Why I am running for General Conference 2020

On the evening of February 25^th in the span of just thirteen hours, 15,529 young people from the United Methodist Church across the globe added their signatures online to support the Young People’s Statement to GeneralConference 2019. While there were many things I found inspiring about this letter to which I signed my name, one particular piece of information included in the statement distressed me…

“Only 7% of seated delegates are young people, people under the age of 35.”

While I didn’t expect people under the age of 35 to have overwhelming representation, it shocked me and stung my heart that the generation who will live the longest with the impact of decisions made at the global church level only comprised 60 of the 864 delegates who gathered in St. Louis this year.

And, so, this charge came from the young people present at General Conference, “At this year’s annual conference, elect a young person to your 2020 delegation. Not as a reserve, but as someone seated with a vote on the floor. Mentor a young person to run. Advocate for a young person to be elected. Show up for the young people in your life, and actually celebrate them around these tables in 2020. If we are actually part of the Body, it is time to bring our voice and vote around these tables.”

A few weeks later when I met a friend for lunch, I asked her, “What are we going to do about electing a young person as part of our delegation this year?” I would have never expected the next words that came out of her mouth, “I think you should run.” What?!? Me? No. Of course, I love my denomination. I care deeply about its history, its present reality, and its future. I’ve been discerning God’s call, following the Holy Spirit, and preparing for ordained ministry since I was 14 years old. But, me as a delegate to General Conference? Who am I? So, I told my friend that I would pray about it, not sure I was the right person and doubtful I had in me what it would take to say yes.

Over the next few weeks, as I discussed my hope with others that our conference would be serious and intentional about electing young and diverse persons to our delegation, this same thought kept coming up again and again.

“Are you considering running?”

“Throw your name in and see what happens.”

“Have you submitted your nomination form?”

“I’m praying with you as you decide whether or not to run.”

Over and over I heard encouragement from people who I knew weren’t talking to one another. Finally, I  submitted, through weeks of prayer, that this just might be the Holy Spirit nudging me to place my trust in God and offer myself as a candidate for the Memphis Annual Conference delegation to General Conference 2020.

As I’ve reflected on what is important to me and why the Holy Spirit might have led me towards running this year, these are the things I consider.

I care deeply about ministry with young people who are disciples of Jesus. I’ve learned to describe my call to ministry as a puzzle that God puts together one piece at a time, and the puzzle piece God has revealed to me over the past few years is that I am called to be an elder in the United Methodist Church who invests especially in children, youth, and young adults—not only nurturing them in faith but, also, connecting and incorporating them into the life of the wider congregation  and giving them opportunities to learn and lead in worship, Bible study, mission, and more. As part of this work, I serve on the Memphis Conference Youth Leadership Team that engages our youth in ministry and mission. I’ve volunteered my time and leadership for weeks of summer camp and weekend retreats at Lakeshore Camp and Retreat Center. I mentored a young person who is running as a lay delegate for General Conference 2020. If elected, I would use my voice and vote to advocate for young people, both lay and clergy, who are following Jesus, faithfully serving the United Methodist Church, and engaging the world with the good news of the Gospel.

Since entering the appointive system in 2016, I have cherished the relationships I have formed with pastors serving alongside me. In Hardeman and McNairy counties where I have served under appointment, many of the local congregations are served by local licensed pastors (LLPs). During county group meetings or district clergy meetings, I have been honored to form and deepen relationships with the women and men who dedicate their lives to following their call to ministry in this way. Some of the most creative, innovative, and passionate ministry and mission I have witnessed across our connection has been led by LLPs. It boggles my mind and saddens my heart to think that some other clergy look down on or diminish the important and vital role of LLPs in our connection. Not only would we be lost in supplying churches with pastors in the Memphis Conference without them, but we would miss the richness they bring. At the Memphis Annual Conference in 2017, when as a provisional elder I was not allowed to vote on the constitutional amendments brought forth from General Conference 2016, I experienced a small taste of what it might feel like to be a local licensed pastor who gives the best of their labor to God’s church and mission yet feels they are not valued enough to have a seat at the table on certain matters. If elected, I would use my voice and vote to think creatively about how we could work together to lift up local licensed pastors and recognize more fully their vital role in the United Methodist Church.

Over the last few weeks, I have spent some time looking over journals from past Memphis Annual Conference meetings and compiling a list of the delegations we have sent to General Conference over the past 50 years. Here are some of the interesting things I’ve learned through that study:

• Since the first General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1972, our laity in Memphis have always elected a woman with voice and vote to serve as a delegate.
• 1988 (the year I was born) was the first delegation to include a clergywoman delegate with voice and vote, thirty-two years after women were granted full clergy rights in the Methodist Church in 1956 (the year my mother was born). A clergywoman has been elected with voice and vote in every Memphis Conference delegation since 1988, with the exception of two – the two most recent delegations to General Conference in 2016 and 2019.
• Since 1972, only five times have elected Memphis Conference clergy delegates with voice and vote been persons of color (1980, 1988, 2000, 2004, 2008).
• Only twice have elected laity of color from the Memphis Conference had voice and vote at General Conference (2000 and 2004).
• Since the ages of delegates are not published in our journals, I cannot with accuracy make definitive conclusions about how young people have been represented with voice and vote. But, from viewing the photographs of elected delegates over the years, I do not believe electing young clergy or young lay people has been a consistent priority of the Memphis Annual Conference.

The delegates we elect with voice and vote to General Conference must reflect the diversity of the Memphis Annual Conference, especially the racial, ethnic, gender, and age diversity of our clergy and laity. I did not arrive easily at my decision to offer myself as a delegate to be elected. It involved countless conversations, many sleep-interrupted nights, a whole lot of prayer, and, finally, surrender to the Holy Spirit. I humbly ask my clergy siblings in the Memphis Annual Conference to prayerfully consider voting for me to represent us at General Conference 2020. Over the next week, I’ll be posting several more blogs to share more of my story, calling, and passion for our shared mission and ministry with you. If you have any questions or would like to have further conversation, I’d be happy to email you, talk to you on the phone, or sit down with you for coffee or a meal. You can contact me at ahwGC2020@gmail.com.

Beyond myself, I ask all of our lay and clergy delegates to Annual Conference this year to intentionally seek out, engage, and support candidates who are young persons (35 years and under), who are persons of color, and/or who are women. Give voice and vote to those who dedicate their lives to God’s mission for the church in the world and, yet, are so often underrepresented at the table. Let’s see together what God can do through us.

Grace and Peace,
Amanda Hartmann Westmoreland