Bishop Mike Lowry

I remember reading of a young mother who was so busy with work, home and kids (not to mention husband) that she commented, “Right now an hour spent in the dentist’s chair feels like a vacation!”  It hasn’t quite been quite that bad for me, but the fall has been hectic (and will remain so through to mid-December).  This weekend I am spending my time in jail.  It feels like a vacation from travel and meetings!  I have the privilege to serve with a number of other Central Texas Conference clergy and lay people on a Kairos Team serving the Boyd Unit.  I will be in jail with our brothers in Christ who wear white.  I ask that you pray for the team and especially for our brothers on the inside.  Christ died for us all.

On another matter, there are two special posting in the “Bishop’s Corner.”  The first is a summary press release reporting on the recent Council of Bishops meeting at Lake Junaluska.  The second is a letter from the Council of Bishops responding to those who have indicated an intention to violate church discipline by presiding over same-sex marriages and those who protest such planned action.  With grace and ministry to all, the bishops of the church are committed to uphold The Discipline of the United Methodist Churchas established by General Conference.  I invite your careful reading of both documents at

http://www.ctcumc.org/pages/detail/1694

At a recent meeting of the United Methodist Publishing House Board of Directors, we received a great report on a new online ministry. MinistryMatters.com (www.MinistryMatters.com) is the United Methodist Publishing House’s new ministry resource site. It is a unique blend of  magazine and reference site. Its mission is threefold: to equip, connect, and inspire church leaders, both clergy and laity.

I asked the director of Ministry Matters (Shane Raynor) what its most popular feature is.  He replied, “The most popular feature of Ministry Matters is This Sunday, a weekly collection of resources centered around the Revised Common Lectionary. Ministry Matters has recently added kids’ worship helps, small group studies, and non-Lectionary based sermon series to the This Sunday mix.

Visitors to Ministry Matters have also responded well to the site’s current events resources. The most popular articles in the past six weeks have been a joint book review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins and Francis Chan’s Erasing Hell, and a provocative blog post called “Don’t Give ‘Em What They Want.” The site has been presenting different viewpoints and encouraging readers to step outside of their comfort zones as they consider different takes on current events.

I think this is an exciting new resource that I commend to both laity and clergy.  A final note from Shane Raynor, “Looking ahead, we’ll be launching subscriptions (both individual and institutional) in January. There will be new content in the reference library as well as the
fully searchable Common English Bible as the default translation. We’ll also be adding more topical sermon resources and sermon series to give options to pastors who don’t use the Lectionary. In the next few months, we’ll be adding ‘Reach’ and ‘Lead’ to the current ‘Preach,’ ‘Teach,’ and ‘Worship’ tabs.”

This fall I am co-teaching with Reverends Joseph Nader and Megan Davidson (directors of the UT-Arlington and TCU Wesley Foundations, respectively) a study of The Forgotten Ways Handbook by Alan Hirsch.  In our study we are learning on a deep level about the interaction between discipleship and mission.  Rev. Davidson recently directed my attention to an article in www.vergenetwork.org.

The article is entitled “Why the Missional Movement Will Fail” and is written by Mike Breen.  The following is a brief excerpt.

“It’s time we start being brutally honest about the missional movement that has emerged in the last 10-15 years: Chances are better than not it’s going to fail.

That may seem cynical, but I’m being realistic. There is a reason so many movements in the Western church have failed in the past century: They are a car without an engine. A missional  church or a missional community or a missional small group is the new car that everyone is talking about right now, but no matter how beautiful or shiny the vehicle, without an engine, it won’t go anywhere.  So what is the engine of the church? Discipleship. I’ve said it many times: If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples.

If you’re good at making disciples, you’ll get more leaders than you’ll know what to do with. If you make disciples like Jesus made them, you’ll see people come to faith who didn’t know Him. If you disciple people well, you will always get the missional thing.”  (Mike Breen, “Why the Missional Movement Will Fail,” www.vergenetwork.org.)

I am convinced that Breen is right on target.  The Great Commission is to “make disciples”
(Matthew 28:18-20).  Disciples are engaged in mission for the long haul.

The lead article on the Central Texas Conference website is entitled “What are Your Plans for Christmas Sunday Services.”  I want to strongly encourage pastors, directors of music, and other local church leaders to carefully read the article.  Hopefully it will spark thinking for advanced planning for Advent, Christmas and especially Christmas Eve services.

Prominent on every local church website (and yes, I will check about 20 to 30 websites) should be information and an invitation to Christmas Eve services.  Christmas Eve is the number 1 attended service by non- or nominal Christians.  The service should be planned in the light of radical hospitality to those who do not know Christ in any vibrant way.

In other news, currently I am attending the Council of Bishops meeting Lake Junaluska.
Yesterday we strongly affirmed the Call to Action report along with the Vital Congregations emphasis.  Much has already been written on this subject and much more will be shared as we move forward.  Potentially, we are on the cusp of a turning point in the life of the United Methodist Church.  I am enthusiastically supportive of the proposals.  With courage, now is the time for far reaching change as we seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

As we continue to live into the new world of the Exodus Project, I am constantly reminded that change is both loss and opportunity.  We have to face with honesty our sense of loss in the known & comfortable.  We have to embrace with courage the opportunities before us.  I am convinced that the greatest days for the Christian movement in America and in the United Methodist Church (and yes, in the Central Texas Conference!) are before us.  Living in the wilderness is not easy, but it is ripe with possibility and opportunity.

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I was in Nashville at the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH) Board meeting. (Today, I am at Southwestern University for a Board meeting, and tomorrow I’ll be in Hillsboro for both a Kairos Team meeting and Conference Core Leadership Team meeting.  I leave Sunday for the Council of Bishops meeting in Lake Junaluska.)  In President Neil Alexander’s (the superb President and Publisher of the UMPH!) address, he lifted a number of quotes on change.  I pass them on for your reflection.

• “If you do not change direction, you will end up where you are headed.” -Lao Tzu
• “The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” -Maya Angelou
• “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”  -John Wooden
• “It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent that survives.  It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”  -Charles Darwin

Change in theory is great.  In practice it often evokes a sense of loss, anxiety and grief.  Change for Christians thrusts us back into trust of God and each other!  To paraphrase Paul, Christ who has begun a good work among us will bring it to completion.

As we live into the Exodus Project, I remain deeply committed to the Cluster Group concept as a central tool for learning together and moving forward into the new future the Lord is calling us to.  One of the initial learnings has come from Cluster Group #28, the large worship churches.  Using the kind of initiative and insight we want to encourage, they decided on the need for a convener/facilitator/coach.  Independent from their insight, we received similar advice from the Healthy Church Initiative (HCI).

The Cabinet is working on how we move forward and apply this learning to cluster groups.  We are currently drafting plans to run some pilot cluster groups that  incorporate facilitation/coaching.  We will be using the HCI model of Pastoral Leadership Development groups, Lay Leadership Developments groups, and Small Church Initiative workshops.

Things are in the development stage right now, but we are listening and we are learning – together!

Monday I joined so many of the saints of the Central Texas Conference in paying tribute to one of the true giants of CTC – Dr. Sidney Roberts.  Dr. Mike McKee, Rev. Henry Radde, and Rev. Randy Wild each spoke with grace and eloquence  (intermixed in delightful humor) of Dr. Roberts’ work and witness in our midst.  As a late comer among you, I had met Dr. Roberts a few times but did not have the privilege of truly knowing him.  For that lack I find myself impoverished but I also know the blessings of reaping the benefit of so much of his ministry.

Rev. Wild shared the title of Dr. Roberts’ first sermon:  “The Greatest Question.”  Sidney preached on Acts 16:25-35; the story of Paul and Silas offering salvation to the Philippian jailer.  “The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house” (Acts 16:29-32).  Sidney shared the word of the Lord by his life and ministry.

Today I am in Chicago serving as a member of the Council of Bishops’ (COB) Unity Task Force.  We are engaged in a church form of shuttle diplomacy with members of the Common Witness (a coalition of groups seeking to change the churches’ stance on human sexuality) and a coalition of various renewal groups (The Confessing Movement, Good News, etc.) seeking to maintain the current verbiage.  I appreciate the deep faithfulness of all involved, experience deep pain for all engaged, and pray hard.  Careful listening and prayerful dialog are exhausting.

Recently I received a letter from General Secretary Moses Kumar of the General Board of Finance Administration. I pass on a significant portion of that letter. It is good, for which I give you and God thanks!

“The lingering effects of the recession have had differing impacts throughout our annual conferences and local churches in the United States. But through the power of the United Methodist connection, and as harsh as the reports are about the recession and unemployment, giving to the general Church apportioned funds through September, 2011 is up 1.1% or over $770,000.

“As we approach the end of 2011, we gratefully acknowledge that by the gracious giving of the people in your conference, there has been an improvement in giving year-to-date. Our prayer is that trend will continue so that the ministries throughout the connection continue to receive funds for ministry through the remainder of the year and beyond. During these times of financial uncertainty we can, as followers of Christ, acknowledge that God provides all we need. In his book Five Practices of Faithful Living, United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase talks about the grace of giving. Among the reasons for giving graciously he lists ‘giving changes us.’

“As you consider your gifts to your local church, to ministries of your annual conference, and to global Church initiatives to ‘make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,’ remember that all we have comes from God. When we support these ministries we are advancing the work God has called God’s faithful to do. Giving changes us. By giving, we can change our world.

Together in ministry,

A. Moses Rathan Kumar”

Thursday and Friday I have been at a South Central Jurisdictional College of Bishops meeting at Lydia Patterson Institute.  Lydia Patterson Institute is a mission of the United Methodist Church and more specifically of the SCJ to share the gospel of Christ in a bilingual border setting.  There motto conveys the essence: “Building Bridges on the Border, where Faith and Knowledge Interact.”

I must confess that I have been blown away by the power of this ministry to change lives.  At dinner I visited with a high school senior who hopes to win a scholarship to a one of our United Methodist Universities.  Living in Juarez, the morning trip to school is dangerous but she “trusts God” to keep her safe.  She wakes at 4 a.m. to be at the international bridge by 6 a.m. “for the lines are long.”  She is engaged in a Christian ministry through the Methodist Church both in Mexico and in the United States.  After a nursing degree at College, it is her intent to answer a call from God to enter seminary.

The parents have formed a group to see the students (6^th grade through high school) safely to the bridge.  At the International Bridge, the students patiently cross over to the United States.  Despite the early hour (7:15 a.m.) the smiles and energy offers a sense of the Spirit’s presence.  Our College of Bishops met the students this Friday morning to walk with them the remaining 5 blocks from the bridge to Lydia Patterson.  We were the ones blessed by the walk. As we met these determined students at the bridge, the sacrifice, commitment and courage overwhelm me. I see both the love and power of Christ at work in this ministry.  Truly God is out and about in our world.  Healing, hope, and new horizons are dawning in dangerous circumstances.  The United Methodist Church is engaged in a redemptive work worth being both proud of and humbled by.

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.”