United Methodist of the Year!

Last week I posed the idea that the United Methodist Reporter should begin naming a United Methodist of the Year. We generated a little buzz of nominations from the blogosphere. Not sure they were all entirely serious but bloggers had some fun.

However, I did receive one very serious nomination from a UMR colleague. And following the example of Time magazine, which featured the computer for its 1982 "Person of the Year" cover - we’re stretching our definition of a "United Methodist" just a bit.

And the winners are….

Bishop Sally Dyck (Minnesota) and Bishop Scott Jones (Kansas.) But the real "United Methodist of the Year" is the relationship that these two bishops have forged in the past four years. We’re hoping it’ll serve as a role model for all of us, with General Conference 2008 coming up in just a few months.

When the two bishops were elected in 2004, they both realized that they’d be working together for the next 16 years. Each has differing views, politically and theologically -- Bishop Jones calls himself an "extreme centrist"  and Bishop Dyck would consider herself somewhat left of that center. But they also knew that they had a heck of a lot of respect for each other, and a passion for what the United Methodist Church is all about.

So they made a commitment to stay in dialogue, and they’ve done that in some fairly creative ways.

First, Bishop Jones accompanied Bishop Dyck to the 2005 conference of Reconciling Ministries Network.

"He agreed to go, even though this conference would not naturally be something he would attend," said Bishop Dyck. "It really changed my way of looking at everything. When you’re hosting someone, you want to make sure it’s a hospitable environment."

A few weeks later, the two bishops both attended a meeting of the Confessing Movement. This time, it was Bishop Jones who felt right at home - he was a keynote speaker.

In 2006, when the Good News board of directors invited Bishop Jones to speak, he said, "I’ll come if I can bring Sally Dyck with me." The pair spoke to the board in a private meeting and later at a public session.

Along these lines, the Unity Task Force of the Council of Bishops (on which both Jones and Dyck serve) is urging bishops to travel in pairs at General Conference as they walk around on the conference floor.

"The idea is to take somebody with you that people might be surprised to see you with," said Bishop Jones.

Now, my notes are a little mixed up, so I’m not sure whether it was Bishop Jones or Bishop Dyck who said this, but maybe it doesn’t matter: "We’re just two people. But given the opportunity, there are a lot of people who could do the same thing. When they start talking about the important things of the Christian faith, it’s those commonalities that matter."

Such a brilliant idea I wish I’d thought of it.

So, hear, hear, and congratulations to Bishops Dyck and Jones, whose friendship crossed so-called dividing lines to become our United Methodist of the Year. May we all learn from their story.

Now, let's start thinking of nominees for next year.

Comments

[Scott]

Okay, I admit I like this. But I had to chuckle as I read that Jones is "extreme center" and Dyck is "somewhat left of center".

Those two descriptions said so milquetoast. And so close together.

What would be even more radical (is that really as radical as UM's can get?) would be to say, "a right-wing fundamentalist Bishop from the North" got together with a "progressive Bishop and his life-partner from the South".

Now, *that* would be news!