Politicians, Preachers, and Sacrifice
George Mitrovich confronts preachers with two unlikely pairs of brothers.
Ana’s Day
Randy Jessen introduces Ana. She has a winning smile;
she’s HIV positive.
Preaching in United Methodism Today
Will Willimon reports on the state of preaching.
When God’s People Pray - God Answers! Margaret Therkelsen celebrates the power of God’s presence.
Boyce Bowden explores the mission field of Oklahoma State University.
General Conference Reconsidered
Tom Lambrecht surveys the worldwide church and education at Ft. Worth.
The 2004 Book of Resolutions: The Voice of the United Methodist Church?
Liza B. Kittle analyzes the origins of resolutions at General Conference.
COLUMNS
Do we have a doctrinal consensus?
Call and we will answer
Next GenerationYouth ministry as wind chime III
The Great CommissionLost in the shadow of a steeple
From the HeartThe Far Side
DEPARTMENTS
Evangelical gathering addresses critical issues
Convocationfocuses on living "the United Methodist way"
Researcher analyzes State of the Church report
Righteous Laughter
Earlier in the year, United Methodist evangelist and musician Wesley Putnam further aligned himself with the great hymn writer and reformer with whom he shares a name, Charles Wesley. With his compiled, masterful tribute to the songbird of the Wesley family, Amazing Love: The Hymns of Charles Wesley, Reimagined, he voices timeless truth to his own tune. Putnam covers hymns including “Listen to the Angels Sing” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”
“Beginning with Charles Wesley, Methodists have always been a singing people,” says William J. Abraham, Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Southern Methodist University. “Wesley Putnam has given us a unique lifeline back to that tradition. He has caught the genius of Wesley in a way that is fresh, creative, and contemporary. This is a splendid achievement for our day!”
Available at wesleyputnam.org, the CD features the strength of Putnam’s evangelistic fervor in the powerful lyrics of the Methodist heritage that fans of this worship leader will be sure to enjoy.
On the same note but different instruments, Prisoners of Hope: A Modern Collection of the Hymns of Charles Wesley puts vibe in the victory as an eclectic assortment of musicians carries Wesley’s rich poetry into coffeehouse armchairs. From indie rock to techno, contemplative to folk, Prisoners of Hope pierces Wesley’s hymns with a distinctly different drumbeat. Featuring Sunday morning classics like “And Can It Be?” and “Prisoners of Hope, Arise,” this collection succeeds as “the ever-new wine of Charles Wesley’s vintage craft finds the new wineskins of our time.” Many of the featured musicians are students or alumni of Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary.
Dr. Stephen Seamands, a professor of theology at the seminary, comments on this album produced by his colleague, Dr. Jerry Walls. “Set to contemporary musical idioms by young musicians and artists, ‘Prisoners of Hope’ will enable the present generation to encounter the profound spiritual power of these classic Charles Wesley hymns,” Seamands told Good News. “Each hymn is creatively interpreted while retaining the original words of Wesley. Those who are familiar with Wesley will come away with a new awareness of how timeless and ever relevant his hymns are.” Profits from this tribute to Charles Wesley’s 300th birthday will fund a scholarship at the Wilmore-based seminary.
By Elizabeth Glass, editorial assistant at Good News.
When youth started skateboarding in Dave Showalter’s driveway, he had no idea it would lead to a ministry that is making waves as far away as El Salvador. But Showalter believes in “really God-cool stuff,” and has learned to be open to the moving of the Holy Spirit as St. PaulUnited Methodist Church in Lusby, Maryland, where he is the youth pastor.
Showalter first saw the demand about four years ago. Some incidents had occurred where local teenagers had been driven out of store parking lots while trying to skateboard, and in certain cases the authorities were even involved. Showalter noted that, “The kids don’t feel like they have a place to go. They feel like nobody wants them around.”
Showalter had started off small by allowing some of the youth in St. Paul UM Church the opportunity to use his own driveway as a place to skate. About once a week, two teenagers would walk a half-mile carrying their grind rail along with them to use on his property. For those unfamiliar with skateboarding terminology, a grind rail is essentially a miniature I-beam raised a few inches off the ground, which riders slide across while on top of their board.
Showalter of course realized that his driveway was a long way from a solution, so at a church council meeting he pitched the idea of researching what it would take to turn one of the St. Paul parking lots into a local skate park. He got immediate support and began his project.
They bought a few more grind rails, a few kickboards and a quarter pipe. Showalter also visited the closest skate park he could find in order to adopt a set of standard rules to be used at their church.
It’s been roughly three years now since St. Paul UM Church started its skateboard ministry, and it is still a booming success. Showalter reported that this summer they had about 40 to 50 kids on average, 75 percent of whom are not part of St. Paul’s congregation.
All of the kids sign yearly waivers with their parents in case of injury, but at the St. Paul park, that has been a non-issue. Showalter also makes sure to integrate communication into the skateboarding sessions as well. At about the half way point of the night, all of the kids pause to listen to a mini-message prepared and delivered by Showalter, which usually relates current events to the way God is present in our lives.
Regardless of what their religious background or affiliation might be Showalter takes the time to show and remind the youth that God loves each one of them for who they are. He tells them that God has a plan in mind for them, that they are capable of great things through him—and they listen. “Don’t be afraid to talk about God with them. Don’t underestimate them,” he said.
As Showalter likes to say, “There are lots of reasons not to do things, but there is only one good reason to do it—for Christ.”
Showalter has shared this spirit with the many churches who have called him for advice after a story on the skateboarding ministry ran last fall in the Washington Post. As for giving advice on risk and insurance ramifications, he encourages other churches wanting to engage in similar ministries to “set a high standard for the kids, and then help them meet it. Respect them and empower them,” he said.
Recently, Showalter received an e-mail from a priest in El Salvador whose parish had the only public park in a town of 200,000 people. Showalter was able to share St. Paul’s story, but he also connected the priest with the evangelist Luis Palau’s “Livin’ It” tour, which builds huge temporary skate parks in the cities where Palau ministers.
“It’s the connection beyond the connection,” Showalter said. “Who knows the plans God yet has for any of us and our feeble attempts in God’s name and for God’s sake.”
Reprinted by permission of the UM Connection, the newspaper of the Baltimore/Washington Annual Conference.
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