For the “State of the Church” Report in the January/February 2015 issue of The Interpreter magazine for the United Methodist Church, I was asked to contribute 150 words responding to the question “How would you describe a unified United Methodist Church?” It’s hard to fit my longer-than-tomorrow blog posts into 150 words, but I think it was a good shot. They printed my contribution along with eight other United Methodists. Check out the article (it’s on page 36-37), but for those of you without one handy, here’s my contribution:
A Unified United Methodist Church?
As I look at my toddler daughter and wonder what kind of Church could possibly be unified enough for her to inherit someday, I believe a holy, just, diverse, and kenotic church might be our best hope
- A holy church perpetually seeks personal and social holiness in the Wesleyan tradition.
- A just church funnels that holy discontent to transform society into a more just community, and boldly confront the *isms within the Church itself.
- A diverse church overcomes our restrictive polity by honoring unity in diversity, engaging our varied mission fields in contextual, accountable ways through a more adaptive polity.
- A kenotic “self-emptying” church prioritizes missional needs over institutional maintenance.
That’ll do it. Oh, one more: if we truly live out our baptismal affirmation “you are a beloved child of God” that was said to my daughter—and all your daughters and sons—then God will be glorified indeed.
Your turn
If you were to describe what a unified United Methodist Church would look like, or what marks would it have, sound off in the comments!
To embrace our connection in the Body of Christ we respectfully embrace our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, without judgment. Why would we ever believe that God wants us to all believe exactly the same thing? As United Methodists we honor reason and experience along side scripture and tradition. It’s our blessing, our best thing. And since when did grace become secondary to doctrine?