Admitting that it’s “somewhat odd and a quite bit surreal” to be meeting, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops (COB) addressed his colleagues prior to a regular session of General Conference for the first time in eight years.

Bishop Bickerton, resident bishop of the New York Area, spoke in a crowded ballroom at the Omni Hotel where the COB is meeting prior to the start of the General Conference on April 23.

The unusual nature of the General Conference gathering, the bishop said, stems in part from not meeting in a regular session since 2016, but also from the historic times and changes facing the global denomination. 

“It seems to me that because we haven’t been together for some time, all of us, bishops, general secretaries, and delegates alike, we run several risks,” Bishop Bickerton said. “Do we have the courage to live into a new reality or not?”

Bishop Bickerton, who is concluding his two-year term of service as president of the COB, noted that one risk facing this General Conference is who will actually be in attendance.

“Attempts have and likely are being made to organize people who have no intention to be in the room long-term but are, for some reason, reveling in the thought that perhaps they can make one last parting jab before their exit,” he said.

The bishop also noted that plans to revise the current church Social Principles, the concepts around regionalization, the possible removal of restrictive language, and issues around the budget may be too much for one General Conference session to tackle.

These new realities, along with others, challenge church leaders, he said.

“Will we lead in spite of a changing climate?” Bishop Bickerton asked. “Depending on what room you are in there is either an anti-bishop, an anti-agency, or an anti-institution sentiment that spills out. And the real question is: Will we lead in spite of the conditions, or will we hesitate in the midst of one of the denomination’s greatest transitional moments?”

Noting that if any of the big issues are adopted could mean significantly more work for bishops – already stretched thin because of multi-area responsibilities amid rising budget concerns – and that could lead to even more stress and anxiety.

Even in this rising tide of change, Bishop Bickerton encouraged his colleagues by noting that the role and responsibilities of a bishop in The United Methodist Church have not changed.

“In the midst of significant shifts and transitions,” the bishop said, “the role of the bishop remains clear and our understanding of that role, even over the next 2.5 weeks in Charlotte can be a ‘game changer’ for the tone, climate, and pace that is set in the midst of all of this uncertainty and change.”

Noting that in Scripture, Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus while in prison, begging the new church there to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they had been called…” (Ephesians 4:1)

“Paul knew how important Ephesus was as a major port city,” Bishop Bickerton said. “If the church could work there, it would have a major impact on the movement of Christianity everywhere.”

Likewise, the bishop said, “we know how important this week is for our denomination. If the church can work here, you have to believe that we can continue to have a major impact on the world around us across the globe.”

To do that, however, requires transformation, vision and focus, he said.

“We have the chance to be transforming agents,” Bishop Bickerton said, “but we must be transformed ourselves by dealing with the bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling stuff and start living into what it means to be a tenderhearted leader that forgives as we have been forgiven and loves as we have been loved. 

“We have to be bold to lead with a vital and renewing spirit, a commitment to teach, a vision for the church, a commitment to transformation, and a passion for unity,” he continued. “It won’t just happen. And, in large measure, it depends on our willingness to constantly remind the body of why we are here and who we are serving.”

Closing by reciting a prayer written by the late Catholic Bishop of the Dioceses of Saginaw, Michigan, Kenneth Untener, Bishop Bickerton reminded his fellow servant leaders that they are called to be workers, not the Master Builder.

“I have a vision of a church that willingly says at the end of General Conference, ‘Here we are, Lord, send us.’ It’s a vision of a church with conservatives, moderates, and progressives, bishops and general secretaries, delegates, and support staff singing the same song,” Bishop Bickerton said.

The harmony, he said, “to me, it sounds like heaven.”

Written by Rev. Erik Alsgaard is pastor of Community UMC in Crofton, Maryland. He is assisting with the General Conference.