"We Messed Up" -- A Letter to Those Disenfranchised by the Christian Church

Image by churl via Flickr

My friend, Dave Beckett, who happens to be my Superintendent in the Alaska United Methodist Conference, has written a wonderful letter over at his blog, "Dave's Dibble."  It's a confession that, in the name of doctrinal purity, we have failed to show love to this world of ours and have failed to listen to the unchurched in our midst.

It begins this way:

We got it wrong.  For quite some time now the Church has made crucial mistakes.  We have assumed that Church as we have known it will continue without the major changes you have wanted to see.  We have focused more on doctrinal purity than the needs of the poor.  We have tried to start new churches based on our vision rather than your needs.  We have convinced ourselves that we have been loving you but more often than not you have not received our actions as genuine love.  We have held fast to worship practices that keep us entrenched and unable to conceive of the changes necessary to reach your heart with the glory of God.  We have caused division in the Church and the world with our beliefs about who is living in sin.  We have insisted that you accept certain forms of prayer and non-essential beliefs before we accept you into the Church.  

I hope you'll read the whole thing over here.

A Shout Out To Denominations -- Missions

Ministry With The Poor In Nicaragua from Sushil Bhujbal on Vimeo.

Christianity Today has an article about how mission work may be the key to reviving Christian denominations. The article is written by Ed Stetzer. A little teaser:

Denominations appear to have fallen on difficult times. Theological controversies over core Christian beliefs have weakened some denominations. Others have succumbed to classic liberalism. A handful of denominations have reaffirmed their commitment to theological orthodoxy, but even many once-growing conservative denominations have experienced difficult days. All in all, membership in 23 of the 25 largest Christian denominations is declining (the exceptions being the Assemblies of God and the Church of God). ....

Given all that, call me a cautious believer in the idea that we can do more for the kingdom of God by doing it together with people of common conviction—which usually means in a denomination—than by doing it alone....

In my view, denominations are certainly not the answer to the world's ills, nor are they our last and only hope. But a denominational structure can be a valuable tool for the church to use in her mission.

When I hear about a pastor's revolutionary idea to partner a local congregation with congregations overseas to work together in mission, I say, "Great. Be sure to learn from the Wesleyan Church. They have been doing just that, very well, for a long time."

When I hear about a start-up church-planting network, I'm excited—but hope its leaders know what the Presbyterian Church in America's (PCA) Mission to North America is doing well, and will not try to independently discover what others already know. Many ministries that have gained national prominence in church planting, such as Redeemer (New York City) and Perimeter (Atlanta), have been more effective because of their partnership with the PCA.

Denominational ministry is often much quieter than similar efforts from independent start-ups. (No surprise there: Novelty gets attention, and entrepreneurial networks and churches need to make a splash in order to win people to their new effort.) But make no mistake: The vast majority of world missions, church planting, discipleship, and other forms of ministry are done through denominational partnerships.

One thing we do very well in the United Methodist Church is our Global Missions. And it's for many of the reasons found in this article

I Have Been Appointed To Girdwood Chapel UMC For Another Year

Today at Girdwood Chapel it will be announced that I, Jim Doepken, have been appointed to Girdwood Chapel United Methodist Church for another year.   This will not come as a surprise to anyone.  That makes 11 times. I have now, officially, lived in Girdwood, Alaska longer than I have lived anywhere else. Heck, I've now lived in Girdwood, Alaska longer than I've lived in any other state. This will be my 14th year in Alaska -- after making a 4-year commitment back in 1997!

For those who don't understand the "Methodist System" -- United Methodist pastors are not "called" by local churches. Instead, they are "sent" by Bishops. So, the church does not form a "search committee" and audition several different clergy for the role that has opened up. Instead, at the time of a pastoral change the Bishop & Superintendent meet with the local church to determine what it is they are looking for in a pastor and then try to discern what available pastor meets those perceived needs in the local congregation. The implicit assumptions here are that the Bishop and Superintendent are removed from some of the internal struggles at the local church and can see with more disinterested eyes what God might be calling to that local setting. Also, it is assumed that the Bishop and Superintendent will have a greater sense of the gifts and graces of available clergy.

Now, in the "old days" there was very little give and take. No clergy spouses worked...so that didn't need to be taken into consideration. There was very little dialogue. And, at Annual Conference, the list of appointments was read and, for some, it was a complete surprise. I've been told that, as the list was read in some conferences, you could hear the screams of clergy and spouses who were distressed to find that they were moving.

It's different now. There is give and take. I think both clergy and churches feel that there is an ongoing dialogue. It doesn't mean everyone's happy all of the time. But I believe most parties feel like their concerns are heard and their hopes and dreams have been listened to. A benefit of the whole system is that, when it's just not a good appointment, it can be reassessed within the year. Every appointment is on a year-by-year basis...something we clergy have to ingrain in our United Methodist Congregations.

That said, last Sunday, on June 6th, 2010 it was read that it is the intention of Bishop Grant Hagiya to appoint me to Girdwood Chapel. This will by my 11th year here. It is not a surprise. And I'll work hard to make it something that's not about me, but about what God can do in our time here over the next year and then beyond.

The above cartoon is from David Hayward over at nakedpastor.   I got it from Michael Krahn. I think it's a good reminder to make sure it's not about me...or at least not about "Bob" as it says in the cartoon.

The "Missional Church"

Things are kind of coming together in my head. 
I'm reading Michael Slaughter's book, Change the World, for a three-part sermon series and preparation for our "Change the World Sunday" in 8 days.  I've been reading some other blogs.  I've been studying. And I've been reflecting about where I've been over the last year or so.   In my preaching and teaching I've been putting great stress on getting out and being involved in communities.  As Director of Communications for the Alaska United Methodist Conference, I have been inundated with all of the PR for our "RETHINK CHURCH" campaign and the slogan, "What if church were a verb?"  I am rooted in the Wesleyan understanding of "practical divinity" and Reuben Job's Three Simple Rules (Do no harm, Do good, Stay in love with God).  Even the first sermon I ever preached was on the Book of James (2:14-18) and it's connection between faith and works. 

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
 ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
 ¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

I have always, as far as I remember, had an understanding that our faith was one to be lived out in the world, actively.

The problem is, for most of us Christians and for most of us Pastors, we just haven't operated that way.  And it's shown by how we've "done" church.   We've been up our churches and put our programs into place and have hoped to have a good enough product so that persons are "attracted" to us and come join us.  "If you build it, they will come."  And, with our building process, that's kind of how it's felt.

So, a lot of this has been swimming around in my head.  It's a lot of what I felt and was really how I've been preaching and teaching and hopefully acting.

But there is a term that has come to my attention that gets at what all of this is meaning to me right now.  Just today I came across Ken Carter's blog, "Bear Witness to the Love of God" and the post "Re-thinking church (change the world)."  I wanted to quote some of this for you.

I would encourage United Methodist pastors and leaders to read Slaughter's Change The World, and alongside it Introducing The Missional Church by Roxburgh and Boren (Baker, 2009). To paraphrase Roxburgh and Boren, we will likely discover in the coming years that our constituents are tiring of the attractional pattern of doing church (for many of the reasons I note in the first paragraph above); at the same time, many young adults (16-35 year olds) hunger for missional church, or at least missional experience (evidence: Katrina, Haiti, Bono, Teach for America, the Obama campaign, etc.). To be missional is to enter into the strange world of the Bible---the call of Abraham, Isaiah's prophecy to rebuild the ruined cities, the inaugural sermon of Jesus in Capernaum, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, not to mention the Book of Acts, a neglected resource among mainline churches in general) and the tradition. At our best, United Methodists have always been missional, and when we have been missional, we have changed the world. There will continue to be attractional churches who do their ministry with excellence, but for the most part they will attract mobile United Methodists seeking similar programs and practices (I am thinking of the United Methodist who moves from Charlotte to Indianapolis, or vice versa).

I think this has bearing for how our church acts in our own community.  We need to see ourselves as missionaries going out to the world around us with the light of Christ.  And, as our church grows, we must never lose sight of the mission of the church.  It is never to have the most beautiful building...or the largest mortgage.  We need to be careful that our own building doesn't become an idol to us that gets in the way of ministry.

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