Bishop Mike Lowry

Among the various actions taken by General Conference was an overwhelming vote (originally on the consent agenda) to end guaranteed appointments for ordained elders in the United Methodist Church.  In brief, “under this new legislation, bishops and cabinets will be allowed to give elders less than full-time appointment. The legislation also would permit bishops and their cabinets, with the approval of their boards of ordained ministry and annual (regional) conference’s executive session, to put elders on unpaid transitional leave for up to 24 months. Clergy on transitional leave would be able to participate in their conference health program through their own contributions.  Each annual conference is asked to name a task force to develop a list of criteria to guide the cabinets and bishops as they make missional appointments.  The cabinets shall report to the executive committees of Board of Ordained Ministry the number of clergy without fulltime appointments and their age, gender and ethnicity. Cabinets also will be asked to report their learnings as appointment-making is conducted in a new way.” (Taken from UMNS, May 1, 2012)

I am always surprised by the amount of anxiety this issue seems to engender.  The involvement of the Board of Ordained Ministry in conjunction with the Cabinet safeguards against misuse based on gender, ethnicity or freedom of the pulpit.  It does assist in proper placement of associate pastors and general effectiveness accountability.  It places Elders in the same accountability relationship as Licensed Local Pastors.  In reality, it will have very little effect on most Central Texas Conference clergy and churches.  Denomination wide, there is an estimated excess of only 784 Elders across the whole connection!  When you couple this with a retirement tsunami that will peak in the CTC in 2018 (we are currently on the beginning edge of that huge wave), we will actually desperately need new clergy in the next 10 to15 years.

As we wrestle with our deep need to make mission field appointments, the challenge will be to make the proper fit between pastor, church and mission field.  Furthermore, the deeper pressure we are experiencing a clergy deployment system is being driven by pensions and health insurance.

So, relax, for almost all this will make little difference.  It will protect churches and clergy from deep ineffectiveness and aid making mission field appointments.

Looking back at the close of General Conference, a story about a couple of old moose hunters who went on a yearly hunting trip in remote northern Maine comes to mind.  As was their habit, they hired the pilot of a little float plane to fly up to a lake just south of the Canadian border and drop them off.  The pilot crammed everything into his little “puddle jumper” float plane, landed on the lake and unload them and all their gear at the shore.  “Remember,” he said, “I’ll be back in three days to get you.  I’ve got room for the two you, your gear and just one (1!) moose!”  They readily agreed and headed off into the woods.

Three days later the pilot landed on the lake to find the hunters waiting on the shore with all their gear and two (2!) moose. A heated argument ensued about why the plane couldn’t possibly lift off with that much weight and clear the ridgeline at the end of the lake.  It ended when one of the “good ole boys” commented, “Well, the guy who flew last year had the same plane and he was able to take off.”  Pride on the line, the pilot grudgingly consented to take both moose, plus the gear and the two of them.

They crammed everything in, taxied to the end of the lake and revved their engines to the max.  Slowly the little plane gathered speed and finally crept into the air just before it ran out of water.  It cleared the initial stand of trees and struggling to make the ridge line, clipped a tall pine at the end of the lake.  The plane crashed into the pine trees with antlers, moose bit, camping gear and plane parts flying everywhere.

The pilot and hunters came too about the same time perched in the branches of a tall pine.  One of the old hunters spoke first. “Where are we?”  “Well,” said his buddy, “about 50 feet further than last year.

General Conference feels like that.  I’m not sure where we are, but it can’t be very much farther than last year.  We are a deeply fractured church (not splintered, our fracture runs in multiple directions. Think of a windshield that has been smashed, is still held together but has fracture lines running in all directions).

A reasonable, indeed sane, question is “what now are we to do?”  The answer I believe lies at the heart of faithfulness.  We need to breathe deep and focus!

We need to breathe deep.  Wesley is right.  “The best of all is that God is with us!”  As important as structure and ecclesiology are (and make no mistake, they are very! important), it is Jesus Christ who saves.  The great commission (Matthew 28:16-20) is still before us to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Amid all the debate swirling around The Call to Action, the first and most critical emphasis is a ten year focus on building vital congregations.  Here in the Central Texas Conference the Conference exists to energize and equip local churches for the great mission of God … “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  Whatever the general church structure, this must continue to be our focus!

Breathe deep – God is with us!  Focus!  We are in the business of building vital congregations that make disciples for the transformation of the world.  “Use your ambition to try to work toward being the best at building up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12b).  The title of my blog is This Focused Center.  It comes from 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 based on The Message (a paraphrased translation of the Bible by Eugene Peterson).  “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.”  In the aftermath of General Conference, breathe deep, focus!

When my son turned 15 we took him and a friend to Six Flags – Fiesta Texas in San Antonio in celebration.  He couldn’t wait to try what was then the world’s largest wooden rollercoaster.  Staring at this monster (called The Rattler), the friend decided he didn’t want to go on it after all.  (His friend is now in the Marine Corps!)  It was just too scary.  Well, trying to be a good Dad, I got in line to ride with Nathan.

My bravery reached its zenith as we slowly rode to the top of the first monster drop.  It was exhilarating!  We towered over the visible world.  Then we dropped!  To paraphrase Bob Weathers, I rededicated my life to Jesus three times in the 30 seconds it took us to hit the bottom and whip around the first of many hairpin turns.  (My son reports that I kept saying, “Jesus save me!”)

With the start of General Conference, I was reminded of riding The Rattler.  We opened with an inspiring, thrilling, God-moving, Spirit-filled worship.  The music was awesome; the preaching great; communion a joy.  It was and is the church at her best, praising God and leaning forward in faithful attentiveness and anticipation.

After worship we broke for lunch and then came back for the first business session, the setting of General Conference rules and procedures.  Two and one half (yes, 2 ½) dis-spiriting hours later, we adjourned without completing our business.  From the mountain peak we had plunged into the messy bogs of legislative wrangling.

We awoke the next morning to receive the Episcopal Address given by Bishop Pete Weaver of the New England Episcopal Area.  We shot back up to the heights!    Entitled The Resurrection Revolution we were brought back to Easter morning. Said Bishop Weaver:  “Before any of us were delegates, we were disciples.  Before any of us were bishops, we were believers.  Before any of us were members in caucuses, we were members in Christ Jesus and therefore, members of one another.  Before any of us had a resolution in our hands to vote on, we had a resolution in our hearts to devote ourselves to the living Christ.”

That afternoon we whipsawed back into debate over the rules.  And so it goes.  General Conference is a rollercoaster ride.  Yet in it all is the presence of God; sometimes encouraging, sometimes brooding, sometimes cheering.  Bishop Weaver recalled the first episcopal address ever given to a Methodist General Conference in America two hundred years ago by Bishop McKendree.  When challenged, Bishop McKendree suggested that we handle the new things brought before us with this seminal piece of advice:  “Do everything as in the immediate presence of God.”

This is great advice for Christians of any place and every time.  We are always in the immediate presence of God!

Today the Council of Bishops held its own worship service passing the gavel as president from Bishop Larry Goodpaster to Bishop Rosemarie Wenner.  As we finished communion we sang “On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”  As the words washed over me, I recalled getting off The Rattler.  It was good to stand on solid ground.  As the ride continues, may we as a church cling to rock.

Do everything as in the presence of God

Monday morning I had the privilege of attending a TMF (Texas Methodist Foundation) Board learning session which focused on ministry with “Generation Y” (young adults).  With leadership provided by a young clergy couple from Church of the Resurrection and a follow on panel of four young adults (including Ben Lake, a lay member of 1st Georgetown), we engaged in nonjudgmental cross generational learning.  Among many insights is the repeated importance of going where young people are and engaging them on their turf.  To use the language of my age, this is a far cry from invitational evangelism.  It is an emphatic call to risk-taking evangelism through open engagement.

A repeated insight from Gil Rendle that I continue to “chew” on is that each new generation reacts & responds as a corrective to what it perceives as the problems/excesses/failures of the previous generation.  Thus, all generations struggle to some degree with the generations on either side of them.  There is much for all of us to learn here!

Yesterday Jolynn & I traveled to Tampa for Council of Bishops (COB) and General Conference.  We will be here for almost 3 weeks.  The Council will engage both in preparation for General Conference and in ongoing mission & ministry.  The first item on the agenda is a report from the Unity Task Force (of which I am a part).  In an age and culture known for its divisions, we who claim the title Christian must be known for our grace and good will.  Or, in the old liturgical words, “let us be together what Christ has been for us.”

I covet your prayers for the Church, the bishops and our General Conference.

P.S. I commend to you the reading of Bishop Robert Schnase’s most recent Ministry Matters blog #24 “A Healthy Urgency.” I strongly urge you to read the entire blog (!) – especially the last 4 paragraphs.

At recent meetings with other SCJ bishops as we looked forward to General Conference, Bishop Robert Schnase called our attention to agenda for the first (“general”) conference of preachers under John Wesley.  He noted a threefold purpose for such holy conferencing.  “The Methodists conferred on ‘1. What to teach, 2. How to teach, and 3. What to do, that is, how to regulate our doctrine, discipline, and practice.’”

It is easy to get lost in the thicket of emotional issues facing the church: war & peace, sexual orientation & practice, restricting & Call to Action, etc.  In an earlier blog I called for an emphasis in prayer-filled and Holy Spirit-oriented preparation.  It is important, vitally important, not to lose sight of what matters most, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately Conference is about mission and ministry; about guiding and equipping the church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  Amid all the noise, we need to keep the main thing the main thing!

The March 22^nd Quick Notes highlights an important resource which I commend to you strongly.  “Bishop Robert Schnase’s “Remember the Future: 30 Days of Preparation,” blog series begins [March 26].  The series of daily reflections in preparation for General Conference 2012 will be a blend of daily topics from leadership and institutional challenges to Wesleyan beliefs and more. About eight of the blogs through the series will have video clips included; all will include scripture and additional reading recommendations for those who want to know more. Go to ministrymatters.com to sign-up, read a description of the series and an introductory blog from Robert Schnase.

My recent blog entitled “Struggling with Appointments” has sparked an unusually high degree of interest and response.  Overwhelmingly clergy have noted the dilemma of some members wanting no change while at the same time expecting to reach a new generation.  This often puts clergy and proactive lay leadership in a significant dilemma.  Furthermore, a number have lifted up the struggle between raising the metrics of vitality and dealing with congregational resistance to the necessary change needed to engage the mission field (and thus raise the metrics).  Taken together it can feel like a Kobayashi Maru (the Star Trek no win scenario).

Both I and the Cabinet have repeatedly emphasized the importance of sharing the narrative.  Narrative is the story, the background information, which helps understand what is taking place.  Often (usually!) the narrative changes before the metrics.  What does this look like?  A pastor and congregation(s) start discovering and sharing with each other stories of significant mission impact in their life together (i.e. “remember when we were helping that homeless family find a meal” or “it was moving to hear Jimmy talk about the difference that following Christ has made in his life” etc.).  One of the keys to understanding narrative is that it is a specific story.  Narrative is not a vague assertion.  It tells a tale of God in action in the life and ministry of a congregation and individuals.  In our use of the vitality metrics, we (Bishop and Cabinet) have left a large place for the narrative story to be shared.  It is critical piece of learning for us as a Cabinet, for pastors, and for lay members of a congregation!  Narrative begs to be shared!

On the flip side, a small (actually very small but quite strident!) handful of responses came from people (all self-identified as lay) who felt the blog somehow dismissed older adults and endorsed “bands” (meaning contemporary Christian music over against classical hymns).  Such is not the case!  I am an older adult and am married to a recent retiree.

I was very careful in the blog to assert that our ministry needs to be a both/and!  It is worth repeating what I wrote about the need to continue a strong and effective ministry to existing members and older adults while effectively reaching out to a new generation:  An effective pastor must minister sensitively to this loss all the while leading into a new future.  It is not an easy balance.  Congregations that refuse to embrace change are choosing to die.  Simultaneously, pastors that charge ahead without compassionately facing grief are doomed to failure.  It is worth noting that the Vital Congregations research (which I shared in every district in 2010) overwhelmingly notes a connection between church missional health/vitality and having multiple styles of worship.

These are exciting times to be in ministry together.  They challenge us to a deeper faithfulness and a wider outreach with the love of Christ.  Sunday I headed to Nashville for a meeting on the Focus Area “New Places for New People.”  Called Path One, we are working on our national strategy for new church development and especially on reaching “more people, younger people, and more diverse people.”  And yes, this work doesn’t ignore reaching older adults; all are embraced in this great ministry of sharing the gospel.

General Conference is the quadrennial (every 4 years) meeting the ruling legislative body of the United Methodist Church.  This coming April 24^th the General Conference will open in Tampa Bay, Florida.  For two weeks an equal number of lay and clergy delegates will engage in holy conversation and legislative decision making on the ministry and future of the United Methodist Church.  I will be there as the resident Bishop of the Central Texas Conference/The Fort Worth Episcopal Area.  (Bishops preside but do not have vote at General Conference.)

As we prepare for General Conference I ask for your prayers for the church and for our faithfulness in ministry and service to Christ and for the world our Lord came to save.  The Upper Room Ministries (a part of the General Board of Discipleship) has prepared a devotional and prayer guide which I commend to you.  “The 50 Days of Prayer Before and During the General Conference is available on the Internet at this site: http://50daysofprayer.upperroom.org.  In addition you will be able to “sign up for a free daily email version and the meditation will be sent to you each day” in a download version.  Print versions are available through the United Methodist Reporter.  (Individual copies are $4.95 postpaid and the cost for bulk mailing to groups and congregations is reduced; they can be secured through http://bit.ly/Print50DaysURM or by calling 1-855-469-3386.)

Another exciting way to prepare in thought and prayer for General Conference is by reading a special blog entitled Remember the Future written by Bishop Robert Schnase (author of The Five Practices for Fruitful Congregations).  The purpose of Remember the Future is to deepen understanding and further conversation about the key issues that shape the mission and future of the Church. Daily meditations will be posted beginning March 26 at www.ministrymatters.com/30Days.

The great time of preparation in prayer begins this Friday.  I will be using the prayer booklet as a part of own devotionals and hope you will join me.  I will be writing more about Remember the Future at a later date.

Art only wishes it could imitate life.  You cannot make up some of the things said to District Superintendents while consulting on appointments.

At a recent Cabinet meeting, a District Superintendent reported on a consultation with a church whose pastor was moving.  The Pastor-Parish Relations Committee was asked what they would like in a new pastor.  The response was: “Someone who can bridge the gap between the elderly congregation and the younger people that they want to have come in … while helping them not change.”  I kid you not.

News flash!  The goals of no change and bringing in younger people are incompatible.  The great old hymn has it right – “to serve the present age our calling to fulfill.”  Lessons abound in this brief (and to me both sad and humorous) quote from a Pastor-Parish Relations Committee.

Change is loss.  The end of Christendom and the rise of the post-Christian & post- denominational age encompass many of us with deep loss.  An effective pastor must minister sensitively to this loss all the while leading into a new future.  It is not an easy balance.  Congregations that refuse to embrace change are choosing to die.  Simultaneously, pastors that charge ahead without compassionately facing grief are doomed to failure.

Our greatest need is spiritual.  We need an infusion of Psalm 23.  Many of us remember the phrase well from the old King James translation.  “Ye though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).  What is often missed is the second half of verse 4 – “thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  That is interesting! A rod to prod and a staff to protect.

Today the word “comfort” connotes a sense of physical or psychological ease, a lack of hardship.  But if I remember correctly the word originally meant to encourage, to inculcate bravery. “Comfort is linked with ‘fortress’ and ‘fortify’. The Bayeaux Tapestry portrays a scene where ‘William comforts his troops’ at the Battle of Hastings. He is not handing out tea and biscuits to his wounded troops. He is poking them in the back with his sword, strengthening and fortifying them for the continuing battle”  (www.ivoroakley.com/2%20Corinthians/2_corinthians_11-11.htm).

We need to comfort in the best sense from the front, helping both grief and change to be sensitively enfolded in the advancing kingdom of God.  Maybe the new Common English Bible (CEB) translation says it better.  “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger because you are with me.  Your rod and your staff—they protect me.”

In a recent conversation with Tom Locke, the President of the Texas Methodist Foundation, he made a comment to the effect that he had sold out on purpose.  By that he meant that he placed great emphasis on the organization (in this case TMF) living up to its stated mission and purpose.  Furthermore, as I followed our conversation, it reflected a deeper conviction that a key issue facing both churches and the United Methodist Church is living in deep commitment and alignment with our stated purpose (my words not his).

The TMF mission and purpose is: “The Foundation helps the United Methodist community we serve – individuals, churches, institutions, and agencies – to fulfill their God-appointed mission to the larger community to ‘make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.’”  Here in the Central Texas Conference we take with deep seriousness and high conviction this notion of purpose and/or mission.  The Conference exists to energize and equip local churches to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  Indeed, making “disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” is the stated mission of the United Methodist Church! (The Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2008, Paragraph 120)

It is easy to assent to such a conviction.  It is much harder to live it.  Among the various points of friction lie the conflicting values of mission and relationships.  Both are clearly valued, but we have lifted up the importance of relationship over mission and purpose. Sorting out issues like accountability, call to action, vital congregations and the like push us on how the two values relate (pun intended!) to the stated purpose.  There are no pain free solutions.

Not long ago Dr. Vaughn Baker, Sr. Pastor of Silver Creek UMC, passed on an article written by Dr. Frederick Schmidt of Perkins School of Theology on “What Kodak [which recently went bankrupt!] Can Teach the Church.”  It sheds valuable insight on the notion of being sold out on purpose.  In part, Dr. Schmidt writes:

The church never asks itself often enough why it exists. The conversations among clergy are all too often about managing the bureaucracy, nonsense, and dysfunction that are a part of its life. The programming in churches is far too often focused on therapeutic and political topics.

Issues of “ecclesiology” – that dimension of theology that is meant to answer the question, “What is the church and why does it exist?” – have been relegated to the backwater of our conversations. As a result, we have confused what we do with how we’ve done it.

There is nothing more difficult than letting go of the past. And there is nothing more likely to ground us in letting go of it, than grounding in our God-given purpose. There are a lot of good things that a church can do, but if it is not focused on making it possible to encounter the living Christ, there is little about the way we do things that deserves to endure – or needs to, really.
(From The Progressive Christian; January 9, 2012; “What Kodak Can Teach the Church” by Frederick Schmidt)

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!