Local planners cover all bases in preparing for church's top legislative session.
by Sue Calvin
Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone Conference United Methodists hosting the 1,000 delegates and 4,000 other visitors--including bishops, agency staff members and journalists--are doing more than mental preparation for the two-week conference. Volunteers--nearly 1,000 by the time the conference convenes--are getting ready for company.
Led by Paula Johnston, local arrangements chairperson, six major committees, each with up to five subcommittees, are making detailed plans from arrival to departure.
Guests arriving at the new Denver International Airport April 14, 15 or 16 will be met by Denver Area United Methodist volunteers, easily recognizable in decorated vests. Charter buses will then take them to one of six designated hotels in the heart of the Mile-High City. International guests will be greeted by assigned host families who will be fluent in their native language and prepared to assist them with everything from exchanging currency to making phone calls.
At each conference hotel, greeters will provide registrants with an information packet on downtown Denver, including prices, addresses and cuisine served for 50 eateries located within walking distance or via free shuttle.
Each designated hotel--Executive Tower, Holtze, Holiday Inn, Hyatt Regency, Adam's Mark and Marriot--is within two to five blocks of the Colorado Convention Center. Transportation on the light rail system is accessible from hotels farthest from the Convention Center. The fare is $1 during peak hours and 50 cents off-peak.
Greeters will also have timetables for rail service to cultural attractions such as a street of Victorian Denver buildings, the Black American West Museum or Museo de las Americas.
Hospitality centers will also be located in what is arguably the finest convention facility in the United States. Completed in 1990 at a cost of $125 million, The Colorado Convention Center has 290,000 square feet of space with 44 meeting rooms. Guides will be assigned to usher delegates to Legislative Committee rooms as well as to other meeting areas and services.
Scenic Tours Planned
For visitors and delegates taking a break from working sessions, the hospitable hosts will sponsor tours to points of interest, including:
_ Breckenridge, a Victorian town with a rich mining history in the mountains west of Denver;
_ Warren Air Force Base, a 6,000-acre ranch and the Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyo.;
_ Colorado High Plains in eastern Colorado, where the deer and the antelope play and some buffalo still roam;
_ Colorado Springs at the base of Pikes Peak, with the U.S. Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods and Old Colorado City;
_ Denver's Four Corners of United Methodism including The Iliff School of Theology, one of the denomination's 13 U.S. seminaries;
_ Estes Park and Loveland in Big Thompson Canyon;
_ Greeley and Weld County, an agricultural empire of 2.5 million acres with Centennial Village, Hoshiko produce farms, a dairy farm and a 50,000 cattle feedlot.
A booklet listing time, cost and details of each tour will be mailed to each delegate and each annual conference office with details about advance registration. Tours are open to anyone with the time and inclination to go.
For those who will miss the trek to Montana, "Denver Area Day" activities April 21 will include an evening performance of the Montana Ballet and Logging Company and music by members of the Blackfoot community. Tickets will be complimentary for delegates and $5 for others.
While the General Commission on General Conference is responsible for most of the logistics for business sessions, the local group will arrange for language interpreters, emergency medical services and volunteer secretaries.
Weather Watch
Local and churchwide planners have most bases covered, but no one can predict or control Rocky Mountain weather. While Denver receives only 8-15 inches of precipitation a year, showers, both rain and snow, are common in April. However, Denver also records 300 days of sunshine a year with an average daily wintertime high of 45 degrees. So while guests probably don't need to pack a parka, locals recommend bringing jackets, raincoats and umbrellas.
In addition to weather considerations, visitors should also be mindful of the altitude, planners say. People from the lowlands may experience drowsiness or light-headedness. Those in the know recommend drinking plenty of fluids, getting proper rest and adjusting your walking pace to compensate.
As she began the organizational plan for hosting the top legislative body of the denomination, Paula Johnston, Longmont, Colo., chairperson of the local committee for the 1996 General Conference, was concerned with more than cold logistics.
To committee members and other conference leaders, she raised the overriding question: "In what spirit will we host General Conference of 1996?"
The two host annual conferences--Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone--have answered the question with a pledge "to receive our guests in a spirit of prayer which is born out of a conviction of hospitality."
Bishop Mary Ann Swenson has commissioned annual conference members as "Disciples of Hospitality." Each congregation in the Denver Area will be assigned up to five names of delegates or staff. For at least six months prior to General Conference, congregations will offer prayer on behalf of their assigned partners.
"Through prayer," Johnston said, "we can open ourselves as hosts and guests to the love and grace of God which brings us together and surpasses the differences and discord of church politics."