by Steve | Feb 17, 2023 | In the News
Each historical move of God is unique. “The wind blows where it wishes,” said Jesus. With so many other onlookers, we have been prayerfully mindful of the student-led renewal and revival services taking place since February 8 on the campuses of Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. From all reports, students are encountering the Living God.
For several decades, Good News was headquartered in Wilmore. In 1970, Dr. Dennis Kinlaw was the president of then-Asbury College. At the time, the school was the epicenter of a powerful outpouring of the Spirit among the college students. “The young people in this movement have been the key,” Dr. Kinlaw wrote in Good News magazine more than 50 years ago. “Faculty and administrators have been chauffeurs and guides while the Spirit has used the young to open closed doors and storm the enemy’s bastions.”
Decades later, the same could be said of the spiritual stirring on campus in Wilmore. Facebook and other social media outlets have publicized the events in Hughes Auditorium to a worldwide audience. There are no celebrity personalities or “influencers” at the helm of this organic movement – only students and a very capable campus administration. We have pulled together a non-exhaustive collection of excerpts, quotes, and observations from special voices – undergrads to PhDs – to share in this Perspective to give insight, encouragement, and context.
Sarah Thomas Baldwin, Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students, Asbury University (Facebook)
Last Wednesday, February 8, at 11:00 a.m., the Holy Spirit filled Hughes Auditorium (our chapel) and has not let up. Again and again, people report experiencing God like they never have before in their lives.
Early on, thick clouds came down and settled around our campus. I will never forget how it seemed to be the visible thick presence of Jesus settling in on us.
The movement of God is across the generations – from 93 years old to 2 weeks old – they have shown up. College students arriving with backpacks and pillows, wheelchairs and elderly people, babies in strollers, in arms and in front packs. Children and many teenagers. And of course, at the heart – Gen Z.
The Holy Spirit lit the wick of Gen Z, and now people from around the nation are putting their candle into the fire, experiencing the goodness and grace of God.
Many testimonies from college students about release from anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation. Come Lord Jesus! This generation needs this.
Words that people keep saying to me about their experience: LOVE of God, JOY of Jesus – “I have never experienced this! I have never felt Jesus like this!” I hear this all day every day for 7 days. …
Afternoon testimony time! Hearing people testify to the goodness of God with incredible testimonies often about freedom from addiction, healing of relationships, a word of blessing proclaimed. …
Alexandra Presta, editor, Asbury Collegian
It’s still hard to verbalize. I’ve had friends across state lines text and call me, wanting an explanation for how and why God chose now to come in this way. I admitted to all of them a phrase I usually despise: “I don’t know.”
And honestly, none of us do. But just because we don’t know all the details of God’s plan or His timeline doesn’t eliminate that He still moves. He still shows up. Funny enough, it always seems to be right when we need Him.
Alison Perfater, Asbury University Student Body President (WKYT)
“We are just sitting with Him. It’s just deeply gentle and deeply loving; it’s just a glimpse of what I think heaven will look like.”
Jason Vickers, Professor of Theology, Asbury Theological Seminary (Facebook)
In the time that I was there, I could not get over certain distinctive qualities about the atmosphere. The words that came to mind were: gentle, sweet, peaceful, serene, tender, still. Some people were singing. Others were talking. Many were praying. But there was something like a blessed stillness permeating the place. No one was swinging from the chandeliers. In fact, it was right the opposite. What made this so wild was just how un-wild the whole thing was … is.
Andrew Thompson, lead pastor, First Methodist Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Facebook)
All I can say about the experience I had over the next several minutes is that the manifest presence of the Lord is there – it is thick and substantial, and it is full of love. It is as if the Lord has set up his tabernacle right there over that room. The Holy Spirit covered me like a blanket, and then he began to flush out all the pain, and fatigue, and spiritual weariness I was feeling. I went down to the altar rail to pray, and an otherworldly peace came upon me such as I have only known one other time in my life. I felt two hands on my shoulders, and a voice began to pray over me: “Lord, walk with this man in his life. Let him know your presence. Fill him with your Holy Spirit.” When I later stood up, the two young college students who had been interceding for me were themselves praying at the altar. God is using his people to minister to one another in very humble, but bold ways.
Alexandra Presta, editor, Asbury Collegian
Peers, professors, local church leaders, and seminary students surround me – all of them praying, worshipping, and praising God together. Voices are ringing out. People are bowing at the altar, arms stretched wide. A pair of friends cling to each other in a hug, one with tears in her eyes. A diverse group of individuals crowd the piano and flawlessly switch from song to song. Some even sit like me, with laptops open. No one wants to leave.
No one even expected this to happen. Not on a random Wednesday for sure. Yet, we sit and sing about God’s love pouring out and His goodness.
Anna Lowe, Asbury Collegian
When I arrived at Hughes, my immediate inclination was to take photos and record what was happening through interviews, as my job typically requires. In my heart, I felt an outer nudge to be still. And so that’s what I did.
Nothing immediately happened to me or changed in my heart. …. I did not let the lack of immediacy deter me, even though I thought about leaving. All that mattered at that moment was our Creator. The transfer of my focus nudged me to ponder how infinitesimally small we are. The situations that enraptured my mind were mere specks on the horizon compared to eternity.
My heart shifted, and a resentment that had followed me for months was lifted by the grace of God alone. Walls of bitterness and agitation released themselves from my mind. I felt them cast out of my mind and heart to the point where I have almost completely forgotten the prior feeling. Knowing myself, I am confident this shift is not of my own volition. I was set and satisfied in my resentment, but God had different plans for me.
This moment of absolute peace shifted my reality.
Craig Keener, Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary (Facebook)
The university chapel (seating 1500) and seminary chapels (seating 1000) and a local church are filled and lines are waiting outside. But what strikes me most is that, even walking near the chapel or out on the street (itself full of cars), I CAN FEEL THE TANGIBLE PRESENCE OF GOD. Not something that can be manufactured. We’d prayed for this to happen someday, but it’s still way beyond my expectations!
Jake Traylor, associate producer, MSNBC News (NBC)
On TikTok and Instagram, videos hashtagged “Asbury Revival” are racking up millions of views. At the time this article was published, the hashtag #asburyrevival had 24.4 million views on TikTok. …
Tuesday night [February 14] capped the largest crowd yet: 3,000 worshipers piled into the college chapel and four overflowed facilities throughout the college town. At least two-thirds of the attendants are from out of state …
Students and staff from 22 schools have visited so far, alongside groups from Hawaii to Massachusetts, university faculty said. Travelers from Singapore and Canada are expected to arrive soon, they added. …
Nick Hall, an attendee who purchased a one-way plane ticket from Minneapolis when he saw a viral video on Instagram, emphasized that the gathering was notably low-key for something that people are calling a “revival.”
“This is acoustic guitars, pianos and very noncharismatic speakers. This is as un-sensationalized as it could be,” he said.
And according to Hall, leading the charge in the sanctuary and on social media is the Gen Z generation.
“They’re the ones that started it, they’re the ones that sustained it, and they’re the ones that have been on the platform the whole time,” he said.
Stephen Seamands, Professor Emeritus of Christian Doctrine, Asbury Theological Seminary (Facebook)
In revivals, said [First Great Awakening preacher and theologian] Jonathan Edwards [1703-1758], people get seized, gripped, overwhelmed by the divine excellency of Christ. As a result of being captured by his love, his “superlative amiableness,” as he puts it, they fall in love and stay in love with Jesus in such a way that their lives are never the same, the church is never the same, the world is never the same.
These first hand revival experiences, convictional experiences, divine encounters – grip us so profoundly, transform and shape us so deeply that they set us on a trajectory that continues for the rest of our lives.
Like Paul’s encounter on the Damascus road, they impart to us such a profound awareness, such a revelation of the risen, exalted Jesus, such an experience of his presence in us through the Holy Spirit, such an unswerving commitment to his mission, that standing in chains before King Agrippa decades later, he would declare, “No matter what happens, I simply can’t be disobedient to such a heavenly vision.”
Revivals produce Christians who are faithful, bold, and unapologetic. Christians who find their joy and satisfaction in God. Christians with a love and passion for holiness, who will gladly lay down their lives for Jesus, who are looking, not for a prosperity gospel, but in Amy Carmichael’s words, “a chance to die.”
Revivals cause the church to move forward in purity, power and unity; in boldness and confidence to be his witnesses. As a result God’s people are able to withstand cultural pressures to conform and compromise. They refuse to be seduced by the gods of their culture.
I think Jonathan Edwards had it right. We need revivals because we need more of Jesus. Through revival God raises up a generation, a people, a church which gets focused on Christ. As the characters in Narnia would say: “Aslan comes in sight.” So we discover things about him that we never knew before. He truly becomes the pearl of great price. Ultimately, revivals are about “the divine excellency of Christ.”
Elizabeth Glass Turner, writer and editor (Facebook)
Let it be what it is. Is it Holy Spirit, or hype? On watching and listening, here’s what I find: On February 8, a preacher shared what they named a mediocre sermon, but at the prayer of confession, something broke loose; and college students didn’t leave chapel service, but continued it. It kept continuing. Before social media lit up, there was just – simplicity. No one was trying to manufacture An Experience.
That’s really important to distinguish – the Holy Spirit met these students, at that moment, not to recreate the 1970s, but as a sweet movement for these lives, now. So whether they’d stayed an hour past usual chapel time, or three hours, or twelve hours, or twenty-four, if it had stopped then, that would’ve been okay; it wouldn’t have meant that the Holy Spirit wasn’t at work. It’s okay to let it be whatever it is, without putting pressure on college students to frame it a certain way.
Of course, in the 70s, there wasn’t social media; I think I first saw a comment online (from someone not present) less than 12 hours after it started, making swift comparisons. Let it be what it is, I thought. Whether it quiets to a hush and wraps up or lingers and continues, there’s grace in simply receiving. Like manna, yes? Don’t try to hoard it for the next day; simply receive the bread of heaven with thanks today. What’s funny is that smartphone-laden students weren’t trying to make anything go viral; weren’t trying to leverage as influencers. They were busy praying, confessing, worshipping. …
Exhausted, sad, burned, or desperate friends: skeptic or seeker, let’s let this be what it is. Negative experiences of emotionally charged, individualistic worship that doesn’t bear fruit are real; they also don’t mean this outpouring can be reduced to that. It’s okay to gently hope. And collective strain, exhaustion, burnout, and desperation should absolutely drive us to the feet of Jesus; that doesn’t mean our hopes should pin on one specific path or outcome this outpouring may or may not take or result in. If it quiets to a hum or holy silence, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t real, genuine, beautiful, transformative or holy – whether you’re doubtful or desperate. …
The predominant theme I’ve noticed from folks who popped over for a few minutes or longer – deep, deep, deep, quiet peace. Restorative peace. Deep, quiet joy. Not a circus, not a bunch of antics. God’s Spirit, like a weighted blanket. …
This started with a prayer of confession. If there’s any corner of your heart tempted toward being a consumer of an experience, know that uncomfortable remorse may come first. Some of the crowds around Jesus came face to face with that dynamic. The great thing is that reckoning and revival have a long history together, and you can share in prayers of confession wherever you are. (My favorites always pinch, always close loopholes: “what we’ve done and what we’ve left undone; we have not loved you with our whole hearts or our neighbors as ourselves” etc.)
Beth Felker Jones, Professor of Theology, Northern Seminary (Facebook)
• An event doesn’t have to be everything to be good. God works in partial, broken things.
• If we want to know something by its fruit, we have to give it some time to grow fruit.
• Judging something from afar, via Twitter, seems ill advised. Discerning the spirits is important. It’s best done in embodied communal relationship and not as a hot take …
• God made, loves, and works through emotions. Can emotions be manipulated or sinful? Yes. Does that mean emotion is out of bounds in Christian life? By no means!
• Our culture is so materialist. Are we prone to believe that a powerful, tangible work of the Spirit simply cannot be a real thing?
Peter J. Bellini, Professor of Church Renewal and Evangelization, United Theological Seminary (Facebook)
Revival often is dealing with the larger mystery and providence of God. We should all take a holy pause and breathe in before we claim to be able to judge the work of God. In one regard, we are all amateurs.
Tom McCall, Professor of Theology, Asbury Theological Seminary (Christianity Today)
As an analytic theologian, I am weary of hype and very wary of manipulation. I come from a background (in a particularly revivalist segment of the Methodist-holiness tradition) where I’ve seen efforts to manufacture “revivals” and “movements of the Spirit” that were sometimes not only hollow but also harmful. I do not want anything to do with that.
And truth be told, this is nothing like that. There is no pressure or hype. There is no manipulation. There is no high-pitched emotional fervor.
To the contrary, it has so far been mostly calm and serene. The mix of hope and joy and peace is indescribably strong and indeed almost palpable – a vivid and incredibly powerful sense of shalom. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is undeniably powerful but also so gentle.
Luther Oconor, Associate Professor of Global Wesleyan Theology, Asbury Theological Seminary (Facebook)
The Asbury Revival is still showing no signs of slowing down even after over 160 hours. People are just coming from nearby states and even as far as Florida. Last night, Hughes Auditorium was full, and services overflowed to the seminary chapel and at another auditorium on campus. By God’s sovereign grace, the partition between heaven and earth in Wilmore, Kentucky, seems to be thin or nonexistent.
As I reflect on this I am reminded of this observation by Mark Stibbe about revival: “Christian revival is a divinely initiated process in which a dying church is revitalised through the power of the Holy Spirit, leading to a new love affair with Jesus Christ, which in turn transforms the community, region, and even nation in which that church is situated” (“Seized by the Power of Great Affection,” in On Revival: A Critical Examination, 2003).
While the definition is a bit local church-centric, it still helps us understand that what we’re seeing at Asbury right now is the early stages of a revival. It is clear that a new love affair with Jesus Christ is taking place in Wilmore. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people, mostly young people, are experiencing the love of Jesus for the first time or in such powerful ways that they are beginning to love him back. Jesus is glorified. For this is what happens when Holy Spirit shows up! He points us to Jesus (John 15:26). He removes the veil and we begin to gaze at him and are thereby transformed, and in this case, collectively (2 Corinthians 3:16-18). This is why the slogan at the altar at Hughes, “Holiness unto the Lord,” which also points to the rich Wesleyan-Holiness heritage to which Asbury is connected, sounds more like a prophetic unction to what is currently happening.
But transformation, as pointed out in the quote above, comes in stages. For love for Jesus overflows to love for neighbor. And so, it initially touches the local community, and so far the Asbury Revival is on track towards that. But as far as its implications to region, nation, and, if I may add, the world is concerned, that will take a while to determine. Only time will tell.
As several scholars have pointed out, there is always a link between genuine revival and social transformation (see the works of Timothy Smith, Don Dayton, Doug Strong, and others). But as the deep well of Asbury’s revival past has shown us, I won’t be surprised if years from now we will hear of people who will point to the revival of 2023 as a watershed moment for their lives. I somehow intuitively know this because I am a result of a powerful revival in the Philippines in 1997. There’s not a day I don’t look back to what God did to me then. Hence, I am confident that there will be a future generation of pastors, evangelists, healers, and missionaries who will emerge from this. The famous missionary from India, E. Stanley Jones, points to the Asbury Revival of 1905 which launched him into a long and fruitful missionary career. …
What matters most is we celebrate and thank God for what’s happening in this moment. One simply cannot complain that an infant doesn’t know how to drive yet! Let’s enjoy every moment with that baby and be excited about her or his potential. For when college students (yes, the same kids of the Gen Z TikTok generation!) are turning to Christ in droves, when people are reporting healings from emotional hurts and illnesses, or when people gain a new love for Jesus and neighbor through the power of the Holy Spirit, that is always a win in God’s Kingdom. May it be so on earth as it is in heaven.
I John 1:1-4
From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in – we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
– The Message
Photo: Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University, February 10, 2023. Photo by Sarah Thomas Baldwin. Used by permission.
by Steve | Feb 14, 2023 | In the News
By Dennis Kinlaw
Good News, April-June 1970 —
When the students and faculty of Asbury College met on Tuesday, February 3, 1970, for chapel, they did not know what was in store. The program was to be one of sharing by students and faculty, of their faith in Christ. As witness to Christ was being given, a spontaneous movement of the Spirit began. It grew to disrupt class schedules, bring the great majority of the students to a new relationship with the Lord, set up a chain of witness for Christ that was to extend to numerous campuses and churches and to thousands of individuals.
For eight days an unbroken service of praise and adoration to God continued. Men and women sought and found forgiveness of sins and new life in Christ, the inner cleansing and filling of his Spirit, a new love for God and others, and an authentic sense of Christ’s mission.
At the time of the writing of this article, the Spirit is continuing his reviving work in numerous places where the revival fires have been kindled.
This movement began in evangelical schools but has not been confined to their walls. The Spirit has likewise worked in a significant manner on secular campuses and in numerous churches and communities around the country.
What is the significance of this awesome movement of God’s Spirit? Is God saying something to us that needs to be heard? This could be the cloud no bigger than a man’s hand that is the harbinger of significant revival [1 Kings 18:44-46].
Perhaps God is ready, now, to take a new initiative. Popular theologians have told us that God is dead, silent, indifferent, or impotent. The Church, the state, the educational institutions and various organizations for reform have done their best but have left us in despair. Now God has decided to show his hand. The current movement of God was longed for by many – but it came clearly as a surprise. It was spontaneous and unplanned – at least by men or women.
We have seen afresh the power of an authentic witness for Christ. A characteristic of this movement has been the absence of preaching. It was personal testimony to the transforming power of Christ that seemed to trigger and to extend this movement. There was no preaching but eight days of unbroken witness, praise, adoration, invitation, and intercession. Out went teams to tell of the glory of God – and the fire spread. In a day that accents the sensual and the empirical we have seen afresh the power of witness to Christian experience.
The power of students committed to Christ has been made evident. The world has watched while other students have brought down administrations and shaken national governments. We have come to regard students as political and social revolutionaries. Now God has let us see their potential as Christians.
The young people in this movement have been the key. Faculty and administrators have been chauffeurs and guides while the Spirit has used the young to open closed doors and storm the enemy’s bastions.
This should really be no surprise. History reminds us that in 1806 it was two college sophomores and three freshmen at Williams College who triggered the movement of Christian missions in American life – a movement of God hardly surpassed elsewhere in Christian history. The major Christian movements of the 20th century – from independent faith missions to modern ecumenical movement – began in student groups in the late 19th century.
Luther Wishard persuaded D. L. Moody to give four weeks in July of 1886 to college students. Few realized that history was being made. But from that group of 251 collegians who met with Moody came a movement of the Spirit that produced John R. Mott, Robert Speer, Samuel Zwemer, E. Stanley Jones, Wascom Pickett, the Student Volunteer Movement, the 20th century missionary thrust around the world, and laid the foundations of the ecumenical movement.
Twentieth century humanity has been characterized by a supreme confidence in itself and its institutions. Political personalities have felt that the state could bring in “The Great Society.” Religious figures have looked to the church and its institutions to produce “The Christian Century.” By now, those illusions are pretty well shattered. Perhaps the ground is now clear so God can plant that vine of his choosing.
God is ready to bless again when men and women turn their attention to the central verities. A characteristic of the current movement of the Spirit is the absence of the marginal and the trivial. The attention has been on getting right with God in terms of sin, self, and one’s neighbor. The cry of the sinner has been for pardon and new life. Multitudes have found this. The plea of the backslider has been for restoration. Carnal believers have yearned for clean hearts. Many have sought and found through the filling of the Spirit.
Jeff Black, a student, noted these observations firsthand: “Basketball players with their coach are at the altar … my roommate has not moved for five hours from his seat … 14 hours have passed since the revival began. There are 300 to 400 people present at this midnight hour ….”
The prayer of all has been, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” To all he has said: “Ye shall be witnesses.” Many now are, and the end is not yet.
Dennis Kinlaw (1922-2017) was the president of then-Asbury College in 1970. Dr. Kinlaw was a noted Old Testament scholar and a leader in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. This article appeared in the April-June 1970 issue of Good News.
by Steve | Feb 13, 2023 | Home Page Hero Slider, In the News
By Stephen A. Seamands —
In his profound reflections on revival, based on his experiences in 18th century colonial New England, during what historians refer to as the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards said this: “God hath had it much on his heart from all eternity, to glorify his dear and only begotten Son; and there are some special seasons that he appoints to that end, wherein he comes forth with omnipotent power … and these are times of remarkable pouring out of his Spirit, to advance his kingdom.”
Revivals then, according to Edwards, are special times and seasons when God the Father reveals, glorifies, and exalts his Son through the power of his Spirit. And in such clear-cut, powerful, demonstrable ways that you can’t miss it – because he wants the whole world to know who his beloved son is.
That’s what Edwards saw happening right before his eyes. The members of the congregation he pastored had all grown up Christian, but during the Awakening, it was as if the veil was pulled back and they glimpsed Jesus for the first time. They were seized by a revelation, captured by what Edwards called “the divine excellency of Christ.” And after that their lives were never the same. I love the way he describes it in his quaint 18th century way:
“By the sight of the transcendent glory of Christ, true Christians see him worthy to be followed; and so are powerfully drawn after him; they see him worthy that they should forsake all for him: by the sight of that superlative amiableness, they are thoroughly disposed to be subject to him, and engaged to labor with earnestness and activity in his service, and made willing to go through all difficulties for his sake.
“And it is the discovery of this divine excellency of Christ that makes them constant to him: for it makes a deep impression upon their minds, that they cannot forget him; and they will follow him whithersoever he goes, and it is in vain for any to endeavor to draw them away from him.”
This is what happens in true revivals. People get seized, gripped, overwhelmed by the divine excellency of Christ.
As a result of being captured by his love, his “superlative amiableness,” as he puts it, they fall in love and stay in love with Jesus in such a way that their lives are never the same, the church is never the same, the world is never the same.
These first hand revival experiences, convictional experiences, divine encounters – grip us so profoundly, transform and shape us so deeply that they set us on a trajectory that continues for the rest of our lives.
Like Paul’s encounter on the Damascus road, they impart to us such a profound awareness, such a revelation of the risen, exalted Jesus, such an experience of his presence in us through the Holy Spirit, such an unswerving commitment to his mission, that standing in chains before King Agrippa decades later, he would declare, “No matter what happens, I simply can’t be disobedient to such a heavenly vision.”
Revivals produce Christians who are faithful, bold, and unapologetic. Christians who find their joy and satisfaction in God. Christians with a love passion for holiness, who will gladly lay down their lives for Jesus, who are looking, not for a prosperity gospel, but in Amy Carmichael’s words, “a chance to die.”
Revivals cause the church to move forward in purity, power, and unity; in boldness and confidence to be his witnesses. As a result God’s people are able to withstand cultural pressures to conform and compromise. They refuse to be seduced by the gods of their culture.
I think Jonathan Edwards had it right. We need revivals because we need more of Jesus. Through revival God raises up a generation, a people, a church which gets focused on Christ. As the characters in Narnia would say: “Aslan comes in sight.” So we discover things about him that we never knew before. He truly becomes the pearl of great price. Ultimately, revivals are about “the divine excellency of Christ.”
Stephen A. Seamands is Professor Emeritus of Christian Doctrine at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He served as the Professor of Basic Christian Doctrine at Asbury Seminary for close to 40 years. In addition to that class, he taught Introduction to Spiritual Warfare, Introduction to Healing Prayer, and a class studying the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dr. Seamands has authored numerous books, including Wounds That Heal, Ministry in the Image of God, and The Unseen Real: Life in the Light of the Ascension of Jesus.
Photo: Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University, February 10, 2023. Photo by Sarah Thomas Baldwin. Used by permission.
.
by Steve | Feb 3, 2023 | In the News
Celebrating Saint Brigid’s Day
By Steve Beard —
In Ireland, the first day of February is St. Brigid’s Day, as well as the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc, marking new birth and the threshold of spring. It was recently christened as an Irish government holiday (St. Patrick’s Day became an Irish “bank holiday” in 1903). The occasion is a celebration for both Christians and those who observe pre-Christian Gaelic traditions.
During the summer of 2022, I was mesmerized by a compelling mural depicting a dual-faced Brigid in the town of Dundalk – halfway between Belfast and Dublin on Ireland’s east coast. After returning home, I read the medieval hagiography of this intriguing woman who died almost 1,500 years ago.
St. Brigid is said to be the child of a pagan chieftain and a Christian slave woman. It is thought that her father named his daughter after Brigid, the indigenous Celtic goddess associated with spring, healing, fire, fertility, and poetry. As a girl, she is said to have been raised in a separate Druid home before becoming a Christian at a young age.
The two-story mural created by the artist Friz in Dundalk attempts to portray the similar-but-different stories told about both Brigids. Because of the time period, there are many details that we do not know. Scholars continue to debate the competitive portrayals of the saintly abbess and the Gaelic goddess.
What has been passed down is that Saint Brigid (451-525) was a winsome and compassionate founder of one of Ireland’s most important and remarkable dual monasteries for both nuns and monks. Although exact dates are debated, St. Brigid’s ministry would have taken place after St. Patrick’s death in 461. The Abbey at Kildare – 40 miles west of Dublin – is thought to be built upon the very site of a shrine to Brigid the goddess under a large oak tree (Cill Dara, “church of the oak”).
The Abbey was known for its Christian hospitality, as well as its emphasis on art, metalwork, and “illuminated manuscripts” similar to the world-renowned Book of Kells. Unfortunately, the Book of Kildare is lost to history, and the Abbey at Kildare was destroyed in the 12th century (the Cathedral of Kildare is now built on the original site).
“This woman … grew in exceptional virtues and by the fame of her good deeds drew to herself from all the provinces of Ireland inestimable number of people of both sexes…” wrote Cogitosus (c. 650), a monk of Kildare, in his remembrance of St. Brigid. “On the firm foundation of faith she established her monastery … which is the head of almost all the churches of Ireland and holds the place of honor among all the monasteries of the Irish. Its jurisdiction extends over the whole of the land of Ireland, from coast to coast.” (Cogitosus’ work is the earliest hagiography found in Ireland.)
Because of her prominence, St. Brigid is also one of the three patron saints of Ireland, alongside St. Patrick and St. Columba.
There are numerous stories of her faith and tenderheartedness. As a child, she gave away butter and bacon to those who were hungry (including a whimpering dog). She is said to have also given away her father’s jewel-encrusted sword to a beggar in need – much to her father’s exasperation. After trying to sell her off, he finally realized that allowing her to live a life devoted to her faith made far more sense.
There are innumerable churches, schools, athletic associations, and more than a dozen holy wells in Ireland dedicated to St. Brigid. However, she is most well-known for weaving a cross from straw or reeds while at the deathbed of a pagan chieftain who had grown delirious with his illness. As she sat with him, she weaved a cross and explained its meaning. In some versions of the story, it is said that it brought peace to the man’s heart and he sought baptism before his final breath. (Modern day Irish children celebrate St. Brigid’s feast by weaving crosses from reeds.)
In his remembrance of her kindness, generosity, and miraculous life, Cogitosus did not fail to mention the time Brigid turned bathwater into beer. “On another extraordinary occasion some lepers asked this venerable Brigid for some beer, but she did not have any beer to give them,” he wrote. “Seeing water that had been prepared for baths, she blessed it in the strength of her faith and turned it into the very best beer, which she generously dispensed to the thirsty.”
Notably, the legacy of St. Brigid is immortalized outside her native Ireland. There are, for example, Brigidine nuns at work all over the globe. One of St. Brigid’s tunics is said to be treasured at the Cathedral of Bruges, Belgium. She is the patron saint of the oldest church in London – St. Bride’s, Fleet Street. There is even a Chiesa di Santa Brigida d’Irlanda (Church of St. Brigid of Ireland) in Piacenza, Italy. Twenty churches or parishes are named after her in the United States.
In the thirteenth century, three Irish knights took the skull of St. Brigid with them on a journey to the Holy Land as a sacred relic. It is said that the knights did battle in Portugal and stayed with her revered remains until their deaths. The three knights are interred in the tombs of St. Brigid’s chapel within the Church of St. John outside of Lisbon.
“Brigid bridges the greatest divide, between heaven and earth, between God and humanity,” wrote religious scholar Maeve Brigid Callan recently in The Irish Times. “The sixth- or seventh-century priest/poet Broccán describes her as ‘a marvelous ladder for pagans to visit the kingdom of Mary’s Son.’ From childhood on, she simultaneously embodied the highest Christian and indigenous Irish ideals, integrating attributes exemplified both by Christ at Cana and the Sea of Galilee and by native goddesses of fertility and sovereignty.”
The religious community that she helped create in Kildare, Ireland, centuries ago was a true sanctuary for weary souls. “The city is a great metropolis within whose borders, which St. Brigid marked out as a clear boundary, no earthly enemy nor hostile attack is to be feared,” wrote Cogitosus. “For the city is the safest place of refuge of all the towns anywhere in the whole of Ireland, with all its fugitives. …
“And who could count the various multitudes and innumerable crowds of people who swarm here from all provinces. Some come for the abundance of the festivals, some to have their illnesses cured, some come to see the spectacle of the crowds, and others come with great gifts for the feast of St. Brigid, who fell asleep on the first of February, safely casting off the burden of the flesh, and followed the Lamb into the heavenly mansions.”
Happy St. Brigid’s Day!
Steve Beard is the editor of Good News. Photo: Brigid mural in Dundalk, Ireland. Taken by Steve Beard.
by Steve | Feb 3, 2023 | In the News
By Thomas Lambrecht —
In Part 1 of this series, the roots of our United Methodist conflict were examined, including what led up to the 2019 special General Conference. Part 2 covers the response to the 2019 General Conference and the events leading up to the present situation in January 2023.
Following the special General Conference, some bishops and as many as 28 out of 54 annual conferences in the U.S. declared that they would not abide by the Book of Discipline on these matters. They declared that they would operate as if the One Church Plan had passed. This has thrown the UM Church into a constitutional crisis. When a sizable portion of the church rejects the outcome of “Christian conferencing” and is unwilling to live by our duly adopted policies, there is a stalemate.
It is this constitutional crisis that has led most leaders in the church to come to believe that some form of separation is necessary (or is inevitable) to resolve the conflict. Various proposals for separation were developed and submitted to the 2020 General Conference. The election of delegates to that conference resulted in fewer traditionalist delegates being elected in the U.S., particularly among the clergy.
In an attempt to put forward an amicable separation plan, Bishop John Yambasu of Sierra Leone convened a negotiating group of prominent progressive, centrist, and traditionalist leaders, along with representatives from the Council of Bishops. Aided by the efforts of renowned mediator Kenneth Feinberg, Esq., the group came to an agreement to propose the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation. The Protocol had unanimous agreement from all the leaders in the group and was supported by nearly all the traditionalist, centrist, and progressive caucus groups in the church.
The Protocol, announced in January 2020, provided for the formation of new expressions of Methodism – new denominations that could be traditionalist or progressive in theology. Central Conferences (regions outside the U.S.) could separate from the UM Church by a two-thirds vote to join a new denomination. All its annual conferences and local churches would go with the central conference unless they chose otherwise. Annual Conferences could separate from the UM Church by a 57 percent vote to join a new denomination. All its local churches would go with the annual conference unless they chose otherwise. Local churches could separate from the UM Church by either a simple majority or two-thirds vote (as chosen by their church council). This process provided a uniform way for separation to occur, with the hope of minimizing conflict at the local church level. Only those local churches that disagreed with their annual conference’s decision would have to vote.
Financially, no annual conference or local church would have had to make payments to depart from the UM Church, other than the request to be current on apportionments at the time of departure. Pension liabilities would be transferred to the new denomination for those who separated. New traditionalist denomination(s) would receive $25 million from the UM Church over four years and new progressive denomination(s) would receive $2 million. (It was anticipated that any progressive denomination forming would be much smaller.)
This proposed amicable separation plan was broadly supported in the church and looked ready to pass at the 2020 General Conference, which would have created a uniform, orderly process for separation to occur. Then Covid hit. The 2020 General Conference was postponed until 2021, and then again until 2022. Finally, General Conference was postponed to 2024. Traditionalists staunchly opposed this final postponement. They believed it was unnecessary in the face of rapidly easing Covid restrictions. They saw it as an effort to delay separation and perhaps kill the Protocol. By this time, many centrist and progressive leaders had become disillusioned with the Protocol, believing it gave too much ground and would facilitate too much of the church separating into a new denomination(s).
Faced with this further delay and the prospect of many traditionalists beginning to vote with their feet by exiting their local UM congregations, leaders of the Global Methodist Church announced the launch of their new traditionalist denomination as of May 1, 2022. On the heels of that announcement, all the remaining centrist and progressive signatories to the Protocol withdrew their support, meaning that the Protocol would be unlikely to pass the 2024 General Conference. Separation would occur, not through an orderly and uniform amicable process, but through a chaotic, expensive provision called Paragraph 2553.
Par. 2553 was adopted by the 2019 General Conference to provide a way for the anticipated small number of churches that could not accept the decision of that Conference to adopt the Traditional Plan. However, many more churches than anticipated refused to accept the Traditional Plan, and they also refused to leave the denomination, determined to stay and resist the church’s decision.
Three years later in 2022, Par. 2553 became the only exit route available for traditionalist churches that had had enough of the denominational chaos and disobedience and wanted to join a new traditionalist denomination that aligned with their historic theological perspective. Attempts were made by annual conferences to vote to withdraw from the UM Church, based on an earlier Judicial Council ruling that such withdrawals were constitutional. The Bulgaria-Romania Conference withdrew successfully under these provisions. However, the Judicial Council then clarified (at the bishops’ request) that, while annual conference withdrawal was constitutional, the General Conference must adopt a process for that to happen, which now could not be adopted until at least 2024. The door for annual conferences to depart under the Discipline was closed.
There were discussions between traditionalist leaders and a team from the Council of Bishops about creating a separation pathway for local churches using a different paragraph of the Discipline. The goal was to keep as much of the Protocol process as possible but use a different provision already in the Discipline to do so. In the end, not enough bishops wanted to develop a Protocol-like process and the discussions collapsed. The Judicial Council then ruled (at the bishops’ request) that this different paragraph (2548.2) could not be used for separation.
The church was left with only Par. 2553 as an avenue for separation to take place, and that avenue would expire on December 31, 2023. Unfortunately, the cost of pension liabilities was much higher in 2021 than was anticipated in 2019. (Those costs have since come down substantially, which is helpful.) In addition, Par. 2553 allows annual conferences to impose added costs and requirements for local churches to separate. About one-third of U.S. annual conferences have imposed costs that made separation difficult or even impossible. Some conferences require up to 50 percent of the property value be paid to the conference. Other conferences added substantial insurance or personnel costs. Two U.S. annual conferences prohibited any local churches from departing because they said their conferences were following the Discipline and churches had no grounds for separation. (One of those conferences has since provided an alternative method of separation that may work but has not yet been tested.)
A few conservative annual conferences created a gracious exit pathway for congregations by using annual conference reserve funds designated for pensions to offset the required pension liabilities. This allowed local churches to avoid burdensome financial payments and recognized that all the conference’s churches had contributed to those reserve funds and should benefit equally from them.
Unfortunately, some annual conferences took a more adversarial stance and did everything they could to prevent local churches from disaffiliating. Some imposed rigid deadlines and detailed procedures. Some forbade the sharing of information with churches by persons interested in disaffiliating. Complaints have been filed against some traditionalist clergy for sharing information. Accusations of misinformation and deception have flown back and forth between both sides of the debate. One annual conference initially agreed to offset pension liabilities with reserve funds, but later rescinded the offer, tripling a local church’s cost of disaffiliation. The North Georgia Conference at the end of 2022 prohibited all disaffiliations because of allegations of “misinformation,” disrespecting the ability of lay members to sort through the information presented by both sides and make their own choices.
None of this adversarial behavior needed to happen. It could have been avoided with the adoption of the Protocol or something like it. Some bishops and other denominational leaders chose to maximize “command and control” in an effort to coerce as many churches into remaining United Methodist as possible. While they may succeed in retaining more churches in the short term, they have created an even more unhealthy denominational environment in the long run. This unhealthy environment will undoubtedly impact the ability of the UM Church to thrive and grow in the future (which it has not since its formation in 1968).
Despite the challenges, at the end of 2022 more than 2,000 congregations had officially disaffiliated from the UM Church and 1,100 of them had officially joined the Global Methodist Church. More churches are still in the pipeline to join the GM Church. It is estimated that an additional 1,000 to 3,000 churches may disaffiliate from the UM Church in 2023 before Par. 2553 expires. A few annual conferences are having special meetings toward the end of the year to approve last-minute disaffiliations.
As this account is written in early 2023, changes and developments are happening at a rapid pace. Further Judicial Council decisions are anticipated that may strengthen the denominational hierarchy’s hand. A new exit path is needed to replace the expiring Par. 2553 for local churches that chose to wait for General Conference 2024 or who were locked out of the disaffiliation process for one reason or another. The Council of Bishops now claims that Par. 2553 does not apply outside the U.S. A clearer exit path for annual conferences and local churches outside the U.S. is needed. The need to stay engaged in the conflict through General Conference 2024 and its aftermath ensures that high-stakes confrontations will continue. We continue to pray that God opens a window where every door has been shut.
Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson and vice president of Good News.
