Bishop Mike Lowry

In a recent conversation with Dr. Eric McKinney, consultant in Leadership Ministries with TMF, he shared with me some of things he looks at in church health as a congregation begins to examine its future.  (He uses the learning tool Holy Conversations by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann.)  He asks about their average worship attendance over the last two decades and examines what age quartiles their percentage of giving comes from.  Both are key variables in looking at long-term congregational viability.

Dr. McKinney’s questions coincide with learning I recently gleaned from reading Legacy Churches by Stephen Gray and Franklin Dumond.  (I was so impressed by this work and the insights offered to us that I bought a copy for each member of the extended Cabinet.) In a forthright, loving, and courageous way, the authors face the reality of church closings.  They detail the natural life cycle of churches.  They note critical signs that indicate a church might need to face closing – history of decline in worship attendance below a critical level needed for support, changing population base, lack of connectedness to the mission field (area around the church), the giving base overwhelmingly from a post-retired generation, over dependence on the same volunteers, few professions of faith, etc.

Rather than simply lament reality, seek blame or grieve, the writers offer a hopeful response.  They call for churches to be legacy congregations.  “To leave a legacy is to pass on to future generations something of great significance. . . .If your church can give birth to a new church, that new church can carry forward your values and believes and continue to fulfill your mission to bring life-change to the community.”

The book is crammed with practical help that can be easily used to guide a congregation in examining its future.  Even better, it is hope-filled and resurrection-based.  It reflects the gospel.  I commend it to you.  Legacy Churches is a quick practical easy read with check lists a congregation can use examine its future in ministry for the advancing kingdom of God.

On another subject, Monday I was in Austin for a meeting of the Texas Methodist Foundation’s Executive Board.  I continue to be deeply impressed with TMF’s foresighted leadership in resourcing United Methodist Churches.  Recent action folding the Central Texas Methodist Foundation into TMF is a welcome step that will aid all involved and continue the strong work previously being done by both TMF and CTMF.

Over the weekend I read Lovett Weems little book Focus: The Real Challenges that Face the United Methodist Church. I have long been a fan of Dr. Weems’ work. His insight and leadership first as President of St. Paul’s School of Theology and now as Director of the Lewis Center for Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary are a blessing to the whole church. I have ve an app for the Lewis Leadership Center website, Leading Ideas, on my iPad (www.churchleadership.com).  All this is preface to the assertion that Focus: The Real Challenges that Face the United Methodist Church is an outstanding read.

Delegates to General & Jurisdictional Conferences should make it a mustread  (!) prior to attending. But the book goes beyond simply dealing with larger church issues. Different chapters deal with different areas: The New Context, Resetting the Financial Baseline, General Church, Annual Conference, Congregations, Reaching More People, Younger People, More Diverse People, and What is Ahead for the UMC. So impressed am I that I have asked John McKellar, Chair of the Conference Council of Finance and Administration, to have the entire CFA read the 2nd chapter on finances. Every delegate to the Central Texas Conference (Lay and Clergy!) would greatly benefit from reading chapter 4 on Annual Conferences. Likewise congregations would be well blessed by reading and discussion time of chapters 5 & 6 on congregations and reaching more, diverse & younger people.

I could go on. I will write further blogs on subjects raised in Focus. For now, read this book!

Yesterday I received a special gift from Dr. Michael Patison, chair of the Central Texas
Conference’s History Book Committee.  Fresh off the press, Michael handed me a copy of The Central Texas Annual Conference 1866-2010: At the Center of Texas Methodism.  Dr. Patison (as Editor) and the whole Committee writing team did a wonderful job! I wrote in the preface that this “is a work that encompasses more than history.  It encompasses an Act of God – the birth and life of the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church.”

It is almost fashionable these days to believe that one can be spiritual without being a part of a local church.  It is not true.  The old phrasing comes to mind – “the church is of God and will be preserved to the end of time.”  The other phrase which comes to mind is the one from  Santayana, “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

In the special gift of this history few have lessons that may guide into the future God is even now preparing for us.

The Central Texas Annual Conference 1866-2010: At the Center of Texas Methodism will be sold at Annual Conference this coming June in Waco. Those who would like to purchase a copy earlier may do so either at the Conference Service Center through Nancy Schusler or by contacting directly Michael Patison (www.mpatison@charter.net) or Rev. Nancy Bennett  (npbennett1@yahoo.com). The cost is $25 for pick up; $28.50 for shipped.

A particular delight in my devotional life during the last few months has been discovering the Common English Bible.  The Common English Bible or CEB for short is a new translation encompassing the best of current biblical scholarship from across the spectrum.  The translation is fresh and exciting.  It moves beyond the theological positioning of other biblical translations to embrace a deep accuracy with the original biblical text.  “The Common English Bible is committed to the whole church of Jesus Christ. To achieve this, the CEB represents the work of a diverse team with broad scholarship, including the work of over one hundred and seventeen scholars—men and women from twenty-two faith traditions in American, African, Asian, European and Latino communities. As a result, the English translation of ancient words has an uncommon relevance for a broad audience of Bible readers—from children to scholars” (www.commonenglishbible.com). With joy, I enthusiastically recommend the CEB translation!

Taste the fresh CEB translation of Jeremiah 29:11-12.  “I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.”  The promo blurb is right.  “The Common English Bible is not simply a revision or update of an existing translation. It is a bold new translation designed to meet the needs of Christians as they work to build a strong and meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ.”

Tomorrow I fly out to El Paso to visit The Lydia Patterson Institute.  Lydia Patterson is a mission of the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church (of which the Central Texas Conference is a part).   The bishops of the South Central Jurisdiction will be meeting together at Lydia Patterson as we seek to strengthen our mission and witness to the greater Hispanic community  (www.lydiapattersoninstitute.org).

Their mission is to:

• “Represent Christian Faith as understood by The United Methodist Church.
• Provide quality bilingual, cross-cultural academic education.
• Provide a Center where local church leaders, clergy and lay, may receive training and experience in effecting Christian witness and ministry with persons of other races and ethnic backgrounds.
• Develop leadership skills in persons interested in cross-cultural and international positions of Christian ministry.”

It is great to be back from my renewal leave and family vacation time.  As I turn my attention to the fall, I am tremendously excited about having Dr. Reggie McNeal with us on September 10^th at First UMC, Mansfield for the Fall Summit.  Dr. McNeal serves as the Missional Leadership Specialist for Leadership Network.  His books are must reads for me.  I expect the pastors and lay leadership of the Central Texas Conference to be present. (You can register through the Conference web site www.ctcumc.org or at www.firstmethodistmansfield.org.)

In his book Missional Renissance, Dr. McNeal writes: “Going missional will require that you make three shifts, both in your thinking and in your behavior:

• From internal to external in terms of ministry focus
• From program development to people development in terms of core activity
• From church-based to kingdom-based in terms of leadership agenda

These shifts are the signature characteristics of what missional means. They are not destinations; they are compass settings. They point you into the new world. They will move you from doing church as primarily a refuge, conservator, and institutional activity in a post-Christendom culture to being a risky, missionary, organic force in the increasingly pre-Christian world in North America” (Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard from the Church, by Reggie McNeal, pg. xvi).

I’ll see you at the summit!

I am finishing reading Mike Slaughter’s Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus.  I confess that it is one of those books I read ½ of and then put down.  Picking it back up again, I am once again engaged in an ongoing theme that is playing itself out across the church.

Outwardly focused churches thrive.  They don’t just believe in Christ; they live Christ.  Inwardly focused churches die.  There are a number of challenging aspects to Slaughter’s book, but perhaps most impressive is how serious Ginghamsburg UMC takes discipleship formation.  They have clear high expectations.  In writing about membership he comments on those who join Ginghamsburg.  “They commit to regular worship attendance, a cell community for accountability and growth, a place of service, and the biblical tithe.  They commit to grow as disciples – not remain attendees” (Mike Slaughter, Change the World, p. 41).

All this looks like concrete living out of the vows of prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.  It looks like living out radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity.  It might make for a very fruitful and faithful Administrative Council discussion to examine how your church is doing implementing practical discipleship.  This is, after all, our mission – “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Since finishing Kenda Creasy Dean’s excellent book Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, I find myself repeatedly going back to ponder its insights.  (For those of you who follow my “recommend” books with Cokesbury, I have it as one of the books I recommend.)  Dr. Dean (she teaches at Princeton Theological Seminary) develops deep insights about both youth ministry and the church in general through her work and reflection on National Study on Youth and Religion (NSYR).

Dean argues (based on a wealth of supporting data) that
“Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is supplanting Christianity as the dominant religion in the United States.”  Moralistic Therapeutic Deism holds to an essential set of 5 guiding beliefs.

“1. A god exists who created and orders the world and
watches over life on earth. (Passionate worship and intentional faith development are built on the premise that God is active and with us.)
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each
other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.  (Radical hospitality and extravagant generosity are about a lot mor ethan just being nice.)
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good
about oneself.  (Risk-taking mission and service reflect the teachin of Jesus that those who save their life loose it, and those who lose their life for the sake of the gospel save it.)
4. God is not involved in my life except when I need God to
resolve a problem.  (Christmas presumes an incarnation.  God is more than a butler or therapist.)
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.” (The Christian faith is grace based and not reward given.) (Kenda Dean, Almost Christian, p. 14)

Contrast this vague deism with the Apostle Paul’s words to
the religious anarchy and chaotic pluralism of Corinth (not unlike our
day!).  “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength” (I Corinthians 1:18, 24b-25).  I wish to be part of a gracious
yet robust Christian faith.  We have compromised too much to the world of our day and sought too little the ways of the Lord.

Dean’s book is a fine piece of theological work that moves far beyond simply youth ministry.  I commend its careful reading.

The recent tragedy in Japan lifts up again a perennial question as to why.  This is especially a pointed question to Christians with our belief in an all-knowing and all-loving God.  Years ago Rabbi Kushner wrote a bestselling work entitled Why Bad Things Happen to Good People.

Abingdon Press has just published a new book entitled Why? written by Rev. Adam Hamilton, Senior Pastor of Church of the Resurrection UMC in Kansas City.  It wrestles deeply and faithfully with this tough issue.  A variety of secular publications have picked up on Rev. Hamilton’s book.  Recently, Adam wrote an article entitled Japan’s Earthquake and the Will of God.

Allow me to share a sampling:  “As a pastor, I’ve spent 25 years working through the problem of suffering with my congregation. While it is natural, in the midst of intense grief and loss, to blame both God and ourselves for terrible tragedies (God is punishing me for something I’ve done/God is punishing our nation for something we’ve done), these answers miss the mark.

The answer to the question why is not to be found in a vengeful God who wreaks havoc on the human race. It is to be found in understanding that we live in a world of cause and effect. Our actions can have negative consequences for us or others. Others actions can have negative consequences for us. We also know that our bodies are not indestructible, and that there are genetic and external factors that affect our health. These can be exacerbated by our lifestyle and actions. And we know that there are forces of nature at work in our planet — atmospheric, environmental and geological — that are destructive. These very forces, which can be so destructive when human beings are in their path, are also essential to our planet being able to sustain life. Our actions as human beings can exacerbate these forces, but the forces themselves are a part of our planet’s essential operating system.”

For the full article you can follow this link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-hamilton/was-japans-earthquake-the_b_837324.html .  Even better, I invite you to read the book and lead a study group in your church through this thoughtful and helpful piece of writing.

I am engaged in some reading that has both stimulated and reinforced much of my current reflection.  As a part of my devotional life, I am reading Bishop Will Willimon’s new book Why Jesus?  It contains the fresh (that is, seen from a different angle) reflection on Jesus that is common to Bishop Willimon.  I will be sharing it with friends who have doubts about the place and role of Jesus (including some beloved agnostics and atheists).

The other book that I am almost finished reading is Journey in the Wilderness: New Life for Mainline Churches by Gil Rendle.  It will become a part of our collective reading in 2011 as a Cabinet.  For those familiar with Gil’s work, the book will represent a restatement and fleshing out of many of the themes he has shared in his speaking.  Whether as a deepening and clarification or new information, it is extremely worthwhile reading!  (For those readers not familiar with Dr. Gil Rendle, he is Senior Consultant with the Texas Methodist Foundation and serves as a consultant for many denominations and conferences – including the Central Texas Conference – on change and engagement in the new post-Christendom world.)

Like my Wilderness Way columns, Gil employs the exodus imagery for what the church is going through.  In the opening chapter he notes a number of helpful and hopeful insights:

• He is hopeful.  “I do not despair of the fundamental connection between God and the people.” (p. 2)
• He is encouraging.  “Above all else the wilderness is a place to learn.” (p. 2)
• He is insightful.  “We have been here before. We are a people of the original Exodus and Exile.” (p. 3)
• He is practical.  “Being able to see the normal and natural within our communities as living systems in the midst of change allows anxiety to transform into energy and worry to turn into hope.” (p.11)

As I am reading, I find myself in Nashville, Tennessee. In approximately 2 hours I will convene a meeting of leading practitioners in church transformation (renewal and revitalization) as a part of the Council of Bishop’s Four Focus Areas (New Places for New People ~ new and existing congregations).  As we (the UMC as a whole) lean into a new future, we are seeking to live Romans 12:1-2 as a people transformed by God’s grace and God’s purpose as revealed in Christ though the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  It is an exciting time!  It is also a challenging time!