United Methodist Reporter Blog

Making peace with pumpkins

The pumpkin patch at Faith UMC in Rockville, Md.—currently displayed on the church's site—is featured in stirring column today from Petula Dvorak of The Washington Post.

I won't reveal the details or comment, except to say that God's hand surely had a part in bringing together the story's central figures. That, and it's not hard to believe the church's exterior could inspire a beautiful watercolor. (I'm only disappointed that the painting isn't shown, at least not online.)

John Wesley and Guinness Stout: the connection

I feel as though I should preface this revelation by citing Paragraph 162. III. L. of the 2008 Book of Discipline:

We affirm our long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God’s liberating and redeeming love for persons. We support abstinence from the use of any illegal drugs. Since the use of illegal drugs, as well as illegal and problematic use of alcohol, is a major factor in crime, disease, death, and family dysfunction, we support educational programs as well as other prevention strategies encouraging abstinence from illegal drug use and, with regard to those who choose to consume alcoholic beverages, judicious use with deliberate and intentional restraint, with Scripture as a guide.

Okay, now that we're clear on that, here's the cool part: One of the many people who heard John Wesley preach was Arthur Guinness, founder of the brewery that bears his name. It seems that Wesley's perspective helped shape the young man's business practices. From a blog entry by USA Today columnist Stephen Mansfield:

This rising entrepreneur hears and allows Wesley's words to frame a vision for his fledgling company: a vision for producing wealth through brewing excellence and then for using that wealth to serve the downtrodden and the poor.

I just might have to raise a glass to Wesley and Guinness tonight.

(Hat tip: Jennifer Rodia, via Twitter)

Prayers for Fort Hood

This news just came in - via a press release from the Central Texas Conference:

     Five United Methodist churches in the Killeen area, near Fort Hood, are opening their hearts and doors to those families and all military personnel and others in the community seeking solace and love. Many of the military personnel at Fort Hood and their families are members of the congregations at First UMC, St. Andrews and St. Luke churches, all in Killeen, Grace UMC in Copperas Cove and Harker Heights. District superintendant Rankin Koch has been in touch with the pastors at each of the churches, and the conference Disaster Response Team is standing by to offer assistance if needed.

(PHOTO COURTESY WIKIMEDIA)

So fast we can't keep up

We are a weekly publication, so obviously our deadlines aren't as tight as dailies. But online news is changing the landscape. As reports came from Fort Hood about yesterday's shootings, the Austin American-Statesman started a Twitter feed dedicated specifically to that coverage. (Today, I've seen that they're using it to report on an Orlando shooting, too.) And factual reporting via Twitter is accompanied by editorializing from absolutely anyone who wants to add something; thankfully, I've seen and used Twitter as a conduit for prayer in these situations, too.

Anyone can do this type of thing, and just about anyone does. So it's not surprising that most of the people I follow on Twitter are somehow related to the United Methodist Church, and aren't afraid to put their thoughts out there, 140 characters at a time. Yesterday my most significant -- and snarky -- interaction via tweet was with Matt Kuzma, communications director for the Northern Illinois Conference, who put the math to one of the goals stated in the recent Call to Action issued by the Council of Bishops. It didn't take us long to come up with several sinister ideas for bringing down the average age of United Methodists by 10 years, within 10 years. (Adding 3.2 million 18-year-olds isn't the only highly unlikely way to accomplish it! <insert comically sinister laugh here>) 

The goal itself makes me wonder whether anyone worked through the numbers before they released the letter. And it also makes me wonder if there's any hope of the United Methodist Church changing fast enough to keep up with anything at all. I believe that with God, all things are possible, but I have to admit that this particular goal is stretching it. Nevertheless, a bunch of us out here are willing to keep working, praying and watching for a new path to open for us. Count me among them.

Bucking the trend, in the Nov. 13 Reporter

Greetings, e-Readers!

 

Many United Methodist churches braced themselves for a depressing membership report at this year's charge conference or breathed a sigh of relief when they saw a net gain, however small. Others, though, are celebrating better news. In our cover story this week, Mary Jacobs explores several congregations that are seeing amazing growth in both numbers and faith.
 
This week I've been covering the Council of Bishops meeting in Lake Junaluska, N.C., where President Gregory Palmer said Monday that the church must find a courageous balance between evangelism and justice to cultivate future leaders. (See more reports from the week's events in our 11-20 edition, including the release of a pastoral letter on "God's Renewed Creation" and a Call to Action on reordering the life of the church)
 
Commentaries this week include Missy Buchanan, who reminds us that older adults didn't get there by skipping past youth; Wesleyan Wisdom columnist Donald Haynes, who looks at possible organizational alternatives for small-membership churches; and campus minister Jan Rivero on offering ministries that can keep college grads connected to the church.
 
And it's that time of year again: We're soliciting nominations for the 2009 United Methodist of the Year. The deadline is Dec. 11 to nominate someone-and remember, your nominee should be someone of national or worldwide significance.
 
Speaking of "that time," it's also the run-up to holiday movie season. Bill Fentum and Ken Lowery provide an overview of November and December releases that got the newsroom buzzing about what we are planning to see in theaters.
 
All this, plus a report on a recent Judicial Council ruling; History of Hymns; a Q&A with a campus minister about dormitory living for Wesley Foundation students and more.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Robin Russell, Managing Editor

p.s. -- You can now follow the Reporter on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!

An overhaul for the church

The United Methodist Church cannot continue with the status quo if it wants to survive in the 21st century, say the denomination's bishops, who approved yesterday a set of "interventions" that will help break out of "institutional stuckness."

 

They can't do this alone, but they are at least offering leadership on moving forward.

 

In a nutshell, their Call to Action involves:

 

1. helping to develop measurable standards across the church that will break through institutional silos and help hold accountable agencies, the council itself and annual conferences to one another;

 

2. giving priority and energy to youth and young people with the goal of lowering the average age of United Methodist Christians by a decade within a decade (the average age in the U.S. now is 57).

 

3. working toward the elimination of guaranteed appointment for clergy.

 

4. reordering the structure of the church -- including the format and frequency of General Conference -- starting with an operation assessment at all levels.

 

According to the Book of Discipline (Par. 414), bishops are called to lead and oversee the church’s mission, ministry and structure. It's the last part they are moving on, saying the structure should follow the mission, not the other way around.

 

I'll have a full story in an upcoming edition of the Reporter.

 

 

Practicing Gratitude?

    One of the Bible's more challenging teachings urges us to be "always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:20)  When tragedy strikes, or life hands you heartbreak or disappointment, it's not easy to find something to be thankful about.  But those who do "practice gratitude" say it's helped them through all kinds of rough spots. Example: an acquaintance told me about re-reading prayer journals she kept in 2001. During that time, she was going through a divorce, struggling financially and battling with her daughter, but still found ways to give thanks in her written prayers.  In retrospect, she tells me, she realized that gratitude helped her survive that dark year.  "I always thought God asked us to be grateful because we 'should' thank Him," she said.  "But he does it for us. By being thankful, we can keep going. It gives us strength and hope for the future, to know that whatever troubles you face are not going to go on forever." I'm working on a story on "practicing gratitude" for our 11-20 issue. Do you have a personal story of the power of gratitude? Or a favorite author who addresses the topic of gratitude with particular insight?  If so, drop me an email: mjacobs@umr.org. I'd be grateful. 

 

Letter on God's Renewed Creation

United Methodist bishops today approved and released a pastoral statement and document on creation renewal that they described as a “prophetic word, not only to the church, but to the world.”

“God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action” has been in the works since the 2004 General Conference. It is an update of a 1986 statement that takes into account current global concerns.

What makes it significant, according to Bishop Patrick Streiff, a member of the task force that produced the document, is that it offers a theological framework in the Wesleyan tradition as well as a holistic approach, instead of just focusing on individual issues such as ecology, nuclear weapons or poverty.

“To see the interconnectedness of it all is one of the big strengths of the document,” he said. For instance, how spending money for weapons impacts our ability to help the poor.

Christians in the Northern Hemisphere, including the bishops themselves, have a larger ecological footprint than their counterparts in the rest of the world. For that reason, the letter also calls for repentance, yet brings a message of hope and action. “We can’t help the world until we change our way of being in it,” Bishop Streiff said.

Bishops will be encouraging United Methodists to use the letter during Advent and Lent. Supplement resources will include a liturgical version to be used during worship.

A full story will be published in the Nov. 20 edition of the Reporter.

Wesley -- the movie

It's been at least a year since we learned that John Jackman, a North Carolina-based independent moviemaker, was at work on a biographical film about John Wesley. Now finished, Wesley is set to premiere Nov. 14 at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. Screenings outside the state will begin in January, according to the film's official site.

The Western Carolina University Reporter posted a feature about the production (and several WCU students who worked on the set). The story and photos don't hide the film's modest budget, but it's clearly a labor of love for Mr. Jackman and others.

I'll plan a review, some time in the next several weeks.

Community, near and far

I came across a blog entry today by Ashlee Alley, who spends some time mulling over her suitability for communal living, and how she has dipped her toe into its waters through acts of hospitality. Reminds me that my guest room needs some attention, too.

Then there's Jason Fry, who is new to a certain ubiquitous social networking platform and has been pleased to reconnect with friends through it. And today I enjoyed having lunch with a colleague and a friend of his from high school, newly reacquainted through social networking. It turns out that they're working in related fields now, but I'm not sure they would've caught up with each other again if they hadn't found each other online.

I find myself in both places from time to time. Geographical proximity can make or break some friendships -- living a five-minute drive away from someone is one thing; fifteen minutes is another, and five hours is yet another. But social networking sites can bridge the gaps that geography creates -- and in some instances, a gap like that may be just what you need for connecting more strongly. I'm thinking of one friend in particular, pre-Facebook, who became a much closer friend after I moved a few hundred miles away and we fell into a wonderful routine of e-mailing each other several times a week.

The upshot for me, and for this blog post: Look for opportunities to extend hospitality, to renew friendships. You never know where they might surface, be it down the street or across borders.

VFW parallels church?

On the commute home yesterday, I heard a National Public Radio story about changes that an Oregon chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars has made in the hopes of revitalizing membership and recruiting newer, younger veterans.

It kept sounding more and more familiar to me as the report continued... from people expressing their desire to pass on the good things about the organization to the concern of some long-time members that dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder would become a problem if they tried to attract newer veterans (church translation: "We don't want 'those people' here"?).

Go have a read, or a listen. They're both available at the link above. For me, it was impossible not to make the comparison between VFW decline and church decline.

Overcoming physical challenges in ministry, in the Nov. 6 Reporter

Greetings, e-Readers!

 

When people get together to share their stories in ministry, it can energize and refresh as well as educate. Bill Fentum recently listened in at a gathering of the United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities and brought back their stories for our readers.
 
Bill also has a report on Operation Christmas Child, which delivered almost 8 million boxes of gifts to needy children last year and hopes to do even more this year. In contrast, Mary Jacobs reports on recent trends in Christian giving . . . turns out that churches may be turning inward and spending money on themselves rather than on helping others.
 
You may already have heard about the surprise (but not to my staff) that I received Oct. 22 at the United Methodist Association of Communicators annual convention: being named Communicator of the Year! Besides being stunned, I consider the award a recognition of the hard work toward excellence and collegiality that we have accomplished here at the Reporter, and am humbled and grateful for this honor from our colleagues!
 
You also may have been among those who viewed the commissioning of missionaries via a live Webcast from the General Board of Global Ministries. (Our own Andy James blogged about how significant it was for his 8-year-old to watch the event with her dad.)
 
In commentaries this week, Eric Van Meter reflects on the effectiveness of the itineracy; Bishop Robert Schnase reminds us of the need for "pruning" in ministry; and Bishop Woodie White says Christians, of all people, should focus more on Good News, than bad.
 
Plus, a Q&A with nuChristian author Russell Rathbun; History of Hymns and more.
 
Enjoy!

Blessings,
Robin Russell, Managing Editor

p.s. -- You can now follow the Reporter on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!

Secret Church

Do you start looking at your watch whenever worship starts to run over an hour? If so, take a look at this story, which made me feel appropriately ashamed.  A United Methodist Church in Tennessee recently hosted a Bible study on a Friday night, from 6 p.m. to midnight, to remind participants of the struggles of Christians who are persecuted in other parts of the world. 

"In the persecuted church, they have to meet under the cover of darkness, in a secret place, for hours and hours for study," said Don Thrasher, senior pastor of Northside UMC. "This helps us get a handle on the fact that they spend that kind of time on Bible study when we're upset with one hour on Sunday."