Why I stay in the United Methodsit Church

Several weeks ago now, Jenny Smith posed the question, “Why do you stay in the United Methodist Church?” Many others have posited their answers and I’ve decided that it’s time for me to throw mine out there.

1. Wesleyan Theology is the actual reason that I became United Methodist. I actually grew up American Baptist in a congregation that was probably more like a Southern Baptist congregation. Undercurrent themes of “once saved, always saved,” “right” (or righteous) behavior and God’s omniscience permeated the faith of my childhood and adolescence. Unintended though it may have been, the faith of my youth was one that was pretty focused on doing the right things. Sure, I saw love exhibited, but my developing spirit identified this to be a love that was conditional on the right behavior. As I went to college, I chose a small United Methodist college that had an excellent biology program, as that was my intended major. My mom was all for it! She had grown up Methodist and had actually wanted to attend Southwestern when she was my age. The first Sunday that my twin sister and I were away at college, we decided to attend one of the local UM churches with some of our new friends. The second Sunday we were going to go alone to the American Baptist Church (which is right next door to FUMC, even sharing a parking lot) and when we discovered that it had already started, we went instead to FUMC which started 5 minutes later. That Sunday was youth Sunday and I was hooked! I saw that the youth had a ministry within the church and were willing to share of their faith. Before long, the youth pastor had asked me and several other students to start working with the youth group and I have been a regular worshipper at a UM congregation ever since. Fast forward a few years from the fall of 1994 when I started attending a UM church and you’ll find me in seminary, still worshipping in a UM congregation, but not claiming that I was United Methodist despite the fact that I loved the idea of prevenient grace (which was what I identified to be the most distinctively Methodist theology at that time). It was not until I took a class on Wesleyan Theology that I realized that I actually loved the theology of John Wesley! Every sermon I read was my favorite…until I read the next one! His “heart-warming experience” warmed my heart, too, especially when I realized that he could bring together my own understanding of the importance on doctrine, personal piety, and love for others, especially the outcast. In studying the theology of John Wesley, and then later, UM Theology, I realized that I had truly been “home” all along. Though sometimes I’m jealous of someone with a long Methodist heritage, I feel blessed to realized that inasmuch as I feel like the UMC found me, I feel like I found the UMC. I still make that choice today.

2. I feel called to the United Methodist Church. During a time right after college, I was working for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I was on a plane coming from an FCA training event when my seatmate, who was reading the Bible when I settled into my seat, started talking to me about my faith. He asked what church I went to and I told him that while I wasn’t a member, I worshipped at a United Methodist Church. He very loudly said, “You aren’t a lesbian, are you?” Flustered at both his pointed-ness and his decibel level, I stammered, “Uh, no! Just because I’m Methodist doesn’t mean that I’m gay!” You see, once again, we had just been in the news for our tension over homosexuality in the church. I was disheartened to hear that while there was much that the news could have reported that the UMC did that was positive, this man (who I’ve affectionately dubbed Fred Phelps’ cousin in my memory banks) pulled out what is certainly not one of our prouder distinctives—our ongoing struggle about homosexuality in the church. However, during that conversation I found myself defending that while we have our struggles within the UMC, on our best days, we are committed to staying in relationship with one another, despite the fact that our diversity causes us pain. I acknowledged to F.P.’s cousin and still do today, that our diversity is not without its challenges. There are a few things about the UMC that grieve me, but among the worst is when the world to which we are witnessing sees us fractured, exposed, and fighting. Looking back, it was in this conversation close to 10 years ago that I can begin to see God calling me to the UMC. I remember thinking (strangely) that I wanted to help the people of the UMC through these challenging times. I am certain that I did not have an overestimated sense of my own contribution, but somehow I felt in that moment that the challenges of the UMC were my challenges, too. For me, the beginning of being called to the UMC happened in that weird conversation on an airplane.

3. I see great hope in the people called Methodists. Now, I must qualify that remark. I see great hope in potential of the people and I see that the people have great hope. However, I am not blind to the fact that our numbers in the American UMC are diminishing and that sometimes we lose sight of the stated main focus of our church (to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world). Some make take exception to my last statement, but I often think that we’re pretty caught up in issues that are not central to being disciples and making disciples. However, when I read Eric VanMeter’s latest commentary in the UM Reporter, I was reminded that while I’m inspired by the heritage of the UMC, I’m more interested in the legacy that we could leave.

If the best things we’ve inherited, however, become tools to infuse new life into the United Methodist Church, then our heritage will continue to thrive. Our spiritual fathers and mothers passed down to us a concern for the poor, a heart for service, a commitment to holiness and the courage to confront our problems with wisdom and creativity.

Still, the best things about us as the United Methodist Church are not found in our tradition. They’re found in our trajectory. Our life is not tied to the heritage we’ve received, but to the legacy we leave.

Amen, brother! I see the stirrings of people all over the church, people who sometimes challenge us by making us confront our failures and people who, with a theology rooted in grace, remind us that we have much work left to do and we can actually start to make an impact. We do have a wonderful heritage. But I for one think that our heritage must impel us forward into that trajectory that is rooted in Scripture, articulated in our Methodist doctrines. It is a faith that is not intended to stay in the church service on Sunday morning, but is sturdy enough to carry us into the streets, schools, boardrooms, and even the bars. There are many who have this hope and I hope that the many will respond. I may be particularly biased in seeing this hope. I now get to work in campus ministry at my alma mater with college students who exemplify that hope every day (and a few who even want to join us in ministry in the UMC).

I could go on with other reasons why I stay in the UMC such as the connection that I’ve experienced locally, nationally, and globally or the concern for the least, the last and the lost that permeates our work in the world. There are many other “family resemblances” that I could name, but the theology, the call, and the hope are what got me here, and will keep me here. God is at work in the UMC and I’m so glad that I get to be a part of it!

Young Clergy in the Ministry of the Church

Thursday and Friday of this week, I was in Nashville at a gathering of 10 UMC young clergy. We were invited by folks from the GBHEM and two young clergy (Chris Roberts from the Indiana Conference and Jenny Smith, a seminary student at United). The agenda was for us to talk about some of the issues that young clergy face in the UMC. The momentum going on for the gathering was strong, as we had all Facebook “friended” one another and had begun thinking about our purpose for being together. I learned that the ball had begun rolling when Jenny did a series of video interviews about young clergy at General Conference last year and then posted them on a website that she created. Chris saw the videos and expressed interest in being a part of something intentional to bring young clergy together to talk about the issues that face the church and how we might work in a unified manner to approach those issues. The gathering that happened this week was the fruit of that interest.

The 10 of us (plus Meg Lassiat from GBHEM and a few other “drop-ins” from Nashville) spent our time reviewing a non-scientific survey that Jenny designed to gather some feedback from others who are young clergy or care about young clergy in the UMC. (If you see a trend of technology in the introduction above—Facebook, video interviews, website—just wait…we’re not done with technology yet! We also had a simultaneous “liveblog” that included 7 of us in Nashville and about 25 others, at any given time. The transcript of our conversation is here.) While I won’t attempt to summarize the entire 24 hours that we spent together (we did get a dinner break and night off, which of course consisted of us talking the whole evening!), I do want to give my concluding impressions:

• First of all, this is a very hopeful group! We’ve heard Lovett Weem’s excellent research on the clergy crisis in the UMC and while it would be tempting to despair, this group and many others have chosen to hope that God will use us to impact the church in a powerful way.
• Younger clergy, though appreciative of the work of their forebears, are not necessarily interested in the same discussions of previous generations (especially regarding theological diversity). What seems to be a recurrent trend is that we are often more interested in what unifies us. (Here are a couple of quotes that got bandied around a bit: “In the essentials, unity; in the non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity” and (my favorite) from E. Stanley Jones, “Here we enter a fellowship; sometimes we agree to differ, always we resolve to love and unite to serve.”)
• We decided that what unifies us is the desire to be disciples and make disciples.
• Many younger clergy feel isolated, voiceless in their annual conference and concerned about burn-out.
• Younger clergy seem to reject the perception that most appointment systems are based on a competitive model (rewarding—both financial and otherwise—those with more years of experience and making younger clergy “do their time” in more challenging appointments) and prefer to work in a more collaborative model of ministry. (This point here deserves a significant amount of analysis, some of which I hope to go into at another time.)

While we did do a significant amount of discussion, we did arrive at a couple of points of action. We talked about two different things that could address some of the needs of younger clergy that arose from the survey, our discussion and our online participants. First, we talked about enhancing the website that Jenny has already started. Our hopes are that it could become a “hub” that is keeping track of things pertinent to younger clergy—best practices, blogs, events of interest, and even forums for discussing topics of particular interest. (If you have a blog that you would like to include on our blogroll, or if you know of some “best practices” for young clergy, please email Ashlee.Alley@sckans.edu.) We also discussed the potential for a gathering of young clergy that would address some of the biggest concerns facing us (again, namely isolation, voicelessness, and burn-out). There will most definitely be more to come with all of this, but I have to say, that as a young clergy (for a few more years, anyway ;) and also as one who works with college aged students who often are experiencing a call to ministry (and sometimes to ordination), I come away feeling really hopeful for the church in the days (and years, and decades) ahead. There are many who desire to serve Christ and his Church and they even want to do it under the auspices of the UMC. We’re not a perfect church, but God IS doing some great things within us. And I really think that this is one of them.

For another take on someone else who was there, read April Casperson's blog.

Live From Nashville

I was asked, along with 9 other young UM clergy, to be in a conversation sponsored by the GBHEM about young clergy. I along with, these others, and a few drop-in guests, have spent the afternoon and evening chatting about the state of and opportunity for young clergy in the United Methodist Church. In typical technological form, we had a simultaneous live blogging conversation going on during our discussion, including those of us in the room, and anyone else who wanted to join in. We're reconvening tomorrow from 8:30-noon (central time) and I would love to invite you to drop in.

Here's the link

Getting Your Life in ORDER

I wrote this article for fellow campus ministers as they begin the new year. It is also found on the College Union website...


It’s that time of year again, when we give a little thought to our priorities, making resolutions, culling out the bad habits. It’s the time of year when tips for losing weight/getting organized/spending less/fill-in-the-blank are on every morning news show and magazine. Into this milieu of good-habit-making, I’m going to venture with my two cents. Wish me luck—that you’ll keep reading!

About two years ago in the summer (which is supposed to be the down time in campus ministry), I found myself overwhelmed, cluttered, and dreading when students would return. I had been in my current position for about two years and the initial momentum of figuring out how things work was turning into “ordinary time,” and I needed some handles to move me into leading others from running a program. I also knew that if I had any hope of having a good school year, I had better get my life in order. I needed to be organized, I wanted to keep reading, I knew I had to spend time in devotion, and yet stay energized, but not forget to relax. Sounds impossible? Well, not if you bring in some O.R.D.E.R.

At the risk of sounding like a cheesy tip in a self-help book, I present to you a strategy, an orienting framework for your day: an acronym (and I’ll do my best to convince you why you should remember this one and not submit it to the writers of The Office for another corporate mantra to mock!).

Organize
Organization is something that each of us must master at some level or another, but for some of us, organization presents a particular challenge. It comes pretty easily for me, but, even then, I must be intentional to keep things in their proper place and be able to put my hands on them when necessary. The first step in bringing order into one’s life is to organize. Spend a few minutes every day organizing—whether that is filing the papers that collect on your desk, re-shelving the books that you pulled the day before when writing that sermon, updating your to-do list at the end of the day with the next morning’s priorities, or cleaning out your inbox from the emails that are low priority but still need a response. Devoting even 15 minutes of time to organize your surroundings will also put in order your thoughts and remove just a little of the “office dread” that can creep in every now and then.

Read
When one is busy, it’s difficult to keep up with all the magazines, blogs, e-newsletters, and mail, let alone the “must-read” recommendations from your friends and colleagues. However, reading is something that should not be eliminated simply because there doesn’t seem to be any time in the schedule. Exposure to new ideas helps to keep ideas germinating in your mind and heart. Reading isn’t the only way that God can work in the creative process. Podcasts, movies and some T.V. programs also contribute to the infusion of new ideas that God can use to spark your imagination and refocus your mind on the new tasks of God in your campus ministry. Schedule time for this continued learning whether it is a weekly part of your life or a monthly study day. It will shape your vision for your ministry.

Devote
It is a no-brainer to tell someone in ministry (which includes any Christian!) that he or she should daily spend time in devotion to God. However, often our times in prayer and bible study are absorbed by appeals for desperate situations and preparation for tonight’s small group. The rich times of devotion which drew us into ministry in the first place often fade as our schedules crowd out this time of lingering in God’s presence. Yet, as we are reminded by the prayer in Lamentations, “[God’s mercies] are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.” We also remember from God’s provision to the Israelites in the desert that they were only able to be fed for a day on manna and quail, and if they kept too much, it would spoil (except for the Sabbath). The Lord’s Prayer even says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” If we expect to live off of past spiritual growth and neglect daily habits of devotion, we will end up like those complaining Israelites and miss the joy of God’s providing hand.

Energize
I almost titled this section “exercise,” but I want to recognize that exercise isn’t the only way to increase our energy; the food that we put into our bodies fuels the work that our bodies do. Thus, healthy eating and exercise are both ways that we energize each day. Committing to an exercise program, whether the goal is to run a road race or climb a couple of flights of stairs without being out of breath, is more than just being physically fit. Being healthy is a matter of stewardship and, ultimately, affects the work that we are able to do for God. Integrating habits of eating healthy (fresh) foods as well as consistently exercising are non-negotiable in our mostly sedentary lifestyle. The world of campus ministry often includes doughnuts, pizza, cookies, or casseroles while early mornings and late nights prevent regular exercise schedules. However, overlooking these energizing habits can lead to lives that can’t sustain the challenging and exciting work to which God has called us in campus ministry. How about working out with a student or serving healthy options at meals in the ministry? These habits model lives that take seriously being a good steward, even of our bodies.

Relax
We sometimes hear that we need to make sure and include some “me” time in our schedules. While I agree with the importance of resting, I’m not so sure that all things are equal when it comes to relaxing. I have a student who swears to me that his preferred method of relaxation is playing video games and brags that when he wants to be social, he plays Guitar Hero with a friend, as if he is experiencing “community.” I’ve recounted to him the articles I’ve read about the effects of video games on the brain (and eyes!), and suggested other, more effective ways that he can relax, but to no avail. His trigger finger is fast, but he can’t sit through an hour long meeting without playing with his phone, laptop or iPod. When I’m honest, I realize that my own “relaxation techniques,” while they don’t include gaming, may not be quite as relaxing either. I’ve found that spending two hours “vegging” on the couch doesn’t provide nearly as much rest as playing a favorite playlist and writing a letter to a friend or journaling about my day while drinking some hot tea. While TV may be passively entertaining, rest isn’t analogous to sitting still. What about you? Do you find ways to rest—truly relax—each day (not to mention observing a Sabbath)? Do you sip that cup of coffee or tea and thank God for a bit of peace, brief though it may be? Do you break the rhythms of work or family time to relax in the capable hands of God? You should. No excuses.

Organize. Read. Devote. Energize. Relax. These five daily practices contribute to a life that is able to stay afloat during the chaos of a rigorous schedule. As cheesy as it sounds, I do actually rely on this acronym when I start to feel out of balance and overextended. The order that we seek in our lives is not something that is new to our fast-paced culture. Our challenges are the challenges of many others in other times. May we be disciplined enough to integrate some order into our lives. Many others are counting on it.

To be, or not to be...emergent

This week, we hosted an event at Southwestern College that we call “Builders in Ministry Week.” It’s a three day event for current students, alumni and friends of Southwestern (whose mascot is the Moundbuilder) that allows for connection and continuing education. This year we had Tony Jones as our guest speaker. It seems that he’s fallen out of favor (or jumped the shark) with most evangelicals, probably for things like this. I will admit that I haven’t read The New Christians yet, but have read lots of other (shorter) representative writings of TJ and other Emergents and find much about which to agree! However, I have my share of things about which I do not agree, and they may be “deal breakers” to make me a true Emergent (what is that, by the way?). Here is my take on his time here at SC:

First, I found him to be really easy to just sit down and chat with (which happened for me at dinner the first night, before he spoke a word). I was really impressed with him, especially since he had back surgery a week ago yesterday. He was not even a week out and he put himself through the stress of travel. I commend his fortitude and willingness to keep a commitment!

After having him here for a couple of days, I think I can say this…I think he sort of sees his role as a gadfly—he’s trying to stir the pot and raise important questions—or perhaps he sees his role as prophetic. I’m not sure that I would characterize him as prophetic. Maybe, but for me time will tell and the jury is still out. That being said, he raised quite a few questions in our context, some of which were helpful, others, notsomuch (I’ll identify those below and you can guess which are in what category!).

Among the 10 “dispatches” about which he spoke (The New Christians is organized as a series of 20 “dispatches” from the Emergent frontier), several are particularly helpful correctives (by my standards) to the Church. 1.) Theology really matters. I appreciate the thoughtfulness by which they attempt to view all aspects of their ministry by considering the theology behind it. An example that Jones gave had to do with the fact that they don’t use microphones in their church (he’s currently a part of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis). They are demonstrating that no one voice is louder than another and a microphone symbolizes the lording of power of one person over another. Nice sentiment, but I must be too pragmatic. This is where I want to say that taking turns speaking (which they do, often) sends the same message while allowing the speaker to be heard, which he admitted only happened during the half of the time that the speaker was facing the hearer’s direction. That brings me to my second helpful corrective, 2.) Emergents will “move the pews,” taking them out of church and set up couches, for instance. He identified that Emergents will push the envelope a bit and remind us that “church” happened long before there were pews with plaques on them and some of our sacred cows can actually be sacrificed. For Solomon's Porch, they do church “in the round” and sit where they can see one another (but it does lead to that pesky problem of only being able to hear the “speaker” half the time, since they use no microphone). The corrective is helpful, but at what point must a line be drawn for pragmatism?

Several dispatches were a bit hard for me to swallow. Most notably is that Jones is pretty ready for denominations to just “go away.” He didn’t outright say that, but he indicated that through many of his points (low view of ordination—about as low as it could get, frustration with institutional churches, to name a few). Maybe this isn’t shocking to anyone else, but it was a little surprising to me about how low his view is of institutional churches (even their organization--committees, books of discipline, etc.--seemed reprehensible to him, in my view). At one point, one experienced UM pastor basically asked him if he saw anything redemptive about the UMC, and he struggled for a minute and said, “They’re renting us a great building for Solomon’s Porch…and they’ve offered to sell it to us for over a million dollars, or for free if we want to become Methodist. If they really want to be the Church, they would just let us use the building for free to do ministry.” He went on to say that he did think it was great that people who might not get to serve a good church in another denomination (ie, women and minorities), got that chance in the UMC. Score one for inclusivity! I do think that we could shore up denominations a good bit (I could think of a few things in Methodism that I would like to see cleaned up), but I’m most definitely not ready to dissolve all structures. There is a baby in that bathwater!

I have many more things that I could blog about—his understanding of power, authority, and a few things that I think he just got plain wrong—but that will have to wait for another day. Instead, I’ll just give my parting impressions…one negative and one positive.

First the negative: Mr. Jones didn’t seem quite as willing to listen as he was to talk. Maybe he’s done listening. Maybe the pain from the recent back surgery got to him. Maybe I got it wrong. However, it was difficult for anyone to do more than ask a 20 second question (with nary a follow up statement or question from the questioner) during our hour and a half long Q&A time the morning after his lecture. The conversationalist from dinner the night before had re-emerged a bit more decided than I thought Emergents were supposed to be. Hm.

And the positive: I appreciated his understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit (though implicit) in the community of Christians. (His dissertation, he told us, is actually on the pneumatology of the Emergent Movement.) The dynamism of the Emergent Movement is refreshing. I’m sure that the Holy Spirit isn’t done with Tony Jones (or even me!) quite yet. Maybe we all have something left to learn.

PS For another view on Tony's time with us at Southwestern, see Steve Rankin's blog: steverankin.wordpress.com

A Sad Anniversary

It’s almost that day, January 26, when my thoughts (and the thoughts of many others) turn to one who is missed: Holly Mitchek. Last year on the 10th anniversary of Holly’s death, I wrote this little piece. I didn’t think anyone would find it, but many did…her friends (even Rie in Japan!), her family, one of her coaches. It has reminded me throughout the year that Holly is still very much alive in the hearts and minds of so many. Her life may have been short, but she made a huge influence in her two decades.

A couple of years ago, Southwestern College was beginning a new project to rebuild and renovate the Mound. A couple of her friends decided that it would be appropriate to donate a paver in her memory. The picture of the paving stone above is the result of that donation. Most here on campus at SC don’t know the impact that Holly made on the lives of those who she loved and who loved her, but for those who do remember, we are forever impacted. I pray that those still left to tell her story will love as freely and as generously as Holly did.

Lord, thank you for Holly’s life and the many ways that she demonstrated love, joy, and compassion. I pray that those of us that were blessed to know her would carry on her legacy of joy and touch as many lives as she did. Thank you for the life that she brought to others around her.

A Remarkable Witness

I read this recent article in the UM Reporter and it struck me for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's about a man who was formerly a staunch atheist and prominent Chemistry professor, so a dramatic conversion experience is pretty exciting in and of itself. But the thing that really grabs my attention is that he got his call to ministry in an academic community, attended seminary (my alma mater, so I'm sure that he got a fine education!), and then was appointed to pastor the campus UMC at the same university where he was a professor. Great job, Cabinet, for appointing him to a minister to the community that birthed him spiritually. I don't know if it was a no-brainer, or someone had to convince someone else that it would be a good thing, but as one who works with college students, I'm thrilled to see this!