Not long ago, I had a conversation with a fellow United Methodist pastor who reminded me that she had been on the denominational building committee which approved the final drawings for Good Shepherd’s current Worship Center.
(That’s denominational policy, by the way — and a good one, as it keeps checks and balances between congregation and connection.)
Considering that we opened our building in May of 2005, I figure this particular meeting my friend remembered took place in late 2003 or early 2004.
And her memories were tinged with some embarrassment. She reminded me that the committee wanted to make sure that our Worship Center was Methodist enough.
How do you make a worship space Methodist enough? With appropriately colored liturgical paraments, a baptismal font, and a communion table.
In other words, with symbols of the faith. All things that will one day pass away.
You know what I wish they’d told us to do to make sure our worship space and worship gatherings were sufficiently Methodist? You know what I kind of exhortations I wish they’d given me?
- Make sure you preach about prevenient grace and free will.
- Make sure you spread Scriptural holiness throughout the land.
- Make sure you remind people to flee the wrath to come.
- Make sure you offer them Christ.
- Make sure you plunge new converts into the waters of baptism.
- Make sure you teach on the Holy Spirit.
- Make sure you pray that Holy Spirit fills the people who come into that church.
- Make sure you have them leave that Worship Center and get into small groups.
- Make sure you have them sing ‘loud and long.’
That kind of denominational accountability, I believe, would have been more than “Methodist enough.”
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This is a brand question. And you are absolutely right that a set of tactics don’t make or even necessarily reflect a set of values. The problem in the UMC is that no one understands the brand anymore. I don’t have much reason to write about the UMC on my blog these days, but this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. The denomination would do well do reclaim their brand. And I have some thoughts about what that is. (But of course no audience to share them with – ha!)
Talbot,
I certainly agree the emphases of teaching you listed are critical to being Methodist, and probably more so than how the worship space is arranged.
At the same time, how space is arranged says a lot about our identify, too. We are a sacramental people, not a “scripture only” people, so the table and the font (or pool) do need to be prominent. As a church, we made some decisions about how the sacraments would be celebrated (the presider faces the people from behind the table, for example), and these have bearing on how space is arranged as well. We’ve also committed ourselves to the Christian Year in our Book of Worship, so it’s not unreasonable for our spaces to reflect that in some way.
What I wonder is what lay behind the question, “Will it be Methodist enough?” The reality is many megachurches are not Methodist at all in their theology or ritual practice. And in some of those spaces, the table and font are often literally wheeled onto the stage when they’re going to be used, but otherwise entirely invisible, leaving the impression (accurate in many of their cases) that the sacraments are “add-ons” and not intrisic in the gospel we proclaim. If the worship space you were considering would resemble such clearly non-Methodist spaces, it would be easy for me, at least, to see why the question would arise, and maybe even should arise.
I wonder if some deeper questions lay behind her initial question. “Are you one of us?” “Are you going to lead people to leave us and become something else?” And perhaps behind that, “Can we trust you?”
Perhaps what you and she have discovered in the ensuing years is more about these questions than the arrangement of the worship space.
Thank you, Taylor. The UMC was roiled up in 03 quite like now, but you may be on to something.
In our frontier days, were we a “sacramental people”? Sometimes I wonder if the question “which Methodist history resonates most with you?” is behind some of the different ways you and I see the world. I read about the camp meetings & revivalistic spirit of the 1800s and think, “that’s what I want for modern American Methodism.” I could be oversimplifying but thought it was worth asking.
Hi Talbot,
I love the revivalistic spirit / evangelistic zeal part of our history. I would say that historically, the Methodists have also very much been a sacramental people, though some of the particulars of our history may make it appear otherwise. The lack of ordained clergy (back then, you had to be ordained to administer the sacraments) made sacramental celebration more rare — but of greatest significance when it happened. Stories of people rushing the table when they were actually able to take communion. I think most of those early Methodists would be shocked at the low regard for the sacraments in many of our churches today. And, of course, Wesley’s “Duty of Constant Communion” shows the same high regard.
The beauty of Methodist history, to me, is the combination of sacramental, evangelical and charismatic.
And if we really want to ask if it’s Methodist enough, it would be good to consider this:
“It shall be the duty of every preacher belonging to this conference to use his influence against constructing expensive meeting houses” (1816 New England Conference of the Methodist Church).
and this:
“Let all our chapels be built plain and decent; but not more expensive than is absolutely unavoidable: otherwise the necessity of raising money will make rich men necessary to us. But if so, we must be dependent upon them, yea; and governed by them. And then farewell to the Methodist discipline, if not doctrine too” (First American Methodist Discipline).
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Talbot,
Great word!
Blessings,
Joe MacLaren
This is a great piece Talbot. I also think that you are on to something really important when in your response to TBE, you reference “which Methodist history resonates with you most”. I do enjoy some aspects of a more liturgical worship, and I value the sacramental nature of baptism and communion. Yet, I also value the evangelical spirit and emphasis on the sanctifying and empowering work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We can be a people of the liturgy as well as the primal shout and ecstatic joy of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Good stuff!
Jdg