Weather Vane

This morning I got a call from a friend who is struggling through the process of what to do about the happenings in the denomination (and truly the entire church).  As we talked, I remembered both the good things and the untruths that are so often found inside our decisions.  I will share a few of these as we try, as a church, to prayerfully proceed with "doing the right thing."

Before I talk about that phone call, I did want to remark about how deeply yesterday's worship moved me.  As always, the music was beautiful and seamless as it led us all into a spirit of worshiping the one true God.  I loved that Nicey shared how our church, as we invest life/love/Gospel into our community, sends little bits of Jesus out into our world as imperfect but Spirit-led messengers.  We go into the schools, into the jails, into the hospitals and nursing homes, into Belize, into community groups, into the sports teams and into the whole world as the Church.  Paul and Wesley reminded us of something we can never forget as we make these journeys into a world God loves ... "offer them Christ, and Christ crucified."

Now, back to the call!  My friend talked about how he had been a Methodist all of his life.  How he worried about getting a preacher, owning the cemetery at his church, having a voice in preacher appointments and other "nuts-and-bolts" issues of being a church.  My answer was, "You (if your church remains Wesleyan) will remain Methodist ... just maybe not United Methodist."  I told him the preacher appointment process, at least under the Global Methodist Church (GMC), would be collaborative.  That the voice of his church would be a strong part of that process as more and more new and old preachers become aligned with the GMC.  And I told him under disaffiliation his congregation would own all of their property, including the cemetery.

Then I changed the subject from the nuts-and-bolts to something more important.  I asked him, "Do you believe in Scripture?  Do you think Scripture should be the foundation of seminary training for your pastors?  Do you think Jesus is who Jesus said He was?  Do you think the Church should follow the ever-changing winds of societal whims, or should we follow the never-changing voice of God?"  Of course, his answer was yes to the first 3 questions and "the voice of God" on the 4th question.  Hopefully I gave him a few things to ponder as he had a churchwide meeting tonight to discuss how his congregation will respond to their own affiliation decisions.

As I talked and listened to my friend, I thought of a statement Dr. Karl Stegall made in a letter you should all have received and read.  Karl remarked, "a conservative bishop remarked, "Our church has traded the cross of Jesus Christ for a weather vane, waking up each day to see which way the wind is blowing."  Paul writes, in Ephesians 4:14, "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery and by their craftiness in deceitful scheming."  Maybe the choice we are making is that simple.  Are we to be a weather vane for detecting and applying societally-accepted norms, or are we the Church that will 1) stand on the solid rock of Jesus, 2) hold to the cross of Christ and 3) stand and prevail (Matthew 16:18) even against the very gates of hell!?