Commentary: Church builds vision for addressing critical issues facing United Methodists, world
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Children play alongside a sewage-filled ditch in the
Maxinde neighborhood near Malanje, Angola. Leaders of The United
Methodist Church are focusing the denomination's work around four areas
of focus, including eradicating diseases of poverty around the world. A
UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose.
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A UMNS Commentary
From the General Secretaries
Of The United Methodist Church*
Oct. 9, 2007
Methodism began as a movement. John Wesley sought to make disciples
of Jesus Christ who were both transformed individually and committed to
changing the unjust practices of the society in which they lived. With
their actions, Wesley's early followers demonstrated a commitment to
live faithfully and, importantly, to apply their energies to offer
healing and reconciliation to the world.
This history is part of the DNA of the people of The United Methodist
Church. At no time more than the present should that DNA be instructive
to us. An exciting conversation has begun, and United Methodists are
asking how we might recapture that early spirit of a transformational
movement, thereby deepening our faith and strengthening the spiritual
life of our community.
“An exciting conversation has begun, and
United Methodists are asking how we might recapture that early spirit of
a transformational movement …”
We see many signs that our church is strong. In the past decade,
church membership in Africa has increased by 244 percent, to 3.1 million
members. We are growing in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc
nations, and among Korean Americans and other ethnic groups in the
United States.
Each year, countless United Methodists serve as mission volunteers in
the United States and around the globe. Financial giving among members
of our church has increased for 15 consecutive years, hitting a record
in 2006. And our church is known for the way it responds in times of
crisis.
But as many of us realize, The United Methodist Church is aging, and our numbers are declining:
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The average United Methodist is 57 years old.
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In some countries, notably the United States, we are not
effectively reaching youth and young adults; United Methodists under age
18 account for 4.6 percent of church membership.
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The number of ordained and commissioned elders under age 35 is a mere 850 in the United States.
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Membership globally is increasing, but U.S. membership has
slipped below 8 million for the first time since the 1930s, even as
non-white and immigrant populations in the United States rapidly grow.
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While total giving in the United States has increased, the number of givers has decreased.
More broadly, we know that our world today is crying out for physical
and spiritual healing. Poverty and strife are among the hallmarks of
our time — challenges so immense and complex that they numb the
weary and lead our societies to complacency and resignation.
A growing conversation
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Members of the United Methodist Connectional Table
and the Council on Finance and Administration pray during a joint
meeting in May. A UMNS file photo
by Marta W. Aldrich.
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United Methodists are at a critical juncture. Research reveals a deep
yearning across the church for a common focus on mission and
ministry — a powerful, noble vision to which we as a people can
commit our energy and in which we can live out our faith. We hear the
widespread belief that we are missing the essential energy of
"movement," the collective claiming of what it means to live as
Christians rooted in the Wesleyan tradition.
The unfolding conversation is leading us to reclaim the energy of our
tradition to "spread scriptural holiness across the land." It's in our
DNA. By joining heart and hand, we assert personal religion, evangelical
witness and Christian social action are reciprocal and mutually
reinforcing.
The conversation is taking place simultaneously at the Council of
Bishops, the Table of General Secretaries, the Connectional Table, and
most importantly, in local churches across the continents. We seek a way
to take the best of what United Methodists do today and focus and grow
that work so it becomes a source of inspiration and opportunity for
discipleship for all United Methodists. That effort has led to the
creation of four "areas of focus" for the denomination — not for
the next quadrennium, but for as far as the eye can see. It's a powerful
idea that has captured the attention of United Methodists far and wide.
“We seek a way to take the best of what
United Methodists do today and focus and grow that work so it becomes a
source of inspiration and opportunity for discipleship for all United
Methodists.”
Today, the annual conferences and many local churches are reflecting
upon these four areas of focus. Many conferences and churches, in the
Wesleyan way, have been putting that discipleship into action for years,
and we look to them as leaders.
The Council of Bishops and Connectional Table are studying how these
areas of focus might take shape in daily spiritual life. Likewise, the
denomination's boards and agencies are determining how to apply
churchwide resources to bring these areas of focus to life in a wide
range of ministries. Their purpose is not to limit the great work of
anyone, but to focus the great work of everyone, bringing context and
deeper spiritual meaning to our immense capacity to spread scriptural
holiness across the land.
The four focus areas
Everyone choosing to participate in this conversation has come to
believe we are doing nothing short of answering the questions for our
time: What is the United Methodist vision for living Wesley's
principles — doing no harm, doing good and loving God? And how does
that vision enable us to fulfill the church's mission to make disciples
of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?
The growing belief is that these areas of focus provide that answer. They are:
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Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.
The church must recruit young people for ministry and provide them with
the skills necessary to be effective in this new time of opportunity.
That includes women and people of color the world over. Similarly, we
must offer leadership training for lay people who are in ministry in
countless ways.
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Creating new places for new people by starting new congregations and renewing existing ones.
If we are to remain faithful to our commitment to transform the world,
we will reach out with genuine hospitality to people wherever they are.
We will make them feel welcome as we start new faith communities, seek
to renew existing ones and inspire faithful discipleship.
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Engaging in ministry with the poor. As an
expression of our discipleship, United Methodists seek to alleviate
conditions that undermine quality of life and limit the opportunity to
flourish as we believe God intends for all. As with John Wesley, we seek
to change conditions that are unjust, alienating and disempowering. We
engage in ministry with the poor, and in this, we especially want to
reach out to and protect children.
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Stamping out killer diseases by improving health globally.
Conditions of poverty cause illness and death. The lack of access to
doctors, nurses, medications and appropriate facilities is deadly,
especially among those who live in conditions of poverty. But the
diseases of poverty are not inevitable. We believe the people of The
United Methodist Church can play a significant role in educating others
about diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, and treating and preventing
their devastating effects.
United Methodists also understand how important it is to stand with
those who do not have access to affordable health care — the
uninsured in the United States as well as millions of people in the
developing world — and to work toward the day when everyone has an
opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.
“We will only succeed if we operate in an
uncommon spirit of collaboration, break our inertia and transcend our
disagreements. We as a people must open ourselves to a new way of
thinking about how we embody our faith.”
There certainly are obstacles. We will only succeed if we operate in
an uncommon spirit of collaboration, break our inertia and transcend our
disagreements. We as a people must open ourselves to a new way of
thinking about how we embody our faith. It's no small task, but if we
are successful, we will have on our hands a great unifying movement of
United Methodist people, a movement the world needs at the dawn of the
21st century.
This is an exciting time, and the invitation is extended to all to join the conversation and make this grand vision a reality.
*The general secretaries or top executives of The United Methodist
Church are the Rev. David Adams, Commission on United Methodist Men;
Neil Alexander, president, United Methodist Publishing House; Barbara
Boigegrain, Board of Pension and Health Benefits; M. Garlinda Burton,
Commission on the Status and Role of Women; the Rev. Jerome King Del
Pino, Board of Higher Education and Ministry; the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt,
Board of Discipleship; Erin M. Hawkins, Commission on Religion and
Race; the Rev. Larry Hollon, United Methodist Communications; Sandra
Lackore, Council on Finance and Administration; the Rev. Larry Pickens,
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns; the Rev.
Robert Williams, Commission on Archives and History; and Jim Winkler,
Board of Church and Society. Retired Bishop Felton May is serving as
interim general secretary of the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.
News media contact: Ginny Underwood, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org .
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