Shopping for General Conference
 

I saw something on Facebook a couple days ago that made me laugh, and then it made me mad.

So this lady was talking about having a full day of shopping and named the numerous cities she had been to and yet just wasn't coming up with anything. I was wondering what in the world it was that had her looking all over the state.

Tada.....General Conference.

Can I just ask? Why in the world do you people go spend thousands on clothes for a conference where no one has seen what you've been wearing anyway? If Sis. Alvear wants to gripe, she could go after the people that max out their cards for clothes for conference. What a waste. Do you really need to impress people that badly???

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Some people really need to.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

That's why I was so shocked and amazed when I went to my first Vineyard conference back in the late eighties. I dressed up in my best suits and heels, and got there and everyone was in jeans and flipflops. No one was concerned with looks - everyone was desperately seeking God. It was a mind blowing thing to me. Literally no one was milling around in the halls or restrooms, unless absolutely necessary - everyone was trying hard to get a front seat. It was my first clue that someone outside of my little box MIGHT be saved.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

From one of the UPCI's pastors and evangelist kids' Facebook:

Life in the Bubble.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Vineyard in the 80's = Scary! :toofunny

jk... kind of.

You make a good point though. This playing dress-up competition stuff is certainly a UPC bubble thing.

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I made the same mistake when I went to a conference at Willow. I had already, by that time, stopped wearing dress shirts and ties, but I still figured I should wear a suit and crew neck shirt underneath. Boy, was I wrong. Talk about a sore thumb. I was the ONLY PERSON in the entire building with anything that resembled a suit.

It was pretty incredible because it just didn't matter what people were wearing. It was the first large church atmosphere I'd ever been in where I really believed that God was only looking at the heart.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Life is stranger than fiction ...

But they'll be hootin' and hollerin' about modesty and moderation ...
:bliss

It's all as plastic as the cards it's charged on.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

There's nothing wrong with a $300 pair of shoes... unless you're wearing them while looking down at the brother next to you who could only wear his half worn out $20 pair, or jealous of the one with the $400 pair sitting on the next row.

Of course, I do think there are much better things that my money can be spent on than shoes, clothes, and hairspray, but hey, what do I know? Me, in my Goodwill clothes, never did compare with most ladies at conference. But I wasn't jealous. Not of their dry cleaning bill or their credit card statement. (Or their clothes, either, most of the time. I prefer comfort to style.) Of course, I do seem to remember a verse somewhere about wisdom and not comparing ourselves amongst ourselves. Nah, surely not. :winkgrin

Seriously, though (and most of the above was TIC), I was always surprised at conferences. People would spend the money and take off work to go, and then spend several hours getting ready for morning service. Not in prayer and Bible study, but getting dressed. Then they'd get back from service, crash in the room for an hour or hit the mall, come back several hours before service and start getting ready for that service. Whole new outfit, different hairstyle, a couple people doing a bunch of ladies' hair for what seemed to me to be hours on end... coming into church either right before service started or late for church, a couple more hours of church, and when altar call would start, hang out a few minutes and then sneak everyone out (before anyone was dismissed), rush to the restaurant before everyone else got there, eating and talking til all hours of the night, up the next morning early getting dressed again, and complaining that they were so tired and wondering why they couldn't have a few less services, young people begging to stay in the hotel room rather than making the morning service... and me going stir crazy because I wanted to get to the prayer room. They'd send me with stacks of Bibles to save their seats and come wandering in at the last minute, look at the first 5-7 rows where I had invariably tried to save them seats and tell me that they didn't want to sit in front (with an eww in their voice). I often wondered what they had really come for.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

it is easy to preach whatever in a little airconditioned bubble....try the hot jungle paths...the shantytowns, the little churches in 115 degrees weather with not evan a fan...people crammed in like sardines...tears streaming down faces that are weather worn by life in 3rd world countries...and no I am not a bitter old missionary...however far too long has the church majored on minors and minored on majors....

I stood outside a certain place and watched pastors wifes get out suitcase after suitcase of clothes for a 3 day conference and I thought, God, is there something wrong with them or is it me??????

Yes, we should be neat and clean and look nice but when we become lifeless and plastic something is wrong...OH! God send us all a life changing revival...

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

and no I do not spend my time watching others....I happened to be waiting for my husband that certain day...Just sad we all often get out of focus.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

ugh. General Conference. It's already costing me and it won't start for a week.

Spiritual people could do a "conference" thing on the Internet and save time, money and souls.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

They could do video conferencing. Video over IP. My company equipment can do over 200 sites at a time.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

The most beautiful baby girl in the world arrived this morning. Autumn Elizabeth, came into this world in God's most glorious apparel.

If we really want to impress God, we must have a contrite heart and a right spirit.

Who cares what someone wears to a conference? Let people spend what they want, wear what they want. But let our heart and spirit be right.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Congrats on the new baby!

Mercifully, the GC attendees will spend a bit more on their outfits than Autumn did on hers.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Yes, but we must admit it starts before baby's are born. The spending money on apparel that is. Sooooo, we shouldn't judge what someone wears anywhere. :) And as any service, we get out of it what we went into it expecting.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Well, I'm going in expecting folks to notice ME! in my pin-striped double breasted zoot suit and comb over hair weave.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

refreshing,......
wasn't it?

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Oh, it's just ironic that's all. Fact is, many of us don't talk much about clothing, but it's their Top 3 subjects. Irony all around.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Well, aren't some of the reasons for GC:

to show others up with your clothes

to talk to other pastors about swapping churches

to make contacts and bookings for your ministry

political and positional jockeying for power and prestige

to listen to certain "star" preachers go through their cheerleading demonstrations to see who can have the most people on their feet clapping, whistling, and cheering

to "score" chicks

to see how many people can be dragged in on the last night for the big Holy Ghost Baptism count

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

You forgot one...

To talk about all the compromisers, soon-to-be-compromisers, etc.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Don't know.

I do know that this 'chick' was in the prayer room, and guys were pretty sparse in there....

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

:thumbsup

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

I know, I just think it is so weird that people spend money they can't afford to impress someone else. That seems to be somewhat human nature. Not just in churches.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

But there's no denying what has become the Prom for Pentecostal conventions... and all the year-round conferences, and in some churches the Sunday night culture. It's on a whole-new level. And ironic that's it's the folks preaching the most about clothing.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

Probably so, and it's sad.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

doesn't "modest" mean "moderate"?

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

someone commented on facebook

Shopping for GC? It's all as plastic as the cards it's charged on.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

This is one of the biggest reason I quit going to conferences years before I ever left the UPC.

I thought I was going with people who were seeking God, only to find out it was an excuse for a fashion show.

The world looks for any holiday or excuse they can find to party and get wasted. Apostolics look for any any excuse they can find to play dress up.

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

and doesn't the UPC manual list GC as an official religious holiday so people can get off work and off school?

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yes

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Maybe dress up isnt such a bad alternative to parying?

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I guess if that's what your options are :)

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And partying isn't such a bad alternative to gang banging either... :)

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and that was just the men
it was a lot harder for the women...
:ursofunny

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

And ironically they keep the same hours as the people who party until late into the night! The last time I went to an evening service, I was annoyed that I would have normally been in bed by 9pm, but instead was having to be awake and social afterwards (and frankly didn't do a very good job of it...). I can't believe I used to regularly go out to supper at 10 or 11pm, now I eat before 7pm the majority of the time.

btw - ignore my posting time as I'm in a different time zone at the moment, but rest assured, the sun is shining here...

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

How people dress, dressed down or to the 9s isn't a thing God cares about IMO. That's more something we have hangups over. IF someone wants to wear jeans, more power to them. If someone likes to wear a suit, again more power to them. Im more concerned with attitudes

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

but if I have a bad attitude when I have to stay up late, then that means the right thing to do is not go to church. ;)

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

I tell you....some of you people just crack me up! You go from talking about stringy-hair, bluejean skirt, tennis shoes and socks.....what's the phrase.....blue denim whales?..to dressed fit to kill!

When you have a group of several thousand, you're going to have the extreme on both sides. The vast majority of the people there will look nice, but will NOT spend a fortune on clothes.

But it wouldn't be AFF if we didn't get our digs in, now would it? lol

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

:toofunny

Re: Shopping for General Conference
 

not with costly array....

where did I read that????