EASTER IN AN EGGSHELL

 The purpose of Easter started with Jesus’ miraculous birth and continued as he lived a completely human life –He experienced joy, grief, pain, hunger, pleasure, and just the ordinary life of a carpenter. 

He walked the dusty roads from town to town loving on people, healing people, and modeling a new way of life that would extend into eternity.  Telling people they didn’t have to die! They could spend eternity in a new dimension, with God, and each other.

This went against the powerful denomination of His day – the Jewish priests who had become demanding enforcers of judgemental, unforgiving laws. 

He replaced their harsh legalistic teachings with God’s true law of love, grace and the humble message of putting others before yourself and serving others as the purpose of life on earth and into the hereafter.

When people responded to His message of the hope of overcoming death, and living in love, and when the authorities saw their power fading, they  viciously turned on him, even though his message was completely peaceful  – and they had him killed in a public, painful and humiliating way.  

But this was not the end, the tomb was found empty.  The body wrappings neatly folded - not work of grave robbers.  And then… he reappeared AND...

continued to walk the earth for 40 days, appearing to more than 500 people to prove beyond any doubt that there is life after earthly death.  This is the Good News Jesus brought to anyone who would hear.

 

So, his birth, our birth does not end.  This is the hope we are celebrating every Easter, the gift of eternal life.     Amen.

Milestones in Ministry

It's been two years since my last post but that doesn't mean that nothing significant has transpired during that time. Indeed, God's hand has worked unceasingly in my life and the lives of the congregations I serve to bring us closer to His intended design. As I begin my sixth year serving my charge, a record tenure for any previous pastor dating all the way back to 1875, I pause to reflect on what this means and where God is leading me and the churches I serve.

In a previous post I talked about meeting with my DS to quit the ministry because the time requirements of my weekday job combined with the responsibilities of serving two churches left me little opportunity for family  time or self-care. In truth, both were pretty much nonexistent. I haven’t had a vacation or even a medical check-up in 13 years. Annual family reunions weren’t attended on the weekends when I was required to be at Course of Study. The clashes vying for my personal time seemed to be endless…

But then God answered my prayer to bring an end to the myriad of conflict of responsibilities in my life when I was laid off on May 23, 2015 from the defense plant I had worked the previous 12 years. I spent the next 6 months helping to rebuild a 70 year-old Baptist church sanctuary that was re-purposed as classroom space for the summer camp my congregations help to staff and support.

After all the stress that I had endured just trying to cover all the bases in the years preceding, this “time-out” was just the therapy I needed. I’m now gainfully employed in a much less stressful environment and no longer face a 100 mile round trip commute every day to hold down a job. Thank you, Lord! This significant change in my life has shifted my viewpoint of ministry from just another responsibility I have to fulfill, to seeing it as a precious gift from God.  I really, really needed that!

With this change in perspective has come renewed vigor in ministry to the congregations I serve. And, the churches have responded in-kind as we are much closer now and act more as a family. As we read between the lines of Paul’s epistles to the churches he served, we hear the words of endearment in his paternalistic writing style. I have long believed that this is the relationship God intended for a spiritual shepherd to have while tending his flock.

Jesus provided the most excellent example of this in the 3½ years he ministered with his disciples. Wesley invested himself greatly in the societies and classes he formed. In essence, we are called to be a family of faith. I knew that all along but didn’t have adequate time to spend with my biological family to maintain healthy relations, much less my church families.    

I never dreamed that there would ever be an end to the conflicting chaos of my life, but God had a plan. I am now living out my passion, which for so many years was just an unfulfilled dream, in service to Him. Thank you, Lord! 

Can We Ever Do Too Much For God?

Can we really ever do too much? During the last three-and-a-half years that I have been pursuing pulpit ministry while still employed in my primary vocation I have struggled with time-management issues as a part-time local pastor. This situation is further aggravated by my long commutes - almost 1000 miles a week during spring and fall semesters. I managed to maintain both vocations until my primary job required me to begin working an extra day a week. This could not have happened at a worse time as I was in the middle of the fall semester, was preparing for charge conference, and was committed to work on a Men's Walk to Emmaus.

Ironically, I was enrolled in the Pastoral Care and Spiritual Formation class that semester which had a component for self-care of the pastor. The more I delved into the assigned reading the more I became convinced that I was completely upside-down in my time available for self-care and something in my life had to give. I left work and my churches behind on the weekend of the Walk with the specific intent of discerning God's will for my situation in those three days. This proved to be a flawed plan…

As with every other aspect of my life, that weekend really wasn't about me - it was about putting my best foot forward in service to others as a disciple of Christ. But during breaks I was a solitary figure on the prayer trail outside the conference room seeking the Lord's guidance for my issue. I was also trying to maintain the schedule of assigned reading for my class. The conventional wisdom I found in what I read proved to negate any effort to discern God's will for my life and only served to heighten the anxiety about my situation. I left the retreat center that weekend committed to leave pulpit ministry in order afford some time to myself since I couldn't afford to quit my secular job.

I met with my district superintendent two weeks later and asked to be discontinued as a pastor. She expressed remorse over my request and shared her call story. Then she asked to hear mine and afterward suggested that I reconsider my request and engage in prayer and fasting to truly discern God's will for my life. I took her advice and now, six weeks later, find myself still burning the candle at both ends while trying to cover all the bases with lots of miles in between. But I have a sense peace amid the chaos of what my life might look like to others (and oftentimes to myself!) and have found joy in the knowledge that God has something better in store for me if I can just wait for His timing.

Can we really ever do too much? No; we can never out-give God with our time or our gifts. However, if that which consumes us is borne of a worldly, human agenda we are most certainly destined for burnout. All the conventional wisdom expounded in my required reading this semester applies to this scenario. But if we ascribe to the Divine agenda, apart from this world, we have no need to be concerned or wrought about any aspect of our life - God's got this (Matthew 6:24-34). Indeed, is there anything He doesn't have absolute power over?

Can We Ever Do Enough

A colleague posted a thought-provoking article on our clergy Facebook page today which begs the question "Is the church doing enough to promote equal-rights?" The article posted chronicles the self-induced death of Rev. Charles Moore last month in a final effort to draw attention to the church's failure to effectively address basic social-justice issues such as equality.

Rather than speculate on the particulars found in the article I'll simply forward the link so that the reader might have the opportunity to draw their own conclusions:http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20140711-in-dying-act-minister-hoped-to-inspire-social-justice.ece

Suffice to say that Rev. Moore spent the majority of his life championing the rights of others who found themselves marginalized by their own culture. Obviously, this is highly commendable as it is also the work our Savior has called each of His followers to. So, how good of a job are we doing in this regard as an institutional church? Rev. Moore felt that we are not doing enough and his final act in this life was to draw attention to it.

Like Rev. Moore, I too have experienced nagging pangs of conscience over the separation of God's people based on race. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Eleven o'clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America" have haunted me as I have led worship for my all-white congregations over the years. But there are new winds of change blowing in our community…

In a previous post last year (July 23, 2013) entitled "A Spiritual Pilgrimage" I described what happened as I led my two congregations to share funds and human resources to operate a summer day camp for at-risk children. The site of the camp is the campus of a declining African-American Baptist church with diminishing resources in our community. In contrast, my two congregations are relatively affluent and modestly growing but have no meaningful outreach ministry. I saw this opportunity as the perfect marriage for a common good but knew that we would first have to bridge long-standing racial barriers that continue to exist in 21st-century East Texas. I shouldn't have been concerned as our Lord Himself would provide the means…

At our Good Friday service the pastor of the Baptist church unexpectantly appeared after the service began. I had invited the members of his church to attend but since he is bi-vocational and does not live in the community we did not expect him at the service. Right or wrong, I saw his appearance as a sign and asked him to serve communion with our lay steward. To my knowledge, this was the first time that a person of color had administered sacraments in that church.

Two weeks later, we hosted our community's National Day of Prayer event at the same church. The guest speaker delivering the message was the pastor of a Missionary Baptist church in the nearby countryside. Again, to my knowledge this was the first time a person of color had ever preached from the pulpit of that church. In both cases, no fallout resulted from these precedents but instead barriers evaporated and bridges were formed. There is much, much more I could elaborate on the growing unity we are experiencing in our community as result of the events I have shared, but that's not really what this post is about.

I am not about to speculate that attempts to replicate what occurred in our community would meet with the same success in another. Nor did I mention the hard-hitting sermon series I used to "soften up the beachhead" before initiating the actions listed above. But in response to the question, "Are we doing enough?" my answer will always be "No, we can never do enough." So, we must always strive to do all the good we can, when we can, to all those we can. You can't get much more Wesleyan than that.

I'm sorry that Rev. Moore could not find solace through Wesley's famous axiom for his own life. It is obvious that he spent his life seeking to provide a level playing-field for all God's children. We should not beat ourselves up because we can never do enough but instead seek the presence of the only One who can. In Him alone we will find solace for our souls and equality for all. Amen. 

Mission? Transition!

I've probably washed enough dishes to fill the Grand Canyon, served enough breakfast tacos to feed every inhabitant of the State of Rhode Island, and Merry Maids has nothing on me for numbers of toilets cleaned.  "Why would anybody do such a thing?", you ask. 

Over the last 17 years I've met religious leaders, literally, from the four corners of the world.  I've made dear friends by the boatload. Many come to Cross Roads yearly. We swap stories and share Christ and our lives.  Several women have come "with child" only to return with their child in tow. I am blessed to watch them grow.  A youth pastor who lost a toddler, a budding trio of pre-teen guitarists, a parent volunteer going through a divorce, some sr. high "clowns" in training, a young woman with cancer, a potential author needing encouragement, a depressed empty nester, a teenage 'cutter', God sends them all all, adults, children and youth.   I am blessed to share their joy, sadness, hope, faith and love as they pause briefly at the Cross Roads.  I watch kids pass through these gates and journey from goofy junior high schoolers to confident adults leaving for jobs, college, marriage, or the armed forces. It makes me cry to say good-bye.

But, life is change. Transition or die - or at least get left behind. 

I am not as young as I used to be and putting in those long physically demanding hours have worn me down a bit.  It's time to pass the torch to a new, younger, and more energetic generation, so they can experience the absolute JOY that is Cross Roads.  Cross Roads has been my life and for now I will continue as director trusting God to show me who is to follow me and how. But, change is in the air.

I am in a major transition right now between the first ministry God called me to at Cross Roads Retreat and the second, the book He called me to write, Stand at the Cross Roads.  You would think that after watching God vanquish every obstacle that stood in the way of His building the camp and then experiencing His abundant blessings through it, that I would be an old pro at being ready for whatever lies before me in a new ministry.  Not!  While I am apprehensively excited about what God has in store for me, I find myself consumed once again with self-doubt, insecurity, fear of rejection and even sadness at letting go at Cross Roads.  

When I wrote Stand at the Cross Roads I was turned down by a prominent Christian publisher who said the book promoted divorce. That rejection re-ignited my worst fears. I was on the firing line for years, enduring criticism, backbiting, gossipy naysayers, modern Pharisees, and most debilitating of all, rejection by many family and friends who thought I was either a women's libber gone mad, a trouble maker, man-hater, or just plain crazy. So, I’m not too excited about stirring all that up again.

My path led me to the Cross Roads, and for 17 years I have been faithful to, and been healed through this ministry, but I also know you don't say 'no' to God.  Plus, if you're not making waves, you're probably not riding in God's wake! 

When recently asked why I wrote Stand at the Cross Roads, I said, “It’s simple.  There seems to be a common belief that God no longer does anything spectacular in ordinary lives.  My story shatters that misconception and proves that God is still a faithful, prayer answering God.” That is the message God wants me to help Him get out there.  No other.

So, here we go – me and God – round two!

A Spiritual Pilgrimage

"God does not call the equipped; He equips the called" - Anonymous

I never maintained any desires or ambitions of becoming a pastor - it just sort of happened. And, I certainly never harbored any belief that I had the capabilities to actually be effective in that role, either. However, I do believe in God, and that through Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Thus, seemingly, He has accomplished what I believed to be the impossible in me. More than anything else that I have learned through ministry is there are no exceptions to this verse found in Matthew's Gospel. Had I never embarked upon this particular pilgrimage I most probably would still be living in denial of what God can accomplish through others - especially as it pertains to me.

I've also discovered that I am not alone in this manner of thinking - it's actually quite commonplace in the church.  A couple of years ago I met the pastor of a declining African-American congregation in my parish. As we began conversing about outreach opportunities in the community he told me of a summer camp his church had hosted two years ago for the at-risk children in the area. These were the children on the school lunch program during the school year and many were now missing those meals now that it was summertime. The pastor wanted to host the summer camp again. His church, which not only supplied children with two meals a day, but it also sent additional food home with them. Unfortunately, the church lacked the financial and human resources to make this vision a reality on their own.  

He also confessed that as result of their limited resources his church had partnered with a non-profit agency to staff and fund the camp held previously. Unfortunately, the site coordinator for that agency absconded with the funding midway through the summer and left the church liable for payroll and other expenses. Still stinging from this experience, the church had not pursued hosting another summer camp even though the overwhelming need was evident. I responded by pledging my support if the church could be persuaded to host a summer camp for the coming year and we agreed to see if we could elicit support from our perspective churches to this end.

After fledgling support was garnered at my two churches my brother-in-Christ died of a massive stroke and left his church without a pastor. Suddenly it was just the "crazy-talkin' preacher from the Methodist church" trying to lead the project forward and I encountered the same lack of confidence in this small congregation as I had always harbored about myself. Finding myself in familiar territory, I led the congregation in prayer and organizational meetings and let the Holy Spirit due the rest. Miraculously, funding and volunteer support materialized from the other churches in the community. God's hand was clearly already at work before we even began.

I took a week of vacation from work to get the program off the ground. Launching the program was not without pitfalls and hardships but it was awesome to witness the young lives being touched everyday and give the other congregations an opportunity "plug-in" for hands-on mission and outreach in their own community. It had been this side benefit of the program that had been a real motivator for me to partner with the little Baptist church - I wanted to give my congregations a chance to respond to an apparent need and get their hands dirty doing the work of Christ in their own backyard.

Through the pursuit of this ministry the little church has discovered that God has given them all the resources needed to carry on His work, even without a pastor. They have already announced that they will host a summer camp next year.  My two congregations have discovered that they, too, have been entrusted with confidence that only comes through Christ while serving their community in ministry and outreach - they CAN do it.  As for me, well, I just stand in awe once again of what He can accomplish through seemingly unwitting individuals, who with one step of faith, become shaped by His transforming powers in their lives. People like me. 

Evolutions of a Blog

It’s been a year since my last post and in all truth I haven’t had the time or inclination to make a contribution to a blog which seems to have lost its identity and purpose.

This blog saw its greatest popularity during the year of its inception as the CLMs of West District Class of ’10 became engaged in trying to revitalize the Lott Church. It was a noble project but ultimately failed and this event cast a pall over the participating members of the class, as well as others.

Ultimately, our class graduated and we embarked into ministry. Two went on to become licensed local pastors and one left the United Methodist Church to develop a new church start in Caldwell. All these events contributed to a change of identity (and name) for the blog from “West District Class ‘10” to “Ramblings (and some rumblings) From Around The West District.”

Much of what has been posted here represents my own journey in small, rural church ministry in a declining mainline denomination. I tried to glean the full meaning from the events and the articles posted here and how they might speak to the effectiveness of my ministry. Ultimately, I’ve come to understand that my primary directive is still the same – go and make disciples - we now just have to accomplish this with fewer denominational resources, and that’s okay.

While we like to tout our “connectionalism” as a denomination we still have an individual responsibility to fulfill that directive – especially as resources diminish, leaving less and less to “connect to.” So, we can’t afford to sit around and wait for the cavalry to arrive and assist us in the building of the Kingdom here on earth, it’s up to us. The success of my former classmate’s new church start is a good indicator that God certainly doesn’t need denominations to make disciples, anyway.

May we each seek our Lord’s will through discernment and then pursue that which He wills with our lives through the ministry He has entrusted us with in this season.

- Shalom -

Lessons in Mission – Part Two

In the previous post I ended by asking the question, “How did we miss the mark?” A simplistic answer would be, “Well, we do what we United Methodists know best – build something!” Herein lies the conundrum; we are more adept at going into the world and perpetuating the false materialistic values of our Western culture utilizing our well-honed construction techniques than engaging authentic ministry that affects the quality of life issues of those mired in generational poverty. So what do we do about it? We keep on doing what we know to do best – build.

Clearly, this is no longer a valid solution to the needs of the world (if it ever was) to be undertaken by the church. Don’t get me wrong – I love to build things. But I am coming to see the real danger associated by well-meaning and well executed undertakings of the church that fail because nobody adequately discerned if this was God’s will for we should be doing in His name.

Likewise, I question whether there was adequate discernment when the decision was made a few years ago to use walk-on football as a vehicle to boost enrollment at Lon Morris College. The resultant explosion of the student population generated a scramble for acquisition of near-campus housing, precipitating an even greater debt service for the already strapped institution. It was the impending foreclosure of this same housing which triggered the decision to file for bankruptcy earlier this week. Clearly, more (buildings and associated debt service) is not better, but that’s what we continue to pursue in the name of doing mission and ministry.

One definition for insanity is the continuation of doing the same thing over and over again, each time expecting a change in results. One thing that is not changing; we’re still closing churches. So my question is, when will the madness end? When will we turn from the ways of this world, seeking to apply secular solutions to spiritual and social justice issues? When will we begin seeking God’s before we go out in mission and ministry instead of simply walking in the natural and materialistic ways of man? 

Just as Jesus set the world on its ear with his counter-cultural teachings and ministry so too the church is called to stand apart from the ways of the world and follow in his footsteps. By acquiescing to the value system our dominant culture and its materialism there is little remaining to distinguish the church from that culture. There are a growing number those who are looking for an alternative to the disappointments they’ve discovered in the empty value system of our Western culture and are now seeking a spiritual experience. In the meantime, we’re still closing churches…

There is an incredible irony found in the Gospels: Jesus was a carpenter who built things with his hands. But in searching through the New Testament I have yet to find where he actually built anything here on earth except for the beginnings of the church. This was a church without buildings made entirely of people. And in everything he did he first discerned the will of the Father. This is the model he left for the church. To deviate from it is not just unchristian, but madness.

            

Lessons in Mission – Part One

While enroute from a mission trip in the Navajo Nation of Arizona this morning a colleague forwarded to me the news of Lon Morris College filing for bankruptcy. We both have a pseudo-interest in the future of this school since we have until this point dutifully attended our CoS classes there and apparently were in the last LLP class to graduate from the campus. This year’s LLP class (2012) was conducted in a single week at Lakeview and our CoS fall semester has been moved to 1st UMC, Jacksonville. These developments coupled with my experiences while on mission gave me valuable insight as to some of the causes of our decline in the UMC. The events precipitating the decline of Lon Morris are chronicled in the previous post so I won’t rehash that here but merely refer to it for comparison. 


 Our mission trip was well organized and executed, as one would expect from a people called Methodists. We enjoyed a wonderful teambuilding experience as we worked, fellowshipped, and broke bread together during the week. For all but one of our party, we were each returning to solidify kindred relationships formed on previous trips to the reservation. And, overall it was a good experience for both the missionaries and the Native American brethren we interfaced with. So, what’s the problem? 


 My son asked our client one day if he could work on one of the many derelict vehicles in his yard and maybe get it running for him, thinking that by doing so that might help his impoverished situation. He did, and in short order got it running and the client’s grown children took it for a drive. During the course of their excursion it stalled multiple times after the engine had warmed up and lost what little compression that it had. You see, the engine was in dire need of an overhaul. And while, yes, the vehicle ran and could technically be driven, its lack of reliability made it practically worthless if it lacked consistent power to reach its destination.


We really hadn’t  done the client any favors as the repairs required were far in excess of his financial resources. We had merely exposed another reality of the generational poverty in which he lives and gained some personal awareness in the process. It is from that new-found awareness that I write these words. We were there on the reservation to build an addition that would include the first two rooms equipped with indoor plumbing in our client’s home, in addition to plumbing the sink in the kitchen. This would enable them to wash and dry clothes without necessitating a trip to the Laundromat, bath and wash dishes inside and probably most important of all, eliminate that early morning hike to the outhouse. The work was completed ahead of schedule and with beautiful results. We celebrated our success and never ceased to praise the Lord in our endeavors. Speeches we made, thanks given, pictures taken, and hugs were given all around. And then we left. 


 By all measures this appears to have been a highly successful mission trip. There is just one glitch: our client does not have the financial reserves to have water connected to his home nor does he have electricity to operate a washer and 220 volt dryer. Yes, we added greatly to the square footage of his home, but is it useable space? Did we bless him in our endeavors or did we merely obligate him to meet yet another financial hurdle with the meager resources available to him? One thing that is glaringly obvious; by giving him more material resources that require paring his already limited family budget to utilize without addressing the systemic condition of generational poverty that he lives in was like getting that derelict vehicle running – we really didn’t do him any favors. 


 No matter how good we might have felt by our accomplishment we merely perpetuated our false secular consumerist values in a situation which required social justice action undertaken by the church. The paradox is that we were going forth in mission as the church. So, how did we miss the mark?

The Fate of Lon Morris

This posting is in response to the report on Lon Morris’ financial collapse found at: http://www.unitedmethodistreporter.com/2012/05/2737/
In the week prior to this report the Bishop’s office sent out an email requesting that pastors serving in the conference solicit donations from their churches to fund three weeks of payroll for yet unpaid employees of the school. Summer classes have been canceled and it remains to be seen if Lon Morris will reopen in the fall or COS will continue to be hosted there.

Throughout my life I’ve made a number of friends who attended Lon Morris College on a pastor’s scholarship and went on to Perkins to fulfill their educational requirements and ultimately become pastors themselves. Our home church in Houston garnered considerable renown in the 1950s as a “preacher mill” because we sent a dozen or so fresh high school graduates to Lon Morris each year. But while this may come as a shock to some in the church, it’s not the 1950s anymore.

 Lon Morris’ financial difficulties span many decades. The most notable school president, Cecil Peeples, was renown for finding money for bricks and mortar during an era when that seemed to be the main mission of the church. Not only was he successful in this regard but he possessed tenacity in length of service as well. Peeples was president at Lon Morris from 1935 until 1973 and continued in a supporting role for another 20 years. Unfortunately, none of Peeple’s successors have approached his length of tenure or level of success in mining the revenue streams constantly required to keep the school afloat.

 While enrollment more than doubled in recent years with the inclusion of a walk-on football program, the school lacked housing for the resulting population explosion that took place. As surrounding homes were purchased as a stop-gap measure while new student housing was being constructed the infrastructure of existing systems continued to fail as funds were diverted from the already shoe-string budget.

 The failure of Lon Morris mirrors similar situations facing many of our older, declining congregations still locked in the brick and mortar mentality of the 1950s. Rather than seeking man-made, institutional solutions for our church, including its educational facilities, we should be turning to God for discernment. Instead of launching a new program aimed at increasing our numbers and expecting God to bless it, shouldn’t we first seek His will for guidance and direction of His church? As the institutional church continues to crumble around us wouldn’t this be a good time to admit that we don’t have all the answers and willingly hand the matter over to the One who has?

Until we can do this the rest of the world will continue to see us as irrelevant, and rightly so.

Reflections From the First Year in Service

I celebrated my first year anniversary as a pastor on Sunday, April 1st. I look upon the fact that this occurred on April Fools Day with no small irony because during that year it seems like I made just about every gaffe and blunder possible while filling in a pulpit.

Additionally, the strain of maintaining a full-time job at the far end of another county from home and trying to pastor two churches in yet two other counties has left me feeling totally spent and absolutely broken on more than one occasion, but evidently not broken enough. Allow me to explain.

Having weathered two church closures as a lay person, I maintain a strong and protective vigilance of my charges to ensure their spiritual nurture and continued growth. Although these are part-time appointments I regard them as my primary full-time occupation because of the critical importance of their continuation and success.

I also rationalized that if for some reason my employer, a military contractor, closed their business it would have only a negligible impact in the spiritual lives of those involved compared to the closure of a church. So, it was obvious to me which one of my two jobs I owed my primary allegiance. In essence, I had placed the one I’m employed half-time over the one that I am paid fulltime.

Obviously, I had my priorities reversed, but for the best of reasons, I thought. The inevitable occurred and I found myself burned-out and at the end of my rope just before my annual licensing review with our District Committee of Ordained Ministry. Acknowledging the situation, I decided to present these facts to this body and let them decide whether my service should be continued under these circumstances.

Then a funny thing happened, I began to laugh. Realizing the folly of it all, that I had placed myself in a “no-win” situation and lacked the time and resources to maintain the impossible schedule that I had constructed suddenly became ironically humorous to me. With this insight, I began to see that the churches I was pouring all my time into, valiantly trying to nurture, grow, and protect, weren’t really mine to play mother hen to. They belong to God.

Not the first time, I suddenly realized that I was guilty of getting in God’s way. Once again, I found myself trying to fill shoes way too big for me and do something that wasn’t part of my calling in the first place. He also showed me something else – the ministry opportunities at my workplace. The myriad and scope of these opportunities far outweigh those of my churches even when combined. Perhaps I was wrong in my assessment of its spiritual impact…

God continues to show me new things since I finally relinquished my will and offered myself to to His service. But they are far different from any lessons I would have anticipated encountering while serving in ministry. Instead of being about growing the church, the lessons that I most frequently seem to encounter are about growing me. We serve an awesome God who never gives up trying to teach us His ways or stops loving us. Keep those lessons coming Lord. With your help I might actually do justice to this job(s) someday.

Better Ways To Measure Churches

Oct 4, 2011

Bishop Joe Pennel By Joe E. Pennel Jr.
Special Contributor

Numerical growth and institutional maintenance have captured the thinking of many who write about the vital signs of effective congregations. I must admit that when I was serving as a pastor and as a bishop I was caught up in the same swirl of understanding. I am now feeling that there should be a different standard of measurement for meaningful congregational life.

Instead of numerical growth and stabilizing the institution, we need to put strong determined effort into a deeper set of measurements such as growth in compassion, forgiveness, mercy, kindness and justice. These are the benchmarks that bear kingdom fruit. It is possible for a congregation to experience financial and numerical strength and not grow in the fruits of the spirit.

I recently served as interim pastor of a congregation. As I was leaving the office one day to make hospital calls, I met a lady on the parking lot of the church whom I did not know. After a rather casual greeting, she pointed to the church building and said, “Is there someone in there who can teach me how to pray?”

I was stumped by her question. She was pointing to a full service megachurch that offers day care, a weekday school, athletic leagues, mission trips, social services, worship, choirs, a vibrant youth ministry and Sunday school for all ages. At a deeper level, she was inquiring about learning how to practice the spiritual disciplines. I had no answer to her question. I gave her my card and requested that she give me a call so that we could have conversation. She never called and I never saw her again.

When I got back to my office I looked at the calendar of activities for the week and not one had anything to do with learning, experiencing or keeping the spiritual disciplines. How can believers grow in the fruits of the spirit if spiritual practice is neglected?

Since 1996 I have preached in over 400 congregations. In each of these I have looked at the “opportunities for the week” that are listed on the worship sheet. It has been rare for me to see any emphasis on how to pray, how to search the Scriptures, how to do spiritual reading, or how to practice deeds of mercy and kindness. Yet these are the disciplines that strengthen the inner life. These help us to be formed into a living, loving relationship with God.

If we pay attention to spiritual practices we will be more able to get in touch with the gifts of a particular congregation. I hold to the belief that God has gifted every congregation. It is not necessary to search frantically for new gifts. We, as pastors and lay leaders, need to build on the gifts that are already present in the congregation. Not all congregations are gifted in the same way but all are gifted in some way.
Wise leaders find ways to maximize the spiritual gifts that are already in the hearts of the people. This has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the size or location of a congregation.

United Methodist people are searching for a meaningful relationship to the sacred, one that allows us to remain working, playing and loving; a path that enables us to experience the holy in the kitchen, in nature, in art, and in others. There is a gnawing hunger for doors to be opened to deeper levels of meaning and living. The church needs more and more congregations which truly believe that the inner life is more important than numerical and financial growth.

So, if we are focused on spiritual practices what would be the return? It would evoke harmony and genuine love toward the people around us, our families, spiritual associates, the poor and the marginalized. For others the return might be doing deeds of mercy and kindness in the community. For some it would result in a deepening of one’s commitment to meditation, prayer, cultivation of virtue and a more regular association with some who have the same desire.

I cannot prove it but I am of the opinion that congregations that focus on growing in compassion, forgiveness, mercy, kindness and justice have a stronger and more authentic commitment to social witness than those that are not so concerned. Such congregations are better able to organize themselves around the pain that is in the community where they happen to be located. Mr. Wesley taught us that real social concern grows out of vital piety. It is the latter that is missing from the church at all levels.

I am now 72 years old and I have been a pastor since 1959. As I look back over my years as a pastor I find myself wishing that I had organized my congregations around worship, searching the Scriptures, more Holy Communion, deeds of mercy and kindness, prayer, meditation and Christian fellowship. I now see that these are the most important means of Grace.

Retired Bishop Pennel is a professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Same Calling/Divergent Paths

Much has transpired since the last posting to this blog on January 12th ("Methodism Deconstructed"). For starters, two people very dear to me, Pat and Hilda Baker, left the United Methodist Church to start a new one in Caldwell called "Area 3:16." Pat Baker was one of the CLMs who graduated in Class '10 and Hilda is the author of "Standing at the Cross Roads." Both are very devoted disciples of Christ and ardent supporters of Walk to Emmaus. Both lovingly give of their time at Cross Roads Retreat which hosts spiritual renewal programs for Christian groups and each Walk organized by the Brazos Valley Emmaus Community.

Hilda has the depth of faith that I've always wished that I could claim but never had enough conviction to fully embrace. She has always been one who has searched out God's will for her life, and once discovered, let nothing stand in the way of fully living that out. Maybe the one of the best examples of that is her influence on Pat - she was the instrument used to bring him to Christ. Today, as pastor of Area 3:16 Pat is no longer a mere follower of Christ but a spiritual shepherd ministering to others as well.

In contrast to Hilda's intense spiritual resolve and Pat's total surrender to His service, I spent 16 years pretty much hiding out from what I knew God's call to be for my life. With the exception of a brief foray to Lott and occasional service as pulpit supply around our district I never really surrendered my will. I found the oasis provided by my little country church in a town that time conveniently forgot to be the perfect spot for me to reside in comfortable denial of who I am in Christ and to Whom I am called to serve.

While the Bakers and I share pretty much identical viewpoints on how far the Methodist Church has strayed from its roots and the resultant tragedy of its decline, God was clearly moving me to a path separate from theirs. Like Pat, I too, felt the call to ministry but instead of doing a "new thing" I was led out of my oasis and into the mire of broken systems within our denomination – everything that I had purposely avoided for years.

Although God had been preparing me for pastoral ministry for 20 years, clichés like "culture shock" and "mind-blowing experiences" don't even scratch the surface of what was to happen after finally submitting my will to His. In saying "yes" to Him, He has propelled me to an accelerated spiritual-growth regimen that leaves me feeling like I am waking up in a new world everyday and I no longer recognize the man that I have become. So much of what was once familiar has been transformed to become something distinctly different as seen through new eyes. But the same cannot be said of our denomination.

It is still full of broken systems and apparently stuck in a spiraling decline, but that doesn't necessarily mean God isn't still at work in the midst of it all. God's glory has been revealed in the numerous mistakes of mankind and religious systems flawed by well-meaning human intervention through the ages. Indeed, it is through just such situations that we often seem to encounter Him. Now, instead of looking at the brokenness of the church I search with my new eyes for where God is working in the church. Regardless of what detractors might say, He is still here and very much at work in our midst. And, there is still much kingdom building to be done regardless of existing conditions in our denomination. In recognition of all this He has led me to a place where I can finally respond, "Here am I, Lord. Send me."

COMMENTARY: A Missional Future—The United Methodist Way

Mar 24, 2008

By Taylor Burton-Edwards
Special Contributor

At the November extended cabinet retreat at Lake Junaluska, Duke Divinity School professor Randy Maddox presented a paper on “The United Methodist Way.”

Much of what was presented was very good and very hopeful for a missional United Methodist future. I want to focus on the critical paper developed by a team that Dr. Maddox led. A copy of Dr. Maddox’s paper is available athttp://www.gbod.org/extendedcabinet/UMWay.pdf. It’s well worth the read.

I’ve even downloaded it into a file I call “basics,” where I store core documents for my life and ministry. I think it’s that essential, and I hope its insights about early Methodism can be widely felt.

Dr. Maddox says United Methodism today looks far more like the Church of England during the 18th century than it looks like Methodism, being “marked by much nominal commitment and spiritual lethargy.” Why has this happened? He suggests it’s partly because we traded our heritage of an accountable way of life for bragging rights about our peculiar polity and institutional strength.

I’d say it’s also because we became confused about what church was and could be, after we changed from a movement that sprang up alongside churches to becoming a church ourselves through John Wesley’s action and the General Conference’s affirmation in 1784.

Wesley was afraid this kind of thing could happen, Dr. Maddox reminds us. In the most-quoted line from his 1786 “Thoughts upon Methodism,” Wesley wrote:

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

Dr. Maddox says “doctrine, spirit and discipline” were the critical elements of early Methodism that made it the missional, incarnational, evangelical and transformational dynamo it was. As described in the General Rules, it was “centered in the work of the Holy Spirit,” “shaped by vital Christian doctrine” and grounded within “a rich set of Disciplines.”

He proposes that we try to help congregations recover these core principles and practices, beginning by highlighting where they are already taking place, such as Disciple Bible Study, Covenant Discipleship and Volunteers In Mission.

He also suggests a second step: a systematic analysis and “creative retrieval” of “those dimensions of the Methodist Way that have been lost over the years due to neglect or abuse.” This, he adds, will have to be carried out at all levels of denominational life; pastors, for instance, will need to retrieve their role as “practical theologians.”

Here’s the problem that I see with this proposed remedy: It won’t work. Indeed, it can’t work—at least not well. The politics and institutional realities of the church being what they are, the only things that can be generated by this kind of denominational analysis and attempts at retrieval will be a lot of work, a lot of bills (of the financial and legislative sort), even greater resistance because every stakeholder will want input, and almost no progress.

Attempting the second step could become a serious distraction that could precipitate a more rapid decline.

Here’s why: Think missional and think early Methodist. Our early Methodist missional DNA had no bias toward analysis and institutional process; it had a bias toward action. It did not try to reform the Church of England per se.

Let me say that again. Methodism was not a reform movement to rescue moribund Anglican congregations. It was a movement to make disciples who would live out every day what they professed on Sunday morning.

Trying to bring this new wine into the institutional mechanisms of the current denomination will result in either a busted wineskin and a wine-stained floor, or given enough institutional pressure/inertia, a deeply domesticated version of the original that won’t be recognizable as new wine at all.

This isn’t because institutions are inherently bad. The problem is that our current denominational and congregational institutions are simply not designed to make missional Christians, much less deploy much of what early Methodists were up to.

We are continuity structures and supply houses, not on-the-ground missiologists.

Some United Methodist institutions can and do provide support for those of us who try to live into Methodism. We have a lot of folks inside the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) and other agencies who “get it”: that some of the best help we can provide is to ask really good questions that tease us into thinking and acting missionally rather than to offer ready-made fixes.

We’re not the enemy. We can be helpful in a variety of ways. But we’re not the answer.

You are.

If Wesley had waited around for the Church of England to engage in a massive self-study about how it could reclaim the core practices of Celtic Christianity in the missional and cultural contexts in which congregations found themselves, Methodism would never have taken root. Methodism was not generated by the institutions of the churches nor by the congregations. In fact, it was often opposed by them—and at times, with due cause!

The Church of England did not and could not have done what Methodism was doing. The institutional churches couldn’t take credit for Methodism, though they could and did benefit from the renewal of life happening in Methodists who happened to be part of their congregations and institutions.

Methodism was the peculiar work of God enacted by the people, most of whom were laity, alongside their existing denominational/congregational/institutional structures, without analytical studies, organizational realignments and bureaucratic authorization systems, but with deep clarity, passion and commitment.

These people were out to become holy, to live and serve as Christians, and to invite others to join them. If the institutions came along supportively at times, great. If not, they were still committed to stay Methodist and whatever else they were, to be present and fully engaged with both as much as they could.

The current institutional forms of the United Methodist Church can be helpful but are probably not generative of the renewal we need. The appendix of Dr. Maddox’s article gives indicators for what Methodist-friendly (my term) congregations look like and what bishops and others could do to provide leadership toward that end.

The take away: Let’s live the Methodist way! Let’s support institutions trying to do this, too. But let’s not get confused and think the latter is the same as the former.

When we begin to live this way, maybe someday the institutions—including congregations—will figure out how to relate more helpfully to the Methodist missional DNA. But let’s not expect them to do it for us.

The Rev. Burton-Edwards is director of worship resources for the GBOD. This commentary was excerpted from a post at emergingumc.blogspot.com.

Methodism Deconstructed (By Hilda Hellums Baker)

The deterioration of mainstream denominations has been a topic of discussion for many years. Everyone knows there is a problem, everyone has been encouraged to stay at the table, to be an agent for change and I bought in to that. But, it was devastating to read in one of the December Issues of the United Methodist Reporter that in 1932 the Methodist denomination recognized the crux of the problem was that the denomination looked to it’s Agency Staff instead of Christ as the head of the church. Unfortunately, very little has changed.

In the UMC the pastor is charged with discerning the will of God for ministries and programs, and then working to get his folks on board. This modus operandi usurps the lordship of Christ in the body of Christ and places an unsupportable burden on the shoulders of the clergy. It encourages individuals and churches to allow the work of the denomination to become a substitute for their personal involvement in God’s work. I believe the institutional church, clergy and members alike are suffering from the long-term consequences of that disconnect which has fostered an intrinsic humanistic mindset throughout the church.

The article stated that the problem identified in 1932 was the denominations’ proclivity to lean on the Agency Staff and hierarchy to decide ministry goals, instead of leaning on the Lord Jesus Christ. This operational method now permeates every aspect of church government from Agency Staff to Congregational committees. Theological intellection has redefined faith as good works rendering the Methodist Church a powerful philanthropic organization, but not a house of faith. A house of faith relies on the person of Jesus Christ to determine its’ mission and provision. In the United Methodist Church there is only one mission – to make disciples for Christ. Each church is called to accomplish this mission in a unique way, with ministries corresponding to its’ Spiritual gifts as a church. This should not be left up to church leaders, the congregation or clergy either. Every church has a God given set of it’s own tools to define and accomplish the mission to which they are called.

Only one person should make the decision of what any particular church will do– our lord and savior Jesus Christ and He gives us the answer by the tools he gives us through our members. No one is added to the Body by chance. We are supposed to go to Christ – we are supposed to watch what is going on around us – who He sends to us – what they are doing or want to do – and then use His tools by joining HIM in HIS work. When we see Him working, our only choice in the matter is whether or not we will follow His lead and not count the cost. Each individual has that choice to make – each church has that choice to make.

In the study Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby, states that “Koinonia (the experience of God’s presence) is impossible if a church is made up of individuals who are unwilling to submit to the lordship of Christ in the body of Christ. The same impossibility exists in a larger body of fellowship, such as an association or denomination,…” The culture of the UM organization from top to bottom actually discourages meaningful Koinonia within the church.

In 1978 the UMC Board of Discipleship began a spiritual renewal program called the Walk to Emmaus. It was intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. It has been enormously successful in helping individuals radically transform their lives and work environments into more Christ centered experiences. However, many Emmaus pilgrims are met with resistance and suspicion upon return to their local congregations. I have come to realize that most UM clergy really don’t want leaders. UM clergy are primarily interested in folks that they can plug into the prescribed programs and ministries of the institutional church. In many cases pastors and other “non-Emmaus” members of the congregation are actually intimidated by the passion for ministry frequently exhibited by members returning from an Emmaus Walk. Many pastors misinterpret this passion as a challenge to their authority which coupled with pressure from members afraid to explore opportunities for a deeper spiritual experience, pull back from full support of the new “leaders and disciples” that Christ sent to them to strengthen their churches. This pull back results in disunity, and frequently causes the pastor to deny the discipleship of the very people Christ sent into his church to bring change. These frustrated people often find it necessary to go outside of the institutional church in order to be obedient to Christ’s call to discipleship.

The above example illustrates a microcosm of the problem endemic throughout the UMC as identified in 1932. Clergy still cling to old ways where ministry flows from the hierarchy to the their congregants and community. Instead of from Christ through the instrument of His choice.


In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby said that the only question a pastor should ask his congregation to vote on is solely whether they sense God is leading them to a particular ministry. He says that if they vote no, that church needs to pull back from moving ahead, because the congregants aren’t spiritually mature enough for the job. I am not sure that is true, but even if it is, I believe it could only pertain to churches truly dedicated to finding, regaining or renewing their spirituality and Christ Centeredness. Not to a church made up of individuals who are unwilling to acknowledge or submit to the lordship of Christ in the body of Christ.

When to move on is an age-old problem. Jesus, after making every effort to “bring along” his fellow Jews, broke with the synagogue, his church of the day, and moved on to fertile ground leaving His fellow Jews to move at their own pace. At no time did he coddle, cajole, or force His Word on anyone. Neither did the disciples, they did as instructed in Luke 9:5 “If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off of your feet when you leave…” Martin Luther faced the same dilemma. Calvin, John Wesley and many others found the same truth found in Luke 4:24 applied to them as well. “…no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” A truth is a truth, Truth is the Word of our lord Jesus Christ. Each of the men mentioned above found it impossible to institute meaningful change in a firmly entrenched organization. Christ’s spirit grieves for those that reject His challenge, but He did not let anyone or anything stop or immobilize Him from doing His Fathers work, and neither must we.

I do not believe the hierarchy of the UMC or any other mainstream denomination has the will to change. I believe we are on the cusp of a great spiritual revival. I had hoped that the UMC was up to the task of not only providing, but then accepting passionate spiritual leaders. Unfortunately, I now believe that history will repeat itself and the UMC and other mainstream denominations will continue their slow fade into irrelevancy.

The mainstream denominations have worn out the “stay at the table” mantra that they have been chanting for the last 78 years, by ignoring the need, indeed the hope, of its’ members for a life transforming personal experience at the table of Jesus Christ. An experience promised to free them for joyful obedience to HIM.

Why Mormons Score Highest On Points of Christianity

I have long been intrigued by the devoted and deliberate manner in which Mormons (LDS) live out their faith. Some might even label their purposeful and structured practices as "methodical." Particularly striking is the cultural expectation placed on their youth: the voluntary sacrifice of two years of their lives in service as a missionary. Incidentally, this missionary service is based on an appointment system administered by church leadership.

If you are already beginning to find parallels between the LDS and the faith practices of early Methodist circuit-riders, small wonder. Just as Methodism was sweeping across the face of Texas during the period the New Republic winning converts with a dominance that no three other denominations combined could match, the LDS is also still experiencing that same kind of phenomenal growth in the 21st century. In contrast, the UM church is currently in decline, as are all other Protestant denominations. Why?

Haunted by a driving passion to uncover the truth lying in the paradox between the remarkable effectiveness of Methodist practices 150 years ago and while struggling through the disheartening decline of our church today, I began a personal study of the LDS culture. For the last year and a-half I have orally read almost the entire Book of Mormon while being tutored by an LDS elder using seminary study guides during our lunch break every day at work.

What I have discovered is that what the LDS know and believe is of no greater importance in their dominant church culture than the way that they live out their faith. There is nothing passive or retiring about the practices for living out each individual member's call to discipleship. There is a strong cultural expectation for personal, spiritual integrity throughout the body of the church.

In essence, they know about their faith because they live it out in a way that no mainline denomination even attempts to do. By living out their faith in such a sacrificial manner it becomes more than just a belief system, it becomes an ingrained way of life. Major theological differences aside, this is pretty much the same type of dramatic witness provided to the world by sacrificial service of the early Methodist circuit-riding preachers.

I proudly claim my Wesleyan heritage and consider myself well-versed in Methodist history. So when I discovered that the successful faith-practices of the LDS church of today looks remarkably like the Methodist church culture 150 years ago I immediately ask myself, "When/why did we cease to live the word 'church' as a verb and instead resign it to function as merely a noun?"

Americans Don't Know Much About Religion?

AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll entered an interesting story entitled Americans Don't Know Much About Religion on Sept 28, 2010 from which the excerpt below appears:

"A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.

The survey was recently released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but faith leaders and educators have long lamented that Americans still know relatively little about religion.

Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.
Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15. On questions about Christianity, Mormons scored the highest."

I find the overall results of the survey somewhat disappointing, especially when "atheists and agnostics scored highest" in various points on religion. But while I find the last line to be the most condemning commentary of professing Christians, it hardly comes as any surprise, at least to me. The great irony is, of course, that most all Christian faith groups identify the Mormons belief system as a cult. If that's so, why are they so much more knowledgeable of the Christian faith that their detractors? The answer may surprise you.

Don't sacrifice small churches on altar of economics

Shifting Paradigms

The time is long overdue for a dramatic paradigm shift in how our appointment system serves small-membership churches. To abandon them is cowardly. We deeply believe that Wesleyan “grace upon grace” theology is more therapeutic and holistically redemptive than religious “brands” that preach emotionalism, prosperity gospel or harsh legalism.

In the country where I grew up, we had two sayings regarding this. One referred to a “chicken house complex” where any chicken with a drop of blood was pecked to death by the other chickens. We must guard against this judgmentalism in churches that are small. (The challenge of large churches, on the other hand, is overcoming anonymity.)

The other saying was “the chickens are coming home to roost” if poor farming practices—such as the absence of soil conservation, contour farming, use of legumes or rundown farm equipment—gradually reduced the harvests. All these agrarian terms have parallels in the church and will likewise lead to reduced spiritual harvests.

Kennon Callahan of Emory University was right a score of years ago when he insisted that the “age of the local church is over; the age of the mission station has come.” The answer is not in the size of the congregation; the answer is in re-kindling the flame of relational evangelism, enhancing missional ministry at the local level and deploying our personnel through a covenantal relationship between conference and congregation rather than the obsolete method of appointment-making.

Dr. Haynes is a retired member of the Western North Carolina Conference and current interim pastor of Kallam Grove Christian Church.

Let’s recover class meetings and share pastoral ministry

Steve Manskar, Sep 6, 2010

By Steve Manskar
Special Contributor

A recent story in The Tennessean, “Clergy Sacrifice Health for Flock,” caught my attention. It quotes Nashville area pastors struggling to balance the demands of pastoral ministry, family and self-care.

All-too-often, there is no balance. The demands on the time and energy of clergy leaves little time for exercise, a healthy diet and Sabbath rest.

The end result is increasing rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes among Protestant clergy in North America. In other words, pastoral ministry is destroying the well-being of clergy.

This growing trend is also a symptom of a dysfunctional, enculturated church that David Lowes Watson describes in his book Forming Christian Disciples (Wipf and Stock, 2002):

“Instead of places where people come to be formed as Christian disciples, congregations . . . become places where people are primarily concerned with being helped and blessed. Instead of finding how they can serve the risen Christ in the world, proclaiming and living out the coming reign of God, they . . . look for ways in which they themselves can be enriched by God’s love and peace and justice. And even when they do make a serious attempt to form their members into Christian disciples, they will tend to focus on the development of personal spiritual growth to the neglect of helping Jesus Christ with the unfinished task of preparing the world for God’s coming shalom.”

Staff’s burden

Such congregations have become providers of religious goods and services. They are places of sanctuaries where members go to escape the world. The pastor and paid church staff spend most of their time and energy providing the programs people expect. They are also expected to visit the sick and homebound members, and comfort the grieving.

Their time is consumed with meeting the needs of the congregation. In these times of economic hardship and declining membership, church leaders are under increasing pressure to keep current members happy and do all they can to attract new members. As paid staff, the responsibility for all this work falls on their shoulders. It is no wonder that the stress of unrealistic expectations and demands is affecting their health.

This is a wake-up call for United Methodist congregations. We have within our DNA the means to address this growing problem: the class meeting and class leaders.

The class meeting is a system of small groups designed to teach people the basics of Christian discipleship and provide support for living in the world as a follower of Jesus Christ. The class meeting provided much of the pastoral ministry in early Methodism. They equipped lay members to provide pastoral care and support for their sisters and brothers in Christ. This freed preachers to focus on the work they were called to do: proclaim the gospel, administer the sacraments and order the life of the congregation.

Class leader’s role

Class leaders were (are) lay pastoral ministers who work in partnership with the preacher/pastors. They do the bulk of the pastoral care and nurture now required by the ordained/licensed appointed clergy. The work of the class leader is to help the members of his or her class to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ and to do the pastoral work of visiting them when they get sick and experience life crises and transitions. The key here is that class leaders are mature Christian women and men who are affirmed by the congregation and work in partnership with the ordained/licensed appointed clergy to see that the pastoral ministry of the church is faithfully performed.

Pastoral ministry is historically the responsibility of the congregation; it should not be the sole responsibility of the clergy. Unfortunately, mainline churches in North America have done an excellent job training clergy and laity to believe that pastoral ministry is the work of the clergy. They are the “experts” who have been trained. This, of course, is a lie. The consequence is a disempowered, passive laity.

It’s no wonder that many clergy get caught up in this lie and end up overweight, suffer from heart disease and diabetes. Is this the church of Jesus Christ who came proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the Good News”?

The Rev. Manskar is director of Wesleyan leadership at the General Board of Discipleship. E-mail: smanskar@gbod.org