Bishop Mike Lowry

I have just returned for the Cabinet’s annual inventory retreat.  At this retreat, we take stock of coming retirements, incoming seminary graduates and new licensed local pastors, those pastors and or churches considering or requesting moves, etc.  As we live into the new reality of a post- Christendom age, we continue to be governed by the notion of trying to make mission field appointments.  Our focus/guide remains:  Our clients are: 1) God, 2) The Mission Field, 3) The congregation, and 4) The clergy – In that order!  People readily agree with that focus.  The implementation, however, is painful.  The old “ladder” system no longer holds.  This is a painful part of our exodus journey.

Switching topics, I want to call attention to some recent articles in Ministry Matters (www.ministrymatters.com).  F.  Douglas Powe, Jr. has written a thoughtful article entitled “Revitalizing African American Congregations for the Post-Civil Rights Generation” (Posted on February 1st, 2012).  It is an excerpt from his book Pouring New Wine into New Wine Skins: Revitalizing African American Congregations.

 Another Ministry Matters (www.ministrymatters.com) article worth reading is Church, Take Up Your Mats by Christian Piatt, Posted January 30^th, 2012.

Way to go Central Texas Conference!!!  At Thursday’s meeting of the CFA (Conference Council on Finance and Administration), we were able to fund our Connectional Mission Giving to the General Church (otherwise called apportionments) at 100%!  Historically, the Central Texas Conference has a tremendous record of being a conference that almost always pays out fully (100%) to Connectional Mission Giving.  (Last year was one of the few exceptions and even then we did extremely well given the recession.)

The change in total CMG (Connectional Mission Giving) in 2011 reflects the deep savings that have resulted from the Exodus Project (moving from 7 geographical Districts to 5 Geographical Districts, reconfiguration of staff, elimination of redundant or obsolete structure, etc.).

The extravagant generosity of the Central Texas Conference did not stop with just Connectional Mission Giving and Conference Ministry Support.  Asking and Fair Share Goals for Laura Edwards, Senior Ministry, Justice for our Neighbors – JFON, Mid-Cities Age Level, Global AIDS Fund, United Community Centers and Metro Board of Missions resulted in an additional $189,860.51 in generosity.  Among the 3 pages of special offerings over and above CMG & Fair Share was an Annual Conference Offering of $43,732.45 which went to Glen Lake Camp, twice the normal amount; UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) offering of $32,015.27 – 1/3 more than ever before; Imagine No Malaria offering of $121,980.56; $13,761.84 for Wildfire Relief in our area, with many churches giving directly to those in need; $49,914.38 in relief for spring storms in Joplin and parts of Oklahoma; and a special Pacific Emergency offering for victims of the Tsunami and related disasters in Japan of $119,106.2!.

Our response has been nothing short of phenomenal.  It represents a true movement of the Holy Spirit among us.  Well done thou good and faithful servants!

This was one of those rare years when Christmas Day (and New Year’s Day) fell on a Sunday.  In Methodist tradition our high celebration of the birth of Christ is on Christmas Eve.  At least originally the notion of Christmas Eve worship was to greet the Christ-child at the start of Christmas Day in worship (that is at midnight).  It “fits” with the angelic greeting of the shepherds in their fields at night.  Symbolically at least, we are joining the shepherds in adoration.  (Ancient Orthodox tradition has it that the animals are the first to greet the newborn Savior by speaking at midnight!  You might check out the hymn “The Friendly Beasts” (UM Hymnal, No. 227).

What draws my reflection is the morning after – Christmas Day, a Sabbath Day for Christians – the Son’s Day or Resurrection Day.  After multiple Christmas Eve services (including one at 11:00 p.m.), Arborlawn (my wife’s church) held one worship at 10 a.m. on Christmas Day (instead of the usual 3).  We went (and yes, I was late).  They ran out of bulletins!  Far more people showed up than were expected.

Christmas Day afternoon we drove to Oklahoma to have Christmas dinner with my mother-in-law.  Her United Methodist Church held a Christmas Eve service but no service on Sunday – the Christian Sabbath day! – Christmas Day.  My mother-in-law and her friends were disappointed (if not disgusted) by the lack of a Christmas Day (Sunday) service.  Politely but pointedly she noted that worshipping God on Sunday, especially a Christmas Day Sunday, was a part of keeping the commandment to honor the Sabbath.  The lack of worship on Christmas Day seemed unfaithful.

I can’t help but wonder in all this if the lay people are telling us (the clergy) something critical to faithfulness.  These laity appear to take the commandment to “honor the Sabbath and keep it holy” as more important than the clergy.  In the case of Arborlawn (where the clergy leadership was clearly faithful and provided excellent worship leadership), the laity were telling us (the clergy) about the importance of such worship.  The commandment to honor the Sabbath still applies; even … no make that especially, on Christmas Day.

I have shared often how crucial Christmas Eve worship is as an opportunity to reach non- or nominal Christians.  A recent article in Ministry Matters (www.ministrymatters.com click on “Articles”, it was posted November 28^th) entitled “How Christmas Can Help Your Church Grow in 2012” caught my attention.  The authors listed 6 key ideas.  “1) Promote your January sermon series and other upcoming activities during Advent and Christmas services.”  2) Use your Christmas kids’ programming as an on-ramp for new families to get involved.  3)  Offer multiple mission opportunities. 4) Do the caroling thing. (The CEB New Testament Christmas Outreach Kit works well for this kind of outreach.) 5) Use your church’s small groups for outreach during the holidays.  6) Be creative and try new things.”  The authors, Betsy Hall & Shane Raynor, add: “Don’t settle with doing the same candlelight service year after year. Remember, Christmas Eve is prime time. Pull out all the bells and whistles. Get your most creative people on board and provide a worship experience that will make first time visitors want to return in 2012.” To which I add a hearty Amen! The worship of God is the first and most basic step on the path of discipleship.

I commend the article to you.  It closes with the challenging question, “What does your church do during Advent and Christmas that encourages growth in the months ahead?”

As you are lifting up the connection between Christmas Eve, making disciples, and church growth? Don’t forget alternative forms of communication as a way to reach seekers.  A church Facebook page and a twitter auto update are two (among many) different suggestions.  (Our younger clergy have been coaching me, and they are great resources to visit with about different options!)  Whatever you do, have Christmas Eve services featured PROMINENTLY on your  website!

While you are at it, another article from the Lewis Leadership Center is really worth your attention.  It is entitled “Asking Bigger Questions” and written by Keith Anderson. It is from The Lewis Center for Church Leadership online journal Leading Ideas dated November 30^th (www.churchleadership.com).

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.”

In 563 A.D. St. Columba set sail from his beloved Ireland to convert the wild druidic lands of what is today Scotland and Northern England.  Exiled from Ireland for a
conflict which he  helped start and which led to the death of many, Columba sailed east stopping a number of times until he came to a place where, after climbing the highest hill (and there are some high ones – think a green and wet version of the Texas Hill country), he could no longer see his beloved Ireland.  There on the isle of Iona with 12 companions St. Columba established a monastery with the express purpose of sharing the gospel. This great work of God was a combination of both penance and pilgrimage.  According to legend Columba was charged with converting as many people to Christ as those who had died because of the conflict that caused his exile.  Many of us (especially those with Scottish heritage) know life in Christ as extensions of the spiritual lineage of St. Columba.

We landed on Iona on July 30^th to become (temporary) “residents” of the Abbey for their “Gathering Place” retreat.  The day’s rhythm quickly settled into 8:15 a.m. breakfast, 9 a.m. worship.  It is at the close of the morning worship that our common schedule shifts.  To be a part of the Abbey is to take place in its common work.  Rev. George MacLeod (who revived the modern day Iona Abbey in the pre-World War II depression) deeply believed that shared work built community.  So do I.  So do we.

The notion that work and community are welded together is no new insight.  This is a central part of the community framework which Jesus builds with his 12 apostles.  It is a crucial part of the spiritual growth and learning that takes place on our CTCYM trips.  My part of the common work for the community involved being “trash man” for the “east range” (a physical section of the Abbey).  Every morning after worship, I
went the 5 restrooms of the East Range and check to make sure they had toilet
paper, soap, sanitary napkins and emptied all the trash bins/cans and restocked
each restroom (the British would say toilet) as appropriately needed.  This is no new task for me; I’ve been the trash taker-outer for the last 34 years, 11 months and 2 days.  (Jolynn and I will celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary on August 16^th.)

What stands as distinctive is not so much that common work building community but the way the work & community are tied to worship.  There is no benediction, closing or sending from our worship service.  The worship service has a liturgical prayer (at what we would normally consider the end) that leads directly to our  common work.  At least symbolically work, worship and community are woven together.

As we moved to our common work, I could not help but recall with fondness and joy the closing CTCYM communion services I have been privileged to take part in.  Community, work, and worship go together.  God blesses the intertwining.

Sunday, July 24, 2011 Jolynn and I worshipped at Hexham Abbey Church.  With people of good will around the world, we joined in lifting up the people and nation of Norway in our prayers.  Together we looked to God’s love and grace through our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hexham Abbey was founded by Wilfrid (Bishop of York), one of the great pioneers of Christianity in northern England in 674 A.D.  Among its historic great is included St. Cuthbert.  We soaked in the history and drank from the well of a deep piety on our Friday afternoon visit.  This brought us back for worship on Sunday.

Our Sunday worship encountered a moderately alive congregation with about 125 people present.  We were greeted with a friendly welcome.  The worship service was classic Anglican with modern phrasing.  Most active Methodists from Central Texas would have found the liturgy very familiar.

What was missing was any real attempt to help a non-Christian understand what was taking place in worship.  The service wasn’t visitor friendly or unfriendly.  It was visitor indifferent.  What leaves me intrigued is the contrast between a clergy who obviously understand that the day of Christendom is over and yet demonstrate no engagement with that knowledge.  They were genuinely welcoming and yet appeared to be without insight into the contradiction between the worship they were leading and the assumption that those attending were already committed, practicing Christians.  They may know they live in a modern mission field that is overwhelmingly non-Christian, but this reality has not yet brought about any real change in worship, how the gospel is shared, or their behavior.

What pains is me is how descriptive this is of many churches, including those in the Central Texas Conference!

Since last Thursday I have been on an EO (Educational Opportunities) Wesleyan Heritage tour.  We have been visiting the hallowed sites of Wesley’s England. 

Our initial stop in London was at the great St. Paul’s Cathedral.  From there we went to Aldersgate Street where Wesley felt his heart “strangely warmed” by a sense of assurance of God’s salvation in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  (“I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”)  The italics emphasis is in the original (written by Wesley himself in his journal.  While scholars debate whether this could be properly called a conversion, one thing is certain: at Aldersgate the head and the heart came together in a profound experience of grace that propelled Wesley to action.  Wesley saw the final verdict on the Aldersgate experience as lived out in love toward God and neighbor in need.  Heitzenrater writes: “Real test, however, of the authenticity of this experience was to be found, not in terms of whether or not he felt his heart ‘strangely warmed,’ but whether or not the expected fruits of faith and assurance … would be in evidence: freedom from sin, doubt and fear, and the fullness of peace, love, and joy in the Holy Ghost (otherwise called ‘holiness and happiness’)” (Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodist, p. 80).

Our Sunday found us in Epworth where John and Charles Wesley were raised worshipping at Wesley Memorial Church and visiting the rectory where they lived as children.  Later in life, John was denied permission to preach in the church because of his “enthusiasm” and so instead preached from atop his father’s grave in the cemetery outside the church.  A throng listened with rapt attention as he shared the good news of God’s love, grace, and righteousness in Christ.  Once again the soaring history provided a marked contrast.  At our worship, the congregations (about 30 in number – which our group of 24 almost doubled) were, with 3 exceptions, all well on the upper side of 60.

A Wesleyan movement that had begun with a strong connection to regular people has lost touch with the culture around it.  While tremendously welcoming, the good people of Epworth do not appear to effectively communicate the gospel to their secular neighbors.  John would see it as a ripe mission field.  (So should we!)  Wesley left the church to speak in the graveyards, market places (malls of his day) and fields (places of work).  Today’s church finds itself holding on to buildings as a shrine and missing the message Wesley gave his life to share. 

This is not, I think, so much a judgment on them as a comment about us.  At its root remains the deep theological question that Christians must answer for and to non-Christians. Why?  Why bother?  What is there in the Christian message that would compel the hungry and hurting (physically, psychologically and spiritually) to stand in a graveyard to hear the news?  And secondly, are we willing to stand in a graveyard or mall or workplace and share this good news (gospel)?!

This pilgrimage is exciting and deeply challenging!

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.

A good number of years ago, a disaster movie came out about an ocean liner that capsized.  The plot dealt the survivors climbing out of the capsized ship to the light of the new day.  The theme song, “There’s Got to be a Morning After,” highlighted the fight for safety and the dawning of a new day of hope and possibility.

Today, the day after the Easter of resurrection glory, I find myself thinking about the day after.  How was it for those first disciples?  Their world had tilted and shifted.  They had lived through a tsunami of emotions.  The one thought dead and defeated had encountered them alive and triumphant.  I find myself smiling and remembering the delightful Avery & Marsh hymn, “Every Moring is Easter Morning.” The hymn closes with the line “from now on!”

On reading the morning paper, I could not help but notice that the world seemed little changed.  War still rages.  Hatred, bigotry, violence and want still stalk city streets around the world.  Greed, selfishness, and gluttony still parade unashamedly across the world.  Power, hedonism and consumerism still offer claim to the throne of human life.  And yet, and yet because of Easter it all is different.  Grace triumphant in Christ the Lord reigns.  Every morning is Easter morning from now on! 

When I first started writing this blog, I chose to entitle it “This Focused Center.”  The title is based on The Message (a paraphrased translation of the Bible by Eugene Peterson) version of II Corinthians 5:14-15.  “Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.” 

On this the day after I remind myself, and hopefully the reader, to hold to this focused center – the crucified and risen Christ.  In this battered and bruised world of ours, He – Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – is our only sure and final hope.  May all our days after, even the bad ones, be glorious reflections of our focused center!