The mission of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
I am excited to participate in God’s mission that includes evangelism, worship, discipleship and Christian action. I know from the Bible that God is in the business of saving the world, and God has given me the privilege of participating in that process as part of his church.
The transformation of the world has been on my mind in the last several weeks. The news reports out of Haiti after the earthquake have been quite disturbing. Two friends of mine, Revs. Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb, died when the Hotel Montana collapsed.
But my sense of loss is miniscule compared to the tens of thousands of Haitians who mourn their dead and worry about having enough to eat. I have visited with Joe and Shirley Edgerton, who were in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck, and heard some of their story. I asked their advice about the future.
I am asking, “What are Christians to do?”
A team of people from the Kansas West Conference has just returned from a visit to Zimbabwe. As guests of Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa and the Zimbabwe East Conference, they were exploring a possible covenant relationship between our two conferences. Zimbabwe has suffered from corruption and political oppression for decades. There is hunger there. Although no natural disaster, a cultural disaster is tearing the country apart. I am asking, “What are Christians to do?”
A full discussion about transforming the world would go far beyond the limits of this short article. But there are several traits of United Methodist social action that help us know how we are participating in God’s transforming work:
Responding to human need. My daily Bible study this year has focused on Matthew 25 where Jesus is clear—those who make it to heaven are the ones who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty and care for those who are sick and in prison. The power of television and Internet focuses our attention on the latest disaster, and I am proud that United Methodists are involved. However, Haiti is not the only place where people are hungry, homeless and in great need. I believe Christians should be involved in social action in their home communities, in their state and internationally.
Addressing deep issues. We have learned a lot about the causes of poverty, and we should be giving attention to the steps that will make the greatest difference in people’s lives 20 to 30 years from now. Offering personal salvation through Jesus Christ makes a difference. Education makes a difference. Teaching people economic skills and agricultural skills makes a difference. When I was in Mozambique, Gracie Michel, the first minister of education in independent Mozambique and the wife of Nelson Mandela, thanked the United Methodist Church for teaching that education is important, that women are equal to men and that healthy practices can cure disease. Our missionary work for more than 150 years has made a difference.
Focusing on fruitfulness and effectiveness. Sometimes well-meaning people want to make a contribution that feels good to them. Christians should be asking how to maximize our fruitfulness. We have a powerful network through our connectional system. United Methodist missionaries have been in Haiti and Zimbabwe for decades. Our General Board of Global Ministries and its United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) have effective ways of delivering the help that is most needed. Sending money is more effective than sending bottles of water. Sending health kits is a tangible way of contributing. Eventually, there will be a need for Volunteers In Mission teams to go, but we know from past disasters that such involvement must wait until the time is ripe.
Staying for the long term. The attention of the media will leave Haiti soon. The need for response will still be around for years to come. People are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Katrina four years later. The devastation in Haiti was even greater, and we need to be prepared for the long-term help that should be offered. The problems being generated in Zimbabwe are not going to be fixed quickly even when genuine democracy returns. At our best, we United Methodists stay longer than others. After the Greensburg tornado when many other relief groups left, we continued to help.
Demanding accountability. Often people are uncritical about where they give their money. United Methodists are committed to accountability, transparency and faithfulness in handling our money. Our connectional way of doing church means we know where the money is going and we have ways of making sure that it is used well. Unfortunately, there are many people who give money that ends up being wasted, embezzled or misused. Our United Methodist connection minimizes those problems.
Respecting the local Christians. A group of Baptists has been in the news and currently is in jail on charges related to an attempt to take children out of the country without proper permissions. One of the hallmarks of United Methodist mission work is our respect for and cooperation with local Christian leaders. Many times, well-meaning Americans don’t take the time to understand the local situation and the local perspective on important issues. We do not always have the right answers, and we need to work in partnership with our Christian sisters and brothers who are on the ground. Our mission philosophy emphasizes partnership. If the Kansas West Conference continues its work in Zimbabwe, it will be a covenant where both conferences have something to offer and something to receive.
God is a missionary God who is in the business of saving the world. At our best, the United Methodist Church is a missionary church making us available for God to use for God’s purposes. Over the years, we have built up good procedures and structures for effective mission. At times like this, we need to remember what we know.
From time to time, we United Methodists voice our beliefs about how Christian teaching impacts issues of morality and social justice in our society. We have done this to oppose gambling, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, racism and sexism. As bishop, I have sometimes used my position to express our church’s teaching when I thought it would make a difference and bring our church together around its core beliefs.
This winter, I will be speaking and writing to our Kansas legislators urging them to abolish the death penalty. Our Social Principles are eloquent about the sanctity of human life and how capital punishment undermines our society’s values. However, I will be adding four additional arguments to what our church officially teaches.
The first is the fact that recent developments in DNA technology have shown that people on death row were wrongly convicted. John Grisham’s “The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town” is a powerful, true story about how police misconduct and jury bias made a mistake that only a federal judge could correct. Killing a convicted person forever removes the possibility of fixing such a mistake. The uncertainty of even our best evidence ought to stop us from delivering a final judgment.
The second argument is about the unfairness of our legal system. Wealthy people get the best legal representation and the fairest trials. Poor people relying on court-appointed attorneys are often poorly represented. The poor are much more likely to be convicted of capital crimes even when all other factors are weighed.
The third argument is economic. Death penalty cases, along with appeals, are incredibly expensive. They consume state money and court time when our state budget is already suffering from an economic downturn. The state budget is reducing the amount of money for senior-citizen care, for K-12 schools and for economic development. To continue spending money for capital punishment is to misplace our priorities.
Fourth, I believe life in prison without parole is an adequate and possibly harsher punishment for the most serious crimes. A lifetime behind bars is both punishment and an opportunity for repentance. It is a punishment because the person lives every day with the wasted opportunities and the drastic limitations of prison life. It is an opportunity because they have time to make their peace with God and commit their lives to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
The people I know who engage in prison ministry have shared with me eloquent stories of how people in prison do occasionally turn their lives around. Retired Bishop Ken Carder recently shared with me a story about how one man spent his prison days ministering to other inmates as they were dying. He will never leave prison but, after his conversion, chose to allow God to use him to ease the suffering of others.
Legislators vote for bills with a variety of motivations. Some want to do the right thing. Some seek to represent the views of their constituents. All of the legislators I know are seeking to balance all of the various factors—moral, political, economic—to help Kansas be the best state it can be.
I urge you to contact your representative and senator and ask them to do the right thing—abolish the death penalty.
Social Principles, “United Methodist Book of Discipline,” 164G, pp. 125-6
We believe the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore and transform all human beings. The United Methodist Church is deeply concerned about crime throughout the world and the value of any life taken by a murder or homicide. We believe all human life is sacred and created by God and therefore, we must see all human life as significant and valuable. When governments implement the death penalty (capital punishment), then the life of the convicted person is devalued and all possibility of change in that person’s life ends. We believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that the possibility of reconciliation with Christ comes through repentance. This gift of reconciliation is offered to all individuals without exception and gives all life new dignity and sacredness. For this reason, we oppose the death penalty (capital punishment) and urge its elimination from all criminal codes.
“God’s creation is in crisis. We, the bishops of the United Methodist Church, cannot remain silent while God’s people and planet suffer. This beautiful natural world is a loving gift from God, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. God has entrusted its care to all of us, but we have turned our backs on God and on our responsibilities. Our neglect, selfishness and pride have fostered pandemic poverty and disease, environmental degradation and the proliferation of weapons and violence. Despite these interconnected threats to life and hope, God’s creative work continues. Despite the ways we all contribute to these problems, God still invites each one of us to participate in the work of renewal. We must begin the work of renewing creation by being renewed in our own hearts and minds. We cannot help the world until we change our way of being in it.”
Beginning with these words, the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church has spoken a message of hope and action to protect God’s creation. This letter and the accompanying Foundation Document are a major statement calling the people of our church to a deeper awareness of these problems.
For some, the awareness comes as bad news. It is sort of like going to the doctor for a physical when you have not been through that for years. You dread what you are likely to hear. You know there are issues with your health, and you have avoided the examination by an expert because you would rather not know the details. But eventually, you realize that things are getting worse and something needs to be done.
People in the United States have been concerned about preserving the environment since the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1864. As modern science is improved, we have become more aware of the many ways in which all aspects of the world interact and must be in harmony with each other. Growing industrialization in the 20th century led to pollution, decreased quality of life and increasing health problems in many parts of the world. Also during the last century, the world’s population expanded dramatically, and wars killed millions of people and disrupted almost every country’s social life or infrastructure. The rise of communism and the destructiveness of totalitarian dictatorships in many countries contributed to huge economic and social problems. None of the problems addressed by the bishops’ pastoral letter are new.
This does seem, however, to be a timely message to the people of the United Methodist Church and, through the Church to the world, that something needs to be done. We need to understand the problems and then plan courses of action that will contribute to solving the problems. Sometimes the easiest actions to plan are those that will change other people’s lives or cost them money.
I propose we all examine our own practices and ask how we can live more faithfully in line with God’s will for creation.
Toward that end, the bishops have made nine pledges in our pastoral letter.
Personally, I am already taking steps. When getting a new car, I directed the conference to buy a hybrid that increased my average miles per gallon by 10. I now use cloth bags at the grocery store to avoid plastic. I am using more digital communication to cut down on travel to meetings where that is possible. I am encouraging churches to avoid paper plates and Styrofoam cups in favor of reusable service items.
Over the next year, you will hear me preach and teach on these topics from a biblical and theological basis. The Council of Bishops’ documents are well grounded in Wesleyan theology and biblical truth.
God’s love for the whole creation and our role as people on a journey toward entire sanctification means we need to pay attention to all of these matters.
I encourage you to study these documents and ask how you can respond. They can be accessed online from the Resource section at www.umc.org.
It was a revelation given to the children of Abraham—there is only one God. One of the holiest and most important verses in the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
The Hebrew conviction that there is only one God and that this one God is universal has shaped much of world history and is the foundation for Christianity. Since those times, we have discovered that there are many planets, solar systems and galaxies. Yet, our theological conviction remains unshaken. Wherever you go in the whole universe, the God who revealed himself to us through Christ is the only God of the whole creation.
Our understanding of outer space is not the only thing that has changed in recent years, however. Our own planet earth has become a smaller place. We travel effortlessly from our homes to many destinations around the world.
We have people born in other countries living in our state. Whereas many of our people came here from northern Europe in the 1800s, now our newest residents are from Central America, Mexico, Southeast Asia and Africa.
Our businesses are affected by what happens elsewhere. Kansas was settled in a time when beef raised here was being shipped back to the East on newly built railroads. Now, we are selling our beef worldwide. The price of wheat and corn is dependent, in part, on what kinds of harvests there are in South America and Russia. Oil and gas are commodities traded globally. This process is called globalization—the economic and cultural integration of all the world’s peoples.
For us as Christians, we need to ask how this is all related. How is it that a universal God and a Christ who died for the sins of the whole world should be related to all the peoples of the world?
I am not sure of all of the answers, but I am deeply grateful that the United Methodist Church is a worldwide church. We have congregations on four continents in more than 50 countries. We are connected by our common doctrine, mission and discipline. The bishops of our church know each other and are actively building trusting relationships among the group. When we give mission money, we know the people who will be putting it to good use in places far away from us.
God has positioned us to be used very effectively to accomplish God’s mission in a globalizing world. Yet, we continually need to ask for God’s guidance about how we can best move forward.
The Kansas West Conference is exploring the possibility of a covenant relationship with the Zimbabwe East Conference. The Kansas East Conference has a long history of supporting mission work in many countries around the world.
I am chairperson of the study committee on the worldwide nature of the United Methodist Church, which is asking how God can best guide us into a future where we are even more fruitful than we have been so far.
In this process, all of us can remember to pray for our United Methodist sisters and brothers around the world. We can contribute money to UMCOR for disaster relief, just as people around the world have sent money to Kansas for disaster relief here.
And we can continually pray the Covenant Prayer of John Wesley.
“I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
In his book on leadership entitled “Good to Great,” Jim Collins tells the story of Admiral Stockdale’s imprisonment in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. Under the most brutal conditions, Stockdale was abused for years. He noted that the optimists claimed the war would end soon. When they were wrong, they lost hope and died in prison.
Stockdale said the key to survival was a paradox: facing the brutal facts of your situation while knowing that you would ultimately prevail. Collins then turns this “Stockdale paradox” into a leadership maxim that applies to all organizations.
I think church leaders need to use it as well. We need to look objectively at the hard facts of our situation and know the answers to basic questions such as these:
Sometimes the answers to these questions will be exciting and encouraging. We all love to look at progress.
At other times, the information will be disturbing. Too often we don’t ask the right questions because we are afraid of how the answers will make us feel.
But the emotional component should be driven by the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the one hand, numbers are important in the New Testament. Jesus counted the disciples, someone counted the number fed, and the disciples noted how many were saved on Pentecost. Numbers matter because people matter to God.
At the same time, scripture tells us that God is good, that God will prevail and that we are on the winning team. God’s goal of saving the world will be accomplished! I want to be part of what God is blessing in the world. What a privilege it is to participate in such a project.
So, I ask the hard questions and let my feelings be determined by the gospel of life, and that encourages me to make sacrifices and take risks.
In August, I went for a health check-up called “Life of Leaders” at Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. This was a follow-up two years after the first one. They had talked very bluntly about my bad health habits in 2007. I thought of this one as a final exam, and so I crammed for it. I found a small accountability group to meet with, an Emmaus reunion group. I started exercising regularly. And I lost 18 pounds. I am really proud of myself. I passed the test!
Since then, I have gained several pounds back, and the news on the scale this morning was not good. But I am determined to lead a healthier lifestyle because I want to be part of what God is blessing in the world for a long time.
How is your church doing?
Over and over in Scripture, we read of the vision God has for his creation.
In Isaiah 2:4, the prophet foretells a day when “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
In Revelation 21:3-4, John sees a time when “the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
As Wesleyan Christians, we believe that God is already working to accomplish God’s purposes. We have a vision of a transformed world—one where the hungry are fed, the thirsty get water, the oppressed receive justice, and the sick are healed.
One of my favorite book titles is Charles Ferguson’s history of Methodism in America, “Organizing to Beat the Devil.” We know that wherever there is poverty, disease, drunkenness, sexual immorality, racism, sexism, illiteracy, atheism or other bad conditions or behaviors, God is at work to make things right. We want to be a part of what God is blessing in the world!
So, it should come as no surprise that one of the four areas of focus endorsed by the global United Methodist Church is “combating the diseases of poverty by improving health globally.” We call it the focus on global health. You can read more about it at www.umc.org/fourareas.
In Kansas, we are blessed by many years of work on this issue in our own state. Led by our Health Ministry Task Force and the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and supported by the Kansas Health Foundation, we are learning how to live in healthy ways. Our Healthy Congregations Initiative and the workshops on healthy lifestyles have changed many lives. Clergy are being encouraged to wear pedometers and to log at least 7,000 steps each day.
At the same time, we know that Americans have a huge opportunity to make a difference in other parts of the world. The cover story on the July/August issue of Interpreter Magazine announced the new phase of our United Methodist work, “Imagine No Malaria.” We are still raising money for Nothing But Nets, and that program continues to be phenomenally successful. But, we are hoping through prevention, treatment and education to cooperate with other groups in putting an end to malaria around the world.
I believe this is the will of God to fight disease around the world. We have an opportunity to participate in that effort. In many parts of the world, the United Methodist Church, through its connectional system, is one of the best delivery systems for health care. The Gates Foundation and United Nations Foundation see that and want to partner with us because of our organization.
We know that we actually bring more to the table than our passion for getting things done. We have a theology of saving the whole person—body, mind and soul—that goes back to John Wesley and the founding of our church.
We are already doing a lot for health—locally, statewide and globally. However, can we do more?
During the last few weeks, I have spent brief periods of time at both sessions of Institute in the Kansas East Conference and the Leadership Development Workshop at Camp Horizon in the Kansas West Conference. It was great to hang out with the youth, to sense their enthusiasm and to see them leading worship, teaching each other and building supportive communities. I really do believe that camp experiences (am I out of bounds thinking of Institute as a special kind of camp?) really do change lives.
However, that is not what struck me. At all three events I saw adults giving of their time to work with the youth. Some of these were laity taking vacation time to make a difference. Some of them were staff people from local churches; it might have been in their job description to take a group to Institute or camp. But some of the leaders were senior pastors of some of our largest churches in each conference. As one of them said to me, “I care about youth, and I want to make sure they are being taught the right stuff here.”
You have heard me say over and over that we need MP3: more people, more diverse people and more young people. We will not reach young people unless our leaders invest their time and energy in discipling youth and young adults.
Years ago, when my son, Arthur, was a member of the Conference Council on Youth Ministry, he asked, “Dad, why is it that some adults just don’t care about us? We youth can tell.”
I am proud of the adults who cared enough to make camp and institute work!
Symbols and rituals shape our lives and identities in powerful ways. The reading of appointments by the bishop at the end of Annual Conference re-minds us all of the nature of United Methodist ministry. We are a connectional church with an itinerant ministry and itinerant episcopacy.
Sometimes people have asked why we take the time to read the name of each local church and the people assigned to serve them. I am always happy to hear the question because it becomes a teaching moment to re-member who we are. After the two Kansas Area Annual Conference sessions, I have once again heard the question because people say that the decisions have already been made, and people who don’t know can get the news in other ways.
Why do we take the time to do it?
The first point is a general one about ritual and identity. Note that I have hyphenated “re-mind” and “re-member.” When we perform rituals, we often reinforce our self-understanding. There are powerful forces offering us different ways of thinking about our lives and our purpose.
When we perform rituals, we once again shape our minds in the highest and best ways possible. When we pray, God not only listens to our requests, but God’s grace re-minds us of who we are and whose we are. An act as simple as saying “thanks” before a meal shapes our lives. Reading appointments—even if there is no new information in them—has a similar function on our ecclesiological identity.
However, there also is what the scholars call a “performative function” in the reading. The appointments are not fixed until the bishop reads them. Just as the recital of vows at a wedding is the culmination of many promises made, people are not really married until the ceremony is performed. It is in the reading of appointments that people are actually sent to serve those churches.
A second point has to do with why United Methodists use an appointive system for matching clergy with congregations and mission fields. A biblical answer is to talk about the apostolic nature of ministry. Christ called disciples to follow him, and the leaders were called apostles.
“Apostle” means one who is sent. The earliest Christians did not wait for the rest of the Roman Empire to come to them and ask how to be saved. They sent Paul, Barnabas and many others out to preach and gather people into congregations.
When Francis Asbury was challenged to show why Methodist bishops were true bishops, he argued that our itinerant general superintendency was more apostolic on the biblical model than the diocesan episcopacy of other churches.
But let us talk about the practical advantages of itinerancy. Some churches, notably the Roman Catholic, regard their bishop as the real pastor of the church. The priest is the bishop’s assistant, who leads the congregation in the bishop’s absence. This allows the priest and bishop to have very long tenures in the diocese and church. But all of the power resides with the bishop. In most Roman Catholic dioceses, the bishop owns all local church property personally.
In other congregations, notably Baptist and non-denominational churches, the congregation is seen to be an independent church. They determine their own doctrine and ordain anyone they choose. Connections with other churches are weak. They hire and fire their own pastors. Many of them have long intervals of interim pastors when there is a change, and many smaller churches have great difficulty in attracting a new pastor. In addition, the congregation often experiences conflict with each other as they try to decide questions like, “Should we fire the preacher?” or “Should we hire this pastor?”
I have been told that at any given time, one-half of Presbyterian churches in America do not have a regular pastor. At any given time, there might be two or three of the 690 United Methodist churches in Kansas that are in that kind of transition.
United Methodist clergy offer themselves for service to Christ through the United Methodist connection. They make sacred promises to go where they are sent and collectively take on responsibility for leading the mission of the church in the geographical area that is their annual conference.
Thus, when I read the appointments and lead in prayer for the churches district by district, it is an opportunity for each clergy person to re-member and pray for those mission outposts. If someone is serving in one part of the conference, he or she should care deeply about the missional effectiveness—in biblical language, “fruitfulness”—of the churches in all other parts of the conference.
When the cabinet and I are deliberating about appointments, the primary question we are asking is, “What appointments will maximize the missional effectiveness of all the churches in Kansas?” For every Christian church, someone has to be asking that question. Our United Methodist way is to give that responsibility and authority to the bishop and the cabinet, in consultation with appropriate clergy and congregations.
I think over the last 225 years in America, we have been remarkably successful in comparison with other Christian bodies. I believe our system of itinerancy is biblical and practical. My job is to help make sure the system functions at the highest possible level.
All of us need to understand our connectional identity and the itinerant nature of United Methodist ministry and re-commit to living that way to the glory of God for the sake of God’s mission.
In 1996, the General Conference set the mission of the United Methodist Church, and the mission was slightly amended in 2008. Our purpose is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” This is our main thing, and the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
One of our unfortunate human tendencies, though, is to repeat general principles without ever asking, “What, specifically, am I going to do about that?”
The phrase “making disciples” is biblical and sounds great. We like repeating it. But until it leads to changes in our behavior, we cannot say we really believe it.
Paragraph 122 of “The Book of Discipline” is specific about the process for carrying out our mission. We are to proclaim the gospel, lead people to commit their lives to Christ, nurture them in Christian living and then send them into the world to transform it.
The Kansas East Conference mission statement says we “invite, nurture, equip and send forth disciples of Jesus Christ.”
The Kansas West Conference mission statement says we “invite through radical hospitality, excite for intentional faith-sharing and unite in risk-taking mission for the transformation of the world.”
The members of the Extended Cabinet and I will be offering some measurable goals to help us bring our behavior in line with our professed beliefs. One of them will concern professions of faith.
Here are some questions every Kansas United Methodist should consider:
Recently, a district superintendent was sharing an early draft of these goals with the clergy of the district. One pastor raised a hand and said, “If professions of faith are going to be important, maybe someone should teach us how to do this.” A number of other heads nodded in agreement.
Note the word “if.” There is not widespread agreement that evangelism is important.
Note the request for training. Unfortunately, many clergy have never led another person to Christ. The same is true of laity. I am grateful for the pastor’s honesty and the pastor’s willingness to learn.
The truth of the matter is that evangelism is not just the pastor’s responsibility. In fact, laity are often better evangelists for at least three reasons. There are more of them, they have stronger relationships with pre-Christian people, and their invitation to the life of Christian discipleship is more credible than a pastor’s.
There was a time when the Methodist and EUB churches were known as evangelistic denominations.
Our willingness to engage in faithful conversations with pre-Christians about their relationship to Christ is in fact a measure of our faithfulness to Christ.
From the very beginning of the Christian movement, important decisions have been made by a group of Christians seeking together to discern the will of God. In Acts 1, the disciples agreed upon the criteria for replacing Judas, and Matthias was chosen. In developing the doctrine of how Gentiles were to be welcomed into the faith, the Council of Jerusalem prayed and discerned together as recorded in Acts 15. The Nicene Creed was developed by two gatherings of bishops in the fourth century, and the further elaborations of our Christology came in similar meetings later.
We United Methodists follow the teaching of John Wesley that Christian conference is a means of grace. It is a way in which God acts to guide his people. Thus, our conferences give significant time to prayer, to worship, to the sacrament of Holy Communion and to conversation with each other.
Many of these conferences take place on a weekly basis in local churches. Committees meet to plan the ministries of the church. Teams of leaders decide how to lead the worship service or organize the youth group or teach the Sunday school class. Conferring together in these ways allows a variety of people to offer their perspective and then for the group to all agree on how best to proceed.
Other local-church meetings are more occasional, such as the administrative council or church conference. Nevertheless, we United Methodists believe that God speaks to the whole people, and we work hard to bring the perspectives of many people to bear on an issue.
Sometimes our meetings are composed of elected leaders who have been given the responsibility of making decisions for the body. There are tens of thousands of United Methodists in the annual conferences in Kansas, and a meeting of all of them would be impractical. So, elected laity representatives and the clergy participate in an annual meeting to ask for God’s guidance on how we can best fulfill our holy mission in this part of the state. Annual Conference is an occasion, then, for sharing our perspectives and making decisions.
Every four years, we meet in even larger gatherings, at jurisdictional conferences and the General Conference, to make those decisions appropriate for the larger areas of the church. Our General Conference determines the doctrine, mission and discipline of the whole church, so we might be faithful and fruitful for the Lord.
In that process, there is sometimes controversy. United Methodists, while united in our core beliefs, also are diverse. We come from different parts of the state, from different ethnic backgrounds and from different theological and political perspectives. As John Wesley said in his sermon, “Catholic Spirit,” it is inevitable that Christians will disagree with each other on non-essential matters of opinion.
Thus, at each of our meetings, controversy is a possibility. It is better to have the disagreements out in the open and fairly resolved than to have them suppressed, causing problems in other ways. Further, it is important that we deal with our disagreements with mutual love and respect.
Wesley defined catholic spirit as catholic love. Even if we disagree, we can love one another. Quoting a text from the King James version of 2 Kings 10:5, he said, “Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? ... If it be, give me thine hand.”
When Christians love each other, disagreements over matters of opinion can be handled in a conference whose focus is to discern God’s will for God’s church.
How does one connect with God? How does one hear the Holy Spirit?
Wesleyan Christians understand that a loving God is always trying to provide saving grace to God’s people and that there are several instituted means of grace—prayer, Bible study and Holy Communion are some. They are best found in weekly corporate worship.
But Wesleyans also have found a prudential means of grace—one that works for us. It comes in singing hymns. I worshiped at Trousdale United Methodist Church to dedicate the new building, built after the May 2007 tornado destroyed their old church. We sang the songs of faith, and I was blessed. I realized once again how my sense of God’s presence and of the deep truths of Scripture is regularly nourished by singing hymns.
Different hymns carry different messages and speak in different ways. But when we concluded the service with “Marching to Zion,” I was inspired to continue the Christian journey with my sisters and brothers because we know where we are going and who is going with us.
“Come we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known.” It is all about the Christian journey, about inviting non-believers to come along with us and the confidence we have that we are “marching through Emmanuel’s ground to fairer worlds on high.”
I am deeply disappointed that the pastor, key staff people and many members of GracePoint United Methodist Church chose to leave our church to form a non-denominational congregation this month. There was no consultation between them and the Kansas West Conference prior to their departure.
What would I have said to them if I had been given the opportunity? There are many reasons to be a United Methodist. Among them are the following:
Mission
The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world (Matthew 28:16-20, Matthew 25:31-46). As Missouri Area Bishop Robert Schnase has put it, we are committed to radical hospitality (evangelism), intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, passionate worship and extravagant generosity.
Doctrine
We believe that the one God has acted through his son Jesus Christ to save the world. We are saved by grace through faith for good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are committed to living out the reign of God and pursuing God’s justice. I have characterized this doctrinal focus on the whole way of salvation as the extreme center, and I believe it is the best summary of the New Testament’s teaching.
Connection
We believe that the church should be one (Ephesians 4:4-6). Some Christians talk about unity in abstract ways. We are connected into districts, conferences, jurisdictions and a worldwide church. Our connection strengthens our mission. If United Methodists in America feel called to distribute anti-malarial mosquito nets in Africa, we have a reliable delivery system. If we want to send evangelists to Vietnam or start a seminary in Moscow, we are there for the long haul to serve God’s purposes.
Accountability
Every clergy needs accountability. In some denominations, pastors get it by being accountable to a strong group of deacons who can fire the preacher. Others are accountable to their bishop. United Methodist clergy are accountable to staff-parish committees, their district superintendent, their bishop and to each other. Accountability is good.
Integrity
United Methodists are honest about how money is spent. We audit our books. We obey the law. When a pastor misbehaves, appropriate consequences are applied.
Inclusiveness
We are committed to the ordination of women and to the struggle against racism. We are a multi-ethnic church. We have a broad spectrum of theological opinions and emphases within our doctrinal boundaries. We are global, with congregations serving God on four continents.
Impact
By working within a worldwide connectional church focused on the mission of making disciples, talented Christians can have a global impact. Leaving the denomination for an independent congregation will inevitably mean only a local impact.
As bishop, I am well aware that the above description applies to the United Methodist Church at its best and that sometimes we fall way short of my description. I am giving my life to leading the church to maximize its missional effectiveness in all of the areas I have described. That is a high and worthy calling.
One of the pastors of the Kansas West Conference, knowing what the cabinet and I are dealing with this week, sent the following to me on Facebook. I was moved. Her final comment was “I cannot tell you how often I have turned to this.....”
The whole quote translated by Carmen Acevedo Butcher goes like this:
“When I first saw that God does everything that's done, I didn't see sin, and I saw all is well. When God did show me sin, He said then, 'All will be well.' God also said to me, 'You won't be overcome,' and these words were said adamantly, and I was convinced. They gave me certainty and strength against every tribulation that might come.
"God didn't say, 'you won't be attacked' or 'You won't be overwhelmed' or 'You won't be upset' or 'You won't be stressed out.' No, instead He said, 'You won't be overcome.' God wants us to pay attention to His words, and always be strong in our certainty--when things are going well and when things are going terribly--God wants us to love Him and delight in Him and trust in Him with all our heart, and all will be well."
Julian of Norwich, Revelations
In my Wednesday reunion group addressing the question of how my piety is going, I reported that the music in worship had especially touched me. One of my reunion brothers commented, “You really are a Methodist.”
He is right. I think different groups of Christians worship and experience God’s grace in different ways. I know Roman Catholics for whom Holy Communion is always a powerful experience. Anglicans frequently find it in liturgical prayers. For others it is physical expressions of body movement and shouting. For me, it is music. Every morning I pray one of Charles Wesley’s hymns as an act of praise. To hear United Methodist people singing moves me deeply.
When I was in college, one of my friends had on her dorm-room wall a quote attributed to St. Augustine: “He who sings prays twice.” That is why paying attention to the quality of our music—and here I mean mainly the words and their teaching—is an important indicator of the quality of our worship and the depth of our faith.
I frequently remember my visit to the SMU Wesley Foundation six years ago, where the 40 student leaders sang “Come Let Us Use the Grace Divine” from memory. The experience warmed my heart, and I am sure helped each one there draw closer to Christ.
On a recent trip to Denver to visit my mother, I was struck by the banner headline on the front page of the newspaper: “New Trend: Frugality.” I thought, “When did frugality go out of style?”
Then I realized that being a Christian often means doing things that seem nonsensical to the rest of the world. To be baptized into Christ means that one leaves behind the sins of the world and commits to a life of growing into the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 makes it clear: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
Following Jesus means using our monetary resources carefully—frugally—and prioritizing the needs of the poor, the hungry, the naked and the oppressed over our own luxuries.
Yet, we now are in an economic crisis created by a lack of saving, a lack of generosity and a lack of good judgment in economic decisions. The idea that people should save 10 percent, give 10 percent and live on 80 percent is a radically different notion. The world may rediscover the Christian virtues so ably captured in Wesley’s sermon, “The Use of Money”: make all you can (honestly), save all you can (frugally) and give all you can. Missouri Area Bishop Robert Schnase has captured this with one of his five practices: extravagant generosity. The Good $ense program taught in many of our churches gets the same basic message across.
There are other counter-cultural practices we Christians are committed to embodying. When we embrace people of different races, we live against the world’s racism. When we advocate for peace, we live against the world’s penchant for conflict and war. When we forgive our enemies, we live against the world’s pattern of revenge. When we value every human being and support human rights, we live against the world’s pattern of judging people by gender, skin color, abilities, age or other differentiating characteristic.
But how do we live in a Christ-centered way? The way of discipleship, as understood by United Methodists in our doctrine, is grace-filled. We are justified by grace (forgiven and accepted) and then sanctified by grace (made more and more Christ-like). This way of grace is found by living in community and using the means of grace that only the church provides.
That is why is it is so important that we offer this lifestyle to those who are hurting because a life in grace is the way of salvation. Evangelism then becomes an invitation to find a fulfilling way of life connected to God by baptism, Holy Communion, Sunday school, weekly worship, prayer, Bible study and service to the poor. Most people are not actively involved in a community where these values are upheld. That leaves them vulnerable to seeking happiness through alcohol, drugs, compulsive shopping, materialism and other dead-end lifestyles.
Every Sunday I am in worship somewhere to re-commit to this way of life. I am reminded by the liturgy, by the sacraments, by the preaching, by the hymns, by the music and by the fellowship that a life in Christ is true life indeed.
I attended the Good $ense seminar for clergy in Overland Park Feb. 13 and was blessed by it. Lee Sankey from the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation was our teacher. The foundation sponsored the seminar along with the conference Board of Discipleship. I learned some new things, but mostly I had the time set aside to look at our family finances in the light of the gospel and our discipleship.
The course consistently talked about the ways in which we Christians are caught between the pull of the culture and the mind and heart of God. But it was more than abstract biblical exegesis or theology. (There was some of that, though!) It added the very personal dimension of inviting me to analyze my expenditures in the light of what I wanted to accomplish. I thought Mary Lou and I are doing okay, and we are. But we could sure be doing better, and I came away with an action plan for how to improve—something for conversation with my wife.
The event was graciously hosted by Valley View UMC. One of the people at my table was Jan King, a lay member of that congregation. He told me he had led a number of sessions of Good $ense for his church. The first few times he and a friend simply got the leader’s guide and started teaching the course, using the videos and lecture notes that come with it. Later, he attended the Good $ense training put on by the foundation.
In this difficult economic environment, what is your church doing to help people cope?
Everyone in the United States is aware that we are in a financial crisis. Unemployment is going up, salaries are being frozen, businesses are going bankrupt, churches are under financial pressure, homes are being foreclosed, and endowments and pension funds have dropped significantly. How should Christians respond?
The first answer I have been giving is to combat fear. 1 John 4:18-19 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us.” The other antidote for fear is to remember our history. I know people who lived through the Great Depression, and they remind me that we got through that difficulty, and we will get through this one. God’s leadership of people from slavery to the Promised Land was neither quick nor easy, but they made the journey.
The second answer is for Christians to seize this time as a teaching opportunity. I am grateful to Rev. Adam Hamilton for writing “Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity.” At the request of Abingdon Press, I wrote the following words, which they can use in their publicity of the book: “Underlying our contemporary economic crisis is a deeper, spiritual crisis in our lives and in our society. Adam Hamilton brings his rare combination of biblically based insight and powerful story-telling to bear on these important issues. This timely perspective will help many of us re-focus our lives on what we value most.”
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. In times of economic crisis, part of the Christian message is gain all you can, save all you can (by spending as little as you can) and give all you can. John Wesley’s sermon “The Use of Money” is as timely a word today as it was in the 18th century.
Four different events have conspired to show the way forward on caring for our environment in ways that make a difference.
First, the City of Wichita has expanded its recycling program. At my home, we received a large bin into which we can put cardboard, junk mail, office paper, glass, cans and plastic bottles. Mary Lou and I think we may have more in the recycle bin than we have in the trash bin.
Second, the City of Greensburg Kansas was honored Jan. 30 by the Kansas Native Sons and Daughters with a citation for distinguished service. While accepting the award, Mayor Bob Dixson announced that they now have LEED certified street lights. The whole city has sought to rebuild “green” after the 2007 tornado.
Third, a few weeks ago, I ate at a potluck dinner in a United Methodist church where we used normal plates—not disposable ones. That meant someone had to wash them, and I am grateful that the church took seriously its call to care for God’s earth.
Fourth, when the time came to replace my car, the conference bought a hybrid that increased my gas mileage from 27 miles per gallon to 33.
There is no doubt that we must change our ways to address global warming and other environmental issues.
Based on the creation doctrines and Genesis 1-3, we Christians should be leading the way.
Monday, Jan. 26, the cabinet and I begin the 2009 appointment-making process. Please pray for us during this time.
When I was a pastor under appointment, I came to believe that God works through the bishop and cabinet to accomplish God’s purposes. In my own experience, I had two appointments that I would have never chosen on my own but turned out to be special places where God was at work.
Now that I am bishop, I still believe that God works through this process. To have the final say in determining the appointments is humbling—it is sometimes scary. That is why the district superintendents and I consult widely with pastors and churches, why we pray a lot, and why we are careful about hearing many voices in the process.
Yet, I believe our episcopal appointive process is the best one. The advantages over congregational, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic systems are numerous. When I had three different Southern Baptist laypersons (each one a leader in his church) tell me they wished they had a bishop to assign their preachers, I knew that we had a better process.
Nevertheless, I sometimes get it wrong and make a bad appointment. At the other end, sometimes I am surprised, and an appointment turns out far better than I had hoped. What I want the people of the Kansas Area to know is that in every case, the cabinet and I are focused on the main thing: “What appointments will maximize the missional effectiveness of every United Methodist congregation in Kansas?”
The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States was a moving and historic event. All Americans, regardless of party affiliation or political philosophy, can rejoice in the election of an African-American as our president.
Our national history of slavery, civil war, segregation and racism has been a heavy burden for 300 years. Obama’s election does not heal all, but it does represent a step forward and a major milestone in our journey. I suspect I will always remember where I was today in the same way I remember 9/11 and President John Kennedy’s assassination.
We Christians are committed to the vision of Galatians 3:28, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Racism is a sin that all too often infects our society and our church.
People may (and will) argue about the new president’s policies—that is the democratic process. He should be (and will) be judged by the content of his character and the wisdom of his policies. That was Dr. King’s dream, that such judgments be rendered not on the basis of skin color but on substantive grounds.
Obama's inauguration is a celebration, and national unity for an important step forward for us and for the world.