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General Conference Reports
Opening worship at the postponed General Conference features diversity but still shows areas in need of attention.
Opening worship at the postponed General Conference features diversity but still shows areas in need of attention.
Discussions of diversity and questions of who the church is called to be prefaced the organization of legislative committees. GCSRW and GCORR monitored and reported the composition of leadership for all fourteen legislative committees.
From visuals of General Conference delegates and observers dressed in black for Thursdays in Black to watching the stage and the floor, monitoring reports express that the voices of female-identifying and nonbinary persons are increasing.
Monitoring keeps us conscious of how we engage one another, by making sure there is a greater space for equity. GCSRW monitors noticed that there is more space for speakers in legislative committees to appear more egalitarian.
Many of our planned plenaries featured increasing diversity; open floor discussion was often decreased the voices of women.
While many planned plenary speakers provide more equal representation, once debate begins from the floor, gender disparity becomes the general practice.
The Service of Lament, Confession, and Hope drew more than 150 delegates and friends to corporately confess our systemic sin of silence. The work of the church still shows significant need for improvement.
Today’s plenary displayed a variety of historic decisions and moments, but it was politics as usual from the floor of the General Conference.
Questions were asked from the floor about the emphasis on demographic markers, and GCORR and GCSRW affirmed the need to receive demographic information from the General Conference to make monitoring easier.
GCSRW monitored General Conference for gender inclusion, but hopes that all of its meetings seek to challenge the church toward full and equal participation of its members.
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