Letter from the Editor: Summer 2016
News
That’s a lot of conferencing in a few months’ time. Churches, families and employers had to give up their people so they could participate in days that started with a breakfast meeting and ended with a session that didn’t close until late in the evening. We had a dozen voting members at General Conference and twice that at Jurisdictional Conference, plus alternates. That’s a lot of people power being put to the purpose of conferencing.
Then, suddenly it was over, and it was time to get back to business. Note, I didn’t say business as usual. With new leaders and new direction, everyone is excited about what’s to come.
Jurisdictional Conference pushed the August issue a week late. The day I sent that issue to press, I loaded up the family for a hiking/camping trip to destinations west. It’s the 100th Anniversary of the National Park system, and we made it to four of them (Badlands, Wind Cave, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone). A little less than two weeks later, I arrived back home to hundreds of emails and about a week to pull together this September issue.
That explains why this issue may feel a little lighter than normal. I was tempted to round up to our usual 32 pages with a “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” essay and pictures, but I’ll spare you that. And since the June issue ran 44 pages, and the July ran 60 pages, it makes some sense to dial this one back a little to bring that average down. My fear is that several people told me the July issue was their favorite one yet – I hope that’s not just because it was our biggest issue because that would make this September issue their least favorite.
I hope you enjoy Tony Campolo. If you don’t, just skip pages 4 – 7 and catch up on the rest of the Missouri Conference news.