Perceptions from a Pewboy

Dorothy was right, wasn’t she? There really is no place like home (a fact that becomes abundantly clear to me whenever I am called upon to spend some time far away from home).

First of all, allow me to go on record for the purpose of weighing in on the really important issue of the weekend:

“Iron Man” is a very well-made and entertaining film! Robert Downey Jr., no doubt channeling the gritty hardships of his troubled past, carries to the screen precisely the kind of charismatic intensity needed to bring roguish billionaire Tony Stark to life. The story is good without being unnecessarily cumbersome. The actors seem to be genuinely invested and engaged. The special effects are relentlessly impressive. And, if I may be completely honest, Iron Man’s armor is way cool.

If you see the film, don’t leave before the credits finish. That’s all I can say at this point.

Beyond my cinematic journey into the Marvel universe, I have also spent the weekend attempting to gain some perspective on my experience of General Conference. Here are some of my lingering reflections:

*There is a myriad of beautifully-gifted, abundantly creative, and impressively articulate souls in that portion of the church called United Methodism. The music, dancing, liturgy, and preaching that I experienced at General Conference were, by far, the richest portion of the entire experience for me.

*I’m really glad to be part of a denomination whose heritage has placed an emphasis upon BOTH personal piety AND social ministry and justice. Both points of emphasis regularly found expression in the work of the General Conference. A denomination that can, in the same breath, speak about both the centrality of prayer and the urgency of preventing malaria in Africa is doing something right.

*The pace and schedule of General Conference did not allow sufficient time for sleep, quiet reflection, and prayerful contemplation of the issues before us. It brought about an environment of weariness and frustration in which discernment was sometimes difficult to find. There must be a better way of streamlining petitions or altering our polity for the purpose of creating a more edifying experience of holy conferencing.

*It is impossible for a group of one thousand people to wordsmith legislation (although this fact does not prevent a number of people from trying).

*United Methodism is a truly global church, thanks be to God! In fact, the American United Methodist Church must now look to United Methodism in the African countries and Korea for guidance and leadership (since those are the places where United Methodism is flourishing). Hearing testimonies of the work of the church from some of the African and Korean delegates was nothing short of life-changing for me. God is powerfully at work in the denomination around the world.

*That said, I am brought to tears when I think about the decline of the United Methodist Church in America. In fact, one of the things that became clear to me at General Conference is that we plan our denominational budget assuming a continuing decline over the next quadrennium. Decline, in other words, is so much a part of the current American ecclesiastical ethos that we build it into our budgeting formula! I am wondering like never before why it is that we are missing what our African and Korean brothers and sisters seem to have found in abundance. Perhaps some of you have some ideas about this.

*We are a deeply divided denomination on a number of important levels. We are divided theologically (a division that becomes particularly clear when one compares the theological orthodoxy of our existing social creed to the praxis-oriented theology of the new litany that now accompanies the social creed). We are divided over the issue of homosexuality (which, of course, is an issue inseparably linked to differing interpretations of biblical authority and sexual purity, not to mention our church’s theology of marriage and ordination). We are divided in our ecclesiastical interpretation of the ministry of the General Church within United Methodism (with some seeing the General Boards and Agencies as being too liberal and too unfocused to redeem and others seeing them as one of the church’s best features). We are still divided by racism (which was made clear to me when I overheard a white delegate sitting behind me affirm his friend by saying “Thanks, friend, that was mighty white of you”). I do not highlight these divisions in order to convey as sense of pessimism. Too often, however, these divisions are ignored or sidestepped without being sufficiently named and owned. We may very well be able to stay at the table together (thanks to the unifying power of Jesus Christ), but genuine unity demands of us the hard work of acknowledging the specific divisions that can often break our hearts.

*The protest/witness offered by those in our denomination who are calling for the church to become more welcoming and affirming of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people was an important but painfully difficult thing to experience. I am grateful that our bishop (Tom Bickerton) came to pray with the delegation during those challenging moments.

*My personal opinion is that United Methodism needs a new hymnal like it needs a hole in the head. Unfortunately, I’m a part of the minority! The General Conference approved the creation of a new hymnal, to be published by 2013. I’m sure that I’ll be on board with it by then.

*General Conference officially changed the mission of our church from “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ” to “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.” There was very little theological reflection about this matter. I am in agreement with some of my fellow-bloggers that this is not a helpful expansion. Making disciples is a thoroughly biblical concept, while transforming the world is not. Nowhere in Scripture are we told that we are to transform the world. In fact, the clear witness of Scripture is that the primary purpose of the church is to BE the church, rather than to convince the world to behave differently. Social transformation, as I see it, is not the church’s mission, but rather a byproduct of the church’s mission. All of my thoughts on the matter are inconsequential, of course, since the new mission statement was adopted by a majority vote. So get out there and change the world (and don’t forget your iPhone). By the way, please understand that I am not cynical about this issue. I simply long for a deeper theological conversation before we change something as important as our church’s mission statement.

*At General Conference, my personal opinion is that inclusiveness is championed at the expense of personal holiness and transformation. When one preacher spoke of the idolatry of our “right thinking and doctrine,” applause and cheers were offered. In the next section of his sermon, when he spoke of the “idolatry of hospitality that eliminates the urgency of personal repentance and transformation,” the people responded with silence (a “cue the crickets” kind of silence, in fact). Inclusiveness, among many, has become the only ecclesiastical criterion that matters. I heard very few references made to rebirth and sanctification, and even fewer to radical and sacrificial obedience. Again, I am not cynical about this, nor am I attempting to get you to jump on my personal bandwagon. I am simply calling it as I saw it.

*At times, I was overcome with a sense of spiritual schizophrenia at General Conference as I attempted to figure out where I fit in to the current United Methodist configuration. I am certainly not a theological liberal (a phrase that I prefer over “theological progressive” because of its neutrality). Nor do I feel comfortable aligning myself with those conservatives who are eager to demonize the other side and who are absolutely convinced that they have everything figured out. So where does that put me? Maybe I’m an evangelical liberal…or a liberal evangelical…or a regressive progressive…or a bilabial fricative!!!!!!!!

*I wonder who has the highest I.Q.–Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Reed Richards, or Bruce Banner. I fear that many would eliminate Tony Stark too quickly from this competition because of his proclivities as a rapscallion. But give the guy some props, would you?! Creating that suit of armor is no small feat. Dr. Strange and The Martian Manhunter will have to judge the competition.

*Here’s my final thought, straight from our United Methodist liturgy: “The church is of God and will be preserved to the end of time…” I believe this with all of my heart. I simply wonder how it is and where it is that United Methodism will fit into the preserved Church.

I am grateful to all of you who blessed me with such kind and encouraging comments on this blog over the last couple of weeks. Your presence in my life means more to me than I could ever explain. Please be aware of my gratitude.

When things get confusing or tedious here at General Conference, I will occasionally turn to someone sitting next to me and whisper with a smile, “Remind me of something: It’s still all about Jesus, isn’t it?!”

Thus far, I have been assured that it is.

Most of my time during the last couple of days has been spent in my legislative section (Church and Society #1). In fact, it’s about 1:00 AM and I just arrived back at the hotel from our evening session. (By the way, the lack of sleep may impact my coherence and spelling at anny tiime!!)

The most substantive piece of legislation to come before my legislative section had to do with the recommendation of a new Social Creed for our denomination. In case some of you didn’t know that we have a Social Creed as United Methodists…well…we do! It was approved way back in 1908 and appears in our Book of Discipline (at the end of the Social Principles). The existing social creed is this:

We believe in God, Creator of the world; and in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of creation. We believe in the Holy Spirit, through whom we acknowledge God’s gifts, and we repent of our sin in misusing these gifts to idolatrous ends.

We affirm the natural world as God’s handiwork and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind.

We joyfully receive for ourselves and others the blessings of community, sexuality, marriage, and the family.

We commit ourselves to the rights of men, women, children, youth, young adults, the aging, and people with disabilities; to improvement of the quality of life; and to the rights and dignity of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.

We believe in the right and duty of persons to work for the glory of God and the good of themselves and others and in the protection of their welfare in so doing; in the rights to property as a trust from God, collective bargaining, and responsible consumption; and in the elimination of economic and social distress.

We dedicate ourselves to peace throughout the world, to the rule of justice and law among nations, and to individual freedom for all people of the world.

We believe in the present and final triumph of God’s Word in human affairs and gladly accept our commission to manifest the life of the gospel in the world. Amen.

Now, here is the proposed new social creed upon which my legislative section voted today:

Today is the day we accept that
God embraces all hues of humanity,
cares for the plight of the world’s children, and
weeps as we undo earth’s goodness,
And so shall we.

Today is the day we accept that
God values the health, healing, and wholeness of all life,
delights in difference and diversity, and
favors hospitality turning strangers into friends,
And so shall we.

Today is the day we accept that
God cries at the flood of starving people,
abhors the rapidly increasing disparity between rich and poor, and
yearns for the just treatment of workers in the marketplace.
And so shall we.

Today is the day we accept that
God deplores the violence in our homes and streets,
rebukes the world’s warring madness, and
humbles the powerful on behalf of the powerless,
And so shall we.

This proposed new social creed was overwhelmingly supported by my section (41-14). I was one of the ones who spoke against it. In the first place, it is written in litany form as a liturgical poem, and I am convinced that our social creed needs the precision of prose in this complicated and fragmented world. Furthermore, the theological claims in the proposed creed are much more vague (and we can ill afford such vagueness these days).

I won’t bore you with the rest of my arguments. Suffice it to say that, with all due respect to the beautiful giftedness of the new creed’s writers, I think the 1908 version is far more theologically holistic. We’ll see what the entire General Conference has to say about it as the days unfold.

OK, bedtime now. Worship is at 8:00 AM, followed by a day of work.

Pray for the soul (and body) of this weary pewboy!

So, in the assigned seat arrangement for General Conference, I am sitting between two lay delegates from Western Pennsylvania: Luella Krieger and Matt Johnson. It’s a pretty sweet place to be!

Matt, a seminarian at Asbury and no stranger to our little blogland, is the chair of Western Pennsylvania’s delegation. He has worked very hard to make certain that our delegation is doing everything that it needs to be doing. I am grateful for his faithful ministry among us. You’ll be pleased to know that Matt’s twisted sense of humor provides frequent comic relief to the humble pewboy sitting beside him!

This morning’s worship service was powerful. Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher preached a wonderfully evocative sermon that celebrated the way in which Jesus Christ continues to transform lives around the globe through that peculiar portion of the Church called United Methodism. In what I found to be a particularly prophetic moment, Bishop Christopher told the Conference that, “for God’s sake, we must threaten the world with Resurrection.” Her use of the word “threaten,” of course, was not an expression of spiritual violence. Rather, it was an acknowledgement of the fact that resurrection will always be a threat to a world addicted to death. Good stuff.

After worship today, we heard from four of United Methodism’s General Secretaries: Bishop Felton May (Interim General Secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries), Larry Hollon (General Secretary of United Methodist Communications), Jerome King Del Pino (General Secretary of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry), and Karen Greenwaldt (General Secretary of the General Board of Discipleship). These four remarkably articulate leaders presented 4 foci that have emerged from a season of prayerful discernment among the leadership of the general church. It is hoped that these 4 points of focus will become an unprecedented opportunity for the United Methodist Church to embody our heritage and manifest profound unity in ministry. The four points of focus are essentially these:
1) Engaging in ministry with the poor
2) Creating new places for new people and renewing existing congregations
3) Stamping out diseases of poverty by improving health globally
4) Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.

Already, I am thinking about how these points of focus might impact the people of Central Highlands Church (the church that I am blessed to serve). Think and pray with me, people of Central Highlands! How might we be more intentional about engaging in ministry with the poor? Or how might we create a new community of faith? Or raise up new leaders? Or do something radical in the pursuit of global health? I’d love to hear some of your thoughts.

Later in the morning today, we heard the first ever “Young Person’s Address” at General Conference. It was a creative time of vision-casting led by several beautifully-gifted young people from across the United Methodist connection. A Russian woman named Kira Volkova spoke of the hardship of being a United Methodist Christ-follower in a post-communist culture that has been saturated with an ethos of atheism. Rebecca Farnum, a young woman from the West Michigan Annual Conference, dared to ask us who the “Samaritans” are in our lives that we are being called upon to love and embrace. Andrew Craig, from the Rocky Mount Annual Conference, spoke to us of the transforming unity that is to be found at the Eucharistic table. Jason Rathod, from the Nebraska Annual Conference, highlighted the dangers of both conservative and liberal fundamentalism. And Rev. Annie Arnoldy, a young pastor from the Rocky Mount Annual Conference, challenged us to commit ourselves to risky community with Jesus Christ at the center.

It was such an inspiration to be in the presence of such visionary disciples. And not one of them was over 27!

Our day concluded with the beginning of our work in our legislative sections. I am in the section called Church and Society #1. In our section, our task is to study and perfect the recommended legislation concerning the church’s relationship with the larger society. Our section will be looking at some 218 pieces of proposed legislation. The legislation is divided into the following categories:
1. Economic and worker justice (For example, what will our church’s position be on the issues of minimum wage and fair working conditions?)

2. Environmental Justice (Should the church care about things like global warming? And what should we say and do about it?)

3. Restorative/Criminal Justice (Think “death penalty” on this one.)

4. International Human Rights/Immigration (How will the United Methodist Church speak to the issue of immigration and the laws surrounding that issue?)

5. War and Peace (Enough said, I suppose.)

6. General (Every other piece of proposed church and society legislation that doesn’t fit into any of the other categories.)

Tonight, I spent three hours in my section (from 8:00 until 11:00) as we organized ourselves to approach the work that is before us. Tomorrow, we will spend the better portion of the day in our legislative sections.

If you are a United Methodist pastor or layperson in Western Pennsylvania, you would be very proud of the members of your delegation. They are working extraordinarily hard and representing their conference with great devotion and integrity. I am honored to be serving with them in this capacity.

My bed is calling out to me. Unfortunately, I won’t be there for long!

I am grateful for the way in which many of you are staying connected to me through prayer. It means the world.

The 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas began in the only appropriate way—with the spirited worship of Almighty God.

The opening worship service was infused with an energy and vibrancy for which I will give the Holy Spirit credit. The liturgical dancing communicated a joy that demanded motion. The richness and diversity of the music enabled us to sing songs of praise in many different tongues. Bishop Janice Huie’s preaching became a conduit for a fresh understanding of hope. Hope, according to Bishop Huie, is not an anemic wishful thinking, but an anticipatory way of life in which Christ-followers expect Jesus to show up and do what he does best—namely, transform lives.

The congregation for the opening worship service numbered 6,500 (including 1000 delegates, all the bishops, and many guests). I realize that the authenticity and integrity of worship is never ultimately about numbers. I must admit, however, that there was something uniquely energizing and inspiring about hearing that many voices sing “And Are We Yet Alive?” Somehow, it’s easier to answer “yes” to that hymn’s question in such a large and robust congregation.

Following the opening worship service was the lengthy process of adopting the rules for the General Conference. I am grateful for those men and women and youth who are passionate about such matters of polity, especially since that is not a passion that I am able to generate personally. After much dialogue, we adopted the rules, thereby establishing the administrative framework in which we will be experiencing this time of holy conferencing. God’s blessings upon all those who worked very hard to bring the rules before us.

By the way, Rev. Alan Morrison (of the Western Pennsylvania Conference) has done an excellent job as the business manager for the General Conference. Given the fact that so many local hotels in the Fort Worth area are currently under major construction, Alan and his teams have done extraordinary work in bringing this event together. Alan made a wonderfully articulate presentation on the opening night of General Conference. Bless his heart, he even taught us how to use our electronic voting box. (Can you say “American Idol?!”)

I didn’t get back to my hotel until after midnight on that opening night. It was a short night’s rest, as I had to catch the shuttle at 6:30 this morning in order to make it to the Fort Worth Convention Center for the 8:00 morning worship service. More on that in the next entry.

Please keep praying for us.

Well, friends, I will be stepping outside of the land of blog for a little while. With just a couple of weeks remaining until the United Methodist General Conference, I will need to use all of my creative energy to complete my reading of all the proposed legislation; to ponder carefully the nature of all that is being proposed; and to pray my way into a condition of appropriate centeredness.

So, if you would like a visual, this is what I will look like for the next couple of weeks:

If you are so inclined, I would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for Western Pennsylvania’s delegation and for the entire General Conference. Pray that God’s transforming presence will manifest itself powerfully somewhere in the murky territory formed by legislative discernment and doctrinal debate. Most of all, pray that the Holy Spirit will operate redemptively through the work of the General Conference for the purpose of making the United Methodist Church a more vibrant and healthy portion of the Body of Christ. Thanks a million, in advance, for your prayers.

I’ll talk to you again soon. Until then, grace and peace.

For the benefit of those of you who are not particularly well-schooled in United Methodist polity, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church will meet in Fort Worth, Texas in April. Meeting every four years, the General Conference is the highest governing body in the United Methodist denomination and establishes the denomination’s Book of Discipline. I am honored to be one of Western Pennsylvania’s clergy delegates to the 2008 General Conference

Would you mind sharing with me your wisdom and insight concerning a petition to the General Conference from the General Board of Church and Society? The petition recommends a United Methodist divestment of all equity and debt holdings of a company called Caterpillar, Incorporated. According to the petition, Caterpillar produces and supplies bulldozers and other heavy equipment to the Israeli Defense Forces which, in turn, use the equipment for “the illegal destruction of Palestinian homes, orchards, and olive groves in the Occupied Territories and to clear Palestinian land for illegal Israeli settlements.”

The petition can be found here.

I don’t think that I have to remind you of how complex and complicated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is. People tend to align themselves rather passionately with one side or the other, often without a sufficient appreciation of the history and intricacy of the conflict. Not surprisingly, the above-mentioned petition has become one of the more controversial pieces of legislation in the pre-General Conference material. I have a unique interest in the petition because I have been assigned to the General Conference section that will be addressing the petition with particular focus and scrutiny.

Last week, I met with some members of the Pittsburgh Jewish Community who were interested in engaging in substantive dialogue about the petition and its implications. Hearing their viewpoints in the context of civil discourse was a helpful and informative experience for me. I can share more about their concerns as this blog conversation continues.

I have also had dialogue with people who have spent significant time with some Christ-followers in Palestine who have been on the receiving end of what they perceive to be Israeli aggression. They, of course, are much more receptive to this petition and its cause.

May I be so bold as to ask you to join me in this process of discernment? I would greatly appreciate hearing about your reaction to the petition and any additional insights or observations that you might wish to offer. I will be sharing some of my own thoughts as well.

Thanks, in advance, for your availability.