Both Sure and Uncertain

 

“When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me”

            --John Wesley

For those who are not natives to the United Methodist system, this time of year can seem like a strange and foreign land.  Many clergy throughout the world, myself included, have made announcements that they are moving to another parish, another ministry, or (perhaps) to a stage beyond ministry.  Over the last several decades, the United Methodist Church has moved clergy less frequently than in previous years.  “Every three years” used to be the rule of thumb.  Now, it is not unusual to hear of pastors staying 4, 5, 6 or more years at one appointment (that’s what we call the assignment of a pastor to a church, churches, or ministry).  I am blessed to be completing my 5^th year at my current appointment.

Early in the Methodist Movement, this was not the case.  John Wesley appointed ‘preachers’ at a rapid-fire pace.  In the Conference Minutes of 1746, John Wesley indicated where ‘preachers’ or ‘assistants’ (meaning assistant to Wesley) would be appointed for the next quarter.¹  That’s a possible move every 3 months!  They were called ‘preachers’ because preaching was their primary function, not ‘pastoring.’ I don’t know how they did it.

Today, every time we have a move both churches and pastors alike are caught in a frenzy of activity and emotion.  There is the grief of ministry left unfinished as well as events that mark the “lasts” of a pastor in a parish.  Anxiety builds within the congregation as people wonder, “What will the next ‘preacher’ be like? How will they lead? How old will they be? Will we be a good match together in ministry?” Events begin to clog the calendar as people try to say their ‘goodbyes’ and ‘welcomes’ within days of each other.  Excitement fills the air in the hopes of new change, even as people hope that things don’t change too much (I mean, we have ALWAYS done it this way.)

Clergy are not immune to the tumult, either.  I have found myself experiencing a range of emotions. Most times I am filled with excitement for the promise of a ministry yet to come: a new community, new families, new stories, and new visions of God’s call into mission and ministry.  I know that God is leading me forward into another chapter of my ministry and marvel at the goodness of God’s grace. Other times, I get overwhelmed with my sense of loss and grief: after five years, I have grown to love Main Street UMC deeply.  I have baptized, confirmed, married, and buried so many beautiful children of God here. We have wrestled through a pandemic together. In the midst of all these emotions, I am trying to prepare the church for transition to new pastoral leadership, to prepare my family for the transition to a new home, to give myself ample healthy times for ‘goodbyes,’ and to ready myself for the next step into the future.

I quoted Wesley at the beginning of this blog for a reason.  As I begin my 30^th year in ministry in the United Methodist Church, I realize that my perspective has grown and changed through the years. As Wesley said another time:

“Every one, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees”²

When I finished my first appointment as a part-time, student local pastor, I understood the appointment process and knew that it was the best system in the world.  Moving and transition was just part of life that brought little disruption other than a few boxes.  With every move since then, things have changed.  Being a parent increases the importance of stability in life and in location. My roots grow deeper and faster in the communities that I serve.   I have prayed with people as they wrestled with God – as they wonder why they struggle and suffer. I have also held their hands as they breathed their last – as they surrender their lives into the hands of their Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.  Each day my love grows for the people that I serve, while the pain of anticipated separation sharpens.

In the middle of the rushing wind that whistles all around, I finally understand what Wesley meant by “at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.”  I know for certain that I am called by God to serve as a pastor.  God has affirmed and confirmed my call many times.  I know that Christ showed his love for me by giving his life for me, and that it is this love that compels me to teach and to share with others the unconditional, resurrected love that seeks to embrace us all.  I know that I am invited to trust that God who started a good work within this congregation will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6).  I know that I have nothing to fear for I have been called by name and God is with me (Isaiah 43:1-5). I am caught in the paradox of being certain of so much and yet sure of so little.  I suppose that is why faith is

“the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see”³

I admit that every day there seems to be more things that I simply do not know and cannot understand.  This time of year, I believe that others in the United Methodist system must feel this way as well.  The Good News, the best news, comes from one final quote from John Wesley:

            “The best of it is, God is with us.”

Grace and Peace,

¹http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/john-wesley-the-methodist/chapter-xiii-in-conference-with- the-preachers/

²http://huhns.org/2009/06/30/top-12-john-wesley-quotes/

³ Hebrews 11:1, Common English Bible

What Do You Mean "Change?"

Why do you see the splinter that’s in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but don’t notice the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother or sister, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when there’s a log in your eye? You deceive yourself! First take the log out of your eye, and then you’ll see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s or sister’s eye. 

--Matthew 7:3-5

Q: How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer 1: At least 15. One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad.

Answer 2: Change?????

As a pastor, it is a constant part of my role in preaching, teaching, and leadership to point people toward change.  In fact, the church stands up to the world and invites it to a better way of life by putting Christ first – if the world would only listen.

Here is the hard truth: we want others to do what we are unwilling to do ourselves.  When we can point back 20, 30, 60+ years to the way that we have done things, do we think this compels others to examine their bad habits?  When the world cannot see the difference that our church members make in the community (much less the church as a whole in the surrounding area) why would they listen to our call to be different.

Before we begin to ask others to change, we are called to be changed ourselves.  This does not mean that we change the paint on the walls or (God forbid) change the color of the carpet.  Those are actually superficial changes.  Instead, we are called to change the nature of who we are and the basis upon which we make our decisions. 

 

What if the church was transformed into the Body of Christ that consistently carried our acts of justice, mercy, and humility?  What if we stood firm with those who cannot stand for themselves?  What if our love for each other was so strong and so apparent that the whole world looked amazed and said, “See how they love each other!”

We want to change the world for Christ and, at times, we feel that there is nothing that we can do to change ‘them.’ Our assumption points to our mistake.  Christ invites us to change. He invites us to be transformed.  He calls us to go and teach and make disciples – every one of us.  As we change and let the light of Christ shine through us, others will see our work and give glory to God (Matthew 5:16).

Grace and Peace,

Vacation and Vocation

My family and I just returned from a wonderful vacation. We drove 2600 miles over 11 states with the final destination of Niagara Falls, including following the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and continuing to Skyline Drive in Virginia. 

We spent months discerning our vacation plans. Since this was a trip that was not only a vacation but also a celebration of graduation, we wanted it to be special. We looked at a trip that would travel through Europe. We imagined the possibilities and had long discussions with quite a few contacts and quotes made for potential itineraries. With all the different places we could go, we kept coming back to traveling the Parkway and going to Niagara. Now, I cannot imagine our vacation anywhere else.

While vacation only comes occasionally, God’s calling in our lives happens every day. We are led by the Holy Spirit to accept our vocation. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we are gifted and equipped for ministry. The opportunities are countless for us to answer where God is leading. I have found that God is relentless in calling us back toward places that are unique and use those gifts that God has given us. Let’s take time to listen to God calling us, to discover our vocation, so that we can be faithful to our part in making disciples to change the world. When we do, we will not be able to imagine doing anything else.

Grace and Peace,

Faith for the World

My faith has been a source of strength, transformation, life and hope for me (James). As Christians, it is difficult to imagine a life without Christ in our lives. We long to help others come to know the same grace that we have experienced. I am often asked, "how can we make our faith meaningful to regular (or younger) folks today?" Leonard Sweet's book titled "Viral" has offered me wonderful insight.

"I want the passion of Eugene Ormandy, who dislocated his shoulder while conducting the Philadelphia orchestra. But rather than pursuing music at that level, I want this type of passion for Jesus and a Jesus passion for the world. Too many Christians haven't had a passion great enough to dislocate their coffee lid, let alone a shoulder."

--Leonard Sweet. Viral: How Social Networking is Poised to Ignite Revival (Colorado Springs:WaterBrook Press, 2012), 35.

I understand. Too many times I have fought to stay awake through meetings in the local, district, or conference level where there was a feeling of "we're-doing-this-because-we-must." We seek to maintain buildings and budgets. We are doing things that we have always done because that’s what we do. We have all the proper structures in place. Everyone answers to the appropriate person. All the forms are completed with every 'i' dotted. When we get to the reason we do things, all too often we sound like parents with young children, "Why? Because I said so – that's why?" The church cannot be faithful by simply going through the motions. Lukewarm lives are as offensive to God as to modern society.

"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I’m about to spit you out of my mouth." -- Revelation 3:14b-16 (CEB)

Perhaps the Church needs to move away from policy, procedures, and polity to focus more on passion, presence, and people. In my experience, it's not a good argument that makes people believe, it's seeing a life that is on fire for Christ in profound and powerful ways. People are drawn to Christ when they see his love manifest through our lives. The Church can only be faithful when it remembers that Christ died that the world, not the Church, might be saved.

Let us instead follow John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, who knew that passion was at the heart of drawing people to the Gospel message.

“Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” --John Wesley

Grace and Peace,

2019 Judicial Council Decisions

In this blog, I am seeking to give a factual explanation of events of the last few months.  I am not entering the discussion about the actions of General Conference. I am only seeking to describe the facts as I understand them without placing any value judgments on the implications and impacts.

On April 23-26, 2019, the United Methodist Judicial Council met to determine the constitutionality of a number of referred petitions from the special General Conference held in February.  Of these petitions, fifteen focused on implementing the "Traditional Plan" addressing the issue of human sexuality in the UMC. One focused on a path of disaffiliation, a way for churches to leave the denomination. The United Methodist News Service has issued a summary of the petitions and Judicial Council decisions in a pdf format and also a detailed description of the petitions and decisions in another pdf.

All 16 of these petitions were approved at the 2019 General Conference.   Nine of them were ruled constitutional by the Judicial Council, eight of which will go into effect on January 1, 2020 and will be considered part of church law. Seven of the petitions were ruled unconstitutional and were set aside.  The 2020 General Conference will have to consider differently worded petitions to overcome the constitutional issues.

With all that said, let me try to answer a few questions:

How is something unconstitutional? In the structuring documents of our church (The Book of Discipline) we have a constitution which outlines some fundamental polity of the UMC.  It is extremely difficult to change our constitution and intentionally so. Any petition must match our fundamental polity and principles. One principle in the constitution that was violated by a petition was the right of an individual to appeal.  Just like the US court system, the UMC cannot punish people without following due process and offering the opportunity to appeal.

What in the United Methodist Church changed?  The 2019 General Conference clarified and strengthened the previous stance in the Book of Disciple prohibiting the ordination of homosexuals and the marriage of same sex couples.

• The definition of "self-avowed practicing homosexual" was written to include "those living in a same-sex marriage, domestic partnership or civil union, or is a person who publicly states she or he is a practicing homosexual." (BoD, ¶ 304.3). 
• Bishops can not dismiss charges against clergy unless the charges have no basis in law or facts.
• Clergy found guilty of performing same sex weddings face stiff, mandatory penalties(first offense, 1 year suspension without pay/ second offense, credentials revoked.) .
• Affirms that Boards of Ordained Ministry cannot approve candidates that do not meet all the BoD qualifications  concerning sexuality and prohibits bishops from ordaining candidates that they learn do not meet those standards, even if they were approved.
• A path for churches to leave the denomination was clearly defined. (This petition is the only one effective immediately.)

What was considered unconstitutional?

• Bishops cannot be involuntarily placed on leave or retired nor can committees be formed to involuntarily change a bishop's status. These actions violate the constitutional guarantee to appeal.
• The Book of Discipline must be upheld as a whole. One issue cannot be singled out for accountability over any others.(sexuality had been specifically named). All of the BoD is supposed to be upheld by clergy. Any petitions which singled out issues were ruled unconstitutional because they violated the principle of legality.
• It was ruled unconstitutional to hold annual conferences accountable for not upholding the BoD "stance on ordination and marriage of practicing homosexuals" with punishment. Again, All of the Book of Discipline muse be upheld equally.  These petitions violated the principle of legality.

What's next?
Every General Conference has the ability to speak on behalf of our denomination and can adjust the language in the Book of Discipline.   This group of about 850 delegates consists of half laity and half clergy from United Methodist Churches all over the world. Their decisions speak on behalf of the 12 million United Methodists worldwide. The next General Conference is scheduled for April 2020.

Even now, petitions are being brought before the SC United Methodist Conference to go to the General Conference (you can see those petitions on  pages 71-75 of the 2019 Pre-Conference Materials).  We will be electing those who will represent us at General Conference - the laity electing the lay delegates and the clergy electing the clergy delegates.

What happens as we go forward will be determined by the new set of delegates that prayerfully prepare for General Conference 2020. Until that time, may God give us

Grace and Peace,

The Untied Methodist Church

The 2019 General Conference was quite a mess, and I have been reluctant to add my ramblings to the confusion.  Countless hurtful and graceless things have been said by people from  every perspective. I feel that the 2019 General Conference failed us, but not for the reasons that you might think.

Unlike the official UMC logo, these two flames are divided.

I intentionally titled this blog "The Untied Methodist Church." We are not as united as we were when the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist Churches came together in 1968. To symbolize the merger, the cross and flame logo was created as the official logo of the UMC. Each flame represented the originating denominations, and the connection showed that they were coming from the same source -- recalling the tongues of flame present at Pentecost. I have not included a cross and flame. (It is a registered trademark and cannot legally be used for individual purposes.) Instead, I offer a cross with a broken, disconnected flame, representing the current state of our church.

In the past, our common connection has fueled the flame of the United Methodist Church as we shared more in common than we had differences. We could work in cooperation to "make disciples for the transformation of the world."

The 2019 General Conference failed us because it clearly demonstrated that we choose competition and coercion over connection and conversation. 

I am not talking about which plan we passed: Traditional, One Church, Simple, or Connectional Conference. I would be writing this blog regardless of the final decision. (I would have been satisfied to have left the 2019 gathering with no plan at all.) Instead, the path that we chose neglected our connection. A well-intentioned end does not justify our means.

Our original failing was creating a single issue General Conference. We should never separate any issue from the overall mission and purpose of the church and our overall context of ministry.  God's call in Jesus Christ should always be in the forefront and should encompass all that we do. There should never have been a separate conference that dealt exclusively with the issue of human sexuality.  This was the church bowing to the pressures of society that seeks to make everything black and white, us and them, 'for us' or 'against us.' We accepted a false premise. We isolated one part of who we are. The whole context of the 2019 General Conference inevitably led us toward conflict and division.

I appreciate that the first day of the conference was spent in prayer and worship.  There was a feeling of solidarity and unity among delegates from around the world.  I heard words of hope and optimism shared as the people called Methodist lifted their voices together in prayer.

As the conference continued, it was clear that this was a race to the finish line.  Blocks of votes coalesced around previously announced agendas. Strategies were formed. General Conference rules were bent and stretched and twisted by both sides. The floor of discussion was silenced with an episcopal invitation to an act of prayer.  It made the prayer, no matter who would have prayed, feel like a weapon wielded.  I do not think this was the intent. It is what happened.

We used to be a people that could come together for holy conferencing. We could share in conversation and discuss openly and passionately. Theological concepts like justice and mercy could be held in conversation, and even in tension. There was not even the pretense of holy conversation. Before the delegates arrived in St. Louis, many of them had made up their minds and were not interested in listening - on either side.

Would we have reached the same conclusion if we had allowed the Holy Spirit to guide an open and honest conversation? I don't know. We might as well ask if the people of Israel would still celebrate Passover if Pharaoh's heart had not hardened and he let God's people go. We cannot see clearly the hopeful possibilities that we lose when we close off our hearts to the work of God in others.

In our rush to see which group could win the race at General Conference, we became The Untied Methodist Church.

May God open our hearts and ears that we might listen to the Holy Spirit and to one another again.

Grace and Peace,

Faith Seeking Motivation

My faith has been such a source of strength, transformation, life and hope for me. I am often asked, "how can we make our faith meaningful to regular (or younger) folks today?"  Leonard Sweet's book titled "Viral" has offered me wonderful insight. 

"I want the passion of Eugene Ormandy, who dislocated his shoulder while conducting the Philadelphia orchestra.  But rather than pursuing music at that level, I want this type of passion for Jesus and a Jesus passion for the world.  Too many Christians haven't had a passion great enough to dislocate their coffee lid, let alone a shoulder."

--Leondard Sweet. Viral: How Social Networking is Poised to Ignite Revival (Colorado Springs:WaterBrook Press, 2012), 35.

I understand.  Too many times I have sat through meetings in the local, district, or conference level where there was a feeling of "we're-doing-this-because-we-must."  We seek to maintain buildings and budgets.  We are doing things that we have always done because that’s what we do.  We have all the proper structure in place.  Everyone answers to the appropriate person.  All the forms are completed with every 'i' dotted.  When we get to the reason we do things, all too often we sound like parents with young children, "Why? Because I said so -- that's why?"  The church cannot be faithful by simply going through the motions.  Lukewarm lives are as offensive to God as to modern society.

"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot.So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I’m about to spit you out of my mouth." -- Revelation 3:14b-16 (CEB)

Perhaps the Church needs to move away from policy, procedures, and polity to focus more on passion, presence, and people. In my experience, it's not a good argument that makes people believe, it's seeing a life that is on fire for Christ in profound and powerful ways.  People are drawn to Christ when they see his love manifest through our lives.  The Church can only be faithful when it remembers that Christ died that the world, not the Church, might be saved.
Let us instead follow John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, who knew that passion was at the heart of drawing people to the Gospel message.

 “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”  --John Wesley

Grace and Peace,