Where We Stand Post-General Conference 2019

Friends, I have written and rewritten several times this summary of General Conference.  I am too close to it to properly process it for now.  There are, as we suspected, more questions than answers coming out of the special session.  We can address the details at another time. But for now, I want to give you a general update on where our church stands:

EVERYONE IS WELCOME at Kenton First United Methodist Church.  Everyone is a child of God, a beloved creation, and a person of sacred worth.  We welcome everyone, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender identification, sexuality, socio-economic class, and any other factor.  That has never been, never is, and will never be up for debate.

WE ARE A COVENANT PEOPLE.  Our covenant for our church is the Book of Discipline.  Even when we disagree personally with our covenant, we live into our covenant.  Even when everyone else abandons our covenant, we still live with integrity.

WE UPHOLD THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE’s view that we do not ordain self-avowed homosexuals, nor do our clergy officiate same-sex weddings.  We uphold the teaching of the United Methodist Church that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings.

WE ARE DIVIDED on this issue.  We are divided on many issues in our church.  We recognize that loving, faithful people of God may disagree.  We refuse to become enemies, and let these divisions tear us apart.

WE ARE UNITED in our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  We are united in our ministry in Hardin County.  We are united in the historic faith of the Nicene and Apostle’s Creeds.

WE LIVE WITH INTEGRITY.  We live in a covenant as United Methodists.  As long as we continue to be in that covenant, we live into it fully to the best of our ability.  There may come a day when we can no longer, in good conscience, continue to live within the covenant of the Book of Discipline.  I cannot tell the future.  If that day ever comes, we will discuss how to leave our covenant.  That process will be completely transparent, and accomplished in full discussion with our District Superintendent and Bishop.  However, as long as we live in this covenant as United Methodists, we strive to live into it fully, and reject any attempts to break that covenant.  Let our integrity as a church never come into question.

WE TREAT EACH OTHER WITH LOVE AND GRACE IN ALL THINGS.  Even when we disagree, we will strive to treat each other with the love and grace that God gives to us.

This is our church. - PJ

As General Conference Begins

This weekend, a special session of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church meets to discuss proposals for the future of the church.  As we have discussed at Kenton First, our disagreements, while accentuated by issues of sexuality, go much further than those issues.  While no one can see the future, it certainly looks more and more likely that whatever is decided or not decided at GC, the United Methodist Church as we know it will likely face some sort of split or schism.

For me, the United Methodist Church is not just a name on a building.  My grandfather was a United Methodist pastor.  His twin sister and her husband were United Methodist pastors.  My father is a United Methodist pastor.  My brother-in-law is a United Methodist pastor.  I was baptized in the United Methodist Church.  Through the connections in the United Methodist Church, I found the Caleb’s Men group that developed me as a disciple of Christ.  When I felt the call to ordained ministry, I considered other paths, but knew that my calling was in the United Methodist Church.  I fell in love with John Wesley’s standard sermons.  I still hold in my office a list that tracks my ordination back to John Wesley.  As much as the United Methodist Church can frustrate and anger me, I am 100% committed to the United Methodist Church that ordained me and set me apart for vocational ministry.

As I look to the future and know that the church I am committed to may not exist in the next few years, I am absolutely devastated.  It pains me that I see scenarios where I may have to choose a future down another path or in another denomination.  I fear that the church I love to serve, Kenton First United Methodist Church, may not see its future down that same path that I see mine.  The possibilities that may arise are painful, frightening, and daunting, to say the least.

At the same time, this is a glorious reminder that this path has never been about me.

Nor is it about you.

This has always been about God.  God created us.  God calls us into relationship with God.  God created the church and called it to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

When people approach me and complain that worship is not the way they prefer, I often try to gently remind them that worship is not about them.  When people complain the church is not doing enough to serve them, I try to gently remind them that it has never been the mission of the church to serve them.  It has always been the mission of the church to make disciples of Jesus Christ (for the transformation of the world).  That means that sometimes we sacrifice our favorite worship, our favorite programs, our power and influence to serve God.  Because it is never about us, but about what God wants to do in us and through us.

Perhaps in the midst of this conflict of General Conference, God is gently reminding me that this church has never been about me.

In all of this conflict, we can remember that it is not about us.  It has never been about us.  While decisions beyond our control may bring the United Methodist Church into conflict, it remains not about us.  It remains about what God wants to do in us and through us.

In the months to come, there may be pain and difficulties.  Things may not go as we like.  But remember—it has never been the mission of Kenton First United Methodist Church to serve us, make us happy, and increase our comfort.  It remains the mission of the church—no matter what name may be on the sign—to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The Way of the Warrior Review

(Disclosure:  I received a free early review copy from the publisher as part of their launch team).

The Way of the Warrior:  an Ancient Path to Inner Peace by Erwin McManus, available February 26, 2019

4.5/5.0 Definitely worth a buy, read, and spot on your shelf

Okay, I fully admit:  I am over the trend of "maximum masculinity" Christianity.  You know, the type of Christianity that tries too hard to appeal to American males.  I am also over the trend of looking to pseudo-spiritual places for inspiration about our faith.  So, even though I like McManus and his writing, I was a tad bit skeptical about this book when it arrived in my mailbox.

I need not be.  McManus writes a focused, fantastic book giving life-guiding principles.  It is not focused on men (although certainly the appeal to men is obvious).  It takes some inspiration from samurai and other places, but it is thoroughly seeped in scripture and faith.

McManus outlines the path to peace.  We are a people of war.  We often erupt into violence.  The way of peace is not to avoid war.  But to realize that the real battle is within one's self.  This is the crux of McManus' thesis--to be people of peace, we need to fight the war within.

McManus lays out eight principles that follow from there.  The way of the warrior is not to avoid battles, but to choose the battles that are worth fighting (notice I said "fighting," not "winning").  The way of the warrior is to stand in our fears, face our pain, take ownership for our lives.  The way of the warrior is to realize we cannot control the world, but we can control ourselves.

McManus calls readers not to a life of ease, but to a life worth living.  The life that God truly calls us to.

I could break down more of McManus' way of the warrior, but instead, I want to offer a personal anecdote.  My daughter is terrified of learning to swim.  Her first swim lesson was yesterday.  As we were waiting for her brother's swim lesson to end, she was visibly nervous, shaking, and doing anything she could think to try to find a way out of her lesson.  She saw I had this book (I had maybe ten pages or so left to finish).  She asked about it, and I told her about the way of the warrior.  The way of the warrior is not to avoid fear, but to stand and face our fears.  We talked about the way of the warrior, and even read a little from the relevant chapter.  We worked on our "warrior face" that we will use when we face our fears (McManus does not explore warrior faces.  Maybe for the sequel?).  When it was her turn, she turned to me, and said, "I am a warrior!"  And she slowly took her first steps into the pool.

This book is worth a buy, and worth a spot on your crowded shelf.  As for my family, we are together learning the way of the warrior, to find inner peace, and discover a life worth living.