Can You See the Campers for the Trees?

The Sunday afternoon and evening following annual conference, I went out to Kingswood camp to teach the "theology" session for our camp counselors. It's great fun, partly because most of them are young adults and I enjoy listening to and interacting with them. Although, two of our camp counselors are retirees (think about that!).

I shared my presuppositions about camp:
1) Parents send kids to camp for spiritual formation.
2) Church camp provides in its 24/7 format the opportunity for more than 1 year of Sunday School impact.
3) Over 80% of adults in church today became Christians by or during their teen years.
4) 60-85% of those adults made their first commitment to Christ at camp.

So, the week of camp is an important one in the life of campers, counselors, our annual conference, and the mission of our church which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ! These camp counselors have a big job--please pray for them.

I share the United Methodist understanding of grace and how it relates to the various ages and stages of young people as they come to camp. Some campers need to be made aware or reminded of God's grace and unconditional love (prevenient grace); some need to be invited to make a commitment to Christ (justifying grace); and some need to grow in their relationship with God (sanctifying grace). In fact, all campers need all three!

I ended by saying that I expect each counselor to make it his or her goal that each camper:

1) will connect to the Creator and creation;
2) experience God's unconditional love through him or her and their peers;
3) will witness an example of faith and find it compelling in the life of the counselor;
4) will have the opportunity to draw closer to God;
5) will have daily Bible study and prayer that connects with their lives;
6) will experience Christian community; and
7) will have fun!

Our camping program is going through a year of continued assessment and reorganization. I would appreciate it if you would share something about the following:

1) What difference has camping made in your spiritual journey? Or your child's?
2) What's the most important aspect of camping and how can we do it more faithfully and fruitfully?
3) What input would you give the camping program about camp overall?

WDYT?

Whatever it takes?

In the United Methodist Church, we talk a lot about "open doors." We want to share the message that people who don't look like us, who don't have all the religious questions sorted out for themselves, who may find other doors and tables closed to them, and who speak other languages and are from many parts of the world are welcome. It's a statement that we seek to live into, recognizing that on any given day (not just Sunday), we are evaluated by our openness.

So I was struck by the recent situation in Bertha, Minnesota where an autistic boy (granted, a large 200+ pound, 6 foot boy) has disturbed worship and whose mother was legally restrained from attending church with him yesterday.

I never trust the press in reporting these stories so I have no idea how much the church and its leadership worked with the family. It does sound like his disruption was pretty extreme (spitting and urinating, threatening elderly and children).

But with the increase in autism in our society, I don't think it's a situation that couldn't happen to any one of our churches.

I can't help but think about the ministry that was started at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas which its pastor, Adam Hamilton, often tells as an example of a church that would do "whatever it took" to reach out to people in their need. They had a family with special needs and they developed a ministry for that individual family and then of course it's grown to include many families in the community. I do know that it's pretty labor-intensive, but as a result love-intensive.

So as clergy or laity, what would you do in a situation like this? What measures would you put into effect? Would that family be welcome at your church?

WDYT?

And so it goes, and so it goes...

So General Conference is over and now we live with what was decided. I've been amazed at people who watched on live streaming since I would think that was very tedious! Others could care less what happened. Always there are some who see some legislation acted upon that makes them wonder whether they can continue to be United Methodist. Yet others perceived some positive changes in spirit and direction of the Church. And so it goes, and so it goes!

I am sure that many of you who watch this blog (or at least respond to it) have some responses to various legislation. Here's a short list, developed from a recent Newscope, to whet your memories:

The General Conference:
Approved a $642 million budget, representing an increased of 1.2% over each of the next 4 years;
Shortened the ordination process;
Changed the term "probationary" to "provisional" member (the status after commissioning);
Established a study group on church structure that would make the US a "regional" conference (like other areas of the world are central conferences now);
Approved full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the only item that made the Star Tribune that I know of--only in Minnesota!);
Rejected language that would state that United Methodists disagree on homosexuality;
Retained language that prohibits UM ministers from conducting homosexual unions as well as rejected proposals that would add "civil unions" to basic civil liberties in the Social Principles;
Opposed homophobia and heterosexism as "forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation;"
Reported in various ways the vitality of our denomination in this country and around the world;
and added "witness" to our promise of "prayers, presence, gifts and service."

This is hardly a comprehensive list; it's impossible to report all the changes so you may know of some others that matter more to you.

But I would be interested in what your reactions are to any decisions made at General Conference. How do they impact you? How does it make you feel as a United Methodist? How will you live them out?

WDYT?

A Future with Hope

General Conference is approaching and will make many decisions that affect us all as United Methodists. The theme for General Conference is "A Future with Hope." Few United Methodists would argue that these aren't the easiest times for us. Those in various "corners" of the wide and sometimes thinly stretched "tent" of United Methodism may view General Conference and the United Methodist Church's future with anything but hope.

Yet hope is something we actively pursue through prayer and self-discipline. I would also say through our own confession and repentance of what we have contributed to what isn't right and good about our Church; self-discipline keeps us from trying to get others to confess and repent for what they have contributed to its decline!

I have hope for the future of United Methodism by keeping my eyes focused on our mission and working toward it: making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

I have hope when resisting cynicism and disparaging others. Holy conferencing is essential to a future of hope, especially at General Conference.

I have hope when I see new life bubbling up in the church in the midst of decline like a forest floor where new shoots come up and out of decaying stumps.

See my website article (www.minnesotaumc.org) under the bishop's corner for other reflections on General Conference and a future with hope.

What do you hope for in our future as United Methodists?

What is your hope for General Confernce?

WDYT

Rise up, O Men of God!

You may be surprised to see a heading like that from me: Rise up, O Men of God! But recently various religious pundits have been weighing in on the recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (found at http://religions.pewforum.org/reports) which was just issued in late February. The report indicates that almost half of Americans have changed the faith or denomination of their childhood (I would be one of those) or choosing not to affiliate with a faith tradition at all (the "nones" as I call them). The study indicates that religion in the US is "diverse and fluid" as individuals "pick and choose religions that meet their needs."

I listen to a podcast called "Interfaith Voices" with Maureen Fiedler as host each week. Recently (March 6) she had James Twitchell on her show (http://www.interfaithradio.org/) who has written a book called, Shopping for God, and he reflected on this Pew Forum study, but focused on men in the big "spiritual brand shifting" of religion in the US. He said some pretty provocative things, not with an axe to grind (i.e. there is a "the feminization of the church" because we have a woman bishop, district superintendent and pastor) but from the perspective that it's just plain hard for men to be comfortable in church with no gender reference in terms of who is the pastor. In fact, he suggests it has more to do with the seating and the singing than who is leading worship.

Women, he says, want to go to church and take their children. Men don't want to go and want to be comfortable in cinema-type seats as opposed to pews; they don't like to sing in public, especially if they can't read music. He said (please don't blast me for his words!): "Men have to be coddled in order to go to church." I thought that was a bit over the top and a grand, sweeping generalization but he did say it!

Most importantly men need groups where they can talk about the Bible with each other, what it means to go through a divorce or what it's like to be misunderstood at work or how to be a father. Often Bible studies are both genders because we're trying so desperately just to get some warm bodies there. I wonder how many of our churches have men's groups. When are they? Are they well-received?

I also know that children are more likely to get the idea that religion is important if their dads are actively involved and if their families (mothers and/or fathers in this case) read the Bible and pray outside of church.

I was challenged by his emphasis on men in light of "spiritual brand switching" and the growing group of religiously unaffiliated.

WDYT

Can You Speak Bible? Does Anyone Understand It When You Do?

A few weeks ago I heard an interesting news article about Mike Huckabee's use of biblical references in his speeches. In an NPR story, February 8, 2008, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=18821021, his usage of biblical references was called "a separate dialect." NPR went to the National Mall to ask people what they understood his references to be. (Read the whole article to get a sense of how basic the biblical references were and how clueless the respondents were in their interpretation of them as Huckabee used them.)

For instance, when one person was asked about a reference Huckabee made, stating "it's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5000 people," he answered that it had something to do with Moses. In reference to using a "small smooth stone" instead of relying on armor, one confused person said, "is he talking about peace, a resolution of peace?"

The list goes on recording the general confusion about the references. Finally a woman who attends a church in Omaha, NE (all of those questioned had been "raised in Christian households and had attended Sunday School") got all the references right when asked. Stephen Prothero, a Boston University professor who wrote a book Religious Literacy, commented on hearing that someone actually got the references right by saying, "It's an exceedingly small target audience, about as small as the percentage of animals climbing on Noah's ark."

I heard this NPR article while driving one day and pondered why these persons who had attended church and Sunday School didn't know these references.

As the pastor of a church, I have often been concerned about the quality of biblical teaching in Sunday Schools. Once the church I was serving needed to add educational space and because many adults never went to that part of the building to see the need in the overcrowded rooms, I had someone take pictures of the classrooms in session for a display. Looking at them, I noticed that the children (5th and 6th grade) were making snowmen. I made some comment about how the phrase, "a snowball's chance..." is not in the Bible, and therefore expressed deep concern about what was being taught; how the time was being used. What did snowmen have to do with Sunday School?

Why don't people who are raised in the church know these basic biblical references well enough to interpret Huckabee's comments?

How are we intentionally teaching and preaching the basics of the biblical faith so that people would know these stories or references?

Is it important that people know the scriptures for their faith development or is it simply a matter of cultural literacy (obviously missing some main points in Huckabee's speeches)?

WDYT?

A Year of Living Faithfully (and maybe, Dangerously!)

As my website article explains in more detail, I've been intrigued by the plethora of books and movements based on "a year of..." experiments. Go to the Bishop's Corner on the Minnesota Annual Conference website (www.minnesotaumc.org) and read the full article.

During the days around Christmas, I read one of these books, The Year of Living Biblically, by A. J. Jacobs, who set out to explore the role of religion in his life and his fascination with biblical literalism. His witty and at times profound insights are worth the read. He set out on his year of living biblically acknowledging that he would undoubtedly be changed by the end of year and he wasn't sure just what those changes might be. Liking to be in control as most of the rest of us, it was a risk but a risk that he was willing to make. And, in fact, at the end of the year he is different in his approach to religion than he was when he began.

These books of experimentation in living differently for a year have some common components: a passion for learning or doing something different; an intense focus on one aspect of living which then limits the multitude of choices and resources of time, money, food, etc.; the sacrifice of choices that allowed the accomplishment of a (mostly) desired goal; but such endeavors of passion, intense focus, limitation and sacrifice are all very counter-culture.

A year of living differently. As for me, I'm going to journey on the road toward more (everything is relative) sustainable living based on my Christian faith.

How will you live differently this year? And even, dangerously (as in risky, uncertain where it will all end up, potentially costly or sacrificial).

Even if you're not quite ready to jump in there (there's always Lent!), what about this phenomenon of people (actually or vicariously) desiring significant change in who they are and how they live? Is this what discipleship is meant to be?

WDYT?