Pastors, laity receive tools to help revitalize
church
|
The Rev. Tyrone Gordon addresses the
"Thunder in the Desert" symposium in Nashville, Tenn.
The Jan. 3-5 event was sponsored by the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship. A UMNS photo by Linda
Green.
|
By Linda Green*
Jan. 11, 2008
| NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)
"The African-American church in the Florida Annual
Conference is dying," said a United Methodist pastor who
brought a 26-member delegation to a churchwide symposium
focusing on building ministry partnerships in black
churches.
|
The Rev.
Geraldine
McClellan
| "African-American
churches in my mind have been neglected," said the Rev.
Geraldine McClellan, district superintendent for the North
Central District of the Florida Conference.
Her
delegation, representing 11 congregations, was among about 200
congregational leaders who attended the Jan. 3-5 "Thunder in
the Desert: Symposium for Partnerships in African-American
churches."
The event was designed to provide church
leaders with resources to strengthen and energize their
African-American churches. It was sponsored by the United
Methodist Board of Discipleship to help churches plan and
implement effective ministry partnerships between laity and
clergy leaders.
The symposium was among the agency’s
ongoing efforts to address leadership development within the
church––one of four areas of focus set by the denomination for
the 2009-2012 period.
Thunder and rain
With the words "thunder and rain" as the backdrop, speakers
spoke of ministry in dry places and of the need for refreshing
and revitalizing water to strengthen those ministries.
"Thunder means movement; it means action," said
McClellan. "Whenever you hear thunder, you expect something to
happen" and change. "Sometimes God has to come through and
clean out that which has been lying dormant and start a new
thing."
For the black church, the thunder is God
cleaning out the old and allowing it to become a restorative
church where lives are transformed and people can feel the
presence of God in worship, according to the
speakers.
Many black churches have their lost identity
and culture in worship, the speakers said, and became so
"caucausianized" that they have forgotten God's work and
miracles in their lives.
"What this symposium has done
is helped us recognize that we have our own culture, and God
has given us a style of worship that is unique and we don't
have to be ashamed of that," said McClellan. "We have become
so ashamed of what God has done for us and because of that our
churches are dying."
Tool for preparation
The Rev. Tyrone Gordon called the symposium a tool to
prepare for the coming rain and to help the church become what
God is calling it to be.
"It is all right to be black
and Methodist at the same time," said Gordon, pastor of St.
Luke "Community" United Methodist Church in Dallas. Some
believe that being Methodist means assuming the identity of
the majority and acting like what the black church is not, he
told the gathering.
"Our gift to United Methodism is
our spirituality," Gordon said. "Our gift to United Methodism
is an understanding that there is not a separation between our
spiritual relationship with God and our social activism in the
world. … We know how to praise God and we know how to stand up
for righteousness."
God is not through with either The
United Methodist Church or the black church in America, he
said. "The rain of renewal, growth and vitality is on the way.
This event gives us tools to prepare for the coming
rain."
Participants said they came to the symposium in
search of resources and ideas to revitalize their
congregations.
Betty Johnson, lay leader for White
Memorial United Methodist Church, Little Rock, Ark., said the
church needs strong and knowledgeable black leadership. "We
have to be strengthened … and as we become strengthened, we
can strengthen others," she said.
Partnering with others
Emphasis on partnering and collaboration was a centerpiece
of the symposium's message.
|
The Rev. Julius
Trimble
| "In the 21st
century, partnerships are critical to the point of life and
death of African-American churches in United Methodism," said
the Rev. Julius Trimble, Aldersgate United Methodist Church,
Warrensville Heights, Ohio.
"We cannot exist as islands
unto ourselves, whether we are successful or not.
Collaboration with one another is important to enable the
church to make disciples for the transformation of the
world."
Managing money and creating assets is one way
to strengthen African-American churches and support their
ministry and mission, said Joshua I. Smith, chairman and
managing partner of Joshua Smith Coaching, LLC.
"You
are a capitalist because you function in a capitalistic
system," said Smith, a member of the Baltimore-Washington
Annual Conference. "You’ve got to know the rules. The church
is the most capitalistic institution in the world. If you
don’t know the rules of the game, you will
suffer."
Smith reminded the gathering that "God has a
bottom line" and "expects a return on his
investment."
*Green is a United Methodist News Service
news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media
contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.Related Articles
Summit brings thunder to African-American
churches
Symposium to Focus on Sustaining Ministry
Partnerships
Africana Worship Book Meets Long-Standing
Need
Leadership academy nurtures African-American
youth
Convocation for pastors focuses on healthy
connections Resources
United Methodist Board of Discipleship
Thunder in the Desert
Black Methodists for Church
Renewal |
Korean News