“…to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

That’s the mission statement adopted by the General Conference yesterday (Tuesday 29 April 2008). The Council of Bishops has advocated this change for quite some time, and the addition of “for the transformation of the world” serves to make clear our commitment to “transformation of the world” as an end of Christian discipleship.

Adam Hamilton pointed out in the discussion of this statement that a mission statement needs to be brief, and this statement continues to have the virtue of brevity, though doubled in length from six words to twelve now. Several commentators pointed out that a mission statement cannot say everything, and the text following the mission statement makes clear many of the meanings associated with it.

Still, it’s important to get it right and I have a few concerns about the new wording, which I pose as questions.

Is “the transformation of the world” the only end of “making disciples of Jesus Christ”? What about God’s reign or kingdom, even beyond the confines of this present world?

Is the meaning of “transformation of the world” clear, even within the brief span of a mission statement? By itself it could be purely secular, and could have either negative or positive meaning: plenty of people have transformed the world, in hideous ways. I know we mean good here, and we mean good to God’s glory, but it’s not stated in the mission statement. My fear is that the revised version can be read as saying that our theological task is really just a way at getting at something else, not necessarily related to God. Hmmmm…

Are we really declaring that the mission of “the Church,” that is, the one, holy catholic and apostolic church, is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” or when we say “the Church,” do we mean “The United Methodist Church”? I hope it’s the latter, since it would be enormously pretentious for our General Conference to declare the mission of all Christian communities. Something tells me that if we’re going to make declarations on behalf of other churches, we ought to at least consult with them in doing so.

I preferred Bishop Huie’s way of stating the mission of our church in her episcopal address on Wednesday evening: “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world to the glory of God.” I know. Adds five more words. But they’re important and would clear up all of the problems that I (at least) have identified about this.

Top Ten List for General Conference

10. Okay, you’re coming to Texas. Please don’t expect everyone to be wearing cowboy boots and cowboy hats

9. Not everybody at General Conference speaks English. Nor in Ft. Worth.

8. Avoid, like the plague, Mexican Restaurants named for the owner.

7. Yes, those are real stockyards and they do have a distinct odor to them. Real cows do make their way through there and leave their “footprints” there.

6. Not all Texas delegates will be driving pickup trucks. You’ll see plenty, though.

5. Cow Patties are not a dessert item. In some parts of Texas it is a sport. You can hurl the sun-dried patties in a contest. You can also wager, though we don’t since we’re Ums, on what quadrant a cow may leave a patty.

4. Yes, Fort Worth is Cow Town. This name comes from the days when cows made their way down city streets on their way to the stock yards.

3. In some night gathering places, what appear to be brass vases are not vases, nor should you drink what may be inside of them.

2. Fort Worth is the home to Radio Shack, so don’t be surprised if there is one on every other street corner.

1. Howdy is not a person’s name necessarily.

General Conference is our big dance

The Final Four is down the road from us. The folks in San Antonio have been expecting it for some years now and as I write I know they’re counting the days when it returns back. I don’t know when that will be, but I do know San Antonio is a great host city for that what is called “The Big Dance” in NCAA sports. In fact the musical lineup for a big dance got sizable press in the SA paper, some high school senior who sings country AND western music is one of the big stars. I hadn’t heard of her. I think she’s home schooled and is excited about being able to walk across some Home School Academy stage to get her diploma. My home schooling consisted of a belt, some crying, a lecture, and then a hug with words of love from my dad. I never saw the diploma from no academy, but I’m the result of that kind of schooling.

General Conference is our Big Dance. I wouldn’t say it’s cheek to cheek, but it can be slow and sometimes even jerky. Seems most everyone dances with who brung ‘em, a Texas expression that means in plain, boring English, you dance with whom brought you to the dance. And that means even though God is providing the music, not everybody is hearing the same rhythm and so the movements on the dance floor seem herky. But it seems okay because in the end everybody hugs, makes a big circle, sings “Bless Be The Tie That Binds” all the while some are thinking the perfect “tie” is something I won’t get into at this writing.

The Big Dance of United Methodism for me will always be the people that come from all over the world to share in being of Jesus and of being of the same church family. I will never forget the excitement a young man from the Czech Republic expressed to me when I greeted him with Jak Se Mas, and expected to use the only other word I know in Czeck, Dobje Yak Ti? He started spraying me with a long greeting and hugs, and i had to say I was sorry but the only Czech I knew I had already shared with him. He looked in his bag and handed me tracts in Czech and asked me to give them out to the people who I explained lived in Texas and spoke little English but got by perfectly in Czech. That was truly a God moment.

Pray for more God moments in the coming of this Big Dance. May all who come dance to God’s music in a way that glorifies God and not us or our agendas.

May I cut in?

Windsor Village United Methodist Church, Houston

In 1971 I served as a team member for a Lay Witness Mission at a tiny suburban, predominantly Anglo United Methodist congregation in Southwest Houston, Southmont United Methodist Church. The Southmont building is the small structure to the right in this photo. The congregation was praying for renewal and it came, although it took a little while. The name changed to Windsor Village along the way, and the congregation eventually reached out to the predominantly African American constituency in its area. When the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell was appointed to the congregation in 1982, its membership was 25. It’s membership is now in excess of 12,000 and it is the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States. Be encouraged, sisters and brothers.

[My own photo, taken on Palm Sunday, March 16, 2008]

Encourage One Another…

“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing” (I Thessalonians 5:11). It’s Holy Scripture. Do it.

/ted

Old Methodist Church at San Felipe, Texas

Welcome to heartcoreMethodist.org

Welcome to heartcoreMethodist.org. This blog offers resources for renewal in contemporary Wesleyan and Methodist Churches.

The term “heartcore” is our way of expressing the Wesleyan notion that we find strong unity in a few essential or fundamental principles and allow wide liberty in other matters. in the Latin of Rupertus Meldenius (ca. 1610s), in esentialibus unitas, in non-essentialibus libertas, in utrique caritas: “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in both charity.” Don’t you wish John Wesley had said that?

The image header on the web site is based on a photograph by Lynn Cummings (http://lynncummings.com).