Roadtrip (from Eric)

We have been gone for a week or so and have been here there and everywhere. Saturday the 20th we drove to Beacon NY, about 14 hours in the car, and we didn't go crazy. We were there for our friends Asha and Tamika's engagement party. It was great to see them and be able to help with setting up for the party.

On Sunday afternoon after the party we drove to Harrisburg PA where I was a delegate to the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church (what a mouthful). After Attending General Conference in May I came away frustrated about the church and asked the question of if I wanted to stay in the church. During this week of worship, discernment, and revolution I was reinvigorated and affirmed to continue to work within the church for change. We lifted up to Bishop the Rev. Peggy Johnson, an advocate for the deaf (among others) from the Baltimmore-Washington Conference. I feared that the process of interviewing and voting for candidates would be very political from what I had heard of past conferences. I was pleased to find that while the process was not perfect it felt much more like discernment than an election.

We approved the reorganization of conferences in the Upstate NY area that has been a long time in process. This is bittersweet as this new entity will split the Wyoming conference at the state line and all of upstate NY will become a new conference in 2010 and the PA portion will join with Central PA conference. Had the wyoming conference not existed it is probable that Sarah and I would not have met. We will not see friends in ministry as often and will miss our family style conference, but we will be able to provide better administrative assistance to local churches and (I hope) provide a better conference wide youth program as well as be better suited to inform state politics.

During the week discussion of the excess of being at the Hilton Hotel and being more extravagant than necessary prompted several of us in attendance to make a statement desiring our next quadrennial conference to be more mindful of our stewardship and to be more deliberate about "living simply so others may simply live". I can't help but stir things up.

It was great to meet and get to know folks like Matt, Jen, Dianne, Zachary, Mark, Kurt, Becky, Emily and others. As well as to spend time as the last Jurisdictional Delegation to the from the Wyoming Conference

My Grandmother Stoughton had been in the hospital all week with "mystery illness" and though I had not planned on going home it was easier to go from Harrisburg than from Frakes, it was good to see her and some family, She has moved to rehab and is improving.

Sarah had spent most of the week with her sister going home for a few days and then back to Baltimore. Saturday morning I drove to Baltimore to meet them and we were able to catch an Orioles game, just what I needed to relax. Sunday we were able to go to Beth and Steve's wedding in Lancaster PA, Sarah went to school with Beth. A really nice day and good folks to talk to.

Thats the short version, you will just have to ask if you want the long version.