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A charge to keep
By Stanley R. Copeland 

William H. Hinson was a lifelong United Methodist pastor, author, and evangelical leader. He gained national attention as First United Methodist Church in Houston flourished under his ministry, as well as for his role as a founder and president of The Confessing Movement. He died December 26, 2004, at the age of 68. For friends, family, and all those who pray for a renewed United Methodist Church, his witness is missed. -The Editors

Peace was Bill Hinson's call. It was a moonlit night while he was sitting on a pine stump when Bill felt God calling him to preach. God put this word on his heart: "Go and tell my people to go with peace in their hearts."

Peace was on Bill's mind a lot in his last days of ministry, just as it was when he began pursuing his call. On that south Georgia evening, he never in his wildest dreams could have fathomed that he would be dealing with matters of peace and unity as one of United Methodism's leaders and arguably one of its most outspoken Wesleyan evangelical voices.

Preaching peace with the conviction that God desires to bring peace to our lives was his message. What made for peace, he believed, was God's deliverance from sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace that Bill found elusive and frustrating was within his own United Methodist denomination. He longed for peace and unity in purpose and mission.

The last time I saw Bill alive, and not simply existing with the aid of machines, was in May 2004 in Pittsburgh at General Conference. My snapshot memory is one that many have seen because it is of Bill and Bruce Robbins standing together at the podium in front of the assembly of General Conference delegates. This scene became a photo opportunity for our denominational newspapers.

When that picture pops into my mind I wonder, what kind of unity did Bill hope against hope to have for our denomination? And what did that unity have to do with, "Go and tell my people to go with peace in their hearts"?

He would wholeheartedly "amen" the words of his dear friend Maxie Dunnam in the We Confess newsletter: "Disunity in the church is a scandal.Jesus' prayer before his crucifixion was that we might be one, even as he and the Father are one. Hyper-proponents of unity, unity at any price ideologues, are quick to quote that word. But they stop too quickly. There is a reason for our unity: 'that the world may believe' and that they may believe in Jesus Christ, that he was sent by the Father to be the Savior of humankind and all creation. There is only one source for unity in the Church: Jesus Christ."

I could hear Bill say, "Unity and peace must begin with first turning our hearts over to Jesus and being delivered from idolatry." Jesus himself said, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Matthew 15:19).

Bill was too much of a thinker and theologian to subscribe to unity as uniformity, related to theological positions. He would not have stood that day before General Conference accepting a shallow pluralism as our way forward to unity. He also saw the strength in a depth of diversity and strongly supported a church with people of different ethnicities and cultures. He believed that we United Methodists, along with many of our mainline sisters and brothers, were in danger of making inclusiveness into a god. He knew that the peace and unity that God desires for us involves confession of the sin of idolatry and deliverance that is beyond our ability, methods, and strategies.

Many times I heard Bill say, as he looked out over his diverse and multicultural congregation in Houston, "We're just practicing for what heaven will be like." He loved his diverse staff and lay leadership. His sensitivity to racism and patriarchal sins, as well as the plight of the poor, was keen.

Bill stood at General Conference on behalf of unity and peace, but what was the unity that he prayed for and the peace that he hoped could be realized in his beloved United Methodist Church? One thing I knew for sure was that Bill was tired of our fighting ways and what he would call an idolatrous agenda along with a continued neglect of our missional purpose.

He loved this quote from Dr. William J. Abraham's essay, "Inclusivism, Idolatry and the Survival of the (Fittest) Faithful," in the book, The Community of the Word: "It was Christ's cross and resurrection that won the victory over exclusion; it is the same cross and resurrection that will heal us of corruption and idolatry carried out under the banner of inclusion.We can change the subject and return to the first order of discourse of the gospel. We can immerse ourselves in the great themes of the gospel; we can drink afresh from the mercy of God in the cross; we can ensure that the full faith of the church is tended to and taught; we can lift up Christ like the serpent in the wilderness and watch him draw all to himself; we can cry out for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church; we can do all we can to ensure that the sacraments are duly administered; we can pray without ceasing for the comprehensive renewal of the whole people of God. The sharp-edged Word of God is not intimidated by its enemies; it is a healing Word of truth and salvation."

The sermon in Mississippi
A few months before Bill's stroke, he had addressed a gathering of pastors at the Mississippi Fellowship of United Methodist Evangelicals on the subject of the authority of Scripture-one of his most passionate sermons, perhaps fueled by the fire of criticism.

He believed that unity and real peace would only come by way of affirming our basic tenets of faith, starting with the authority of Scripture. Bill preached a message to that group of Mississippi clergy based on 2 Timothy 3:10-17. He centered on verses 16 and 17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Bill made it clear that Paul was writing the last words to his spiritual son in the ministry, Timothy, whom he had left in charge of the church at Ephesus. The focus that he shared with Timothy was the centrality of the word of God, to which he asks his young protégé to cling.

Bill asked the question, "How is it that our Bible, which is God-breathed, has fallen to such a low position in our culture?" After affirming his support of biblical criticism and proudly claiming himself to be a product of two of our United Methodist seminaries, his first point was that biblical criticism has not served us well. "I think that anyone who is going to handle the word of God, which is as sharp as a two-edged sword, with more power than the atom bomb, ought to know all about it. I am glad that we don't have to park our brains to come to church. We believe in integrity. The Scripture is still God-breathed and we do not have to go to bed at night wondering if there is going to be a screaming headline saying, 'Bible is a fraud.' But biblical criticism, when there is an overemphasis on criticism and less emphasis on content, doesn't serve us well. When doubt becomes more prevalent than faith we are in trouble. I spent more time in seminary working on criticism than I did learning about content."

Bill's second point had to do with our misuse of the Bible. He criticized an attitude that would "put a lid on learning." He challenged the audience not to be defensive about Scripture and not to try to make the Bible something that it is not.

His final point was, "Our culture does not like what the Bible says and certainly does not like the way it says it. The Bible cuts the corners square. Our culture wants to round off the corners."

He continued, "At the 2000 General Conference I knew I was in the presence of a 'progressive' when he was debating whether marriage is between a man and a woman. I stood up and took out my Bible and read Matthew 19, "Jesus said that 'at the beginning the creator made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.'

"As I was reading, one of the brothers was shaking his head. When I got through reading I thought I had put a lid on that argument. I asked him, 'What's the matter?' He said, 'Hinson, you just don't realize it, but we have gone beyond Jesus.' I really don't want to go there. When I stand before that throne one day I want to be as close to Jesus as I can be. When you have gone beyond Jesus, you have left me. I don't want to go there. If you are being led to do something that is not in keeping with the word of God, it is not of the Holy Spirit, it is the spirit of this age. Just preach it. Just teach it. This book will take care of itself. It is our mission to take this word to people everywhere."

Some might criticize his social stances as being backward or not in tune with the culture. In being true to telling his story, hopefully it has become crystal clear that his stance was quite firm and he unashamedly denied marching to the beat of a cultural drummer.

The Confessing Movement National Conference
I wished so much that Bill had been sitting beside Jean [Bill's wife] and me at the Confessing Movement National Conference in September 2005. I knew how excited Bill had been about the Episcopal elections in the Southeastern and South Central Jurisdictions to which he was most closely aligned. He had been an admirer of Dr. Scott Jones and had a great deal of respect for the professor at Perkins School of Theology. I have to think he would have sat attentively to hear the newly-elected Bishop Scott Jones address the body.

After affirming that we United Methodists have an increasing clarity about our identity and mission, Bishop Jones said, "United Methodism lives by its mission.When we are clear about our mission, we thrive. When we are confused about our mission, or when we adopt a partial mission in place of the whole gospel, we die."

I could almost feel Bill's elbow in my side and see his smile of approval at what was being said. Then the bishop addressed the issue so close to Bill's heart on this matter of unity-doctrine. Bishop Jones acknowledged that the church had deemphasized scriptural authority and the basic doctrinal standards that had guided us for so long.

I could imagine tears welling up in Bill's eyes when Bishop Jones made this statement: "Consider for a minute, the fact that our inattention to doctrine and our lack of interest in evangelism are deeply intertwined. We sometimes don't practice evangelism because we have theological commitments that lean toward universal salvation. 'It doesn't matter what you believe so long as you are sincere.' We have majored in sanctification, being nice or being politically correct either on the conservative or liberal end of the political spectrum, without talking about repentance and justification by faith. When you don't believe it matters if you are a Christian, then why invite someone to become one?"

It is heartening to hear a bishop of the church lead with such intellectual acumen and holy boldness. There is no church body that could move us more decisively toward authentic unity than the Council of Bishops' sharing the convictions of their young colleague and creating methods to direct us more forcefully toward our mission. I am not naïve enough to believe that the bishops are of one mind, even concerning the fundamental matters of authority of Scripture and our Doctrinal Standards. There are many of us of Bishop Jones's age, and some younger and older, who do not want to go into another decade of ministry drowning in the muck and mire of conflict and idolatrous demands while the people of our country and the world thirst for the living water of Jesus Christ.

Bill, in my mind's eye, was the first to stand, when Bishop Jones transitioned from this part of his speech by leading us in singing what Bill considered to be the great Wesleyan anthem: "And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood! Died he for me? Who caused his pain! For me? Who him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

The last time I had sung this great hymn was at Bill's memorial service in Houston and standing there with Jean at the Confessing Movement National Conference, it was an emotional moment.

Go in peace
Toward the end of this process of writing about Bill, a friend of his and mine, Dr. Edwin "Buddy" Cooper, said, "It is correct to assume that the saying 'Lord, he went' is Bill's prayerful answer to his call, but do you know where he got it?" I responded that there was still a mystery surrounding it for me.

Buddy then conveyed that he was with Bill and a group on one of Bill's many trips to the Holy Land. They were in the catacombs of Rome near St. Peter's Basilica. Bill was walking among the graves of believers who had been buried in the soft volcanic soil outside the city walls. Simple cavities had been carved out along the underground tunnel into which believers were lovingly placed by their community and protected with simple stone-or in a few cases marble-seals with a childlike fish sign or cross etched into the face of the gravestone.

Bill paused before one grave that had a stick figure of a ship, beneath which was written in Latin Domini Veni-in English, "Lord, he went." He called those with him to see what he had found. He postulated, "These souls buried here went into the world as missionaries on a ship. Maybe they returned to enlist others. Maybe, when they died, someone loved them enough to bring them back home and place their bodies in this place of honor. Isn't this enough to say about any life hidden in Christ Jesus? It is all that really matters."

"Lord, he went" became a devotional thought about Bill's own life. It became something he always wanted to be true of his discipleship. Isn't it enough to hope for as a people called United Methodist that we say, "Lord, we went," by the grace of God pursuing our mission and purpose with zeal and always with the love of Christ Jesus?

The time after Bill's death has involved days of reflection and working through grief. It is amazing how neglectful and nonchalant we can be with relationships in life, and when a loved one crosses the Jordan, everything changes. The sun of everyday ministry has dried the feelings of intensely missing him, but this sense of loss comes back and settles again from time to time. Such is the case with love and loss.

I send you forth with this prayer as we have communed together and with Bill: "Thank you, God, for once upon a time calling a young man from the turpentine woods of south Georgia to 'Go and tell my people to go with peace in their hearts.' Lord, you know far better than we how faithfully, boldly, and under conviction William H. 'Bill' Hinson, your servant, went. Just as you called him to go, Lord, he went."

Stanley R. Copeland is the senior pastor of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, and author of Lord, He Went- a deeply moving tribute of the life and ministry of the late William H. Hinson (Abingdon). The Rev. Copeland served as associate pastor with Hinson at First United Methodist Church, Houston, from 1986 to 1993. This article is adapted from Lord, He Went: Remembering William H. Hinson © Abingdon, 2006. Used by permission. Photos on pages 26 and 28 by Robie Capps.



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