I spent three days in Ohio last week at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church’s Change The World Conference. I went as part of the Reynolds Leadership Program which sends 25 pastors from North Carolina to various training events four times per year.
Ginghamsburg is a Methodist miracle. When Michael Slaughter became the senior pastor there in 1979, it averaged 90 people in worship & met in a two room church building. Today, with Slaughter still at the helm, it hosts about 4400 people per weekend meeting in sites throughout the Dayton area. It has long been known for innovation in worship, commitment to small groups, and a focused ministry with and for people on the margins of society.
These days, Slaughter serves as more prophet than pastor; more agitator than chaplain. Because of that, he and his team of speakers delivered some memorable — and provocative — one liners. Here are five of my favorite:
1. The church’s job is to bring the resources of heaven down to earth, not to send disembodied souls to heaven.
2. If it’s not good news for the poor, it’s not good news.
3. You don’t have to scream Jesus if you do Jesus.
4. Stop asking ‘how many people do we get in?’ Start asking, ‘how many people who are in are we getting out (into the community)?’
5. If you don’t serve, you’ll feel uncomfortable in this church.
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Excellent Top Five! It appears to me that you and Michael Slaughter are on the same page. Number one gives me reason for personal pause, but two through five is what GS means to me. You lead us to those things day in and day out. Thanks for sharing! Hope you enjoyed Dayton, my hometown.
Thanks, Tom.
#1 reflects the often forgotten truth that eternal life from a biblical perspective is more about the resurrection of the body than the immortality of the soul.
It’s also a reaction against the self-centered gospel that many of us claim — we come to church and come to faith so that we’ll go to heaven when we die. Slaughter wants the faith to be more sacrificial than that.
Talbot,
I appreciate your clarification on number 1.
The punchy way people often say those ideas (like the one-liner in your post) often makes it sound as if eternal questions are not important to the church.
My read on it is that Christian faith is about pulling eternity (the kingdom) into the present, not ceasing to worry about the future.
Exactly.
I went to Ginghamsburg back in 2001 (with a contingent from MPUMC) and it was great. But I think what y’all have going there is pretty fantastic too… I really miss it, nothing with that exact mix of elements exists in STL (at least not in the 4-5 churches we’ve tried in the last year.) We’re looking for great music, great preaching that makes a point you remember and think about and want to apply in your life, lots of stuff for kids to do, and people who want to help people. Want to start a church plant 800 miles away?
hey talbot, this is a great list; it led me to look at my notes and i added….(1) the church needs to be fluid (2) simple organisms multiply more rapidly than complex ones and 3) someone’s prayer, which began, “O God, you are always giving us a new day”. I enjoyed hanging out with you there. blessings and peace, ken