At annual conference I
feel unknown
I knew every person
retiring
no one being ordained
someone said to me
the conference trustees
know you
because of the millions
they did not get from Aldersgate.
That’s right I said it
was all given away
except a huge chunk stayed
with the Foundation
to fund forever two UM
organizations
Home for Children said I
would not pull it off
but I did
they and UMF were
pretty happy in the end I smiled
the trustees don’t care
about that he replied.
No one asked me for an
accounting of money given away
a lot of it to United
Methodist organizations
I had a huge list no
one ever asked for
I didn’t say
not a penny went to new
church starts
that was intentional by
Aldersgate
only divine
intervention
and
my ceaseless haranguing
insured United
Methodists got most of it.
The DS approved the
building sale
apparently without
saying anything to the bishop
not my fault
she really wanted a
house church so did I
light rail seemed such a
sure thing
ultimately it was pastoral exhaustion
elderly church’s failure of imagination
sometimes I am still
angry with God the house church didn’t work.
The Discipline does not
say local church cannot give away all its money
much to the angry disappointment
of some
they didn’t expect me
to push back so hard
I never regretted where
the money went
nor who bought the
building
God was at work.
So: trustees know my name
but never met nor
talked to me
I dislike trustees they
all think alike
I still love The United
Methodist Church
and
I love Jesus.
