WELCOME!

Associates in Advocacy now has two sites on the internet. Our primary help site is at http://www.aiateam.org/. There AIA seeks to offer aid to troubled pastors, mainly those who face complaints and whose careers are on the line.

Help is also available to their advocates, their caregivers, Cabinets, and others trying to work in that context.

This site will be a blog. On it we will address issues and events that come up.

We have a point of view about ministry, personnel work, and authority. We intend to take the following very seriously:

THE GOLDEN RULE
THE GENERAL RULES
GOING ONTO PERFECTION

Some of our denomination's personnel practices have real merit. Some are deeply flawed. To tell the difference, we go to these criteria to help us know the difference.

We also have a vision of what constitutes healthy leadership and authority. We believe it is in line with Scripture, up-to-date managerial practice, and law.

To our great sadness, some pastors who become part of the hierarchy of the church, particularly the Cabinet, have a vision based on their being in control as "kings of the hill," not accountable to anyone and not responsible to follow the Discipline or our faith and practice. They do not see that THE GOLDEN RULE applies to what they do.

If you are reading this, the chances are you are not that way. We hope what we say and do exemplify our own best vision and will help you fulfill yours. But we cannot just leave arrogance, incompetence, and ignorance to flourish. All of us have the responsibility to minimize those in our system.

We join you in fulfilling our individual vow of expecting to be perfect in love in this life and applying that vow to our corporate life in the United Methodist Church.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If you have any questions or suggestions, direct them to Rev. Jerry Eckert. His e-mail address is aj_eckert@hotmail.com. His phone number is 941 743 0518. His address is 20487 Albury Drive, Port Charlotte, FL 33952.

Thank you.

(9/26/07)


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

How to Read this 2012 General Conference Blog


There is an amazing amount of activity and ideas generated by an event like a General Conference. I had no idea when I sat down that my reflections and reports would amount to over 65 pages in hard copy.

I would love to have you read every posting, of course. But I suggest that you look at the left hand margin of the blog to skim down through the titles and click on one that interests you most, read it, go back to the list again, and pick another, and so on.

One reason I wanted to write this was to reflect on my techniques as a lobbyist, sharing what I know and what I did so that others can evaluate that and do it better when it is their turn.

Most of the rest I have posted in chronological order so that this first post is above and the last post for the end of General Conference is at the bottom and the rest marked by dates. They approximate the order of writings as you will see my attempt to show the flow of the conference. If you know an event took place on a certain date, if I wrote about it, you can find it at that date.

I confess I loved writing this blog. It allowed me to remain in that milieu a little longer. I hope you can enjoy more of the blog than you expect.
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