by Steve | Jan 13, 2023 | In the News
By Rob Renfroe —
On December 28, 2022, the exiting bishop of the North Georgia Annual Conference and her appointive cabinet sent a very clear message to the churches, pastors, and laypersons of that conference. The message was: We don’t trust you.
I initially chose not to write about the bishop and cabinet’s decision to suspend the ability of churches to disaffiliate from the UM Church until General Conference 2024. Others had done so fairly and insightfully. But then I spent some time on the UM Clergy Facebook page and saw that not only was the North Georgia decision being praised, it was even being widely suggested that other bishops and cabinets follow suit. So, I feel compelled to address what the leaders in North Georgia have done and what others might be inclined to do, as well.
Disaffiliation is being disallowed in North Georgia because, according to a statement posted on that conference’s website, “many local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process and have been presented with information about the process, and about The United Methodist Church and its leadership, that is factually incorrect and defamatory.” The statement continued “we do not have confidence in the validity of upcoming church conference disaffiliation votes. … We have agreed that our Annual Conference cannot rely upon such votes for purposes of negotiating a gracious exit.”
In essence the bishop, the cabinet, and the trustees of the North Georgia Conference are disallowing votes in local churches because they do not trust pastors and laypersons to listen to all sides, sift through contradictory information, and decide what is true and what is best for their congregations.
There are United Methodist businesspersons in north Georgia who are CEO’s and CFO’s who run multi-billion-dollar companies and who must make decisions in the best interest of those companies after reviewing information and data that is often incredibly complicated, even confusing. Others go to work and make million-dollar decisions if not every day, then every week, in that same complex environment where various views often compete with one another, all presenting themselves as true and the best way forward. Other UM members in north Georgia we trust to teach children in the schools there, determining what scientific, historical, and cultural claims are valid and should be passed on to the next generation. Still others run farms and ranches and family business, and they make decisions every day, not based on certainty, but on what they ascertain to be true and determine to be the best way forward.
Companies, businesses, schools, and families trust these good Methodists to make terribly important and complex decisions every day. Still others are pastors who are trusted to determine what spiritual truths are valid and worthy of being taught in our churches and which spiritual claims must be discarded, even exposed as false. And we trust them to do so.
But when it comes to listening to all the information available about the divisions within the UM Church and the process of disaffiliation, the previous bishop, district superintendents, and conference trustees in north Georgia do not believe their lay members and pastors are capable of discerning what is true and what is in their best interest. They may have heard wrong information and cannot be trusted to be motivated enough or intelligent enough to determine what views are correct. What a magnificently patronizing and demeaning message to send to people who are quite capable and trustworthy in every other area of their lives.
One reason the leaders of the North Georgia Annual Conference cannot trust churches and laypersons to decide what is best for their congregation is because “certain organizations as well as clergy and lay members of various churches and outside groups” have shared “misleading, defamatory and false statements and materials” with churches in the conference. As is typical with those claiming that traditional groups and pastors are spreading misinformation, no particular group or person is mentioned by name and no specific example of false information is cited. (My colleague, Tom Lambrecht, addressed the conference’s general allegations in last week’s Perspective.) Without specific citations of who said what when and where, it is impossible to refute or even address these allegations.
What is apparent is that more churches in North Georgia have either already left or are prepared to disaffiliate from the conference than the leaders there expected. During the process of discernment, conference officials have either presented the official UM line to these churches or have had the opportunity to do so. Still, after hearing the “Stay UMC” pitch, these congregations have decided it is best for them to leave. And now the conference leadership has decided to make it impossible for them to do what, after praying and listening to all sides, these churches have decided God is calling them to do.
Many, maybe most, of the current bishops in the UM Church are similar to my age. That means their formative years were in the 1970’s. It was a tumultuous time, and our generation decided that we would not trust “the establishment” simply because people in places of power told us they knew what was right for us. We would decide, we had a right to decide, for ourselves – even if we were young – what was right for us. We swore that when we rose to positions of power, we would be different. We would not lead or govern through manipulation and control or by exerting our authority over others. And we would never do what had been done to us – tell others they could not be trusted to make their own decision because we knew better.
Still, this is the exact message and the very methodology that the leaders in North Georgia have exhibited: You lay people and pastors may be very competent in your fields of expertise and trusted by many in your work life, but when it comes to making spiritual decisions, we don’t trust you. And we – the elites, the knowledgeable, the authorities – we will decide for you.
As The Who sang when many of these bishops and I were young, “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
Maybe some folks in north Georgia have been confused by what is purported to be “misinformation” about the UM Church and its future. But I am confident they see very clearly that their leaders are willing to change the rules when it suits their purposes, are only too happy to exert their authority to control people when Jesus told us to lead as servants, and are distrustful of their people’s intellectual capabilities and their spiritual maturity.
If other UM pastors want to praise such leadership and recommend it as a model for other bishops and conferences, they may. But it is simply one more reason that many faithful Methodists cannot wait to leave the UM Church and join a new movement where people are trusted and empowered to make good decisions for themselves and for their congregations.
Rob Renfroe is a United Methodist clergyperson and the president of Good News.
by Steve | Jan 11, 2023 | In the News
By Walter Fenton, Global Methodist Church —
United Methodist Bishop Scott Jameson Jones, the former leader of the UM Church’s Great Plains and Houston Episcopal Areas, has resigned from the episcopacy of the church and withdrawn from the denomination. Jones was received into the Global Methodist Church as an elder on January 9, 2023.
As Jones shared the news of his decision to align with the GM Church, its Transitional Leadership Council (TLC) announced it has appointed him as a bishop in the new denomination. Its Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline provides that UM Church bishops may be received as bishops in the GM Church to serve until the latter’s convening General Conference; Bishop Jones has been received in this capacity. Initially, he will serve as one of the general superintendents of the GM Church and will not be appointed to a specific residential area. He joins Bishop Mark Webb and Bishop Emeritus Mike Lowry as the denomination’s third episcopal leader.
“The Global Methodist Church represents traditional Methodism with a strong focus on reaching new people for the gospel,” Jones said about the growing denomination. “It is a new start that will help clergy and congregations move past the disputes of the last several years and focus on our mission. I am excited about forming disciples who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.”
Beginning in September 2004 Jones served as the resident bishop of the Kansas Episcopal Area, and then in September 2012 he became the first bishop of the newly formed Great Plains Episcopal Area comprising the Kansas East, Kansas West and Nebraska Annual Conferences. From there he assumed leadership of the Texas Annual Conference in 2016. Prior to his 18 years as bishop, he pastored local churches in the North Texas Annual Conference and was a faculty member at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology (Dallas, Texas).
“Bishop Scott Jones has stood strong for the faith,” said Cara Nicklas, Chairwoman of the TLC. “With grace and clarity he has modeled and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he has given his life to making disciples of Jesus Christ. With great joy and hope for the future, the TLC warmly welcomes him to the GM Church.”
Jones received degrees from the University of Kansas (B.A. in Philosophy), Perkins School of Theology (Master of Theology) and Southern Methodist University (Ph.D. in Religious Studies). His dissertation research focused on Wesley Studies and the History of Biblical Interpretation.
“Bishop Jones’s remarkable leadership has been a blessing to so many pastors and churches over the years. He has an incredible gift for casting vision and keeping those under his leadership focused on loving God and making disciples of Jesus Christ as the main thing,” said the Rev. Dr. Jessica LaGrone, Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, Kentucky), a TLC member, and a former member in the UM Church’s Texas Annual Conference. “I’m grateful for the bright future ahead for the Global Methodist Church with his wisdom and guidance leading the way.”
A prolific author, Jones has written numerous articles and published several books. His most recent titles are Scripture and the Wesleyan Way: A Bible Study on Real Christianity (2018), The Once and Future Wesleyan Movement (2016), Ask: Faith Questions in a Skeptical Age (2014), and The Wesleyan Way: A Faith that Matters (2014). Earlier books include The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor: A Theology of Discipleship and Witness (2003), and United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center (2002), all from Abingdon Press.
“We are rejoicing over God’s good grace to us,” said the Rev. Keith Boyette, the GM Church’s Transitional Connectional Officer. “In the span of two weeks we have received two faithful, innovative, and passionate leaders in Bishop Mark Webb and now Bishop Scott Jones. Theological conservatives around the world have greatly appreciated Bishop Jones’ witness to the warm hearted Wesleyan expression of the Christian faith, and his fidelity to faith’s life-giving teachings rooted in Scripture and the great confessions of the Church universal. He will be a tremendous blessing to the GM Church as it grows and flourishes.”
Just launched on May 1, 2022, hundreds of local churches in Africa, Europe, the Philippines, and the United States have already aligned with the Global Methodist Church, and many more are hoping to do so over the next few years.
“I hope we succeed as a church in aligning our resources for evangelism, church planting and increasing diversity in our membership while addressing key issues of social justice,” said Bishop Jones. “It is hard to let go of non-essential but time-consuming practices and to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing. In order to be a healthy and vibrant church, we’ll need to address the challenges of raising up a new generation of lay and clergy leaders who are deeply formed in the Wesleyan way of following Jesus.”
Bishop Jones lives in Dallas, Texas, and is married to Mary Lou Reece. They have three adult children, Jameson, Arthur, and Marynell.
The Rev. Walter Fenton is the Global Methodist Church’s Deputy Connectional Officer. Photo: Bishop Scott J. Jones (right) speaks to those preparing to receive communion at a 2018 Wesleyan Covenant Association gathering in Marietta, Georgia. Photo by Steve Beard.
by Steve | Jan 10, 2023 | Front Page News, Home Page Hero Slider, Jan-Feb 2023
By Rob Renfroe —
Over the last few months I have had the privilege of speaking to more than a dozen churches and conferences in six different states and once to brothers and sisters in Europe, the Middle East, and the Philippines via social media. What I enjoy most are the conversations I have with individuals after my presentation is completed.
Different locations and cultures, but there are similar themes that emerge as we talk. There is always sadness that we are at a place where division is necessary. But there is also great excitement about the future as we look forward to re-envisioning what an orthodox Wesleyan movement can be and do for a lost world. What took me by surprise at first, but now I’ve come to expect, are those persons who believe they should wait before making the decision to stay or go.
Some tell me that there’s no reason to leave right now because “nothing has changed.” What they usually mean is that our official UM doctrines are still orthodox and biblical. On the face of it, that’s a true statement, but it’s not a good description of reality. We presently have pastors who preach that Jesus was not resurrected from the dead or that the resurrection doesn’t matter and that Jesus did not die for our sins. We have seminaries that teach Jesus is just one of many ways to God and one that has even created curricula for persons wanting to be ordained in the Unitarian-Universalist denomination that denies the Trinity and the deity of Christ. We now have a commissioned candidate for ministry who preaches in drag and is celebrated by centrist pastors as being a gifted communicator of the Gospel. We just elected a second bishop who is married to a spouse of the same sex. No bishop charged with teaching and enforcing our doctrines has ever spoken out publicly against any of these false teachings and practices.
Believing that “nothing has changed” because our written doctrines have not been altered is a strange way of looking at reality. It would be like having a peace treaty with a neighboring country that’s dropping bombs on your territory and saying, “But nothing has changed; they haven’t rescinded the treaty.” It doesn’t matter what’s on paper if it’s not being followed or enforced. Nothing has changed? Everything has changed. Compare where we are to what Wesley preached. To where we were when the UM Church began in 1968. To what the Bible teaches. “Nothing has changed” is the last thing you can say about where the UM Church is now.
Others tell me they can stay because centrist leaders have told them that traditionalists will always be accepted and they will never have to accept a progressive pastor. There’s so much wrong with that statement that it’s hard to know where to start.
First, centrist leaders on a national level have never kept the agreements they have made with traditionalists. In Portland they agreed with us that the UM Church could not stay together and we needed to work together for a respectful separation. But they came to General Conference 2019 with a plan that went back on that commitment. They agreed that the special called 2019 GC would settle our differences over sexuality once and for all – until they didn’t get their way and then they condemned the UM Church and ignored the decisions of the General Conference. Most recently they have reneged on their commitment to the Protocol of Grace and Reconciliation through Separation after helping to create it and pledging to support it. For those still unconvinced, the recent actions of the Arkansas Annual Conference should be telling. At a special called conference held November 19, the conference refused to approve the disaffiliation of three churches which had fulfilled every requirement for leaving the denomination. Each of these three churches had made their way through the arduous pathway created by the Arkansas AC and had passed a motion to leave by more than two-thirds. Still centrists and progressives there refused to honor their decision. So, when centrists state that no traditional church will ever be made to do anything they find disagreeable, they already have. There’s little reason any serious person should trust what centrist leaders promise about the future.
Second, every UM Church will one day have a progressive pastor. In November our five U.S. jurisdictions elected thirteen new bishops. Not one was a traditionalist. The UM Church in the United States will never again elect a traditionalist bishop. And you can be sure few, if any, traditionalists will ever again seek ordination in the UM Church. Why would a young person looking at forty years of ministry join a denomination that despises his or her views – which one of our recently elected bishops described as “a virus which will make the church sick.” You may have a traditional pastor now, but the well is drying up, and the day will come when there will be no one to appoint to your church but a liberal pastor with a progressive theology.
Most importantly, I believe, is not whether traditionalists will be accepted, but what they will have to accept if they remain. In the future, traditionalists will be in a denomination that allows its pastors to preach that Jesus’ death did not make atonement for our sins and that he is just one of many ways to God or that permits its pastors to pray to God as “the Great Queer One,” as future UM pastors did at UM Duke Divinity School recently. If you remain in the UM Church, give your time and your money and lend your name to the UM Church, you will be supporting all of this. You will be aiding a church that promotes sin and allows its leaders to deny our most important Christian beliefs. Will you be accepted as a traditionalist in the UM Church over time? Probably not. But more importantly, you will have to accept a church that undermines the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Still others tell me they are remaining in hopes that something similar to the Protocol will be passed in 2024, something that is more fair and less costly for churches than the present exit path they are being offered by their conference. I can certainly understand this desire. Many bishops are abusing their power and adding exorbitant fees for churches that wish to disaffiliate. But there’s no reason to believe that General Conference 2024 will bring any relief. Literally thousands of traditional churches will have left the denomination by 2024, meaning there will be fewer traditional delegates at the next General Conference to fight for a better deal. Centrists and progressive leaders have stated they will not support the Protocol. Do you believe they will offer a more generous pathway than before for exiting churches now that they have the upper hand? Paragraph 2553 in the Book of Discipline that churches are using now to depart goes away at the end of 2023. There is absolutely no reason to believe that waiting until 2024 will be advantageous for churches wanting to leave in the future.
Finally, some have said they will remain to “be a witness” within the UM Church. If God is calling you to be a Jonah, by all means, be faithful and stay. We traditionalists have tried to be a witness for the past fifty years. Those within the UM Church who have had ears to hear have heard. Those who don’t have not. If God has called you to stay, do so. But please make certain it’s God calling you to do the hard ministry of staying, not your desire to avoid the hard work of leaving.
What I find wherever I speak are good people who love Jesus, who are committed to the Gospel, and who care deeply about their church. It is a privilege to be with them, to listen to their concerns and hear their stories. I also discover that good people can be in different places when it comes to leaving. But I am convinced the UM Church is on a pathway that will take it far from the orthodox Christian faith and from proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Lord of all. If you feel called to remain in such a denomination, then stay. If not, the time to leave is now. Do not remain because leaving is difficult.
This moment is about the Gospel. This moment is about Jesus, lifting him up and proclaiming his glory. This moment is about doing the hard things required to be faithful. Do not take comfort in misleading promises or false hopes. The time is now.
by Steve | Jan 10, 2023 | In the News
By Thomas Lambrecht —
In a provocative, year-end proclamation as she was walking out the door to her new assignment in Virginia, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson defiantly led the North Georgia Conference to stop all local church disaffiliations. The “pause” announced by the conference is supposed to be “revisited” following the 2024 General Conference, but as of now, there will be no disaffiliation process available after December 31, 2023, for them to revisit.
This draconian action to block disaffiliation is the most severe taken by any annual conference. The rationale given for this action was that “misleading, defamatory, and false statements and materials [have been] shared with local church members by certain organizations as well as clergy and lay members of various churches and outside groups.” Because of this alleged disinformation, the conference claims it does “not have confidence in the validity of upcoming church conference disaffiliation votes.”
The North Georgia action is the very definition of a punitive action. Since you traditionalists have said things we disapprove of, you will not be allowed to disaffiliate from the denomination. Such heavy-handed intimidation tactics will surely backfire. Trampled underfoot is the slogan: “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” Many Georgia Methodists will not want to be part of a denomination that treats their pastors and churches in such a paternalistic way.
Dealing with Misinformation
The conference accuses “certain organizations” (presumably the Wesleyan Covenant Association, the Global Methodist Church, and Good News) of presenting information “about disaffiliation [that is] outside the bounds of normal and acceptable civil discourse. It has not only been false and misleading but has been antithetical to the concept of a gracious exit or a commitment to honoring the mission and ministry of all Christians.”
There are two ways to deal with purported misinformation. One way is to counter the misinformation with better information. The conference claims to have done this. “District Superintendents have held more than 200 information sessions over the past year. The website … [is] updated regularly. The Conference has provided printable, sharable Q&As.” “Informed laity” have been empowered “to speak on the topic to local churches.” The bishop held regional gatherings with opportunities for questions and answers. She has met with pastors and lay members of Annual Conference in every district, as well as with individual UM congregations.
The other way to counter purported misinformation is through censorship. The conference has attempted to control the flow of information by prohibiting clergy from making presentations to churches without the permission of the pastor or the district superintendent. Many local pastors have attempted to prevent their lay members from learning about the controversies in the denomination and the possibility of disaffiliation.
Apparently, neither of these ways to counter misinformation have gotten the results that the conference desired, so now they are pulling the plug on the whole disaffiliation process. Since 71 churches were approved for disaffiliation in 2022 and another 150-200 churches were in process for 2023, North Georgia stood to lose one-third of their congregations. Faced with this reality, the conference has decided to block the process, using the allegations of misinformation as a smokescreen for the real reason for this action.
What Misinformation?
What exactly has been shared that the conference finds objectionable? One example they give is “Church leaders communicating to members that ‘The UMC’s theological impasse is rooted in our differing beliefs regarding the authority of the Bible, the interpretation of the Bible, its impact on how we live out our faith, and the Lordship of Jesus.’”
Of course, this is exactly what we have been saying for years. The conference leaders may disagree with us on this point, but that does not make what we are saying “misinformation.” In our highly fraught culture, we tend to label viewpoints we disagree with as misinformation, when in reality, it is just a different viewpoint.
The Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation, signed and endorsed by nine UM bishops, recognized the deeper issues causing our denomination’s theological divide. The very first principle stated in the Protocol reads, “The United Methodist Church and its members – after careful reflection, discussion and prayer – have fundamental differences regarding their understanding and interpretation of Scripture, theology and practice.” This acknowledgement was agreed to and widely shared by progressives, centrists, and traditionalists. It is not misinformation.
Other examples of misinformation cited by the conference include that the UM Church no longer believes in the resurrection or divinity of Christ or has changed the Apostles Creed. Of course, these are not true, and we have not said this. What we have said is that the UM Church no longer uniformly enforces its doctrinal standards, so that some individual clergy and bishops no longer believe in the resurrection or divinity of Christ or some of the other elements of the Apostles Creed.
Another misinformation example: “Church leaders claiming United Methodist seminaries are teaching a variety of unchristian material by non-Christian professors.” This is a true statement. Some UM seminaries employ some professors/instructors who are not Christians and are in fact members of another religion.
Still yet another misinformation example: “Church leaders communicating that North Georgia Conference leadership is not following the Book of Discipline.” This is a true statement. There are reportedly non-celibate gay/lesbian clergy serving in North Georgia. The conference leaders issued a vision statement promoting the acceptance of homosexuality and calling on the churches to affirm same-sex relationships, putting this issue on a par with combatting racism or fostering equality for women.
When reading over the disaffiliation announcement issued by the conference leaders, one fails to find any specific quotes with attached dates, locations, speakers, or citations. United Methodists in North Georgia deserve better. If the conference leadership is going to torpedo a General Conference directive, the case should be made with specificity instead of a host of alleged generalities. The conference also fails to indicate how many churches were allegedly impacted by what the conference calls “misinformation.” It is unfair to punish all churches if only some were affected.
The conference also objects to some of the tactics purportedly being used by churches considering disaffiliation.
“Churches holding secret meetings on this matter to which not all members are invited or equally informed.” Are not like-minded members able to meet together to plan how to present their request for the consideration of disaffiliation? (Do we not have freedom of association in the U.S.?) At times, these meetings are considered “secret” because the pastor does not allow them to take place on church grounds and does not allow them to be publicized to all the church members. Some pastors forbid any consideration or discussion of disaffiliation. If the pastor would allow transparency, there would be no need for “secret” meetings.
“Clergy suggesting that members of one church would be willing to join another church to help push them over the threshold to disaffiliate.” For the record, WCA leaders in North Georgia are unaware of any clergy suggesting this. Certainly, pastors who know their people should be able to prevent inappropriate persons from joining the congregation. The pastor has final say on who is ready to assume the vows of membership.
“Clergy making presentations to congregations that are not their own, without the appointed pastor’s permission, and in many cases without their knowledge, therefore undermining their ministry.” Again, we have the freedom as people to gather and discuss information. Being a church member does not put one under the exclusive control of the pastor. For years, Good News has advocated that pastors get ahead of this issue by informing their congregation what is happening and what the options for the future are. Pastors who organize balanced information sessions inviting persons of different perspectives to share information do not have the problems raised by the conference. It only happens where pastors attempt to stifle or control the flow of information to their members, which itself is an unhealthy practice.
Certainly, it is impossible for any organization to control what all its members say. The organizations mentioned strive to ensure their leaders and official representatives speak judiciously and truthfully. Where that does not happen, it is appropriate to call us on it, and we would be bound to correct misstatements. (It is impossible to respond specifically to the allegations made in the announcement without citations or identifications of who allegedly said the things quoted.)
As noted above, however, most of the allegations of misinformation are simply different perspectives with which the conference disagrees. Reasonable people can disagree about the information shared. But it is unreasonable to attempt to control what information can be shared or to use disagreement as a pretext for cutting off the whole process. United Methodist members are adults who can critically evaluate information from a variety of viewpoints and make their own prayerful decision.
The Bottom Line
Bishop Haupert-Johnson and the North Georgia leaders have taken it upon themselves to determine that local churches are incapable of making an informed decision about their own futures. They have cut off all possibility of local churches in that conference disaffiliating this year. And unless the 2024 General Conference adopts a new disaffiliation pathway, they have permanently ended any chance for local churches to disaffiliate.
This action by the North Georgia conference leaders flies in the face of what the General Conference enacted in 2019. Par. 2553 states that “a local church shall have a limited right … to disaffiliate from the denomination for reasons of conscience” (emphasis added). The conference is attempting to take away this right through a decree by the leaders. They do not have the authority to do so.
Taking this step opens the leaders to the filing of charges against them for disobedience to the order and discipline of The United Methodist Church. It also opens them up to the filing of lawsuits against the conference for failing to follow the property provisions in the Book of Discipline.
Once again, those who have long clamored for everyone to have a “heart of peace” are instead choosing the path of heightened conflict and abusive power. Rather than allowing people to follow their conscience, they are attempting to coerce people to remain in a denomination that no longer reflects their beliefs. They are punitively holding church property for ransom and damaging the ministry of hundreds of local churches by this decision. This action is unjust, and it is unchristian. Let us hope it is soon reversed.
Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson and the vice president of Good News.
by Steve | Jan 10, 2023 | In the News, Jan-Feb 2023
By Mike DuBose —
Friends, family, and his beloved church community are coming together to make sure Jake Sherrell gets his flowers while he yet lives.
Sherrell, 96, runs North Nashville’s Bel-Aire Unisex Salon where he’s brought to Christ hundreds who have sat in his barber chair.
He opened Bel-Aire in 1957 and can still be found there most days, cutting hair and sharing the Gospel, despite his stage 4 cancer diagnosis.
On a recent Wednesday morning, more than a dozen well-wishers crowded into the barbershop to celebrate Sherrell’s impact on the community, sharing stories and singing favorite hymns.
“You know the saying is, ‘give me my flowers while I live,’” said Rosa Sherrell, Jake’s wife of 21 years, calling to mind the hymn by gospel artist James Cleveland. “This is gonna bless him.”
Jake Sherrell, a member of Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church for almost 80 years, is among the winners of the Harry Denman Evangelism Award for 2022. Each year, annual conferences and the Foundation for Evangelism recognize one youth, one clergy and one lay person in each conference.
Pointing to a picture of his church hanging above the shop’s front door, Sherrell said, “If you come in here and want me to cut your hair, we’re going to bring up in conversation somewhere down the line how you feel about joining this church.
“It just got to be a part of my life,” Sherrell said. “I felt it so strong that I could draw people to Christ.”
Sherrell’s daughter, Tonya Bosley, came to work in the barbershop and hair salon in 2001 “with the intention of staying two weeks,” she said.
She jokingly describes her father as a “part-time gangster” who knows how to relate to young people in the working-class neighborhood shared by the barbershop, Gordon Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr. High School.
“He’s led, protected, and guided so many of our Black men,” she said.
“You come in this place, you’re gonna get some ‘act right,’” she said, speaking of the steady guidance and street-smart wisdom Sherrell has dispensed over the decades. Among those who have benefited from that counsel is Sherrell’s grandson.
“He has been exemplary in my son’s life,” Bosley said. “My son can come to him and talk about anything.”
Gordon member Eloise Abernathy said Sherrell is taking the word of God out to the people.
“People aren’t always going to come to the church,” she said. “He made sure that he lived it, exemplified it.”
Sherrell’s pastor, the Rev. Paula Smith, joined the gathering and led a prayer for him.
“We celebrate that although, Lord, his health may be failing, his mind and his spirit are still on fire for you, dear God. For he has said that as long as there’s breath in his body, he’s going to be praising his God and making a difference for the kingdom. And so, God, we just ask that you will continue to give him strength. Let your joy be his strength, God. We ask that you gird him up on every side,” she prayed.
Smith explained the significance of Sherrell’s ministry in her nomination letter for the Denman award.
“The barbershop in African American culture has been more than just a place to get a haircut and a shave. It has been a refuge for Black men to escape from discrimination and humiliation. It is an intergenerational space where Black men and boys can congregate and connect to talk freely about the challenges and inequalities that are a part of their everyday lives,” she wrote.
“Jake’s barbershop has been that refuge for over 60 years. Located in North Nashville, an area long plagued by systemic racism, environmental injustice, high poverty and high incarceration rates, Jake’s barbershop is a place where everybody is somebody.”
Wayne Anderson praised Sherrell’s influence on his life.
“He raised me in this barbershop. Ever since I was 9 or 10 years old, I’ve been coming around through here. I grew up in the projects, right across the street,” he said. “This man always looked out for me. He kept me on the right path. He got on me when I was doing wrong. And when I was doing right, he was proud of me. I messed up one time and he got on me about it and said that’s not the life to live. He straightened me out. I’ve been straight ever since.”
Sherrell said he came to Christ himself through the influence of his grandfather and by way of the mourner’s bench.
Associated with the early Methodist movement, the mourner’s bench was located near the front of the church and was the place “you would go and sit to feel sorry for your sins, to repent, to have the new birth, or to rededicate yourself to Jesus,” said Mark Shenise of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History in a video.
“My grandaddy was a real strict Christian,” Sherrell said. “He made us get on the mourner’s bench. I sat there because I knew if I got off, he was gonna hit me with that stick.”
He recalled the night his grandfather took him to church and he saw a woman “just praying and praying on a Monday night,” Sherrell said. “And I thought about that. I’m gonna try what she was doing. And Tuesday night I went back and I got on that bench and I started praying.
“Something got ahold of me that night and it ain’t been the same since,” he said. “I was 13. From that day on, God had his hands on me.”
Sherrell has been a member at Gordon since he was 17. He had been attending Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church while staying with an uncle. When he moved in with another uncle in North Nashville, it was too far away to walk.
“Bus fare was a nickel. I didn’t have a nickel to ride back and forth to Bethel, out on South Street,” he said. “My neighbors said there was a Methodist church right up the street. I went to church with them up at Gordon Memorial. I didn’t know the difference then between Methodist and AME. I just knew it was a Methodist church.
“I had a first cousin down on the mourner’s bench. He got up and joined the church. I got up and joined the church, too. I’ve been there ever since,” Sherrell said.
Bill Bowen, church historian at Gordon, said he’s known Sherrell since childhood.
“He’s an ambassador for Christ,” Bowen said. “And there ain’t no shame in it. It’s just what he does. If you come around Jake, he’s gonna talk about Jesus. And if you got anything going on in your life, he’s gonna tell you the answer is Jesus.”
Smith concluded her prayer while supporters gathered around Sherrell, laying hands on him while he was seated in his barber’s chair.
“Thank you, God, for smiling on Jake. And we thank you, God, for smiling on us,” she prayed. “Have your way in this barbershop. Have your way in Jake’s life. Have your way and your will in our lives.”
Mike DuBose is staff photographer for United Methodist News. Photo by Mike DuBose.
