Ok, another link post. Seems like all I have been writing here lately, other than my weekly church article, is about other people’s posts. I’m going through a quite a transition right now in my own faith and ministry journey. I know many great things will come from my own mouth soon, but until then, another link post.

This blog post from Out of Ur hits the nail on the head, at least from my perspective. It’s called “Great Is Thy Effectiveness: There’s danger in rooting our identity in ministry rather than in Christ.” It is especially true when one realizes that it is more than church members expecting membership increases, but indeed entire denominational systems unconsciously bent on it. Especially striking in the article are the examples from Jesus’ ministry. Check it out.

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2008/08/great_is_thy_ef.html

I just stumbled on the very first article I’ve ever read from a United Methodist with “Reverend” in front of their name who actually “gets it” (found via the North Alabama Conference’s Young Clergy blog.) A good 95% of this article had me cheering and making me felt called to action. I recommend it to anyone to read:

Why we are losing ground with young adults…

I have to admit that when I saw the title of the article I almost didn’t read it simply because I’ve been hurt too many times by such articles. After it was over I could literally feel my spirits going from high to low– I still don’t see any way the United Methodist denomination can actually change its culture in any reasonable amount of time, if at all. But I have to say I really really needed those five seconds of hope.

As the Associate Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS, I write a weekly article for the newsletter article. I invite both members of the church and other visitors to my blog to share their thoughts!

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Are there any Christians in your life you disagree with?  In my experience, Christians who think differently from one another have a tendency either to avoid one another or to try to “convert” one another.

But doesn’t Christ call us to love one another?

The United Methodist Church is a truly interesting group of people.  There are conservative evangelicals and far-left liberals who all call themselves “United Methodists.”  (Did you know that George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton are both United Methodists?)  We don’t always get along like we should, but at the end of the day we all love God and claim the amazing act of Christ’s death and resurrection for our faith.

I think we all find ourselves around a Christian we disagree with from time to time– maybe a family member or a coworker or other friend.  What do you do in a case like that?  Do you avoid the topic of religion?  Do you assume a superior attitude?  Or do you simply love them?

This topic is nothing new…  Christians have thought differently from one another since the beginning of religion itself.  But that doesn’t change God’s love– I don’t believe God cares nearly as much about the details of our belief as he does about how much we love God and neighbor.

This Sunday I am going to preach my own version of one of John Wesley’s (our denomination’s founder) most famous sermons on this very topic.  If you’d like to check out Wesley’s version ahead of time, you’ll find a web link on my blog, http://ministrygeek.net.  Your thoughts and questions are always welcome.

Here is the link to Wesley’s “Catholic Spirit” (remeber that he’s using the word “catholic” to mean “universal,” not to refer to the Roman Catholic Church.)

I have been reading many bogs in the past week about General Conference, the national body of the United Methodist Church that meets every four years– big stuff.  Blogs are a fantastic way to get news from afar.  Many are less than objective, of course, but you get a rich kind of overall picture that traditional journalism simply can’t grasp.  There was one post I read today from a member of our own dlegation, Mark Conard.  Check it out; I’m seriously honored to be serving literally just down the road from him in Hutchinson.

http://www.7villages.com/post.asp?p=42977&i=1353

As the Associate Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS, I write a weekly article for the newsletter article. I invite both members of the church and other visitors to my blog to share their thoughts!

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Pat has talked about the upcoming international gathering of United Methodists known as General Conference.  It happens only every four years, and it is where we as a denomination set our course, determine our priorities, and take care of our business.  Of the eight delegates from the western two thirds of Kansas, two are from our church, Pat Ault-Duell and Kim Moore.  By the time you read this, they will be in Forth Worth, TX engaged in this important work.

Many people have attended United Methodists churches for some time, yet have never heard the term we use to describe how our churches and people relate to one another: connectionalism.  We don’t see ourselves as individual churches minding our own business.  Instead, we strive to have a rich connection between every church and among all our denominational organizations.  The result is that many diverse resources and viewpoints are brought together and we all end up being closer to God for it.

I think this is a wonderful concept, and a good example for how we should live our lives.  For the next two Sundays while Kim and Pat are away doing this work on the national level, we are going to explore what it means for our “everyday lives” here.

I also plan to bring up any major issues from General Conference and talk about anything that makes the national news—it’s part of who we are as a church, and it’s important to be informed.  If you want to stay updated through the week, visit http://umc.org.  As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on my blog, http://ministrygeek.net.

As the Associate Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS, I write a weekly article for the newsletter article. I invite both members of the church and other visitors to my blog to share their thoughts!

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The past few weeks, Pat and I have been joining some incoming members of our church in conversation about who we are as United Methodists.  In the past decade or two there has been a resurgence of interest in John Wesley and in what makes the United Methodist tradition different from others.

So what makes a United Methodist?  That’s way too big of a topic to go into here…  We agree with most Christians on most of what we believe, things like Jesus and the resurrection or how God works in the world.  The differences are in what we choose to emphasize.  For instance, we emphasize the fact that God is working in people’s hearts and lives even before they are aware of it.  We also emphasize that it is God’s grace that saves us—but that grace continues to work in us afterwards, too, making us a better person.

We also emphasize that faith isn’t just something that happens in a church building—faith is something we live out in every day of our lives.  John Wesley wasn’t happy just preaching to the people who came to church every Sunday; he realized that the people that really needed to feel God’s love were the ones who weren’t there.  And so he took the gospel out to the coal miners and the field workers.  Talking about this made me wonder if maybe that isn’t a lesson we need to learn again today.

If you’re interested in learning more about Methodism; I’d be happy to talk your ear off sometime.  Or, there are some great resources on the internet.   It’s hard to print long web links in the newsletter, so if you find this article on my blog, http://ministrygeek.net, I will add some good links there.  May you experience ALL types of God’s grace this week!

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Here are the links:

For more on United Methodists beliefs…

For more on United Methodist history…

For more on how we are organized…

As the Associate Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS, I write a weekly article for the newsletter article. I invite both members of the church and other visitors to my blog to share their thoughts!

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A short while before Easter, my wife got the call from our District Superintendent, Rick Saylor, saying he had found a church for her to serve in the Hutchinson District. Since we are both graduating from Seminary this Spring, we knew she would be moving, but now we know where: she will be the pastor of Stafford United Methodist Church, about 40 miles to our west. I will of course be continuing here at Trinity, but changing to full time status once I graduate (I can’t wait!)

The life of a United Methodist pastor is a bit nomadic—we expect to move every several years, but are always aware that we COULD be moved even when we don’t expect it. It can be a bit of a nail biter for “clergy couples” especially, for fear that the two churches might be far apart.

I love Trinity, and will be glad to have more energy to devote to it. Stafford seems like a wonderful community, and Amy and the church fit each other well. We will be living in the parsonage in Stafford and I will drive into Hutch daily—I was wondering what I would do with myself once my weekly commutes to Kansas City were over!
Officially it’s the Bishop and District Superintendents who make the decisions about appointments, but there is no doubt in my mind that God is ultimately behind which pastor ends up where!

I welcome your comments on http://ministrygeek.net.