Itinerant Church

Encouraging the church to move out, move on, and move over

United Methodist Church needs imagination to solve escape room?

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umc-escape-roomHave you ever heard of “escape rooms?” They are a global phenomenon and a growing segment of the gaming industry. Stuart Miller, writing for Newsweek, succinctly explained the game: “Room escape games lock players in a room where they must seek clues and solve puzzles tied to a story or theme to escape before time runs out, usually in one hour.”

Is the UMC trapped in a giant escape room?

Like many in the UMC, I am concerned about the escalating tension and anxiety in the UMC regarding a possible split. This is nothing new, however, as divisions and conflict within the UMC have been simmering since the very beginning of the denominational merger that created the UMC in 1968. [Read more…]

“Examine Yourselves” – Closed Versus United Methodist Open Communion

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wimtbum-375x388Recently I read a report from United Methodist Communications titled, “What Does It Mean to Be United Methodist?” This report summarizes the results of a survey conducted of 1250 United Methodists, including 400 lay members, 350 lay church leaders (i.e. past or present committee members), and 500 pastors. The respondents were asked in the spring and summer of 2014 to rate 22 values on a scale of 1 to 5, “not important” to “very important to you.” Not surprisingly, there are diverse opinions about what is important to us as individual United Methodists and there is no substantial agreement about core values. However, there are two values that consistently ranked near the top levels of importance across the spectrum of respondents: “Emphasis on God’s grace” and “Open table – Communion open to all.” That should not be surprising to us. If there are any values that distinguish United Methodists or Methodists in general from other Christian groups, it would be these two values. [Read more…]

Lessons to be learned from 19th century Methodist schism?

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Last Monday, Dr. Donald Haynes wrote his column for The United Methodist Reporter on “Lessons to Be Learned from the 1844 ‘Plan of Separation’.” His main point appears toward the end of his article in a section titled “Fallout.” It turns out his article about the relevant history of Methodist schism in the 19th century was context for his reaction to the proposal, “A Way Forward,” from UMC pastors Adam Hamilton and Michael Slaughter.

The sometimes “heralded” Plan of Separation turned sour. The sad consequence was attorney fees and a protracted acrimonious debate, mostly about pensions, property rights, and the publishing house.

church splitThe implication is that a schism in the UMC would cause much squabbling over property and many lawsuits, not to mention causing great turmoil across thousands of local churches and disrupting, if not devastating, the faith journeys of millions of Methodists. So, I have to ask, is Dr. Haynes implying that we United Methodists keep our heads down and plow through General Conference to maintain status quo? The more I think about it, the more I’m not sure what he means to imply. He does write: “What will we do? It depends on whom we elect as delegates to go to Portland in 2016!” [Read more…]

Achoo, Thank You, Bless You, Bless the Lord!

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Are you bothered by cashiers and others in customer service jobs when they don’t say “thank you?” I am. Recently I was at a national restaurant chain of the “fast casual” type (name starts with “P”), and the young man who took my order was being trained by a young lady. Both of them barely acknowledged my presence, just enough to get my order; they were both focused on the training aspect of their work and almost not all on the customer service aspect. Neither of them said “thank you” after I paid for my order. To be fair, the lady that delivered my order was very friendly and thankful.

This happens to us a lot. We stand in line, we pay money for goods or services, and the cashier, waiter, front desk person, or whoever does not say “thank you.” I am bothered by this. My bothered reaction has roots in my twelve-year experience in my teens and 20s working many service jobs, the first of which was bagging at Jewel at the age of 16. Following that job I worked in the fish market, served the cafeteria in college, sold shoes, worked retail clothing, delivered office supplies, worked in two family-owned pharmacies, and worked as a bank teller. I said “thank you” to nearly every customer no matter how I was feeling. It was the simplest thing I could do to recognize our common humanity in those jobs. [Read more…]

Passing through the Waters

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I have worked with youth for several years in various roles: as a 7th grade English teacher, confirmation teacher, leader of small groups, retreat leader, mission trip leader, and now as a pastor of youth. I learn each and every time I spend with youth what a blessing it is to be young and to have your whole life in front of you. What a blessing it is to live life without decades of regret, lost loves, wrecked relationships, lost jobs, missed opportunities, failed dreams. Without years of life experience to draw upon, it is difficult for youth to answer “life application” questions in a Bible study, for example. It is a tough job to dig deeper with youth because of their limited life experience. But every once in awhile a young person will say something that pierces straight to the truth with such precision and insight that I am taken aback, and I revel in encouraging that student in his or her youthful wisdom. Last Sunday during confirmation class we went around the table, drawing one card each from two decks of cards, one with divine attributes and one with human attributes. And then we did our best to describe how the two attributes relate to each other. The point of the exercise was to discover how Jesus incarnates both divinity and humanity. One confirmand drew from the “God” deck, “be all-knowing,” and from the “human” deck, “feel pain.” The confirmand thought for a second and then said, “Well, if God is all-knowing then God must feel pain because pain is something we know. It is something to be known. Therefore, God must know pain.” Wow. In all of my years of reading volumes and volumes of theology, I don’t recall ever hearing God’s omniscience applied so purely to the problem of pain and suffering. [Read more…]