We had people join officially as members of Good Shepherd United Methodist last night.

That's right.  On a Wednesday night and not on a Sunday morning.  Here's what it looked like . . .


 . . .  and here's what happened:

We wanted to give people a tangible way to respond to the first message in Not A Fan, an October 13 sermon that explained how Jesus doesn't want you to admire him.  He wants you to pursue him.

And we hit on a great way for people to pursue:  Reveal, a six week "Bible for the rest of us" class led by master teacher & Good Shepherd member James-Michael Smith.  So over seventy people signed up on that Sunday and have been spending their Wednesday nights sitting under James-Michael's teaching ever since.  I blogged about the launched here.

The challenge came with the church calendar.  I hadn't offered a Next Step membership class since August, we kept getting requests about "joining," and yet we didn't want to clutter up people's schedule with one more obligation.  Nor did we want to take the focus off of Reveal.

So we decided:  since people are digging deep for six Wednesdays into the library we call the bible, isn't that a pretty good indication of their commitment to a living relationship with Jesus Christ? 

We may have to circle back around to some of those Methodist essentials like the appointment system, our Social Principles, & paying apportionments -- though let's remember that when the thief on the cross asked Jesus to "remember me in your kingdom" the Lord did not ask in return, "did you pay your full apportionment?"

So eighteen people (who had completed their membership packet and signed a membership covenant) stood up last night and answered these questions in the affirmative:

Do you declare that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?

Do you desire to pursue a living relationship with Jesus Christ?

Will you be loyal to Good Shepherd United Methodist Church and support it with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service?

On a Wednesday and not a Sunday.  In a large LifeGroup and not in a Worship Gathering.

Just don't tell anyone.





 

The Methodist blogosphere is roiling these days with a bishop receiving reprimand, pastors standing trial, and opinions going viral.

So given the headiness and heaviness of this week, I couldn't resist taking a step back from all the maneuvering and posturing to let readers know five things about the United Methodist Church they may not have known before. 

I hope most of you will learn at least one new thing from what I discuss below.  If so, count yourself better prepared for your Judgment Day conversation with  Jesus, which I'm quite sure will focus almost exclusively on how well you know your own denomination.

If you've known all five, and this is merely a review, consider yourself even better prepared for that final exam. 


1.  We are historically linked to some of the most prestigious universities in the country.  Duke, Emory, Northwestern, and SMU were all founded by Methodist people and retain Methodist ties.  In fact, all four of those universities have a United Methodist school of theology on campus.  Little-known fact:  the reason SMU exists is because the Methodists "lost" Vanderbilt around the turn of the 20th century.  Vanderbilt, too, was started by Methodist people yet its trustees wrestled it away from the mother ship in pursuit of a less sectarian university.  In response, the Methodists zeroed in on Dallas, bought the land, and to make sure no one ever mistook what the new place was all about, named the school Southern METHODIST University.  Second & third little known facts: my dad taught law at SMU for 31 years . . . and my daughter graduated from Vanderbilt in 2011.

2.  We have a history of breaking up & making up & . . . .  Officially, the United Methodist Church became a denomination in 1968.  Previous iterations included the Methodist Church, the Methodist Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church (South), and the Evangelical United Brethren among others.  Break-up throughout our history have had to do with slavery, regionalism, the role of women in ministry, and the power of bishops to direct the church.  In 1968 the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren (a small denomination located primarily in the Upper Midwest) to form the United Methodist Church.  Another little-known fact:  Student & Family Pastor Devin Tharp came to us from Evangelical United Methodist Church, the largest UMC in Wisconsin and itself a former EUB church (hence, the name).   


3.  We deploy and assign pastors based on a model started in horse-and-buggy days.  Historically, Methodist pastors are appointed and not hired; they typically stay at a church for 4-5 years, and then move on to another congregation.  Local churches, then, have a series of short-tenured leaders.  Experience has shown that this system results in unstable churches and dysfunctional clergy families -- other than that, it's a great idea!  Fortunately, the UMC in the 21st century is moving towards a system based on longer appointments, especially in churches that grow large.

4.  We are in a period of marked decline in the U.S. and rapid growth in Africa.  When the United Methodist Church came to be in 1968, there were 11 million members.  Today, that number has dropped to just under eight million.  Meanwhile, Methodists in Africa have grown rapidly in number and in influence.  That moving center of power has everything to do with the current debates around homosexuality, as African Methodists tend to have a much more traditional understanding of what constitutes biblical sexual morality than do their American counterparts.  (As most of you know, I line up with the African perspective on this issue.)

5.  Speaking of homosexuality, we are the only "mainline" denomination to retain an official teaching that same-sex intercourse is incompatible with Christian teaching.  The Presbyterian Church (USA), the Lutheran Church (ELCA), the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ have all . . . a) capitulated or b) advanced (depending on your point of view) on this issue.  Why have United Methodists so far retained what other denominations have abandoned?  See #4 above: the power of the voting bloc from our African brothers and sisters.   

6.  Methodism "out West" and "up North" is much different than that which is in the South.  The theology of the UMC west of the Great Plains and north of the Mason Dixie line is much more left-leaning than here in the south.  In fact, it's very likely that given my understanding of biblical inspiration, human sexuality, and even the way we refer to God, that the Methodists in those places would not ordain me.  My favorite story about all this:  in the late 80s a young pastor from Colorado was attempting to become ordained in the UMC in that state.  However, when he told those evaluating him for ordained ministry that he referred to God as Father (sort of like you-know-who did), his ordination board refused his application.  He ended up applying to our Annual Conference (called the Western North Carolina Annual Conference), receiving ordination, subsequently winning the Harry Denman Award for effective pastoring, and currently leads one of our largest churches.  And he still calls God Father.  Thank you Colorado!

 

Here's our current Radical Impact Project:  we want to fill this truck with Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

In 2012, our goal was 2,000 shoe boxes.  The people of Good Shepherd brought back 2,800.  So much for goals.

So this year, we want to go beyond that 2,800 and into the truck.  It's another of the concrete, tangible ways we have give people to respond to the Not A Fan series. 

The good news is that on November 10 we gave out 2,000 boxes and then yesterday we distributed 400 more.  They just need to come back this coming Sunday, November 24.

So to remind people of what we are doing and to help the project's momentum go viral, we asked the people of the church to put a hashtag on all their social media this week:


#FillATruck


The hashtag was making an impact in the Twitterverse yesterday.

But that's nothing compared to the impact the people of the church will make when their gifts of love make it into little hands of need.

You too?

The natural tendency to worry makes Jesus' command "Do not worry" all that much more infuriating.  How dare he forbid us from doing this thing at which most of us excel?

Dealing with that dilemma is why I'm looking forward to this Sunday so much.

We'll have choir, celebrate babies, and then have the context of Matthew 6 give us a fresh word.

Can't wait.

Sunday.

8:30.  10.  11:30.