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+

In Search of the Perfect Reuben

Several years ago, when I lived in Jackson, Tennessee, I wrote a silly little article for one of the entertainment magazines in Jackson, TN, entitled, "In Search of the Perfect Reuben." It started when I got into a conversation with one of my church members, Tim Walker. Our discussion turned serious when we began talking Reuben sandwiches. After painstaking research, we came to the conclusion that there were two great places to get a Reuben in Jackson: the Bemis Deli (alas, a very short-lived business venture), and the Old Town Spaghetti Store.

My family has lived in Kentucky off and on since 1991, so we decided it was high time to go to Mammoth Cave. One of my church members learned that we were going, and shared with us a great place to get a meal. I didn't pay that much attention until she said, "They have the best Reuben sandwich you'll ever have." Hark! She wrote down the name of the resort on an offering envelope.

She was right. My wife, who had never had a Reuben, loved her sandwich. My daughter, who was scared of something new, took a tentative bite of my wife's sandwich and her eyes lit up. Lots of sandwich, wonderfully fresh marbled rye bread toasted just perfectly. If you're ever near Park City, Kentucky, and you like Reuben sandwiches (I hear the prime rib is good, too), you have got to check out Park Mammoth Resort. Go to the lobby, and the restaurant is located adjacent to it. It is a quaint, beautiful resort that looks like a great place to relax and renew.

Be forewarned: if you've ever watched Dirty Dancing, the place reminds you of Kellerman's. [smile]

Pax,
Sky+

Old & New With the Familiar

That is a picture of my prie deux that sits in my office. My hometown fire chief, Buster Williams, made that for me several years ago. It was the next-to-last piece of furniture that he ever made before he died. It reminds me that we stand (and kneel) on the shoulders of giants. It is my most treasured piece of furniture.

I have been in ordered life since 1991, and the Daily Offices have been a part of my prayer life since then. I was introduced to the daily office when I was in seminary. Two wonderful people, Mary Stamps and Don Saliers, led morning prayer at 7:30 in the morning in Cannon Chapel. Don was my professor of worship (and as all UM's know, so instrumental in worship renewal and study for UM's). Mary was a doctoral student and now lives in monastic life at St. Brigid of Kildare Monastery - a monastery she founded (story here). We all managed to play golf together once. In those days I took my golf seriously, but on that day I watched my language and managed to share fellowship instead of try to birdie holes. Or par them.

The Daily Office gives my prayer life structure and discipline. I learned the ancient practice of lectio divina, praying the scriptures. Both of those things led to my journaling and writing. And in the process, I have learned that when communicating with God, it is much more important to be silent and listen than to do all of the talking. God has important things to say to us!


Of late, I have incorporated something new into my praying the offices. This is hard for me, because I am very much a creature of habit, form, and structure. I received as a gift Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community. I have Celtic roots (fair skin, a little red in my beard [what hasn't turned gray], and an appreciation for Guinness and Jameson), and Celtic Christian spirituality has a lot of appreciation for monasticism, higher learning, art & poetry, theological orthodoxy, and thin boundaries between the sacred and secular. Ireland was quite isolated from the Roman Catholic Church, and there really weren't any towns - just countryside villages. So their liturgy and their spirituality took on a more rugged, missionary quality.

More specifically, the Celts developed the idea of having a partner or partners (a "soul friend") to help in spiritual direction, and they invented personal confession. Because of illiteracy, they were an oral word-based culture; most of the people were illiterate but had great memorization skills, and as a result they loved to tell and hear great stories. They had a sense of closeness and immanence between the natural and supernatural, and placed great priority on hospitality. Family and kinship ties were very important to them.

So as I read ancient prayers and the biographies of Celtic saints, I go back in time with appreciation for my ancestral roots as well as my Christian roots. Incorporating them into my prayer life is both new, yet old. Which is how our faith is supposed to be.

The more I hear the phrase "ancient-future" used in a Christian context, the more I like it.

Pax,
Sky+

Nanos Gigantum Humeris Insidentes

My Latin is awful, but the above phrase means, "Dwarfs Standing on the Shoulders of Giants." (Latin doesn't have articles; fill in with the appropriate definite or indefinite article). It is a phrase I briefly remember from college, and became better acquainted with from my friend Johnny Jeffords. My brief time in Britain last year brought it home even more. For one, the phrase is written on the edge of the £2 coin. And for another, I went to places that allowed me to see where folks who have been formative in my life have walked, where, sometimes, they literally stood on the shoulders of others.

One was seeing the church where John Wesley grew up, where his father served as rector, and where, forbidden to preach inside his own home church, preached instead while standing on top of his father's grave (which was family property). Literally, standing on the shoulders of his father and legacy.

The other was going to the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford. This is where C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and a few other notable writers used to hang out for discussion and an occasional pint. I actually got to sit down in the same corner where they gathered (that's Rick Dye, my D.S., with me in the picture below at the Eagle and Child). Lewis' writings helped me in discerning my call to the ordained ministry. Tolkien gave me a love of reading and writing that continues to this day, and also influenced my faith in ways that go beyond description.


Why all of these thoughts? I find myself in the midst of lots of funerals: family, friends, parishioners. I always use these opportunities to talk about legacy, the Communion of the Saints, and how we stand on the shoulders of the giants who have gone before us. Even folks who were barely 5 feet tall.

As a society, we're losing touch with our extended families. We have become increasingly mobile and have run greater risks of not appreciating history, community life, and faith communities. Maybe I just need to remind myself of where I've come from so that I will know where I am going.

Thanks for indulging me.

Pax,
Sky+

God Is Always Present – Even, and Especially, In the Pain

I am secure enough in my masculinity to tell you that I do a lot of the housework at our home.

It’s really not drudgery to me – it is freeing. So much of what I do as a pastor isn’t good for someone who is as Type A as I am – there aren’t instant results, you can get through a whole checklist some days and still feel like you’re getting nowhere, and some days your best laid plans are thwarted by one phone call or office visit. That’s the reality of pastoral work.


Cleaning the house is different. There are instant results. When the checklist is completed, your work is done for that week. You can sit down, pour yourself a cup of coffee (unless it’s later in the afternoon, when something else might be more appropriate), sit in a chair and admire your handiwork. Just like mowing the yard, you can tell where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished. And, making something clean that was once dirty is very satisfying.

It was the tiniest book I had ever read: The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and “Women’s Work”. It was actually a college lecture that Kathleen Norris had given several years ago. The book speaks of what it is to see the commonplace with “the eyes of the heart.” As one who is ordained, I was captivated by what she said when she was once at a Catholic mass. During the high liturgy and celebration of the Eucharist, it struck her that during the preparation and ablutions of the Table, the priest was basically doing the dishes (hey, another man doing “women’s work”!). Getting the vessels ready for the elements, cleaning the crumbs from the paten, finishing the wine, rinsing the chalice and wiping the inside of it with purificators... in essence, doing the dishes. While the liturgy left her disoriented in places, she noted that “eating and drinking were something I could understand. That and the housework.”

She goes on:

“Ironically, it seems that it is by the means of seemingly perfunctory daily rituals and routines that we enhance the personal relationships that nourish and sustain us.”

Some days, when I am doing the usual week of pastoral work: writing sermons, making hospital rounds, checking on those who are struggling, keeping up with facility construction, administration (you get the idea)… I have a hard time seeing God. Yet, in the ordinary routine of house and yard work, I realize that God is, and has been, present all along. I’m just too knuckleheaded to realize it.

I’ve gotten behind on housework of late, so this morning, I planned on getting up on the roof and cleaning the rain gutters out. It was a beautiful morning. I got the ladder positioned, started up my leaf blower, and began to ascend the ladder. When I got to the roofline, I stopped. I looked at the pitch of the roof and how my feet and ankles would be positioned. I thought about the kickback of the leaf blower… and I got scared. I’m not afraid of heights; heck, I used to be a firefighter and high-ropes/take-down rescuer. But my body just doesn’t cooperate anymore.

For the past few years, my arthritis has gotten worse. Doctors can’t decide if it’s osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. I have virtually no strength in my wrists and ankles anymore. Last Tuesday, I had nerve conduction tests (and I think John Wesley was certifiably nuts to have voluntarily electrified himself as much as he did). I take anti-inflammatories to keep inflammation down. I have prescriptions for pain meds when it gets really bad, but I rarely take them – I don’t like pain, but I hate being influenced by drugs even more.

Today was painful – physically, but more so mentally. I have cleaned gutters, climbed ladders, and walked on roofs all of my life. I realized today that I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m 43 years old; I’m not a spring chicken, but by no means am I ancient, either. It hurt my pride. I realized that I have more limitations than I used to. I’m gonna have to pay some kid to clean out my gutters.

After a brief pity party for myself… I recomposed. Centered my thoughts and prayers. And teared up – not out of frustration, but out of anger at myself. And it came to me, and I said to myself, “Silly Sky… God is still here. He’s still present. He still loves you. And He hasn’t forsaken you. Now go clean the inside of your house and get over this lament-and-bitch stuff.”

My house is clean. So is my body. And God is present. He already was… and He will be.

Pax,
Sky+

Leadership That “Gets” It

Four years ago, when I was a reserve delegate for General Conference, I got this book in the mail, United Methodist @ Risk – A Wake Up Call, written by Leon Howell and sent from the “left” leaning folks of the UMC. A couple of days ago, I got this book in the mail: Taking Back the United Methodist Church, written by Mark Tooley of the Institute of Religion and Democracy – the “right.” Both are small books, and after having read both of them again, I am placing them on my shelf next to Bill O’Reilly’s The O’Reilly Factor and Al Franken’s Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. They all belong together, really. Entertaining rhetoric, but not really too helpful at solving the woes of the United States or the United Methodist Church.

As I said in an earlier blog, both “sides” of the UMC would tell you that homosexuality is the reason we are losing members; “If we were more progressive... If we were more conservative...” Given the Southern Baptist’s recent announcement that they are in decline for the 3rd straight year, I’m not sure the argument can be made that the UMC becoming more conservative will gain us more members. And given the Episcopalian’s decline in membership since 1965, I don’t think we could make the argument that becoming more progressive will gain us more members, either. In fact, I don't think ideology has anything to do with it at all.

The recent news from the General Conference is that we’re going to commission another hymnal and that a new Judical Council has been elected. Lots of news about the goings on of denominational bureaucracy, the ethics of giving out cell phones, and the polarizing views of the special interest groups. Not much news on how we’re going to make more disciples and enable more effective leadership.

Instead of looking to Mark Tooley, Jim Winkler, Riley Case, Kathryn Johnson, James Heidinger, or Troy Plummer for leadership, let me suggest two other folks – two folks that I think "get" it: The Rev’s Adam Hamilton and Jorge Acevedo.


Adam Hamilton. I only know Adam by attending some seminars. But he is a proven leader – taking a church from a beginning of 4 people to over 14,000. He approached ministry in Kansas City this way: what needs does this community have, and how can we address them? No lofty goals or unattainable mission statements. Church of the Resurrection picked just a few aspects of ministry and decided that they would excel in just those few things.

I worshiped there once on a Sunday morning a few years ago. It is a fairly traditional service from a United Methodist point of view, yet utilizing state of the art media aids. Adam’s preaching is solid, biblical, and prophetic. Nothing flashy, nothing gimmicky – faithful, orthodox, and prophetic. COR also offers contemporary worship, but I would place it more in the “traditional” realm aimed at younger adults.

The results are known well to anyone who is United Methodist. And Adam’s philosophy about what his church has done brings out the teacher and leader in him: “Anything we have done you are welcome to have.” Church of the Resurrection majors in Christian hospitality. Their mission statement/purpose? To build a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. This is what the UMC desperately needs to do.

Adam strikes me to be fairly orthodox in his theology and practice of ministry. Yet he is prophetic enough to realize that sometimes, there are shades of gray in the world, as well as our faith. Some things are simply not black and white, and the “line” sometimes moves. While God’s truth is sure, our discernment of it is not always so sure. Adam’s not afraid to go out there, name the issues, and struggle with them. He gives us a good model to do so.


Jorge Acevedo. I met Jorge (pronounced just like “George”) at General Conference 2004. Our delegation ate supper one night with some of the Florida delegation, and Jorge and I sat next to each other. I had no idea who he was. Once I did (later), I was floored. When he spoke at our Annual Conference a few years later, I walked right past him and he grabbed my arm, called me by name, and we had a nice conversation (he’s better with names than I am, obviously).

As I’ve learned more about his work in ministry, I am floored. The church he pastors, Grace Church in Coral Beach, FL, has expanded (as has Church of the Resurrection) into another campus, with a third campus expansion in the works. They offer both traditional and contemporary services, and a unique opportunity on Saturday evenings: “Celebrate Recovery,” an opportunity for “anybody with a hurt, a habit or a hang-up.” Including a meal, worship service, small groups, and café time.

Why do I think Jorge “gets it?” Read what he said in a Q&A with the Florida Conf. Communication folks:

People want that deep, authentic, Christ-centered spirituality. They want that connection that comes with Christ. They want to develop their Christian spirituality in all of its rich diverse ways in which people connect to Christ. But they want that expressed in tangible, hands-on, experiential, life-changing mission, where they see that they’re making a difference in the world. It’s not simply sending money up stream to some denominational entity that somehow takes care of “those people” over there, whoever those people are. Those kinds of loyalties died off in the 60s, in terms of denominationalism. People want to know that their life, their giving, their prayers are making a difference in their community and around the world. And if the stated mission and these initiatives around that stated mission can be lived out by the people called United Methodist, our best days could be in front of us. If not, it could be a sad day for our denomination.

It’s interesting that the growing North American churches and movements — the Saddlebacks, the Willow Creek-type churches — have really hijacked our theology and our practices. Here are these folks who are typically out of the reformed tradition — we’re on the same team, just different sides of the bench — but they’ve stolen our message. So you have Rick Warren with his peace plan talking about attacking the big giant issues of the world: disease, illiteracy, hunger, poverty, AIDS. And I’m thinking, “That’s our job!” That’s who we are as Wesleyans. That’s what John Wesley lived for.

Jorge nails it: other churches have become effective because they ripped us off and filled the void that Methodists were birthed to fill! Jorge and the folks at Grace Church aren’t doing something new-fangled – they’re doing something very old and time-honored in the best of Methodist tradition; it just has a 21st century bent to it. I don’t think Wesley intended us to be anachronistic in our mission; indeed, Wesley was quite the innovator himself in his day.

I certainly am not trying to elevate either of these guys to sainthood, nor am I trying to run their campaigns for the episcopacy (please guys... don’t do it); I am sure that they have their faults. However, they are growing churches and membership in a time when denominations are losing ground, and they are doing it in the framework of a Wesleyan ethos.

It seems to me that every special interest group in the UMC, regardless of stripe or leaning, just wants to enter into lament and accusation. No one there seems to want to lead; they just want to gripe and moan and tell us how to vote. These guys refuse to enter into the bitchfest – instead, they see the glass half-full and want it to overflow. They just do it - and they do it well.

That’s effective leadership. I hope we can emulate it as a church, instead of being political wannabes who are noisy gongs and clanging cymbals.

Pax,

Sky+

Being Brothers and Sisters – But Not Being a Gossip

At a church I once served, it amazed me how much energy one person could put into knowing the whereabouts and happenings of just about everyone around him, and yet be so oblivious on how he was perceived by others: nosy bordering on rude, a gossip, and a man that people soon learned not to say anything of import in his presence.

When we talk about Christian accountability and Christian community, there is a fine line between prayers of concern and gossip. I have heard many times in my ministry, “Let us pray for John Doe... he needs it, you know.” That’s not concern – that’s gossip. And sometimes, we just like to give too much information.

Sometimes, “Let’s pray for Jane Doe; she has surgery tomorrow” is sufficient. It is not necessary for us to say, “Let’s pray for Jane Doe; she is having a hysterectomy tomorrow.” God knows the specific need or needs – why do we have to tell everyone the details?

"A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends." - Proverbs 16:28

"A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much." - Proverbs 20:19

"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down." - Proverbs 26:20

"In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers 

but temperate and trustworthy in everything." - 1 Timothy 3:11

And what does this mean? Gossip’s main purpose is to spread misery. A sister denomination says it this way: "Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty ... of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them.”

How about us? Are we modeling God's standard of truthfulness and honesty? Are we known as someone who confronts gossip? Or do we pass it on with a few added details of our own?

Just as we are to hold others accountable, we are to be held accountable to others. Do no harm. Let us be quick to love, and let us make haste to be kind.

Pax,

Sky+

Train Up a Child In the Way He Should Go...

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.- Prov. 22:6

As I went to prepare for mid-morning prayer, I walked past the sanctuary and saw it is set up for preschool pictures. I took this picture from the vantage point of where the camera was set up (and no, I am not a professional photographer, nor do I portray one on television. I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night).

I am proud that our church sponsors a preschool. The local elementary school says our kids are ahead of other children when they get to kindergarten. We already have a waiting list for next fall.

I take both of these affirmations as high praise... and am even gladder that we can do so in the name of Jesus Christ.

Pax,
Sky+

Worth the Drive... Even Damage to Your Bimmer

You may remember that I trekked to Kansas a few weeks ago to bury a great aunt, and that my just-restored classic car was accidentally backed into by a cousin (click here to read post). Well, since then I've made two more trips to Kansas to see and bury an aunt - and making another tomorrow to pick up my father who has been visiting with family. I've been to Kansas more in the past three weeks than I have in the past three years. And I'm not necessarily proud of that. I should have been making that 450 mile trip more often to see family.


Well... the BMW is fixed. Runs and looks great. And while I'm not the best on enduring long trips in the car, I have found these trips worth the drive. I have remade a connection with my family. And though my mother has been dead for over seven years, I have begun to find peace in a troubled relationship that reminds me that without her, I would have no life and would have been deprived of the gifts of wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I know that I haven't been the only one burying loved ones. Members of our church had to bury their mother/mother-in-law/grandmother this past weekend as well. And they made quite a drive to do it. What makes my heart leap is that many of our church members also made that long drive so that a family wouldn't be burying a loved one by themselves.

In a world where self-centeredness seems to be the norm, it is wonderful to know that the Church doesn't mind being counter-cultural and willing to make sacrifices for our loved ones, in the example of Christ.

Some things are worth the drive.

Pax,
Sky+

General Conference 2008 Rant - I Think I'm Glad I'm Not There

I haven't missed attending a General Conference since 1992. In 2004, I went as a reserve delegate, and spoke on the floor of the General Conference to support the adoption of This Holy Mystery, the UMC's official document regarding Holy Communion. I guess folks didn't like what I had to say, because I was only elected as a reserve Jurisdictional Conference delegate this quadrennium. Maybe I should have shaken more hands, ditched the clerical collar and ties (are blue ties the new red now?), or changed to another deodorant. Who knows what it takes to get elected.

It is perhaps a means of God's grace that I'm not going. When I read over the legislation and get all the mail from all of the church caucuses and special interest groups (hey guys, I'm not a delegate anymore - you can take me off the mailing lists now), I am close to being ashamed to be United Methodist.

• Of the over 1500 petitions of legislation, nearly 950 of them are in regards to homosexuality (for it, against it, and every permutation in between). We have been debating homosexuality as a denomination for over 30 years. I am not saying that this issue isn't important. But while we have debated so much over this issue and spent so much time and effort in it... we have lost 3 million in membership and finding it increasingly harder to maintain our denominational structure, not to mention support our missional efforts. We are making less of an impact in a world that got larger while we got smaller. To blame the acceptance or rejection of homosexuality on these issues is the biggest smokescreen ever blown. Our church extremists want power and to be in charge. Our loss of membership might be God telling us, "Neither of you groups are getting it." 

It begs the question: Have we become a mirror image of American politics? Is Mark Tooley the UMC's version of Bill O'Reilly? And is Jim Winkler our Al Franken? Isn't this sad? Jesus just might come back and turn over the caucus tables in the lobby of General Conference. "Stop making my Father's house about politics!"

• Much of the conversation will involve whether or not the U.S. is to become a central conference. To do so would mean, in short, to shut out African and European United Methodists from voting at General Conference. It is at best rude to shut out those we went to evangelize and convert. And while we American United Methodists are losing membership, the African UM's are growing. 

Does this make any evangelical, theological, or ecclesiological sense? No... but it gives all of the appearances of making political sense. The world certainly doesn't look like our parish.

Am I trying to oversimplify complex issues? Possibly. I also know that perceptions count for a lot. And the perception is that the United Methodist Church is majoring in the minors. We have forgotten our first love.

We are desperately in need of redemption. And we desperately need to learn once again to love one another, and remember that we are here for Christ and to make disciples for Him.

What can we do? Pray. Pray that God will not allow things that would divide us and cause unnecessary conflict in the body to stand.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would indeed be present in every meeting, every vote, in every piece of legislation. Pray that this would be the General Conference where we might all raise our heads with great thanksgiving and say, they will truly know we are Christians by our love.

The best words I've seen about GC2008 are the words of fellow blogger Ken Carter, in an open letter to the General Conference. I pray that you might take the time to read what Ken has to say and pray it speaks to the GC delegates hearts.

Pax,

Sky+

What Do We Do Well – and What Are We Poised to Do?

I mentioned in last year’s yearbook that there are two things that Reidland UMC has been known for: (1) our preschool, and (2) our wheelchair ramp ministry. We still have an incredible reputation for our preschool, and the waiting list for next fall is proof positive that we are making a difference in our community.


And if my stats are correct, our United Methodist Men paid more on projects than any single church in our conference ($12,000), where either United Methodist Men or United Methodist Women were concerned. The church and group that came closest to us were the Methodist Men of my home church, Martin FUMC. The other two churches were large churches in Memphis.

Of late, our older adult ministry program is another ministry our church is known for; so much, in fact, that other area churches are copying what we’re doing. I can see us one day in the near future having a paid staff person who coordinates older adult ministries.

So, what we do well includes:

1. Preschool Ministry
   
2. Wheelchair Ramp Ministry/Mission
   
3. Older Adult Ministry

What are we poised to do? Consider this: our church is located at the main intersection of Reidland. We are within walking distance of our schools. When the middle and high schools dismiss, there are a lot of kids who walk past our school. Nearly all of them drive past it. Our location is prime.


What if we had an after school program for youth? A place for kids to hang out, perhaps get tutoring? We certainly have the location. Perhaps we could ask other church youth groups to go in with us. We would certainly need adult help for supervision and assistance. We would have to coordinate our efforts so as not to interfere with preschool. We would have to be prepared for a little more wear and tear on our facilities. But we are quickly becoming a church that needs to be able to schedule more than one thing at a time (in reality, we already are). And, if we are to be a light for the world, shouldn’t we be doing this for God?

What do you think? Like I said in last week’s newsletter, as your pastor, I’d like to know what you think. Come by, and the coffee’s on me.

Even if you want to go to Starbucks.

Pax,
Sky+