Six Degrees of Separation

I did something last week I said I’d never do – I signed up for Facebook on the Internet. It is a social network that began as a college campus networking tool, but soon expanded to anyone and everyone. And it’s been incredible how many old friendships I’ve renewed in so short a time… and how many new ones have begun.

There is a phrase that comes to mind: Six Degrees of Separation. It is a theory that if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth. It’s even led to a game called “Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon,” a party game in which you can take any actor and link him to actor Kevin Bacon. Let’s see… Kate Winslet was in Titanic with Leonardo DiCaprio, Leonardo DiCaprio was in Catch Me If You Can with Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon [I’ll be darned]. Ronald Reagan was in The Young Doctors with Eddie Albert, Eddie Albert was in The Big Picture with Kevin Bacon… well, you get the idea!

Small world, isn’t it?

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.” John Wesley said, “The world is our parish.” It seems clear that God uses encounters with believers to draw people to Himself. In that respect, if we allow ourselves to be used as vessels, there is only one degree of separation between people and God.

The world really isn't that big of a place - or parish.

Sky+

Pastor as Spiritual Leader - Part III

Take Thou Authority?

In one of the last posts on this matter, I noted that the UMC has no theology of ordination, but we have a host of procedures and policies. We are one of a handful of denominations that will place someone as a pastor of a church without ordaining them, such as local pastors, commissioned pastors, etc. Whether one is ordained or not, one is a pastor of a United Methodist church not because of ordination (a means of grace and sacramental action), but because of authority being granted to them by the Book of Discipline.

Herein lies a problem, I think: we are granting pastors authority from a standpoint of church law and ministerial office, and pastors often assert their authority by persuasion (which can be good and bad). But in a day and age where people are suspect of authority and disillusioned with the Church, none of those standpoints really grant any empowering authority at all. Pastors are going to have to realize that true authority comes from God, and pastoral authority comes from God's grace. This is where ordination SHOULD be couched, but I fear (at least in the UMC) that it is not.

Authority is power - but power misplaced gets us nowhere. Ministry is done by all of the people, not just the pastor. In fact, the word liturgy literally means "the work of the people." It may be that pastoral authority's real power comes from shared leadership and vision. It is clear that pastors do not know best and our education is not helping us - or our denomination would be growing instead of dying. Unlike the paradigms of the world, the parish model is to use the power and authority God gives us WITH others, rather than OVER others.

Author Howard Rice contends that until pastors can be straightforward about their own spiritual journeys, those that they pastor will never be able to recognize similar movements of the Spirit in their own lives:

The deeper we [pastors] go in our own experiences, the more general those experiences turn out to be; the more we dare to lift up the struggles and successes of our own faith pilgrimage and share them with others, the more others are helped to articulate events along the way of their own journeys. All too often laity keep their deepest religious experiences from pastors. Parishioners fear that pastors will not understand or accept their experiences. They may worry that they are not good enough. They don't show themselves for fear of rejection. They hide behind walls and hope that someone will notice them and pay attention. They hope that the pastor will say words that validate their experiences...

People need help to sort out their deepest experiences. They need someone they trust to help them recognize the dangers of some choices. They need help to reorganize their tendency to spiritual pride. They need guidance to distinguish the voice of God from the welter of other voices. At heart, therefore, the pastor must be a guide to the spiritual life, a person others trust to share the struggle. The pastor offers assistance, not as one who has already arrived but as one who is on the same journey, going alongside the people and perhaps a step or two ahead. - Howard Rice, The Pastor as Spiritual Guide, pp. 185-6.

Those two paragraphs are damning to many pastors - are we as adept and (more to the point) bold as we should be in matters spiritual? Can we share our own spiritual journey and struggles competently and articulately? As well as we (claim to) preach? Can we speak the language? And can we be humble enough to realize that we have not "arrived" yet? We learned - and indeed, were trained - to be the resident theologians to our churches. Can we honestly say that we are also the resident spiritual directors of our churches?

It'll take work - and prayer - to get there if we're not the spiritual directors or guides of our churches. And in the process of shoring ourselves up, we cannot shirk off our other responsibilities. Effective ministry requires priorities. We still have to be managers and administrators. The sick need visited. The youth need instructed. People may need the pastor and not have an appointment. Some pastors have been labeled as lazy, and it is hard to refute the label. Others don't heed the signs of needing sabbath. Still others work hard, but don't prioritize well. Working and taking sabbath require spiritual adeptness and maturity to discern! I know that I am still learning.

For a season, we UM pastors may have to see "being connectional" as being connected to God and discerning the Holy Spirit, instead of being connected to Annual Conference, continuing education seminars, and district gatherings - these are tools, not ends to themselves. And instead of prayers of petition, we may need to be praying in silence and listening to what God has to say to us, instead of telling God what we want to say. God is certainly essential to the task of pastoral ministry - no duty can call us higher (not even duty to the district or conference!!!); secondary and tertiary matters must yield to the primary.

A lot of pastors burn out or get jaded because they either think they are alone, or that they believe that they alone have the wisdom, education, and authority to do ministry. The fact of the matter is that Christ empowers us - and "us" includes laity and clergy alike. In order to empower the masses, we have to be spiritual leaders who derive authority from the witness of their personal integrity and model, rather than deriving it from the pastoral role or office. As Rice says in his book, that kind of authority becomes authentic, powerful, and changes lives.

It may be that we pastors need to lead and follow... or get out of the way.

Pax,
Sky+

Oops, Crud, and Doh!!!

Since fuel prices have gone up, some folks have been buying motorcycles and scooters to defray costs, and I've gotten an occasional call or two asking for my advice, tips, what to have in the saddlebags, etc. The main thing I tell them is to remember to check the weather each day, and to remember which vehicle you have if shopping. My saddlebag list:

• flashlight
  
• road flares
  
• cycle jumper cables
  
• tire kit/gauge
  
• rain gear
  
• crescent wrench
  
• towel
  
• Leatherman tool
  
• sunscreen
  
• 1st aid kit
  
• lip balm
  
• hand purifier
  
• bungee straps
  

Having said that... I goofed yesterday. I have been riding my motorcycle (a Kawasaki Vulcan Classic LT) just about every clear day this summer to work and for errands. The office needed a new computer monitor, so I went to Best Buy and got a good deal. As I walked out into the mall parking lot with a computer monitor and box in my hand, I realized that I had forgotten my own tip I had given new riders... and saw my two wheeler parked.

This is why you carry bungee straps. Glad it wasn't a 60" television.

Pax,

Sky+

Pastor as Spiritual Leader - Part II

Congregations are demanding entities. The church I serve has around 450 members, and if I were to poll them on what they expected out of me as their pastor, I would probably get several responses. I think it would be safe to say that being a competent manager and being a spiritual leader would be chief among them. While theologically and scripturally there is a problem with just being a "hireling," the reality is that people do pay some pastors a fair amount of money - and they rightfully have some expectations.

Church Management/Administration - "Being Martha." I hate administration and management. But the reality is, there needs to be a rhyme and reason to what we do in the church. The Apostle Paul may have said it best: "All things be done decently and in order." My reason for trying to do it as well as I can is so I don't have to do any of it over.

But how do you do it? Some looked at Niebuhr (I can't remember which brother) during the 50's and 60's (and into the 70's and 80's, since I studied it also) who suggested running with the business and military models of the day (i.e., Management by Objective) to organize and prioritize ministry and programming. Some folks went to Steven Covey seminars. Some heard Herb Miller lecture. Some, like me, paid major bucks to attend Ken Callahan events at Calloway Gardens (I don't remember much, but I did play one of my best rounds of golf there!). And while these models were designed to prevent reinventing the wheel and to allow more of church ministry to be shared, they had one fatal flaw: very little theological underpinning, and virtually no evangelical underpinning. In short - they managed what was present, but encouraged little innovation or visioning. That ran tangent to the Christian proverb, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." You certainly cannot blame any one thing for the Mainline decline of the 60's and following, but one can be sure that the Management by Objective or 12-Step models certainly weren't the answer to the problem.

Spiritual Leadership - "Being Mary." I think some rebellion occurs somewhere along the way when called men or women begin parish work and encounter realities and conflicts. Somehow, a shift away from being makers of disciples and caretakers of church souls and a shift toward being the Chief Administrative Officer (the Book of Discipline's words, not mine) takes place. Why didn't someone along the way say, "it's not either/or, it's both/and?" Naturally, cynicism creeps in. Pastors feel like they are losing their identity.

I'm old enough now to realize that my own church polity is far from perfect. Has anyone realized that the UMC has virtually no theology of ordination? We have a lot of rules and regulations about it - but no theology. It only makes sense that viewing the pastor as spiritual leader is difficult in a denomination that has no theology of ordination. I will say this: we DO have an excellent PROCEDURES AND POLICY section for ordained ministry in our church law. Just no theological underpinning for it.

We have 10's of classifications for pastors: full-connection elders and deacons (who are ordained); commissioned probationary elders and deacons (who are not ordained); associate members (some ordained formerly, some not); part-time local pastors, full-time local pastors, student local pastors, supply pastors (who are not ordained). However, what do people in the pews called the person behind the table and pulpit in their church, regardless of the permutations listed above? "Pastor."

It is no wonder, then, that pastors have a hard time seeing themselves as spiritual leaders, given our denomination's confused look at matters of ordained (or unordained) ministry! The fact is, layfolks could care less about conference membership and clergy classifications; they want a spiritual leader. It's not only what they're paying for, it's what they desire and yearn for!

What is the tool most needed for pastors to be spiritual leaders? It has nothing to do with workshops, schools of ministry, or even a curriculum geared toward a degree: it is the pastor's very own faith. It requires maturity. It requires an understanding of the needed balance between being a manager and administrator AND incorporating one's own spiritual life into directing others. Henri Nouwen said it much better: "Ministry means the ongoing attempt to put one's own search for God with all the moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those who want to join the search but do not know how." (from Nouwen's Creative Ministry, p. 111).

In short, sometimes we need to be preparing the house (Martha), and sometimes we need to pay attention and seek the Master's will (Mary).

I'm not through letting this go just yet...

Pax,
Sky+

Pastor as Spiritual Leader - Part I

In the past few days, I have been blessed with casual conversations with two lay persons, neither of whom are members of the church I serve (one a Southern Baptist). In our conversations about church and faith, they both stressed to me the importance of a pastor being a spiritual leader. So I got curious and looked up my job description as it’s outlined in the Book of Discipline. Here’s the gist of it:

All pastors have the same general responsibilities that fall into four main categories, described as Word, Sacrament, Order, and Service. This fourfold ministry includes (but is not limited to) preaching; worship; studying and applying Scripture to daily life; celebrating the Sacraments; developing congregational leaders; attending to the day-to-day business of the church; caring for the spiritual and temporal needs of the congregation and community; modeling for and leading the congregation in acts of compassion, mercy, and justice; and nurturing the congregation for mission and ministry in the world as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. – from The Book of Discipline ¶331, and Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation 2005-2008: Pastor (Abingdon Press, 2005), p. 6

When you look up ¶331, you find that the Discipline lists at least 15 different responsibilities of the pastor (¶331), which can be clustered into seven major areas:

1. Spiritual leader: The pastor is the primary spiritual leader in the congregation and is responsible for helping members grow closer to God through worship and spiritual disciplines. 
   
2. Worship leader, preacher, and teacher
   
3. Trainer of laity: The pastor seeks to equip lay persons to discover how they have been called to ministry in the world and to accomplish those ministries. 
   
4. Administrative leader and steward of the congregation's vision of how they are called to accomplish the mission of making disciples.
   
5. Custodian of institutional integrity: The pastor protects the integrity of the reputation of the church in the community—as a place of honesty, safety, hope and reconciliation—and upholds the traditions, polity, and beliefs of The United Methodist Church. 
   
6. Participant in the United Methodist connection: A United Methodist pastor is part of an extensive network of ministry as a member of an annual conference, a district, and the denomination. He or she has responsibilities to participant in and support these connections and to inform the congregation about its participation in this connectional system. 
   
7. Minister to the community: Pastors are in ministry beyond the walls of the particular congregation to which they are appointed by being involved in the life of the community in ways that witness to the mission of Christ in the world. 
   

Being "the primary spiritual leader in the congregation" seems to be a priority - and not just because the Book of Discipline says so - laity certainly think so... and not just Methodist laity, I might add.

The question is: are we as UM pastors presently equipped to be spiritual leaders?

My answer is, it depends on the pastor. But I will risk a sweeping statement - in the UMC, a pastor must prepare him or herself for the role of spiritual leader, in helping people get closer to God and teaching spiritual disciplines to do that for life. For the most part, seminary doesn't do that. Before we start slamming seminaries, we need to be objective and to realize that seminaries - and indeed the UMC and Boards of Ministry - have not seen that as a priority. It's one of those things that you're just supposed to "get" on your own. And, in all honesty, in the truest sense of the word, our seminaries are really schools of theology. I know that I got a very good theological education. But what I learned about spiritual disciplines, direction, and leadership were not required courses. I was prepared to be a worship leader, an in-residence theologian, an educator, and a chief administrative officer for a church. All certainly important things.

But do they trump being a spiritual leader for the congregation you are appointed to serve?

More to come...

Sky+

Violin Camp at RUMC

Logan and Amy Blewett held Violin Camp at RUMC this week, and we were treated to a concert this afternoon!

Pictured left to right: Ben Gamble, Maiah Lambert, Kylee Meeks, Evelyn Stewart, and Meah Jordan

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

Proud of Our OWLS - Again!

This article ran in the United Methodist Reporter recently. I couldn't be prouder of our church.

Pax,
Sky+

---

Older but wiser: Kentucky church keeps older members active 

By Mary Jacobs
Staff Writer

Pearl Wood and Flo Crooks tell preschool children what it was

 like to live in the 1950s, including the popular clothing styles that were worn. 

Katherine Flowers, 90, had never tried line dancing before in her life. Mary Ann Sturma, 82, had never played a musical instrument. But Ms. Flowers and Ms. Sturma recently tried each for the first time at OWLS.

Older Wiser Laughing Souls (OWLS) is the older adult ministry of Reidland United Methodist Church in Paducah, Ky., and both ladies can’t say enough about it.

“It’s a group where you can find fellowship, things to do and people who care,” says Ms. Sturma. “It’s just great.”

The OWLS meet once a month for a meal along with an activity at the church or an outing to a nearby restaurant or attraction.

“If there’s something of interest in the area that the bus can go to, we go,” said Ms. Flowers.

“We get to do things we might not do ourselves, because many of us do not like to drive at night,” said Ms. Sturma.

“This program has really bloomed,” said Cathy Burkhead, volunteer co-coordinator of OWLS. “The older adults have a voice and they are a big part of our church now.”


The group has about 50 regular participants; Reidland’s weekly worship attendance averages around 200. Like many United Methodist churches, Reidland’s congregation is aging. More than 30 percent of the church’s membership are people 70 and older.

OWLS began in 2005 after organizers attended an older adult workshop at nearby Trinity United Methodist.

“We came away with wonderful ideas and books to guide us in this ministry,” said Ms. Burkhead.

And things took off from there. One church member, a recent retiree, obtained a special driver’s license so that she could drive the church bus. Another started a hand chimes group called the Owleluia Chimers, which plays at worship services. In 2007, the older adults’ group was invited to take charge of the church’s worship service.

“It was so warmly received that we have been asked to do it every year,” said Ms. Burkhead. “The service provides the opportunity for the congregation to celebrate the gifts and contributions of older adults, and it is loved by the entire congregation.”

“It’s not difficult to get seniors involved,” said Ms. Burkhead. “We survey them once a year and ask what types of programs and speakers are of interest.”

Ms. Sturma says she’s volunteered more than 15,000 hours at a local hospital—a project she loves—but it’s easier to make friends and find fellowship at OWLS. She’s dealt with a number of health problems and surgeries in the last 15 years or so, and says fellow OWLS support each other with similar problems.

Ms. Sturma is also quick to praise OWLS for serving older people in the community who are not members of the church.

“I have a Catholic friend who has no relatives in town, no way to drive and no way to pay,” she said. “But they always pick her up and include her in all the outings and meals, free of charge. I think it’s great that they reach out to others outside of the church. It’s food for the body and the soul.”

“We always provide a meal with our programs and activities, and we carry lunches to those who can’t make it,” Ms. Burkhead said. “That’s a big part of our program.”

The Rev. Vida McClure, older adult coordinator for the Paducah District, says Reidland’s program works well because of its dedicated volunteers.

“The first thing that is needed for a strong older adult ministry is a group of volunteers with a love and a desire for working with older adults,” she said.

But Ms. Burkhead, along with co-coordinator Lynda Cochrum and half a dozen other volunteers, say they find the investment of time pays off many times.

“Participating in an OWLS event, I feel like we sat with Jesus and walked with him,” she said. “The participants are so appreciative and thankful.”

Ms. McClure adds that older-adult programs must be tailored to the needs and interests of participants. Programs on crime protection, identity theft, assisted living and planning for the end of life have been effective in the older-adult ministry she coordinates at nearby Clinton United Methodist Church.

Reidland plans to lead a workshop in the fall to reach out to churches that do not have older adult ministries, with an eye toward partnering with those churches to help them start similar programs.

“It’s very important to have this type of ministry, because these folks have much to give to us,” Ms. Burkhead said.

mjacobs@umr.org

umportal.org
Mary Jacobs, Aug 6, 2008

PHOTOS COURTESY OF REIDLAND UMC

Do It Yourself

Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda es is a Latin phrase that has nothing to do with religion, philosophy, or wisdom. Translated, it means, “The designated hitter rule has got to go.”

The designated hitter (D.H.) rule is from baseball; in essence, you can substitute a (better) hitter in place of the pitcher – so the pitcher doesn’t have to bat. In major league baseball, only the American League has the DH rule. I’ve never liked the rule, and most baseball purists don’t like it either. (And yes, this is a picture of Roger Clemens batting. A rare event.)

Why don't I like the DH rule? Well, hitting is certainly a part of baseball. Facing a pitcher can be daunting, but it’s also fun. Some say the DH makes the game better, for we see better hitters in the place of pitchers, who don’t normally hit very well. But I disagree: I think the rule enables some players avoid the harder part of the game.

Sometimes, we do the same thing in the church. If we are not careful, we allow our pastors, worship leaders, and Sunday School teachers do our studying and praying for us. I know that I can fall into the same trap. The truth of the matter is that our discipleship is dependent on our willingness to foster and cultivate relationships with others. That begins with our having a personal and corporate relationship with God through Christ.

Don’t let someone “DH” for you when it comes to study and prayer. Do it yourself, and find the joys and blessings in knowing and being known by our Almighty God.

Pax,
Sky+

Behind the Song

Music has always been an integral part of my life; I am at best a frustrated musician, but I dearly love to listen, admire, and soak it in, and find myself more often than not in conversation with God while I listen.

Anyone who has a child is always moved by hearing Billy Joel's "The Lullaby." You might be even more moved when you know the story behind the song:

Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes,
And save these questions for another day.
I think I know what you've been asking me,
I think you know what I've been trying to say.
I promised I would never leave you,
Then you should always know
Wherever you may go, no matter where you are
I never will be far away.

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to sleep,
And still so many things I want to say.
Remember all the songs you sang for me,
When we went sailing on an emerald bay.
And like a boat out on the ocean,
I'm rocking you to sleep
The water's dark and deep, inside this ancient heart
You'll always be a part of me.

(Humming)

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream,
And dream how wonderful your life will be.
Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby,
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me.
Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabys go on and on
They never die
That's how you and I will be.

Every song has a story. Here's to praying that we might always be willing to tell our story.

Pax,
Sky+

Remembering Who You Are – And Where You Came From

My brother and I took off a few days last week to spend time with some of our extended family. We have not gone back there in almost 15 years for any other reason than funerals, so it was past time. Much of our mother's family has never left the area where several generations of Houghtons, Jamesons, and Garretts lived.

At the end of the month, I am preaching a homecoming service at New Salem UMC in Banks County, Georgia. I served New Salem when I was in seminary nearly 20 years ago.

I remember when I was in high school that I said a term that my mother seriously chastised me for: “white trash” – referring to folks from the poorer side of town. Her words burned into me. “Sky, you are not that far removed from that situation yourself.” And she was right. Southeastern Kansas is incredibly impoverished. Related to that, when I lived in Banks County, Georgia, my salary was $13k, which at the time was the median income for Banks County.

Some folks would be ashamed of talking about such a past, or admitting that they have family in such situations. The reality is I cannot deny my roots, nor would I want to. I am blessed with a large extended family that blesses me. And I suspect when I go down to Georgia in a few weeks, I will realize how blessed I was when I was their pastor.

It was once said about Jesus (by one of his disciples, no less), “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was secluded by hills, and had a bad reputation for having no culture and a rude dialect – the “white trash” of lower Galilee.

From poverty and the unlikeliest situations, our Savior and Prophet arose. God’s chosen are everywhere… and come from everywhere.

Pax,
Sky+

Gasoline, Work, Stewardship, and Unexpected Surprises

Last night, I was eating a very late supper with two friends that I officiate basketball with (one of them grew up in a Methodist parsonage). We had officiated several ballgames at a summer high school camp, and the three of us had ridden our motorcycles to the games - both for fun, and to save money on gas. We were remarking how hard our parents and grandparents worked, and how much easier by comparison that we have it. Sending kids to college, paying bills, and the like are still not easy, but we were telling these stories while eating a pretty good meal in a nice restaurant.

There are all kinds of political, social, and economic reasons and theories about why the price of oil is going up, that the government should intervene, etc. I am not fluent enough in any of those areas to risk an opinion there. I just know that the reality is that gasoline costs over $4 a gallon. For some, it is going to be an economic hardship. For me, I am having to reassess priorities and travel.

I can't get around the fact that I have to drive a lot to do ministry. It is never a stretch to drive as many - if not more - miles that I am budgeted to be reimbursed for; it doesn't take long at 50.5¢ a mile! And while my old BMW gets 24 mpg, my old motorcycle got 40.


My old bike had a lot of miles and years; it was a 1993 model. So I finally quit being so cheap and bought a new bike about a month ago: a 2008 Kawasaki Vulcan Classic. It averages 45-50 mpg, and has a much bigger tank and engine than my last bike, and is already paying for itself at the pump: I pay half what I used to pay for my car to go the same distance! The weather has been outstanding this past month, and I have ridden to work, on errands, and in making pastoral and hospital calls. Yes, I occasionally run into the occasional storm - that's why they make rainsuits. I also realize from my trip to England that pastors have to be very creative in their transportation because of costs. So instead of just riding for fun, I tend these days to ride out of economics. A strange thing has happened in the process.

I used to loathe driving during work hours - I hate the waste of time that driving takes. You can't run an errand or make a hospital call in less than an hour in Paducah, and if I have someone in the hospital at Vanderbilt, I have just lost a whole day just by driving. It is certainly work that needs to be done, but I often wish I could snap my fingers and be transported directly to my destination instead of wasting the hours driving there.

But I have started enjoying the drive now. Riding a motorcycle is glorious, and the sights are always seen with a 360° view. I get a few stares when wearing a clerical collar, but that's an inconvenience at best. The strange things are the conversations that emerge. Motorcycles are always conversation starters, i.e., "Nice bike." "I'll pay for your gas if you'll pay for mine!" When it gets more interesting is when someone asks, "What do you do for a living?" When I tell them, the reactions range from uncomfortable silence to wide grins. And that sometimes leads to very interesting and blessed conversations and opportunities.

Who would have thought a little evangelism would save me money?

Pax,
Sky+

Radical Hospitality – Just Don’t Say It, Do It

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:35-38

My good friend and colleague Johnny Jeffords recently wrote on his blog about our Annual Conference’s theme, “Radical Hospitality.” He makes a great statement:

Radical comes from the word from which we get "root." Too many of us think of radical as being whacked out - on the fringe. Radical hospitality is the opposite - it moves us to the essential nature of our being - the foundation of who we are. And for the Christian community, that root can be none other than Jesus of Nazareth.

Dr. Jeffords warns us, though, that it doesn’t need to be practiced as the latest action plan or evangelism program – it needs to be practiced in our daily discipleship. In short – practicing radical hospitality is to practice being the essence of Jesus Christ.

Will it get you into trouble? Most assuredly. There was a reason that Jesus was called a drunkard and glutton: he was seen eating meals with prostitutes and publicans, and probably had a glass of wine or two while he did it. When people disapproved of his messages and ministry, they used these things against him. Since he was unmarried, I am sure some of his critics liked to think (and say) that he was either a womanizer or gay.

So, if we’re radical in both our hospitality and our discipleship, we may need to be prepared and prayed up to face the critics and naysayers. Some will say you’re crazy to welcome “those folks” into your church or Sunday School class. Some outside of our church will see our new parking lot and wonder, “I wonder who died and left them the money to do that?” Radical hospitality and discipleship is liable to get Reidland United Methodist Church labeled as “the crazy church.”

I hear RUMC’s preacher has a beard and rides a motorcycle, too…

Pax,
Sky+

Annual Conference 2008

I am always tired after Annual Conference, but I must say I am very excited about some new direction for our annual conference.

Five new Annual Conference Priorities were announced – and this time not just with words, but with a plan and mechanism in place to implement them:

1. Intentional Discipleship with Wesleyan Distinctiveness
2. Congregational Vitality and Revitalization
3. Leadership Development
4. Faith Community and New Church Development
5. Outreach Advocacy

A Lay Resource Leader (LRL) will be identified in each District. Then, a unique partnership will be formed between the District Superintendent, LRLs, District Lay Leaders & Director of the CMT to address ministry needs. The emphasis? On the local church! We have conference staff in our own district!

Thanks to our own Jerry Severns and James Brockman for representing us at Annual Conference. James also stuck around an extra day to hear Adam Hamilton’s presentation on Wednesday.

It was all a very good celebration of ministry. But it’s good to be home.

Pax,
Sky+