Reflections on GEMN 2013

Virginia Theological Seminary senior Grey Maggiano, who attended this year's GEMN conference in Bogota and presented two workshops on project planning and management, shares his thoughts on GEMN 2013. Many thanks, Grey!

You can usually tell how good a conference is by what people do on the last day. 

Usually scheduled seminars and events on the last day of a conference are, well, lightly attended.  Folks want to get their sightseeing in, or do a little shopping, or maybe just sleep in a little bit.  They might make a few appointments with folks they met, but for the most part, people are winding down and getting ready to head back home.

Not so with GEMN 2013.  In fact, this conference closed out much more like a family reunion, with folks furiously exchanging emails and Facebook friend requests, dancing late into the night, and lamenting how quickly the conference passed (and just maybe those 7 am departure times). New relationships were formed, old relationships were strengthened, and most people I talked to were leaving with a renewed commitment to Mission as both transformation and development – as Paulo Ueti shared with us on day one, and to overcoming the fears and doubts that sometimes plague us, just as they plagued the apostles after Jesus’ death, and to instead be lifted up and empowered by the Spirit given by Christ to us, and as Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori  reminded us, go out into the world thinking ‘Si Se Puede!’

Today wasn’t all work, of course, the group took a little time to do some souvenir shopping where we found not only traditional Latin American Handicrafts, but also a little bit of modern Colombian art and design.  The cartoon inspired purses and wallets show here are the product of a family run business that make funky, inexpensive, and really fun designs popular with young Bogoteños.  More than a few of these also made their way into GEMN attendees suitcases so perhaps we’ve started an international trend!

One of the best parts of this conference was getting to know young clergy and laity from throughout Province IX.  With attendees from Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti this was certainly a very diverse conference.  But it was also a very young conference.  Scholarship funding from GEMN allowed a large group of under 35 clergy and laity to attend, including multiple young people from throughout Latin America.  If this is the future of the Church, the future looks bright indeed.  GEMN also worked hard to lift up the work of young people throughout the conference.  The Rev. Estiven Potro, pictured below, was called into duty in only his second week as a Deacon to serve alongside the Presiding Bishop at the closing Eucharist.

So it was hard to say goodbye to  all this new family, but it was made easier knowing how committed each and every one of us is to being the hands and feet of Jesus, creating transformational missions, and seeking to make this world just a little bit more like the Kingdom of God.  Sí se puede!