by Steve | Jan 9, 2013 | Front Page News, Jan-Feb 2013
By Elizabeth Glass Turner
Over the past 20 years – and that covers a host of Incredible Hulk and Spiderman movies – many evangelicals have reexamined how we approach popular culture as individuals and as a church. Not that long ago, innumerable conservative ministries held prominent sway in the way we evangelicals thought of modern North American culture (think “Murphy Brown”), issuing tallies of the number of curse words used in certain sitcoms in their household newsletters.
Mid-nineties, along came Bob Briner, author of Roaring Lambs: A Gentle Plan to Radically Change Your World, with his challenge to North American evangelicals: don’t shrink from the age in which you find yourself living. Rather, pursue avenues of transformation. As an Emmy award-winning television producer, he lived his message.
Shortly after that, a similar idea was advanced by a very different source. Philosopher Bill Irwin, PhD, initiated the “Pop Culture and Philosophy” series of books, which popped up on bookstore shelves across the nation. Most shoppers have now seen titles like Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing, Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box, or, for the gamers among us, World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King.
Irwin’s goal was simple: “Get philosophy out of the ivory tower by publishing books about smart popular culture for serious fans. With each volume in this series we seek to teach philosophy using the themes, characters, and ideas from your favorite TV shows, comic books, movies, music, games, and more.”
This integration of critical thinking with sources of daily entertainment dovetails nicely with Briner’s intentions to engage rather than to withdraw. Engaging popular culture is not a new concept for Christians, as those who consider the Apostle Paul’s methods on Mars Hill are quick to cite. It’s a familiar practice for missiologists, who constantly ask, “what is something pre-existing in this culture that connects to conversations about big ideas – truth, existence, ritual, purpose?”
Since this fundamental shift in evangelical perspective, books that address cultural interests and philosophy or theology abound from a variety of publishers. A few recent titles illustrate the appeal to very distinct demographics.
For instance, for anyone who has ever purchased Nintendo boxers at Wal-Mart for a son or nephew, The Legend of Zelda and Theology, edited by Asbury University alumnus Jonathan L. Walls, appeals to lovers of the classic video game who note startlingly familiar themes common both to the game and Sunday morning worship. Essays like “The Birth of Gaming from the Spirit of Fantasy: Video Games as Secondary Worlds with Special Reference to The Legend of Zelda and J.R.R Tolkien,” and “On Hylian Virtues: Aristotle, Aquinas and the Hylian Cosmogenesis” drive video game fans to engage their entertainment with critical thinking.
Fans of Robert Downey, Jr., or the explosively brilliant BBC series named simply “Sherlock” will enjoy The Philosophy of Sherlock Holmes, edited by Asbury Theological Seminary alumnus Philip Tallon, PhD. The volume includes essays that go beyond “elementary” deduction, such as “Eliminating the Impossible: Sherlock Holmes and the Supernatural,” as well as a selection from famed Christian author (and mystery writer) Dorothy Sayers.
Moving from deer stalker hats to werewolves, do you (embarrassingly) know the lyrics to your love-struck tween’s favorite Justin Bieber song? You might want to check out Belieber: Faith, Fame and the Heart of Justin Bieber written by religion journalist Cathleen Falsani. Maybe it will help youth pastors and parents to engage with popular culture with an eye on a more informed way of discussing pop culture and the issues that matter most.
Do you know Robert Pattinson’s favorite color and dream date? Some parents may require their teen to read a chapter from Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Pursuit of Immortality for every Meyers chapter they devour. “Twilight and Philosophy” asks questions like, “what can vampires tell us about the meaning of life? Is Bella a feminist? How does Stephenie Meyer’s Mormonism fit into the fantastical world of Twilight?”
Only time will reveal the long-term impact of the 20th century evangelical Protestant shift from cultural withdrawal to cultural engagement. Only time will tell what cultural contributions last – such as those of Sir Arthur Conan Coyle – and which will fade (Gangnam Style?). What outlasts TV series, or New York Times bestsellers, or even theological trends, is the pursuit of truth. May we continue to find – and embed – truth in our culture.
Elizabeth Glass Turner is the pastor of Kemp United Methodist Church in Kemp, Texas.
by Steve | Jan 9, 2013 | Front Page News, Jan-Feb 2013
By Thomas A. Lambrecht
Would you pay $149,000 for one seminary graduate?
That is what The United Methodist Church did in 2011. According to statistics released in April by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the 13 official United Methodist seminaries received a total of $14,461,705 in Ministerial Education Fund money from our apportionments in 2011 and graduated 337 persons into ordained ministry. That averages out to $42,900 per ordinand.
Four of the seminaries, however, received well over $100,000 per ordinand. These same four seminaries graduated only 6 or 7 ordinands each.
• Gammon Theological Seminary – $124,333 per ordinand
• Iliff School of Theology – $128,054
• Claremont School of Theology – $143,840
• Boston School of Theology – $148,839
The amount received in one year by each of these four seminaries would undoubtedly be enough to pay for the entire three-year seminary education of each ordinand. However, money given to the seminary is not credited directly to students who are ordained. They would receive some of that money indirectly as scholarships and through reduced tuition, but they would typically pay their own tuition (minus scholarships and aid) and usually graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of educational debt.
It is a serious question whether the current or foreseeable enrollment at our seminaries is enough to justify 13 schools supported by the church. It appears that a certain critical mass of students is necessary to sustain both quality and efficiency in our theological education process. Schools with enrollments yielding more than 40 graduating ordinands per year (Duke, Candler, Perkins, and Garrett-Evangelical) provided that education for less than $30,000 in 2011 for each ordinand. Schools with enrollments yielding 20-40 graduating ordinands per year (Wesley, St. Paul, and United) provided that education for less than $50,000. Schools with enrollments yielding 10-20 graduating ordinands per year (Drew and Methesco) provided that education for under $63,000 for each ordinand. But the four schools with the smallest enrollment yielding fewer than 10 graduating ordinands per year (Iliff, Boston, Gammon, and Claremont) cost the church over $124,000 last year per ordinand.
When the enrollment drops and there are fewer than 10 graduating ordinands per year, the cost more than doubles. This is an issue of stewardship and wise investment that needs to be looked at.
A change in the formula
Because of the concerns that have been raised in the past about this discrepancy in financial support between different seminaries, the University Senate has changed the formula for allocating aid, beginning in 2012. Under the new formula, 65 percent of the seminary support money is to be allocated based on how many United Methodist candidates for ministry are enrolled and how many are ordained.
The new formula definitely results in more equitable distribution of church funds to the seminaries. Among the nine largest seminaries, the difference between highest and lowest cost under the old formula was $36,000. Under the new formula, the difference is only $22,000.
What we see, however, is that once there are under 10 ordinands, under either formula the cost nearly doubles.
Candler School of Theology (Atlanta) and Duke Divinity School (Durham, NC) both average more than 50 ordinands per year. Perkins School of Theology (Dallas) averages more than 40. Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (Evanston, IL) and Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC) both average more than 30. St. Paul School of Theology (Kansas City) averages more than 20. All six of these schools under the new formula will receive between $30,761 and $36,315 per ordinand, a very equitable distribution of apportionment money. (The lone exception is Wesley, which is receiving over $43,000 per ordinand, probably based on some other factor in the formula.)
Methodist Theological School (Delaware, OH), Drew University Theological School (Madison, NJ), and United Theological Seminary (Dayton, OH) all average between 14 and 19 ordinands per year. The money they receive is substantially higher than the first group under the new formula—$43,389 to $59,819 per ordinand.
The third group of seminaries all average fewer than 10 ordinands per year. They are Iliff School of Theology (Denver, CO), Boston School of Theology, Gammon Theological Seminary (Atlanta), and Claremont School of Theology (Claremont, CA). Under the new formula, they will receive between $80,613 and $102,903. (Claremont is a special case. In 2011 it received $143,840 per ordinand. But they had only six ordinands in 2011, compared to their four-year average of nine. In addition, they received the largest cut in apportionment money for 2012 at 39 percent, which brings their share more in line at $58,262 per ordinand.)
The Seminaries Respond
Ultimately, the seminaries realize that in order to survive and thrive in today’s educational climate, they need to attract more students. Several of the schools are going about this in novel ways. (These are just the examples I am aware of.)
United Theological Seminary is reemphasizing its Evangelical United Brethren roots and just launched a joint program with Aldersgate Renewal Ministries exploring the “Foundations for Methodist Supernatural Ministry.” This was preceded by a move to a new, larger campus. Over the past four years, enrollment has reportedly increased from a low of 50 students to now 600. The increased enrollment will undoubtedly show up in an increase in ordinands. (The 20 ordained in 2011 was already higher than their four-year average of 14.)
St. Paul School of Theology has recently taken the decision to sell their campus and move to a facility at nearby Church of the Resurrection, the largest UM congregation in the country. By downsizing their facility, they hope to free up more money for instructional programs. By relocating to the campus of the largest congregation, one of Methodism’s fastest-growing, they hope to make use of strategic partnerships with the congregation and staff that will enhance the value of the education they offer. Ultimately, of course, they hope these steps will increase enrollment.
Claremont School of Theology recently received a gift of $50 million to set up an interfaith university (now called Claremont Lincoln University) to train clerics from the Christian faith, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, and others all under one institutional roof. Their approach is based on the premise that “students gain a deeper understanding of their own faith when educated in the presence of religious diversity.” Based on statements by the school’s president, Rev. Dr. Jerry Campbell, it is easy to construe that Claremont’s underlying philosophy is that, while Christianity may be the best road for some, all faiths are equal and all faiths equally lead to God. It remains to be seen whether the seminary can preserve the integrity of United Methodist principles and doctrine under this new approach.
The changing economical and educational climate is prompting creative thinking and innovation that could bring about a better approach to theological education within The United Methodist Church. There are similar developments taking place in Europe and Africa to expand the options available for training pastors to serve the churches there. Seminaries in Europe are experimenting with night classes for students working during the day. On both continents, seminaries are developing short-term intensive courses that allow students to attend classes in concentrated blocks of a week or two and then spend the rest of their time in work or ministry, similar to the approach taken toward local pastors in the U.S. in the Course of Study program. Seminaries on both continents face the challenge of adapting seminary-level education to multiple languages and wide differences in terms of how prepared students are for graduate-level education. Amid all these challenges and experiments, it is true that our dollars go a lot farther in providing theological education in less-developed countries. We get more “bang for our buck” there.
In this country, an increasing percentage of pastoral leaders are not seminary-trained, ordained clergy, but local pastors who attend the Course of Study over a period of five to eight years. The National Hispanic Plan relies on lay “missioners” who remain laity while serving the church.These persons are closest to the “lay pastors” and circuit riders whom Wesley and Asbury assigned to provide pastoral leadership in the congregations of the 18th century. Wesley gave them a reading list and even a published library to further their studies, while giving them 44 Standard Sermons to inform and undergird their preaching. What we do today is more sophisticated, but it follows the same model. It is also much less expensive than a full-blown seminary degree. Local pastors in our churches today provide pastoral leadership that in many cases is as effective as that provided by ordained elders. How does this development inform our understanding of theological education?
Questions Asked
In the midst of all the innovation and creativity, there are many complex questions to ask:
1. Are the innovations leading United Methodist seminaries to adhere more closely to the basic doctrines and practices of historic Methodism, or are they moving the schools more in the direction of a multi-denominational or even interfaith approach that leaves behind Methodism’s distinctives?
2. Are the changes producing pastors who are more effective in ministering in the current cultural climate and in leading churches to real disciple-making?
3. What is the best use of declining denominational funds to provide effective leadership for a global church? Is there a point at which we say that The United Methodist Church cannot afford to support 13 denominational seminaries? Should we use more of our resources to support theological education and leadership training in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines, where the church is actually growing and the need for trained leaders is more acute?
4. Since hundreds of United Methodist students are choosing to attend non-United Methodist seminaries, what can be learned from those schools that can help make UM schools more attractive to our students? Or should the University Senate continue to take non-United Methodist seminaries off of the “approved” list, reducing student choice and forcing more UM students to attend UM seminaries?
5. Should more denominational funds be given to support the students and reduce their debt, regardless of which seminary they attend, or should those funds continue to be used to support mainly United Methodist institutions to keep them alive?
There is a case to be made for heavily subsidizing Gammon Theological Seminary as a unique African-American institution that contributes something to theological education that no other institution in our church can. At the same time, Gammon students already have access to Candler School of Theology courses, professors and resources through a consortium. Allowing for the complexities of the situation, aren’t there better ways for Candler and Gammon – institutions only seven miles apart – to work together for the educational needs of United Methodist seminarians?
There is a case to be made for heavily subsidizing Claremont and/or Iliff as the only UM seminaries in the Western Jurisdiction. However, it appears that most Western ministerial students elect to attend a school other than Claremont or Iliff. What could be learned to help those schools become better able to meet the educational needs of students from the West? Is the potential ministerial student population from the West so small that we cannot afford to maintain two or even one dedicated UM seminary in that jurisdiction? Would our denominational resources be better spent to establish United Methodist departments in a number of compatible theological seminaries throughout the Western Jurisdiction?
We have approached the question of the future of our United Methodist seminaries initially through the framework of money. Diminishing financial resources or lack of money has a way of focusing the debate over priorities and strategies—in a denomination no less than in a household budget. But as one can see from the questions above, the issues go far deeper than money.
Our basic question is: How can we provide the best education for effective pastoral leadership for our church in the 21st century? If only 15 percent of our congregations are “highly vital,” it follows that as many as 85 percent of our clergy are currently less than highly effective. How can we upgrade the skills and effectiveness of our current clergy and assure a steady supply of highly effective leaders for the future? The seminaries will play a large part in the answer to that question. We should all be engaged partners in the discussion to design a new framework for theological education. The future of our church depends on it!
Thomas A. Lambrecht is the vice president of Good News.
by Steve | Jan 9, 2013 | Front Page News, Jan-Feb 2013
By Timothy C. Tennent
Demographics don’t lie, you just have to be willing to listen to them. For example, if China has 90 million believers, but the vast majority of those believers are under 30 years old and the United States has 90 million evangelicals and the majority of those are over 50, then there is a demographic story which is gradually unfolding which is not “heard” when one is simply looking at raw statistics of Christian affiliation.
The United States is one of the fastest emerging mission fields in the world, but it will take about 20 more years before Christians fully “feel” it. The younger the Anglo demographic in the US, the more likely one will question the knowability of truth. This means a likely rejection of anything that might be described as divine, objective revelation. The loss of confidence in human reason is almost palatable. The language of “I think” has moved to the language of “I feel” which is quickly moving to the language of “whatever.”
The younger the Anglo demographic in the United States, the more likely you are to discover a distrust of authority, institutions and, indeed, of all hierarchies. This includes a deep distrust in government, in churches and in church structures, including clergy. It also includes a rejection of any kind of metaphysical hierarchy which posits God as the sovereign Lord over His created order. The younger the person, especially if they are white, the more likely one will find a growing skepticism about the reliability and trustworthiness of historical narratives.
History is viewed as hopelessly mired in flawed and biased, agenda pushing perspectives which cloud any possibility of objectivity. Thus, all historical accounts – whether the iconic account of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, or St. Luke writing his gospel – now lay beneath a new layer of skepticism and historical cynicism.
According to quite a few Millennials, Bart Erhman and Dan Brown may have as much a bead on historicity as St. Luke and St. Paul. On top of all this, we should not forget the gnawing loss of confidence in the inevitability of human progress, a belief cherished since the Enlightenment. The generation now in their twenties is the first in the modern period to not end their careers “better off” than their parents. They will have less purchasing power, less post-retirement security and a shorter life expectancy (by as much as five years) than their parents. This is the first backwards shift in life expectancy in the modern period.
If you are under 25 years old you will almost surely live to see the day when the most Christian countries in the world will be China and India, whereas it will be quite difficult to find Anglo Christians in the Pacific Northwest. By 2050 the United States will probably have 329 million Christians (more than any country on earth) but the demographic of that Christian will be increasingly hispanic, Korean, Chinese or India, and far less white Anglos of European descent.
These demographic facts are not easy to accept. It is much easier to turn up the volume on our latest Christian CD, point to the hundreds of cars in mega-church parking lots, or pick up the latest Christian romance novel, rather than soberly face the fact that we are not passing the faith down to the next generation. What should we do?
First, your church should plant at least two ethnic, non-Anglo churches in the next decade. If you are in a major urban center, you will need to plant four. This does not necessarily imply purchasing land and building buildings. It may be as simple as starting a new service at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday focused on a nearby Korean or Hispanic population.
Second, you must introduce rigorous catechesis for all members, young and old, enquiring and established. We must re-teach the historic faith to this generation with a special eye to interacting with key objections and misunderstandings which are prevalent in our society. Every pastor should insist on a course no less than six weeks long which introduces the candidate to the faith (historically, doctrinally and experientially). After baptism, even more instruction, discipleship, and mentoring should follow, which brings people more fully into what it means to be a member of the church. Incorporating members into small group discipleship settings must be the norm, not the exception.
Third, evangelism must be at the heart of the church’s life. The church must regain confidence in the gospel and the clarity of the good news. In the United Methodist context we must regain our confidence in the centrality of Jesus Christ, the power of the preached gospel, the authority of Scripture, and the privilege to serve the poor. Instead, enormous energy is being spent just trying to remember or recapture the gospel and fighting heresies at every turn. In the process, tens of thousands go unevangelized. Don’t get me wrong, this is a noble and important struggle and every soldier in this struggle deserves our support and prayers. But, I do long for the day when United Methodism gets refocused on our historic message and witness. I see signs this is happening, but we’ve got at least another generation before we see the tide turned.
Like the famous frog in the pot of water slowly coming to a boil, the church has slowly taken on the skepticism and doubts of the world regarding the power of Scripture, the centrality of Jesus Christ and the message of salvation. But the gospel remains the power of God unto salvation.
Let me say it as clear as I can: There are not multiple paths to salvation. Salvation is found only in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ really and truly and bodily and historically rose from the dead. This good news is for the world. Jesus Christ is building the community of the redeemed, which is His body, the church.
We are called to live out all the realities of the coming New Creation in the present age. The Lord will, once again, raise up better hearers of the gospel and more faithful readers of his Scripture. In the meantime, we have a great deal of work to do. So, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work, shall we?
Timothy C. Tennent is the president of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is the author of several books, including Christianity at the Religious Roundtable, Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church is Influencing the Way We Think About and Discuss Theology, and Invitation to World Missions: A Missiology for the 21st Century.
by Steve | Jan 9, 2013 | Front Page News, Jan-Feb 2013
By Heather Hahn
Bishop Mack B. Stokes, who taught thousands of preachers and helped desegregate Mississippi United Methodists, died November 21 in Perdido Key, Florida. He was 100, just a month shy of his 101st birthday.
Before his election to the episcopacy, he taught for 31 years at Emory’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, where he was the school’s first Parker Professor of Systemic Theology, associate dean and later acting dean.
The Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference elected Stokes a bishop in 1972 and assigned him to the Jackson (Mississippi) Episcopal Area, where he served until his retirement as active bishop in 1980.
In Mississippi, he took on the task of merging African-American and white annual conferences into two integrated conferences. This was four years after the newly formed United Methodist Church had voted to abolish the all-black Central Jurisdiction, which served to compel the separation of African-American and white Methodists in much of the southern United States.
“He served in Mississippi at an important time,” said retired Bishop Kenneth Lee Carder, who was the Jackson Area bishop from 2004 to 2008. “He brought to that task not only a pastoral sensitivity but also a deep theological grounding for reconciliation.”
Stokes arrived in Mississippi less than 10 years after Ku Klux Klansmen had murdered three civil rights workers near the town of Philadelphia on June 21, 1964, and four years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Racial divisions in Mississippi, even within The United Methodist Church still ran deep,.
However, during his first year as bishop, Stokes led the four annual conferences — two black and two white — to merge into the new Mississippi Conference and the new North Mississippi Conference (the predecessors of today’s Mississippi Conference). In all four annual conferences, the votes for merger passed with large majorities.
Stokes made a point of cultivating leaders without regard for race. He announced from the start that he would appoint an African-American district superintendent in each of the newly formed conferences.
By 1980, United Methodists in the state had changed, said retired Bishop C. P. Minnick Jr., who immediately followed Stokes as Jackson Area bishop.
“I was pleased and shocked when I got there at the racial openness that had developed, which being from Virginia, I had not anticipated,” he said.
Minnick recounted meeting a group of men in Mississippi who tearfully confessed to standing with ax handles on their church steps to bar black people from entering.
“They said, ‘That’s not who we are. We don’t know why we did that,’” Minnick recalled. “And I am sure Bishop Stokes’ influence had a lot to do with that change of mind and heart.” Minnick added that Stokes “was greatly loved by the clergy and laity of that area.”
Bishop James E. Swanson, who began his tenure in the Jackson Area in September, is the first United Methodist African-American bishop assigned to Mississippi.
“In many ways the bishop led both conferences in the process of integration through a model of relational evangelism,” Swanson said. “The model has served and continues to serve United Methodism in Mississippi in significant ways as the church seeks to live out an inclusive life in Christ. I am living proof that the church can live into God’s preferred future of a Church in which people of all races can worship, serve and lead God’s people.”
Swanson added that he was personally grateful to Stokes for attending six straight sessions of the Holston Annual Conference while Swanson was the conference’s bishop. “He would have attended the seventh if illness had not prevented him from doing so,” Swanson said.
Intellectual legacy
Stokes not only bridged gaps between races but also between the academy and the pews. The bishop was a prolific writer whose works included “The Bible in the Wesleyan Heritage” (1981), “The Holy Spirit in the Wesleyan Heritage” (1985), “Scriptural Holiness for the United Methodist Christian” (1987), “Talking with God: A Guide to Prayer” (1989), “Theology for Preaching” (1994), “Major United Methodist Beliefs: Revised” (1998), and “Question and Answers about Life and Faith” (2000).
Throughout his ministry, he maintained a commitment to United Methodist-related Emory University, serving on the university’s board of trustees from 1972 until almost the last year of his life. He and his late wife, Ada Rose, endowed a scholarship to the Candler School of Theology for international students. In 2008, shortly before her death, the couple established the Bishop Mack B. and Rose Y. Stokes Chair in Theology at Candler.
“I always marveled at the continuing vigor of his mind and his engagement in writing theology to the end,” said Gary S. Hauk, vice president and deputy to the president at Emory University. Hauk, who is working on a history of Emory, said Candler dean and later Bishop William Cannon wrote with great admiration about Stokes’ ability to engage in theological debate without even the semblance of rancor.
“He was absolutely committed to doing theology in a way that enlarged people’s understanding of God, not of Mack Stokes,” Hauk said. “He was perhaps best known on campus for his much-publicized and ballyhooed debate in Glenn Memorial Church with Thomas Altizer, an Emory College religion professor who gained notoriety in the mid-’60s for his theology of the ‘death of God.’”
Retired Bishop Robert C. Morgan was a former student of Stokes’ at Candler and later followed him as bishop in Mississippi from 1984 to 1992. In recent years, the two lived down the block from each other at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. “He was an excellent teacher,” Morgan said. “I still have my notes from his course on theism.”
Son of missionaries
Stokes was born Dec. 21, 1911, in Wonson, Korea, where his parents were missionaries. All three of his brothers also became Methodist clergy. The late bishop graduated from the Seoul Foreign High School at age 16. He received his A.B. from Asbury College, his B.D. from Duke University, and his Ph.D. from Boston University.
In June 1941, Stokes married Ada Rose Yow of Henderson, N.C. Later when asked whether she was his first love, the bishop responded, “Oh, no, she was my only love.” Morgan said Stokes and his wife traveled everywhere together. “They had a beautiful love affair,” Stokes’ friend said.
In Stokes’ obituary, his family said the bishop is “best known as a humble servant of Christ, having preached around the world for more than 70 years.”
Heather Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
by Steve | Jan 9, 2013 | Front Page News, Jan-Feb 2013
By Tim Weeks
Epworth United Methodist Church, in Elgin, lllinois, outside of Chicago, looks like a typical suburban church. But on Sunday afternoons, the brick and glass vibrate to an infectious rhythm, as an eight-piece orchestra with drums, bongos and congas pumps out praise music with a Latin beat. Four music leaders sway, sing and pray in Spanish as angelic young ladies twirl banners triumphantly in front of the congregation. Some 130 parishioners are gathered this Sunday, praising Jesus with wide smiles on their faces, many with their hands raised to heaven, like Pastor Ruben Rivera.
This is La Luz de Cristo, a new Hispanic/Latino faith community established two years ago, and the atmosphere is heartfelt and spirit-filled.
Rivera, 47, a native of Mexico, was recruited to be a lay missioner by the Rev. Oscar Carrasco, the Elgin District superintendent, and the Rev. Mario Mayer, pastor of an established Hispanic/Latino congregation, El Mesias.
“We began talking to Rev. David Newhouse at Epworth about hosting us,” Rivera said. “It began with me and my wife, Julissa, knocking on doors and starting Bible studies in homes, and, in four months when Pastor Newhouse said OK, we were ready to go with 12 people.”
Construction worker by day
Now a leader of a faith community of 120 to 150 people on most Sundays, Rivera, who works asphalt and concrete construction by day, has seen God turn his life around.
“I was addicted to alcohol and drugs for 20 years,” he recalled with tears filling his eyes. “I prayed one day for God to free me, and I pledged to serve him for the rest of my life. Now, I’m honoring that promise.”
“He used to disappear on weekends and spend all of our money,” said Julissa Rivera, who was born in Nicaragua. “But when he came to the Lord and we started working with families, Ruben completely stopped a lifetime addiction, and I know only God can do that.”
Rivera as a preacher is inspiring and charismatic. He doesn’t use the Epworth United Methodist Church pulpit; a music stand at floor level on the front row is good enough. Full of energy and evangelical zeal, he moves about freely with Bible in hand, speaking loudly and clearly in Spanish to a congregation that hangs on to every word. Frequently they respond to his questions and exhortations with applause and “Amen and Aleluya.”
This Sunday, his sermon includes the story of Abraham and Sarah and how God blessed their faith in old age with a child. “It’s not our timing but God’s timing,” he proclaims. “Never lose faith!”
“There are so many Rubens out there to be reached,” Rivera said later. “That’s why I have the passion to serve the Lord, because there are people who used to hang around with me on the street who now know Jesus Christ and worship at this mission.”
Rivera’s training as a lay missioner is through the Conference Academy for Faith Community Development, an ongoing series of monthly meetings created by Carrasco, the district superintendent, and the Rev. J. Martin Lee, director of congregational development and redevelopment for the Northern Illinois Annual (regional) Conference.
The conference has started 30 new faith communities under Lee’s leadership, and since 2003, when the academy first started, nine new Hispanic/Latino communities have been planted.
“In order to rekindle the movement of Methodism, we have to use indigenous lay leadership and not depend on ordained clergy anymore,” Lee said. “What we are doing now is passion-driven, not money-driven, because subsidizing the salaries of pastors of small congregations is not working in the Hispanic community.
“Chicago has the third-largest population of Mexican-Americans in the world, so the opportunities for church growth are tremendous,” he continued. “We can’t wait for Hispanic leaders to go off to school and earn divinity degrees because the needs are now and there are so many eager lay missioners ready to go to work.”
The academy has trained 100 Latinos and Latinas, 45 of whom are lay missioners, he said. “This is the future of our denomination,” Lee said. “Some will go on to a course of study (curriculum for local pastors) and get a local pastor’s license from the bishop. But the John Wesley movement was a lay movement, not just clergy, so we’re recapturing a passion for the Methodist movement here in Chicago.”
A thin man with a runner’s build, Lee is constantly on the go, promoting faith community start-up and development. His entertaining and energetic training sessions are translated to a full conference room of Spanish-speaking participants.
Ruben Rivera is appreciative of the training. “Learning how to make a church sign sounds pretty basic. But our first sign for La Luz de Cristo had too much information, and people fly by our church driving 50 miles per hour,” he laughed. “So when I ordered the next sign, we got a bigger one with less information, and now we have eight or nine new families in the church just because of the new sign.
“More importantly, we learn how to start cell groups and what to do in a cell to make it grow, so that’s how we equip other people to do the same thing that I do with the same passion,” he said. “But it’s not about me… . It’s about multiplying the congregation and reaching the whole neighborhood.”
From 12 people to more than 120 in two years is effective multiplication as La Luz de Cristo is a light, not just to Elgin but to all of The United Methodist Church.
Tim Weeks is a writer and producer of independent television programming. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Distributed by United Methodist News Service.
by Steve | Jan 9, 2013 | Front Page News, Jan-Feb 2013
By Mary Jacobs, The United Methodist Reporter
Jen Mulford has had the job of helping choose materials for women’s groups at her church, Providence United Methodist in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, for several years. She opted for books and DVDs featuring Bible study teachers like Beth Moore, Kelly Minter, Jennifer Rothschild, and Priscilla Shirer.
All of whom are popular among women’s Bible study groups — but none of whom are United Methodists.
Why no Methodists?
Until recently, Ms. Mulford said, “I’ve never been aware of any [United Methodist] women who were as compelling as a Beth Moore or a Priscilla Shirer.”
But that could be changing: Ms. Mulford now plans to offer a Bible study that Abingdon Press will release in February, called Namesake: When God Rewrites Your Story, and she believes women at her church will like the study’s author: the Rev. Jessica LaGrone, pastor of worship at The Woodlands United Methodist Church in Houston.
“She’s just real,” said Ms. Mulford. “I felt like I knew her. We can’t wait to do this study.”
Filling a gap
Leaders at Abingdon Press are hoping that many other United Methodists will discover Ms. LaGrone, too. She’s one of four authors that the publishing house is touting in a new line of Bible studies called Abingdon Women. If it succeeds, it could help fill a gap that United Methodist leaders and bloggers have lamented for years—the lack of a United Methodist voice in the pantheon of popular female Bible teachers.
Abingdon Women was launched this fall with a Bible study called Embraced by God by Babbie Mason, and another, Healing Waters, based on a series of novels by Melody Carlson, a popular Abingdon Fiction author. But with Ms. LaGrone, the series will have its first United Methodist author. The six-week study includes a book as well as video segments, which Ms. LaGrone taped in Nashville in September.
While the publisher won’t disclose how much money it has invested in Ms. LaGrone, Abingdon is clearly making Namesake and Abingdon Women a priority. Plans are underway for ads, promotions online, in Christian retail stores and other book distributors (including Cokesbury), and at trade show and special events. Also, Ms. LaGrone has tentative plans to tout Namesake at annual conferences next spring and summer.
Susan Salley, associate publisher for ministry resources at Abingdon, loves to tell the story of how the publisher “discovered” Ms. LaGrone. Speaking at a workshop last spring, Ms. Salley noted that Abingdon was seeking female authors for the series. “I told the group, ‘We’re looking for the kind of speaker who you always have to get a bigger room for,’” she recalled. Just after she finished her talk, “I had not taken two steps before someone came up to me and said, ‘You need to call Jessica LaGrone.’”
Ms. Salley checked out Ms. LaGrone’s blog, and immediately forwarded a link to colleagues.
In Ms. LaGrone’s writing, she saw a rare combination. “She’s got this ability to combine Bible insights with stories that are so close to women’s daily lives,” Ms. Salley said. “She’s had the questions, doubts and triumphs that we’ve all had.”
Even better, Ms. LaGrone also came with a “platform”—the built-in audience that publishers like to see before they commit to an author. Ms. LaGrone, 38, is the first female pastor at The Woodlands, which averages 4,000 in weekly worship; she authors a popular blog (www.jessicalagrone.com) called “Reverend Mother,” a nod to her dual role as a pastor and mother of two young children; and she’s already a popular speaker who’s been called on to speak at women’s retreats and in the pulpit at dozens of churches in several different states. Also, in 2010, her church published her six-week Bible study, called Women in the Word; the participant book has sold 500 copies with no marketing or advertising. She’s also got a fine pedigree: at Asbury Theological Seminary, Ms. Lagrone was mentored by the Rev. Ellsworth Kalas, a revered preaching professor.
It also turns out that Ms. LaGrone has camera presence. She taped six segments, with six wardrobe changes and virtually no retakes, in one day — a “preaching Ironman,” as she called it — and nursed her 4-month-old daughter, Kate, between taping sessions. (Ms. LaGrone and her husband, Jim, also have a son, Drew, age 2½.)
Abingdon executives say Ms. LaGrone made an immediate connection with the studio audience of about 25 women.
“Her genuineness, her realness, her ability to connect with women, that really came through,” said Sally Sharpe, senior editor for ministry resources at Abingdon.
Ms. Mulford and her friend, Whitney Simpson, a United Methodist in Gallatin, Tennessee, were among those in the studio audience.
“I think she has the knowledge and the passion and the real-life relatability to connect to a lot of people,” Ms. Simpson said.
On her blog Ms. LaGrone shares mommy-pastor moments, like the time she went into labor 20 minutes after arriving at the Texas Annual Conference in June, and speaks openly of personal heartbreak shared with her husband.
“Our dreams of starting a family were delayed several years by a battle with infertility and miscarriage,” she writes on her blog. “Those years of heartache and grief brought us closer together and closer to God, although it didn’t feel super-spiritual at the time.”
That kind of self-revelation is part of what makes authors like Beth Moore and Ann Graham Lotz popular, according to Jana Riess, an editorial consultant and author of Flunking Sainthood (Paraclete Press, 2011).
“They’re very personal about the struggles they’ve had as wives and mothers,” she said.
Ms. LaGrone seems to be comfortable doing that while maintaining her clerical dignity. In her blog, she transitions deftly from theological commentary to a confession about staying at home in her pajamas all day while on maternity leave.
“It’s like talking to a girlfriend,” said Jeanne Damon, director of adult discipleship at Christ UM Church in Sugar Land, Texas, where Ms. LaGrone spoke at a women’s retreat last year. “She’s very open about her life, her history, and her struggles.”
What women want
The Rev. Sky McCracken, a district superintendent in the Memphis conference, posed the question, “Where are the Methodist women?” a few years ago on his blog, naming authors of successful Bible studies, like Ms. Moore, Kay Arthur, Liz Curtis Higgs, and Anne Graham Lotz. Women’s groups at churches he’s served have used the materials, and he doesn’t mind — “it’s basic, exegetical Bible study,” he says — but he wonders why there are no United Methodist Bible teachers on that list. Historically, he adds, the Methodist church has had high-profile women, like Anna Howard Shaw and Belle Harris Bennett, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“I just hate that the other denominations get to have all the fun,” he said.
The missing Methodists also represent a missed opportunity to speak to tens of thousands of women. Tyndale reports there are 450,000 copies in print of Ms. Moore’s recent book, So Long, Insecurity: You’ve Been a Bad Friend to Us, and that’s just one of her dozens of titles.
Ms. LaGrone has contemplated the gap, too.
At her church, women’s groups use books and videos by Ms. Moore, who is a Southern Baptist. Ms. LaGrone doesn’t criticize — “I applaud anyone who can get people excited about digging into Scripture on a daily basis and applying it to their own lives,” she says. “But from time to time, there is a twinge of something that is not quite in step with Wesleyan teachings.”
Ms. LaGrone notes that Ms. Moore speaks from a theology that emphasizes Jesus’ “justifying grace” but not the Wesleyan idea of sanctifying grace. While Baptists might argue “once a sinner, always a sinner,” Methodist teaching “affirms that with God’s grace we can get better,” Ms. LaGrone says. She also notes that Ms. Moore’s Calvinist bent doesn’t jibe with Methodist belief.
“I’ve also had to do a lot of corrective teaching and pastoral counseling to help people understand that God isn’t causing bad things in their lives to test them and try them,” she says. “Beth has some great content and a compelling style, but she’s just not singing in our key.
So now, with Namesake, Ms. LaGrone has the chance to sing in a Wesleyan key, and Abingdon officials hope many women will be listening.
Which is a just a bit ironic, because Ms. LaGrone says she never set out to be a “women’s Bible teacher.”
“I’ve always considered my call to be one of ministering and speaking to both men and women,” she said, adding that, earlier, she had a “misguided perception of women’s ministry as tea parties and fashion shows.”
Over time, however, she’s changed her mind.
“God really worked on me to have a heart specifically for women and their needs and issues,” she said. “I believe there is a real fruitfulness when women gather together with other women to learn and grow.”
Ms. Damon, meanwhile, looks forward to purchasing Namesake and introducing Ms. LaGrone to even more women in her church.
“She’s someone who has good Wesleyan theology,” Ms. Damon said. “The message of grace really comes across in her work.”
Mary Jacobs is a staff writer for The United Methodist Reporter. Reprinted by permission of The United Methodist Reporter.
