Jonathan LeMaster-Smith

This was a whirlwind first day of General Conference. I was immediately greeted by a ton of folks from around the denomination.

As opening worship began, we started with not John or Charles Wesley, but a song with the tune for Charles Wesley’s grandson, Samuel Sebastian Wesley. The hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation,” was originally written by Samuel John Stone (who had an excellent beard). It was written in response to schism of the Church of South Africa. So, to open with this hymn that a Wesleyan pedigree and a call to return to Christ as our focus in the midst of the continually present schism.

The other music, both traditional and modern offered a call to revival. They were call for us to proclaim the saving grace of Christ and the empowering nature of the Holy Spirit. And, they also place a charge on us as individuals and churches to reclaim the call to spread the Gospel and into Christ’s Love.

And then, Bishop Bickerton lead us into a call to renewal and revival, and called for the church to do the work of ministry that is needed in this world. He called on people who were there solely to sow discord, to cause further division, to create disruptions to leave with integrity.

What I take from this service is that we need to recenter on the message and mission of Christ. We are going to be diverse in opinion, nationality, and ethnicity, and so much more, but if we can root ourselves in the love of Christ and the call to spread the gospel, we can build the Kingdom