Christian Conferring and misplaced loyalty.

Good morning God,
There are times when I really wish you hadn't made me a Methodist - usually just before Conference. It's not about whether I agree or disagree with the contents of the reports that are being brought, or the recommendations that are being made; some are outstanding and a real credit to the revelation of faith that you have shared with us. Some however are so contrary to the Methodism you called me to serve, that I wonder if there hasn't already been a serious breach of the 'Covenant relationship' we are supposed to share as Church and minister.
The problem is that few people realize that the theology and doctrines of the Church are not just carried by the 'God bits' or 'Scriptural content' of what we write, debate and agree upon. There is as much, if not more theology in our so called governance, our structures and budgets, 'strategies' and management.
Yet all too often, since the team focus process started, this side of Conference's business is seen as just that -  'business' and the complaint is made - and often agreed upon - that Conference is no way to run a business - sorry - church.

But it is this area of our Church's life that has led and is continuing to lead to the loss of what were once considered core doctrines and principles of the people called Methodist.


Our Church structures, our governance, our polity - are part of the visible proclamation of the Gospel as you have revealed it to us, and that you call us to preach. In much the same way that many Anglicans think of their Church as the via-media between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism,  you seem to have placed the Methodist Church as a bridge between the established and the non-conformist churches, allowing the best of both to flow in either direction. So Methodists have been willing to act 'pragmatically' if it has been deemed right to do so,  whilst at the same time maintaining sufficient 'orthodoxy' to be able to speak to the 'un-reformed' traditions with an authentic voice.

Theologically, our calling was once defined as being to spread Scriptural holiness and to  reform the Church - the reform was as important as Spreading Scriptural holiness, for the lack of reform hindered growth in grace and holiness. It is therefore decidedly worrying when what Conference is presented with are recommendations and resolutions that seem to offer only the possibility of aping, rather than reforming the Church. It is even more worrying when those recommendations and resolutions that will change our theology the most - or those that highlight the shift in our theology that has already taken place - are effectively buried in the more 'business-like' sections of the Conference Agenda.

I know, I know, you have to be 'touched' in a very odd way to be the sort of sad soul who avidly reads the report of the law and polity committee with as much enthusiasm as the brilliantly written Big Society report, or who does more than skim through the Methodist Council report and the standing order changes proposed in it.  But that seems to be how you have made me. Which is why around this time of the year, I have a very Jeremiah style love hate relationship with my Church.

I am all too aware that some of the things that I feel called to say about the proposed changes to our structures will not be welcomed by those who wrote the reports - or whose interests they serve. I am aware that much of what I expect to write over the next two weeks will be seen as being 'personal' (a phenomenal shift from how Conference and Christian conferring used to be recognized and actively encouraged in our Church) I know that the things I intend to write will leave me open to accusations of disloyalty and 'team bashing'. So let me say just this - I consider myself part of the people called Methodist, and I recognize NO distinction between the 'team' and any other Methodist. The fact that there is such a high proportion of non-Methodists in the 'team' is irrelevant as all are required to sign up to the Priorities of the Methodist Church.
   
Fear of disloyalty and of creating/maintaining a 'Them and Us' mentality can no longer be allowed to silence the debates we need to be having as a whole Church.  The agenda before Conference is NOT the 'precious work 'of members of the Connexional Team - it is the offering of the people called Methodists to you God as together we seek to discern a way forward for the future.
It is not 'disloyal' to disagree - it is not disloyal to critique what is set before us, it is not disloyal to say thank you. but no thank you, that recommendation is denied. It is not disloyal or 'team bashing' to not be willing as a Church to be led in certain areas particularly when the body of the Church feels it is not the will of the Spirit for us to go there.

Conference is the only opportunity the Church has to express an honest, prayerful opinion of the direction the Church is moving in and the theology it is proclaiming by its actions: Now more than ever, Conference cannot afford to be silenced or subdued out of misplaced 'loyalty' or 'respect' or 'courtesy' to our 'strategic leaders'. Conference is presided over by those we have elected to that post - but let us not forget as we explore, examine and debate its agenda that the aim of Conference is to give you glory God, to fulfill our calling before you and to serve your interests, which may not necessarily be the same as those envisaged by the report writers.

Ministerial Education

Good morning God,
What do you need your ministers to know in the 21st century?
I ask because its the one question we seem reluctant as a Church to really engage with.
We will argue interminably about our buildings - which College to keep open, how many students to send them, what subsidy they will receive etc etc. but not about what we want to have happen in them.
We seem to make the same assumption that so many people make about Churches.
All you need to do to be a Christian is go to Church
All you need to do to become a minister is go to college
It's the building that's important - not what goes on it it - obviously!

Meanwhile, your people suffer because ministers are ill equipped to meet their needs, not because we don't have the resources - we do, we are embarrassingly rich in resources, what we don't have (yet) is a coherent picture of what we need to be teaching - and why.

Wesley's first Conference asked
What to teach. How to teach and What to do...
not where to teach, how many to teach and what to do about the cost of it all!

In my opinion, the most important debate in our Church this year on ministerial training has already happened - and most people missed its significance. (which speaks volumes!)
The Ministries, Learning and Development report broke new ground by wanting to look beyond what we do with our buildings, libraries, theological educators, trainers etc and actually explore what will be taught. The new 'Ministries Committee' which Conference approved yesterday will have responsibility:-

'for the general oversight of the learning infrastructure and learning programmes'

 Alleluia!

A gigantic step forward:
I can look forward to the day when we as a Conference can get excited again about the curriculum of what is taught in our colleges: The time is surely coming when we will once again focus our attention on how to communicate the gospel and how best to serve the present age, rather than how many bricks we need, or where best to store a library.

Hats off to the Discipleship and Ministry team - for a job well done.

Diverse Grace

Good morning God,
Differences matter - the world is not uniform or monochrome - you designed a world that flourishes through diversity. So how come we get so hung up about differences of sexuality or Gender?
Men and women ARE different!
This is, I believe, is intentional on your part - and I can't see you changing your mind any time soon!
People's sexual preferences are different!
This is, I believe is intentional on your part - and I can't see you changing your mind any time soon!
I am increasingly convinced however, that it is how we, as a Church and as individuals,  deal with difference that ultimately defines our faith, and of course, defines us because it defines our relationship with you.
Do we seriously think that just because a certain ignorant faction of the Church complains about people's sexual preferences that you will stop gracing the world with such wonderful humans?
Or do we seriously think that just because some churches don't like the idea of women in positions of authority that you will stop calling women into your service - or finding a way for them to do your will!
Who do we think we are?
Whose Church do we think it is?
It is easy to find reasons for or against embracing the full recognition of the extent of human diversity as gift of your grace - but most of them are anthropological rather than genuinely theological. Any argument for exclusion has to deal with the fundamental fact that you are the creator, that you love all that you have made and you have made nothing in vain.
By your grace, you have given us the opportunity to become more than we are by discovering and relating to that which is other than we are. If we cannot accept diversity as part of your gift to humanity - how will we ever be able to relate to the diversity that is part of your divinity?
(I suspect this is why the Trinity perplexes people so, and why many persist in trying to give YOU a gender!).
You are not like us - you make this plain to us..Yet you invite us to grow to become like you, to realise our true nature by losing it in yours.. only by embracing you as truly other than ourselves can we become more than we are.
You became like us - so that we can become like you.
The Word became flesh - so that flesh can become like the Word
(or if you really believe in Sanctification - so that the flesh can become Word)

The idea that we can command or control this process is laughable - but also blasphemous..
Grace is yours to give and ours to respond to.
Diversity is your gift of grace - how then shall we respond?
A church that repeatedly excludes others on the grounds of difference is repeatedly disabling itself - the body of Christ is not just wounded but rendered incapable of acting by having vital organs cut out as soon as they begin to flourish. A church without the ministry of women, of gays, of children, of the sick, of the dying is not the body of Christ - no matter how respectable it might seem, how 'normal' it might look, or how powerful it might think it is.It is what it is - a broken disabled body cobbled together by insecure humans too frightened by difference to trust that you know what you are doing when you make us all so wonderfully different. It becomes the last bastion of bigotry and prejudice rather than the place of Genesis of  salvation and liberation.

Of course, those who do hold to their prejudices do so by clinging to a particular interpretation of Scripture, choosing all the time to forget the opening verses of John's gospel and the fact that you are a LIVING God, still interpreting, still speaking, still revealing your way by the power of your Spirit leading us into all truth.

There have been many times in my life when I have been ashamed of the Church but in the past I have been able to find a means of reconciling myself to its brokenness and so seek to work for its healing.
I confess however to a growing sense of shame which no longer abates, a shame that increases the longer that the church preoccupies itself with its obsessive prejudices and thereby excludes itself from the important questions of life, death, salvation, resurrection, liberation, equality, justice, peace and happiness being asked by those outside the Church as a result of pressing issues such as mercy killing, euthanasia, war, climate change etc etc etc.  

The voice of the Church is no longer heard because it nolonger speaks the Word of LIFE.. its too busy reviling the life that you have created.
The voice of the Church is no longer sought because the world is weary of homophobia, mysogeny and pious searches for a westernised dream of normalised unity.

Enough.
It is time for a moratorium on issues of sexuality or gender or diversity.
It is time to begin to proclaim the good news of the Gospel - For ALL for ALL my saviour died..
It is time to speak from a standpoint of love without judgement, of the inclusive nature of the love of God which sets ALL free.
WE are the Church - it's time to stand up and be counted.
If 'the' Church doesn't accept the diversity that you have created God then we must either change it or leave it.
If the debates in the Church are not about the issues that matter to the world - and if they do not reflect the desire of the members to proclaim your gospel instead of debate its fears then we must find a way to drown them out and demand debates on what DOES matter.
This is why notices of motion are SO important at Conference and Synod.
 
Because - as we all know - whether male or female, gay or straight, young or old - we all live and die because YOU have made us, even if you didn't make us the way that some might have wished.

God - grant the Church the grace to live rejoicing with your created diversity before we die arguing about it!

Communicating the Conference...

Now that Conference is over - the hard work begins - how to communicate the work that was done into something that can:-

1) Actually be understood by the majority of our Church members
2) Inspire action and lead to greater growth in grace and holiness
3) Enthuse the Church for mission
4) Motivate the Church to act to address the concerns raised.

A tall order...
As was said repeatedly in one way or another from the podium, (and no - not just by me!) the information we have been given almost needs to be translated before it can be digested. The Christian conferring which took place at Conference is, at the moment, so deeply buried in the bullet points and sub-paragraphs of the Agenda that it will need significant unpacking if the conversations are to continue.
But continue they must.
We are increasingly a disconnected Connexion, with fewer and fewer local societies knowing anything at all about what happens around the Connexion or why. If we are to preserve and perhaps even rebuild our identity in order to fulfil our calling then we must confer about our theology, faith and passion at the local as well as national level.

It isn't enough to just have a summary report at Synod or Circut meeting or Church Councils

So where will I begin?

The obvious starting point for me will be the new statement Hope in God's Future.
This is a complex and quite detailed report which we have commended for serious study in the conviction that it should lead to real and decisive action. I will therefore be preparing the material so that it can be used by our Church housegroups and class meetings by breaking it into managable sections, adding pictures, film clips, and audio content. I will also set discussion questions to help us reflect on the issues personally, communally and globally.
Perhaps more importantly I will do what I can with our Church stewards and Junior Church leaders to link it with key liturgical and worship events - the obvious one here being this year's harvest festival. In addition, I'll look to frame our Sunday evening teaching services, Cafe Church, and bible studies over the next three months around issues touched on in the report. My hope is that by our next church council, when we ask how we can begin the process of implementing the recommendations, members of the council will better prepared and able to weigh up the Gospel imperatives against the usual financial considerations.

The faith and order report will take some re-thinking - but we ought to be able to link it to the main anniversary of mission early next year, perhaps even including a trip to Edinburgh..?

Some of the smaller reports can also be translated into meaningful Christian conferring by writing appropriate prayers, liturgies and sermons and by constructing inclusive acts of worship which allow others to share in the decisions we have made before God.
So - yes - we will be celebrating 140 years of Action for Children - probably as our Christingle service this year.
The revision of section 9 might well lead to a rededication of the Church building (maybe with a commitment to its 'greening'!)
It would be interesting to have a Worship Consultation with a difference and spend an evening revising the language of old favourite hymns or even writing new ones to send to the music resources group. We might make a competition of it by asking the choir to sing one new hymn a week up until Christmas and then vote for the best..
We could celebrate the notice of motion about the World Parish along with the World Church report by perhaps writing our own letters of greeting to Methodists in Albania, Serbia, Russia, Macedonia, Germany and inviting them to share with us in a special prayer on an agreed Sunday...

It just takes a little creativity and a real desire to do it!

Perhaps here might be a good place to share some ideas and material for making it possible?

Safer spaces and Gender justice?

In two very well thought through addresses the new President and Vice President of the British Methodist Church shared with the gathered conference what concerns them and what issues they will be asking the Church to explore in this,their 'presidential' year.
David Gamble delivered his address with his usual charm and grace, wit and wisdom combined are rare, but evident in this senior secretary.. and we can look forward to hearing more about the need for the Church to be a safer space.. for all sorts of things... worship? Growth in grace and holiness..? following Jesus..?
Richard's address was passionate, considerate and wonderfully unambiguous. He tackled head on the things that have served to alienate people - well - like Richard, Male, Lay and professional - and no - none of that was said sarcastically or with even the slightest tongue in cheek. He is right this IS a significant missing group in our church and the Church in ten years time will be vastly different because of their absence.
It would have been easier to hear his call for the Church to do more to attract men to the Church - had it not been the case that the only women present on the platform at the time, were not only silent, they were only there to mouth or sign the words of men..
Is it possible that we could combine the main thrusts of both addresses? could David really help to make the Church a safer place for all those who have been abused - but especially those who have been abused by a patriarchal system which waste the best years of a significant number of Church women through its refusal to accept or encourage female leadership unless the woman is effectively post menapausal.. and could one of the ways of achieving this be by listening to and acting on Richard's plea? For surely only when a lay calling is valued and recognised as essential, and NOT second best so can we explore new and creative ways of transforming our current patriarchy and recognising that we have so much more to offer young men than a plastic collar..as an incentive to serve God.

Interesting days ahead I suspect..

Conference as Confirming Grace

Good morning God,
this will be a strange day and one which, if I am honest, I am not looking forward to, so here I am at Wesley's preaching hour, trying to make sense of it all, theologically of course.
As soon as we have finished our conversation, I need to go and pack for Conference. As always I approach Conference wanting to contribute positively to the life of our Church through the means of grace you have provided: in worship, in the celebration of the Sacrament, in prayer and fellowship and through our Christian conferring I will be trying to attend to your voice, to seek your will for us as a people called to love and praise. But never before have I attended with such a sense of personal dread.
I have been attending Conference in one capacity or another for almost 15 years and it has usually managed to humble and inspire me, as well as (if I am honest) frustrate and challenge me. Lately however it has seemed to me to be more like a party political Conference than a means of grace, something which has troubled me deeply. A friend who's wise counsel I value, has pointed out that for those just starting their covenant life with the Church, this is 'normal' and what it means to be 'Methodist'. He's right of course, and it helps to know it. I can rejoice for them even whilst grieving for my own loss of identity and belonging. What I dread is having this feeling that I no longer belong to this party - being confirmed. At the moment it sort of feels like a small malignancy eating away at my love of you and my vocation, growing bigger each year while I try to ignore it.

My prayer to you this morning God is that Conference will do exactly the opposite, that instead of confirming my worst fears, it will, by your grace, once again confirm me in my calling and assure me that what I have been feeling is nothing more than a bad infection of 'in my day we did things differently' (apparently we become more prone to catching this when we get older!) In which case a good dose of Spirit filled enthusiasts on fire for the Gospel with a burning desire to change the world for the sake of your Kingdom will soon put me right.
So God, today and throughout the Conference, please, grant me a heart to share in this work of building up your people and equipping them for the future; bless me with the courage to speak graciously but also boldly in response to your urging, and continue to prompt me to think theologically so that YOU stay at the heart of all I say and do.

'Jesus, confirm my heart's desire,
To work, and speak, and think for thee;
Still let me guard the holy fire,
And still stir up thy gift in me.

Being in full Connexion

In a recent facebook discussion I wrote something which I fervently believe to be true:

Being a minister in the Methodist tradition is the best calling that there is - NOTHING beats being able to live and preach the gospel of grace which changes lives and hearts and which is empowered by God to reform the nation and the Church - God is not finished with the people called Methodist yet.

Because I am a Methodist, the word minister does not mean ordained. As a Methodist I believe in the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, in the full equality before God and in the service of God of both lay and ordained. I am also persuaded that nowhere is this doctrine more powerfully expressed than in the gift of Connexionalism. I use the English way of writing it because it still serves as a reminder that Connexionalism is not just about being connected one to another, it is about being connected through Christ. There is a cross at the heart of our conneXion which binds us one to another and which motivates us to work together to fulfill our calling.

There has been a tendency in recent years to use the expression 'the Connexion' to those called to serve in 'Connexional office' of some kind, whether as a member of the Connexional Team or as a worker on the help desk. It is a dangerous short-hand because it allows and even encourages people mentally, spiritually and emotionally to separate from 'the Connexion' and stop being a Connexional people. It's something I know I am periodically guilty of even though I try hard to resist it. (Sorry) It's just that it is so much easier to talk of 'them' than of 'us' when talking about decisions we are unhappy with, steps not taken, theology or worship not quite to our liking etc. And of course, eventually this language encourages 'the Connexion' to think of themselves as somehow separate, more responsible, more accountable than the wider connexion for the faith, order and action of our Church - which is of course - not true. We are in full connexion with each other.

There can be no 'them' and 'us' in the priesthood of all believers - for we are all one in Christ - which is another way of saying that everything which I have blogged about over the last few weeks is not written as a cheap pop at 'the Connexion' before Conference - regardless of how much some might want to think that it is. WE are 'the Connexion' - The challenge I am making is to all of us - myself included - who dare to wear the label Methodist and who claim that it means something to them, to take seriously the task of BEING IN FULL CONNEXION.

Obviously I dont believe that this means agreeing mindlessly to every decision taken at Methodist Church House by the Methodist Council or members of the Connexional Team. It does mean owning and taking responsibility for our own part in the decision making processes, in the faith, order and actions of our Church. If we are concerned about something, or convinced that something needs to be done, then we are called to be connexional, to test the mind of the Church and the will of God through the means of grace that God has provided us with to reform the nation and the Church.

The joyous fact is that we are where we currently are as a Church because WE have journeyed here - with Christ. We weren't dragged kicking and screaming - we prayerfully considered how to get here and then as a church took whatever steps we believed were necessary. We have had choices at every stage of the journey - just as we will have choices to make in a weeks time.

When we choose not to participate, not to confer on the matters which concern us as the people of God, then we are choosing not to be in full connexion with the people called Methodist. We may worship in a Methodist Church, carry a membership card even, but being in full connexion means sharing responsibility for where we are as a Church and what we are doing.

Conference is a God given opportunity for the wider connexion to confer together. Methodism teaches that Christian conferring is a means of grace, a means by which the will of God might be made known, the gospel made more relevant, the mission of God more explicit. Over the years, Conference has been deliberately shaped and changed, not just for financial reasons, but for sound theological reasons - so that it as closely as possible embodies the principle of the Priesthood of all believers and encourages and enables better Christian conferring.

At its best, Conference really IS a means of grace and it is at its best when those who attend it are being Connexional and getting involved by prayerfully conferring on the pressing issues of faith, order and action.

In my opinion, this means not rubber stamping and then disowning policies brought to Conference by those who have worked hard on them all year. It also means not opting out of uncomfortable debates but having the courage to speak out and listen to the voice of the Church - even when we might not agree with it. I may not like some of the consequences of decisions we have taken together as a church, but because we are a church in full connexion, the opportunity exists to do something about it - not least, to discover whether the unease is shared or just a personal pet peeve. And this is something that everyone can do at local and at district level by the memorial's procedure as well as at Conference in debate. Every Methodist has the opportunity for their concerns to be heard by the Church.

The simple fact is that every Church member, every representative to Church Council, every circuit representative, every synod rep and every member of Conference has chosen at some time to be in full Connexion with every other member. I remain convinced that Connexionalism as an expression of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is a gift of grace from God, but to borrow an expression from Randy Maddox, it is a gift of 'responsible grace' - which means that God holds us all to account for our use of this gift. The decisions taken at this coming conference and the way in which they are carried out, are the responsibility of every member of the Methodist Church.

Now.. where's that agenda..

Enough already - Presidential leadership to balance our Secretariat please!

One of the main reasons for Conference having Conference elected representatives is that they usually have longer memories than most Conference Delegates.. thank goodness.

How else would Conference know, for example, that the delayed report to Conference concerning the roles of the President and Vice-President will not be a year late when it gets presented in 2010 - it will be almost a decade late.

The time line is as follows:

• 2000 Conference received a memorial from the South Wales synod calling for a review of the roles of the President and Vice-President to be brought to the Conference of 2001
• 2001 Interim report pleaded too much to do - promised full report in 2002
• 2002 Council brings a report to the Conference which argues for a continuing one year presidency 'Because we feel it is important to get the position of the General Secretary right' in spite of the fact that the MAJORITY of those who responded to the consultation wanted a longer term presidency.
• 2003 First General Secretary appointed for 5 years
• 2005 Review of Conference report asks whether or not the roles of the President, Vice President and Warden of the Diaconal Order should be longer-term appointments
• 2007 The attempt in the report on Senior Leadership in the Methodist Church to reduce the role of the president and vice president to a ministry of visitation was overturned by various Notices of Motion from the Conference floor resulting in

1. the affirmation of the President of Conference as the leader of the whole (Methodist) Church
2. the establishment of a working party to examine and report to Conference on all aspects of the roles of the President and Vice-President and how they work together and relate to the senior leadership of the Church. This should include

• how the roles might be further developed;
• how they might work more closely with the General Secretary of the Church/Secretary of the Conference to present a shared vision and to energise the Church
• the length of office of each;
• the title of the Vice-President

So now - in 2009 Surprise, Surprise, we receive a report which says oops.. so sorry - more time needed.

ENOUGH ALREADY !

What sort of Church can repeatedly restructure its secretariat and yet repeatedly refuse to respond to the requests of its people to provide longer term SPIRITUAL Leadership?

What are we waiting for ?

BISHOPS?

I KNOW we have good spiritual people working for our Church - I dont DOUBT their faith or their commitment to God - and to the jobs we have appointed them to do. We have asked them to be secretaries one and all - I for one, want a visionary longer term PRESIDENCY - LAY AND ORDAINED - Chosen by our people to do THAT job.

While we invest all our time and energy into getting our newly configured management right we are hearing less and less about God or about a vision for the future of the Methodist Church AS the Methodist Church. Instead, what we have are calls to commit WHENEVER POSSIBLE to worshipping with other Christians. Duhh? It's possible every Sunday ! Just shut the church.

Before affirming our commitment to our ecumenical partners - how about a conference report that affirms its commitment to the Methodist People and their calling to BE Methodists..?

This means -

• A Presidency which is empowered to do what Conference has affirmed its desire for it to do - lead the Whole Church
• A commitment to teach 'those things which are distinctive to Methodists' to the Methodist people before we lose forever this gift of grace from God.
• A determination to be a MOVEMENT for the reformation of the Church and society
• A visionary, prophetic church which values Spiritual insight and Discipleship AS MUCH if not more than management and governance in its leadership skills.
• Above all - a people who are no ashamed or afraid to speak of what God has done, and is doing still in the lives of the people called Methodist.