reform:  Ending Mass Incarceration.”  We also passed a “Resolution on Conflicting Mandates,” which prioritizes our denomination’s principles of inclusion above exclusionary and discriminatory statements related to GLTB people.  Our Annual Conference is strongly inclusive, and this resolutions is a reflection of that inclusiveness.

Good work, and fun times with the kids.  And now that I’m home…  more rest.