tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229767916391856208.post4807526969704245810..comments2023-09-20T11:20:47.644+01:00Comments on Fat Prophet: How connected are we? 4Fat Prophethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180456857091238743noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229767916391856208.post-349793020912077622010-02-22T08:31:48.056+01:002010-02-22T08:31:48.056+01:00I like the up periscope concept but must admit it ...I like the up periscope concept but must admit it them made me wonder if conference is a little like a submarine - much of the time you don't know it is there!<br />I had never thought about the Methodist/Congregationalist concept but I think you are right.Fat Prophethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05180456857091238743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229767916391856208.post-4750963996271323442010-02-17T10:42:34.835+01:002010-02-17T10:42:34.835+01:00Just as the District is more than Synod, so the Co...Just as the District is more than Synod, so the Connexion is more than Conference. I haven't been a Conference rep for a good few years, but when I was I enjoyed it. (Apart from wading through hundreds of pages of reports and stuff...) Just as District offers a wider canvas than the circuit or local church perspective, so Conference offered what I call an "up periscope" moment: meeting folk from all over the world, hearing what it's like in places which are not like yours, being reminded of what it is to belong to something bigger than your local scene - that's uplifting.<br /><br />I also feel that we're more connected as a connexion than the Anglicans are as a Church. The Church of England may think it's one, but in practice it is 39 independent dioceses, each of which can do its own thing with little reference to anyone else. And they do!<br /><br />The problem for most Methodists is that they don't feel connected. Most Methodists are actually congregationalists. But for those of us who have wider connections, the Connexion is a useful tool.Rev Tony Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09248241050776947372noreply@blogger.com