Pastor’s Blog

“Igining Leaders for a New Century,” A Miracle in the Making?

Many people have been asking and I am finally breaking down and telling y’all how we did Sunday.  Sunday was commitment Sunday for “Igniting Leaders for a New Century.”  It has been an unqualified success to work together on our three pronged campaign.  1)  Eliminate the 1.2 million dollar deficit left from the building project in 1998  2) Empower current leaders and ministries  3)  Envision God’s work to be done through Pleasant Valley in the coming years.

The first part of our commitment has been to work toward the financial commitment to these goals.  This Sunday, we amassed $901,000.00 worth of commitments from 91 individuals and families.  Wow!  That is a great number and it is one that we can truly see God at work in the midst of it.  I know that behind that number is a lot of prayer, a lot of faith and a lot of sacrifice that will go into the campaign in the coming three years. 

Now, the other part of this is that 91 individuals and families makes up roughly 1/3 of the people in the congregation.  That is exciting because we know that there are individuals who have been out of town or have not been able to get there card to us for some reason.  I believe the 1.2 deficit’s elimination is within reach and we only need to have the faith that God will provide the means to get there!

This is a great moment in the life of our congregation and we have further to go.  But, this is a time we can celebrate and give thanks for how God has already blessed us.  Great job, PV!  You are one in a million and, I believe, we are moving closer and closer to a miracle right here at 27th and Amidon!

We ARE Igniting!

A “W” for United Methodism?

I got back from General Conference and was asked by my Staff Parish Chair whether or not we had garnered a “W” for United Methodism.  A “win” that is!  It is a good question and one that I had not thought of myself but in the end, isn’t that the most important thing.  The only thing I could think of is both, yes and no.  How’s that for middle of the road?

How did we lose or place obstacles in front of ourselves for the next four years?  The issue that is the most divisive, homosexuality, will continue to be a lightning rod for many people on both the more liberal and the more conservative ends of the spectrum.  Their tugging at each other makes many of us feel as though there are only two places in which one can stand.  It is creating a deep seated anxiety in the denomination that has far reaching affects and creates a distraction from other meaningful conversation to happen.  Don’t get me wrong, we need to talk about the issue and any issue for that matter, but we need to find some solid footing in order to move forward.  Whatever that means.

Another loss was the lack of time to be in fellowship with folks.  The reality is that there are a thousand people from all over the world (really!!) and if you have ten or eleven days to get the work done then you spend that time as wisely as possible.  However, rather than working, literally, everyday for 10 to 15 hours a day I would recommend, if they were listening to me, that we have a day in the middle (Sunday) to go and worship among the natives depending on where we are.  I think it would have enriched the experience of many of us to worship around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area Sunday with many of our international friends.  Really, I can see it either way.  However, as a denomination we are declining in worship attendance every year and it doesn’t set a very high standard if we put church business over being about the business of being God’s church in worship!

How did we win?  Well, a couple of ways.  First of all, I am excited about the Four Areas of Focus for our denomination.  I am a focus kind of person.  It always helps me to have something out front to work on and shoot for so I don’t have a problem with this. 

The Four Areas of Focus are: 1)  Developing Principled Christian Leader for the Church and the World  2)  New Places for New People and Renewing Existing Congregations  3)  Engaging in Ministry with the Poor  4)  Stamping out Killer Diseases of Poverty by Improving Health Globally.  These are exciting possibilities to me.  When we have a common focus we are powerful in doing God’s work.  When we are not, well then, we are not.

One way to show how powerful we can be.  You can be proud that the Kansas Area Delegates were led by our Bishop Scott Jones and his spouse, Mary Lou Reece, in challenging the whole General Conference to bid on a basketball signed by the Bishops for the Nothing But Nets Campaign.  We all wore Kansas University Championship shirts (a challenge for me but I am a team player, always) on the same day and made the challenge to the conferrence.  We put up an initial bid of $420.00.  By the end of the conferrence we had raised $470,000.00 to put toward the “Nothing But Nets” campaign.  That is not a typo, that is really how much we raised and it all started with our piddly bid to try to raise a few thousand dollars.  One of the Ohio conferences pitched in an $80,000 bid which was matched by Bill Gates, Sr., who had been there earlier in the week to talk about partnering with the UMC on our Global Health Initiative.  It was a fun thing to do about something that is completely and deadly serious.  I believe a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria in Africa.  At $10 a net, how can we not dig in our pockets to buy and net and save a child.

The biggest win of all for me was getting home to be with Brenda and the boys.  It was a long time to go without seeing family.  I am glad to be home and glad for the prayers and support that came from PV and other friends.

A Big Tent Church…maybe not quite so big

April 30 was a day for the books at General Conference 2008.  It will be the day remembered for many people’s hopes for the United Methodist Church perhaps taking a kinder, gentler stance on the issue of homosexuality.  Key wording in the social principles of the church was left without change stating that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings.  It left many who had come in hopes of seeing and supporting the softening of the stance in tears and deeply hurt by the decision.

I am someone who stays in and believes in the United Methodist Church because it seeks to keep a broad spectrum of folks at the table with liberal, conservative and centrist theologies.  Today was not a satisfying day.  I don’t think and I don’t know whether or not the decisions today made the denomination more effective in their witness across the earth!  I do know that there is a sense in which our church seemed to weaken itself with once again haggling over this issue only to come back to right where we were before we got here.  I can’t imagine what it must sound like to others outside the church; if they are even listening.

The tent is big, but is it big enough for everyone and any human situation the church is called to confront.  Our humanness was on full view today and what we did was define our tomorrow.  We are not strong enough to make the tent bigger.

A word of hope came through a presentation on Africa University in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe.  We were blessed with words from the chief development officer, vice chancellor and a professor.  The travelling version of the Africa University choir was also there.  They were phenomenal and provided a performance during the noon hour as well.  Africa University continues to be debt free and continues to provide a superp education in the midst of difficult condions in Zimbabwe as well as the whole continent.

Of interest is the Center for Leadership and Peace that is a vision to bring a new kind of leader to the African Continent.  A type of leader that will diliberate at a table with others rather than coax others at the end of the barrell of a gun.  I went to Zimbabwe almost two years ago now and I am always proud to see what the reports on their success.  It isn’t a world that we U.S.’ers understand easily but it is a necessity that it continue to be a place of focus and a place of hope for our denomination while we suffer the slings and arrows of our more domestic homefront issues we don’t seem to agree on, ever.  AU is a mission for which we all can gather around the table and under the big tent.  Thanks be to God!

We also received presentations from United Methodist Men, systemic racism and others.  It was a trying and tiring day and I am thankful we have colleagues here to talk about this stuff.

I’m going to try some sleep.  I’ll try again tomorrow.  No pictures today…nothing notable.  UMC.org has great pictures everyday.  Check out Kansas East Delegate, Eduardo Bousson’s blog.  He is doing short video clips that are pretty cool.  Enjoy.

Bishop Bruce Blake helped out the sitting Bishop who was leading the plenary tonight.  PV folks would be interested in that!

Trying to hit a homerun everyday

This is every conference and every commission’s opportunity to get their ministry and or their funding ensured for the next quadrennium (the next four years). Every one of these entities is important and has value, they just might not be able to make the cut. Some of them might, though. In this sense, if they were playing baseball, they would hit a home run for their interests in their own country and in their own people’s interests. In terms of the church, they find themselves blessed to do the ministry they deem to have seen and affirmed as important by delegates from all over the world.

The folks from the continent of Africa have United Methodism growing by leaps and bounds. There is a lot of discussion, deliberation and legislation about the need to provide more resources for infrastructure and leadership. At what cost, though, does that resourcing come to the rest of the church when everyone is vying for their own piece of the pie. And it is a pie that is worth 642 million dollars, no more, no less. A great day to be a voter and a spectator. A great day to see the church at work.

There are other things going on as well like the supposed influencing of votes by the more conservative factions of the denomination by buying cell phones for African and Phillippino delegates. The factions would say that they were ensuring that these folks from half way across the world could just talk to each other but it raised enough eyebrows to ignite motions for the creation of an ethics commission for the conference.

There has also been the distribution of flyers with certain names of candidates for positions on Judicial Council, the highest authority on decisions within the church. The candidates who were elected ended up being very similar to the candidates included on the brochure that was put out on the floor. Technically it was not illegal but it certainly did not go with the spirit of the conference rules.

Today was marked by the pageantry of a visiting president. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia, addressed the conference for about 45 minutes. She then moved down the steps of the stage the greet the leaders from the Liberian United Methodist delegation who sat on the front row. It was a very nice moment by a president of the people. She then spent time greeting the Bishops of the church on stage.

The morning began with a bang as the lead Bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gave a powerful and prophetic speech to the gathered crowd. We were celebrating the full communion that the United Methodist Church has entered into with the ELCA. This means that if any United Methodist or ELCA pastor were to find themselves in a town where there was no church of their denomination they would be able to serve fully in the other denomination’s church if they did not have someone to serve there as well. If you didn’t follow that it is okay. I’m too tired to go back and fix it.

Only a couple of days remain and we have alot to get through. I mean alot. As of this evening we were still doing the work that was supposed to be done by the end of the day yesterday. Who knows what the rest of the week holds.

If you want to watch the General Conference then go to UMC.org. You can download what you need to watch what is going on like you are right there. Beleive me, as much as those of us on the sidelines are watching the screens it really is like you are right there.

Tomorrow, ministires and leaders will be trying to hit a homerun again for their team. What is hard about the process is that as much as the leaders try to prevent there being winners and losers here, it can really begin to feel as though one team or another is getting an advantage and their way. The homerun that is sought after is a unified church whose focus can be solely on making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is the homerun.

Hey batter, swing!

GC-6 Hope and Hashing Out

I am starting to feel like I belong here.  The abnormal routine of being away from home at a conference is starting to feel routine rather than like an anomolie.  I am feeling comfortable waking up in a hotel and running out the door every morning to catch the bus to the conference center 15 minutes away.  I am feeling comfortable walking into the conference center where I now see many of the same faces every day from all over the world.  I have even made a few friends from out of state and every so often stop and check in with them while we sip our coffee at break time.  New connections and friends made from the strange adjustment to life away from home is starting to take on a bit of “church camp-ness” feeling for me.  I am going to miss seeing and talking to some of my Kansas West and East cronies on a daily basis.  I’ll miss seing new faces each day as well.  I will be glad to see the faces of my family this weekend and the congregation on Sunday, though.

Today was a day full of hope.  Hope that was born of the opening music and words of the sermon by Bishop Lyght of the New England area reminded the church of today to present a fresh bread to the world.  A bread made fresh that will always present a faith, hope and love to a world in crisis.  And, because of some of the stories we heard today about the world, it is a world in crisis and we, Christ’s body, are the people to prepare and present that fresh bread to the world, wherever we are and reside.

The UM Advance for Christ, a way of directing mission monies directly to mission around the world was celebrated today.  The Advance started as a way to help begin to rebuild Europe after World War II and has continued to provide an important conduit for money to be sent to the far reaches of the Earth to help societies in crisis.  Two projects were celebtated today.  The first was a skills project for women in Bolivia who could create beautiful wares in order to be sold mostly in North America.  One woman came all the way from Bolivia and shared her story.  She was amazing and ephemeral in her presentation to the 2,000 or so who sat before her.  The other project was a hospital in Sierre Leon in Africa.  A woman who midwife’s there came to present to us and talked about the wave of infant births that have become normal for them each month at the hospital.  Sierre Leon was at Civil War for about 12 years and as the country has come to a time of peace the people have begun to come for more assistance with their health issues.  It was a wonderful presentation and mission for which many who help could be proud.

 Finally, the Children’s Hope for Africa Choir was a special guest today as well.  The choir is made up orphans of AIDS victims from Uganda and they were sponsored by the South Alabama conference.  Their energy and music stirred the arena into a joyful and jubilant place, full of hope.  How can you not have hope after such magnicent stories and such joyful music?

Our global United Methodist Church is entering into a study for the next four years that will begin to determine the nature of change that will take place in the way we relate to sister Methodist Conferences around the world.  Alot of good things today.  Just so you know you can watch live on the General Conference web site.  I will put it in the links.

Sorry, no pictures again for some reason.

Hope is well and present all around.  Peace.