"there is no spoon."
this afternoon i attended a "listening seminar" at st. andrew umc in plano. the point of the seminar, or so i thought, was to communicate findings about the future of annual conferences within the south-central jurisdiction of the united methodist church, changes mandated by the denomination's general conference in 2004. i was wrong. the listening seminar was designed for our bishops to listen to our feedback on these issues, then they would share that feedback with the other bishops.
we began with a summary of a report generated by the lewis center for church leadership out of wesley seminary in d.c. the report lists all kinds of stats and data about the preferences by clergy and layfolk across the jurisdiction. the college of bishops and the jurisdiction will consider this, combined with these feedback sessions, in determining the future alignments of conferences and roles of bishops. general conference mandated that this jurisdiction eliminate one episcopal position by 2012-- go from 11 bishops to 10.
guided by some discussion questions, we broke into small groups for an hour. we talked about what we would like to see in a bishop: more time with people than the office; less administrative duties; strong leadership; ability to use technology effectively; understanding marketing and crafting of a message to the unchurched; etc. toward the end of the discussion, someone said one of the great united methodist cliches (we didn't invent it, but we've perfected it): "we need to think outside of the box." a few moments later i responded: "we need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that there is no box to think outside of."
for years, in a good-hearted effort to reverse the steady tide of membership losses, we have searched in vain for models that will save us. contemporary worship and video will attract young people. then we went away from that and explored more contemplative experiences. slick marketing ads (and many not-so-slick ones) and mailers will draw people in. our large churches offer workshops on what they've done to be successful, so we flock to ginghamsburg or montgomery or leawood and vigorously take notes. now we're trying a new effort, a more holistic approach to reaching out.
don't get me wrong. i welcome every single one of these ideas and goals. we should lean on those who have been successful and who are more than eager to share. i spent a week with adam hamilton a couple of summers ago and found him remarkably humble and approachable. i have used lots of his ideas many, many times with varying degrees of success. but as i heard these good people talk about thinking "outside of the box" (another group shared that they too had had the same discussion), i began to wonder if we are looking for solutions and answers in the wrong places. there may be no box. there may be no pre-packaged, it's worked there so it'll work here, statistics say this is what your target audience needs, what you need is inside this box, or outside of it. it seems to me the more we take this discussion further and further away from the local churches the more generalized and ineffective it will become.
i am reminded of a scene in the matrix where neo is still frustrated by his inability to dodge bullets or fight super fast or do anything else the other cool guys in the dark glasses can do. he goes to see the oracle to learn more about his surroundings and encounters a young boy who teaches him a valuable lesson.
"do not try to bend the spoon. you must learn the truth. there is no spoon." once neo concentrates on the spoon and realizes it is not really there, he can bend it. and soon he's not only dodging bullets-- he's flying.
i have no idea if reducing the number of our bishops in this area by one will make lasting changes to our denomination. these new emphases may spark renewed interest and passion and result in more discipleship of folk and more transformation of the world. i wonder what would happen to our united methodist churches if we stopped looking for a box to get out of-- realized there may be no box to begin with-- would we learn to fly too?
we began with a summary of a report generated by the lewis center for church leadership out of wesley seminary in d.c. the report lists all kinds of stats and data about the preferences by clergy and layfolk across the jurisdiction. the college of bishops and the jurisdiction will consider this, combined with these feedback sessions, in determining the future alignments of conferences and roles of bishops. general conference mandated that this jurisdiction eliminate one episcopal position by 2012-- go from 11 bishops to 10.
guided by some discussion questions, we broke into small groups for an hour. we talked about what we would like to see in a bishop: more time with people than the office; less administrative duties; strong leadership; ability to use technology effectively; understanding marketing and crafting of a message to the unchurched; etc. toward the end of the discussion, someone said one of the great united methodist cliches (we didn't invent it, but we've perfected it): "we need to think outside of the box." a few moments later i responded: "we need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that there is no box to think outside of."
for years, in a good-hearted effort to reverse the steady tide of membership losses, we have searched in vain for models that will save us. contemporary worship and video will attract young people. then we went away from that and explored more contemplative experiences. slick marketing ads (and many not-so-slick ones) and mailers will draw people in. our large churches offer workshops on what they've done to be successful, so we flock to ginghamsburg or montgomery or leawood and vigorously take notes. now we're trying a new effort, a more holistic approach to reaching out.
don't get me wrong. i welcome every single one of these ideas and goals. we should lean on those who have been successful and who are more than eager to share. i spent a week with adam hamilton a couple of summers ago and found him remarkably humble and approachable. i have used lots of his ideas many, many times with varying degrees of success. but as i heard these good people talk about thinking "outside of the box" (another group shared that they too had had the same discussion), i began to wonder if we are looking for solutions and answers in the wrong places. there may be no box. there may be no pre-packaged, it's worked there so it'll work here, statistics say this is what your target audience needs, what you need is inside this box, or outside of it. it seems to me the more we take this discussion further and further away from the local churches the more generalized and ineffective it will become.
i am reminded of a scene in the matrix where neo is still frustrated by his inability to dodge bullets or fight super fast or do anything else the other cool guys in the dark glasses can do. he goes to see the oracle to learn more about his surroundings and encounters a young boy who teaches him a valuable lesson.
"do not try to bend the spoon. you must learn the truth. there is no spoon." once neo concentrates on the spoon and realizes it is not really there, he can bend it. and soon he's not only dodging bullets-- he's flying.
i have no idea if reducing the number of our bishops in this area by one will make lasting changes to our denomination. these new emphases may spark renewed interest and passion and result in more discipleship of folk and more transformation of the world. i wonder what would happen to our united methodist churches if we stopped looking for a box to get out of-- realized there may be no box to begin with-- would we learn to fly too?
Comments
so, like in every other industry, we look to experts who seem to have had some degree of success doing what they do.
but, as you point out, their context may be totally different.
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a part of the insanity of a large system like we have now is the group-think that makes us believe all good ideas should be replicated everywhere. which is really probably crazy, if you think about it.
context, it seems to me, is far more important than the contents of the box, or the desire to get out of it.
what is the context for ministry in each place?
do we understand it?
we we support it?
can we allow a "live and let live" structure where we allow our churches to develop *very* different from each other (in every way I can mean that...)?
I, personally, was always taught that if you ever find yourself succeeding greatly at a ... Read Moreparticular church - never write a book to tell everyone how you did it. Its all contextual, and what what works for me isn't going to be the same mix as what works for you.
The problem with both approaches (out of the box / there is no box) is that one has become a tad trite and overused, and the other tends to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I think we can glean lessons from others experiences...and some of those lessons will work to varying degrees for us (as you wisely stated). But I am inclined to believe that there IS most definitely a box...but our current box is to be outside of the box. Maybe we just need to find another box that's more tested and true and get in that one?!
No, I take that back. I think our real answer is stop talking about boxes and to start talking about what the Holy Spirit is doing in us. How we are being led, as pastors, to effectively change our world.
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At the Walk to Emmaus weekend I just helped lead I was re-impressed with several of the lay addresses. Maybe we need to revisit some of those theological points that we don't make very often as clergy and reform our understanding of what it means to be the church in a world that has found other ways to be spiritual than to show up and play silly games with people's feelings, or experience shame.
Sorry...I guess I started ranting. BTW, are you available this Saturday to preach a candlelight?
This reminds me that the empty tomb of the Resurrection is less important than the reality that Christ is risen and living among us and within us. What a thought to complete
Lent and prepare for the Holy Week that is nearly here!
we need *more* of this...but the problem is that it's terribly challenging to many people. theology and social issues cloud the ability of many to truly embrace that kind of of "live and let live" attitude.
it is not the ISSUES that will kill us, it is the arguing *over* the issues that will, and not simply freeing God's Holy Spirit to do what it will do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8
they remind me that the WORLD continues to change at lightening speed. meanwhile, our church changes at what is basically geologic speed. (changing every FOUR years? geologic time...)
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we have been taught to be proud of this system of checks and balances that consistently slows down change. and I myself have talked about my pride in it over and over and over again.
i feel like every year of my life that ticks by, I am less and less comfortable with this answer. we have an 18th Century way of making changes, in a world that changes at lightening speed.
What is the difference between the Wesleyan Tradition and the Roman Catholic? The Southern Baptist?
We have a great and wonderful "recipe" that has been proven over the course of 200 years to be an effective means of bringing people to and... Read More encouraging them to grow in Christ. Membership envy is the bane of our existence, and to follow Edlen, when we've been successful, our mission hasn't been cultural Christianity; it's been multigenerational, missional, relational, musical faith. The best way for us to define ourselves in this 21st century, post-Christendom "marketplace" is, I believe, to simply stick to home cookin'. It's cool that Saddleback and all are doing their thing, God bless their journeys, but what makes us distinctive and useful tools of God's kingdom isn't broke. We are Arminian, we are sacramental, we are spirit-led. No one else does that!