by Steve | Mar 17, 2020 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, March/April 2020
Lessons from the Wesleyan Revival
By Winfield Bevins –
On a recent trip to England, I visited several of the historic sites of the Wesleyan revival with a friend. One of the places we visited was City Road Chapel in London, founded in 1778 by John Wesley. We toured the chapel and walked around Wesley’s home. Later, we paused and prayed at Wesley’s tomb. Standing there, I was inspired to read these words on his tombstone, an apt description of his enduring legacy:
“To the memory of the venerable John Wesley, A.M., late fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. This great light arose (by the singular providence of God) to enlighten these nations, and to revive, enforce, and defend, the pure apostolic doctrines and practices of the primitive church: which he continued to do, both by his writings and his labours for more than half a century: And to his inexpressible joy, not only, beheld their influence extending, and their efficacy witness’d in the hearts and lives of many thousands, as well in the western world as in these kingdoms: But also, far above all human power of expectation, liv’d to see provision made by the singular grace of God, for their continuance and establishment to the joy of future generations. Reader, if thou art constrain’d to bless the instrument, give God the glory.”
These words remind us that once upon a time, a man named John Wesley helped start a movement that led to the cultural transformation of the English nation, a movement that eventually spread around the world. But how? And why? What made this man and this movement unique? Why did the teachings of Wesley and his practices ignite a wildfire, while other movements began and fizzled out?
Perhaps there is something in what Wesley learned and what he did that we can learn from today. In fact, let me go one step further. Scholars and church historians know the significance of the story of the Wesleyan revival; however, I have discovered that very few people outside Methodism know anything about this movement and its potential impact for the church today. I believe that the life and ministry of John Wesley has something we desperately need today.
John Wesley sought to recover a basic understanding of what it means to be a real Christian. His original vision was to bring spiritual renewal to the Church of England, which was not well received. Yet despite the growing tension between Wesley and the institutional church, both he and his brother, Charles, were ordained in the Church of England.
While it was Wesley’s intention to remain part of the institutional church, the old wineskins of the Church of England could not contain the new wine of the Wesleyan revival. What started off as a spiritual renewal within the Church of England eventually became its own distinct movement.
By the time of John Wesley’s death in 1791, Methodism was an international church movement with more than 70,000 members in England and more than 40,000 in the new United States, with even more among the mission stations scattered around the world. The seeds of the Methodist movement would continue to grow and spread well beyond Wesley’s lifetime. Just a few years after his death, Methodism in North America had grown to 200,000, with more than 4,000 Methodist preachers. By 1830, official membership in the Methodist Church had reached almost half a million people, and attenders numbered six million. From 1880 to 1905, American Methodism planted more than seven hundred churches per year on average.
At the heart of the Wesleyan revival was the rediscovery of “the pure apostolic doctrines and practices of the early church.” But Wesley did more than read and study the past. He took what he learned and reapplied it, contextualizing it to his own time and place. More than that, he used what he learned to create a disciple-making movement that equipped and empowered thousands of people to join in God’s mission.
Many people want to see the church become a movement again. As much as we want to see a movement today, most of us are unable to envision what that might look like. We are familiar with the status quo, the existing models of church that are largely focused on group gatherings for worship and teaching. To begin to clarify our vision, we can benefit from a closer look at church history. There is no better example of a successful church multiplication movement in the West than the Methodist movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I believe it serves as an indispensable paradigm for how we can multiply today’s church. There are six essential marks of the Wesleyan revival, marks that have some correlation to the marks of other renewal movements.
These six marks provide a genetic structure – much like the DNA in a living organism – mutually working together to create the movement dynamics that led to the Wesleyan revival. It is most helpful to church leaders to think of them as an interconnected ecosystem rather than focusing on the individual parts. Although this list is neither authoritative nor comprehensive, it is designed to offer a simple and accessible snapshot of the key elements that made the Wesleyan revival such a success.
1. Changed Lives. Movements begin as people’s lives are changed by a fresh encounter with the living God. Movements often begin with a catalytic leader like John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, or William Seymour whose life has been touched by God. Sometimes the change is a conversion experience. At other times it is a personal renewal that results in a radical commitment to follow Christ. Movements are not primarily about numbers or slogans, but about changed lives that lead to broader cultural transformation. In renewal movements, there is usually a tipping point where the transformation occurring in the lives of individuals as they embrace a vision for renewal begins to spread like wildfire, leading to broader social and cultural change.
2. Contagious Faith. Movements become contagious when ordinary people share their faith with others. One of the reasons a movement grows and spreads is because it has a simple, life-changing message that ordinary people can easily understand and share with others. Revival can spread as people rediscover the simplicity of the gospel or an essential aspect of the Christian faith that inspires and mobilizes them to action. A common feature of these revival movements is an invitation to commit or join a cause, which is effective in helping recruit others to join the movement. In Christian movements, this growth often results from a renewed passion to share the gospel with others, and this passion spreads from one person to another like a contagion. During the Wesleyan revival, while Wesley and other leaders were effective in preaching to large crowds, it was ordinary men and women who were most effective in spreading the Christian message across England and into North America, resulting in the faith of millions of new believers.
3. The Holy Spirit. Movements emphasize the person and work of the Holy Spirit in peoples’ lives. Fresh encounters with the Holy Spirit create a renewed sense of spiritual vitality among the followers of Christ which leads to personal and corporate renewal. More specifically, the reciprocity of the Word and the Spirit interacting together offers a potent mix that renews peoples’ faith and compels them outward to engage the world in mission. The Word of God becomes the foundational authority and guide for life, while the Holy Spirit fills and empowers people to live holy lives and to share their faith with others.
4. Discipleship Systems. Movements develop systems for discipleship and spiritual growth. This frequently looks like some form of small group structure to facilitate ongoing spiritual growth and commitment. As he preached to large crowds, Wesley quickly discovered that preaching alone was not enough; people needed ongoing support, community, and structure to help them continue on the spiritual journey. To remedy this, he developed a holistic ecosystem designed to help people grow at every stage of their journey. This involved an interlocking discipleship group structure. Each of these structures gathered people into groups of different sizes focused on different aspects of the discipleship process in order to help individuals grow in their faith. There were also spiritual practices that undergirded and reinforced the entire discipleship system.
5. Apostolic Leadership. Movements have an apostolic impulse – drawn from the models and methods of the early church – that empowers and mobilizes all of God’s people for mission. John Wesley and the early Methodists were not trying to be innovative or original. They drew their inspiration from the faith and spirituality of the early church, especially the church of the first two centuries (the pre-Constantine era). Methodism has been referred to as a lay apostolic movement within the Church of England, which alludes to the recovery of ministry for every Christian believer, not just the ordained leadership. The apostolic impulse of the early church to spread the gospel and plant new churches moved the early Methodists to develop ways to empower and release every member of the body of Christ to use their gifts and talents for God. Wesley personally worked to empower thousands of laity, many who later became leaders of the movement. These ordinary, non-ordained Christian men and women became the foundation of the next generation as the movement spread across the Western world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
6. Organic Multiplication. Movements have an outward missional focus that naturally leads to the multiplication of disciples and new communities of faith. Movements don’t become movements by naval gazing, but by looking outward, by inviting people in, and by growing and multiplying its mission and influence. There is a natural dynamism and excitement among the people that makes them contagious, helping the movement spread widely and organically from one person to another. We can describe the growth of movements as organic because it tends to happen naturally, rather than being forced by the leadership at the top level. Movements look outward and grow and multiply as people’s lives are changed, they begin making disciples, and then start new ministries and communities of faith to facilitate the ongoing growth of more individuals.
Unique Moment. Every movement and every context is unique. The Methodist movement successfully responded to the unique needs of its time with the timeless gospel of Jesus Christ. In a similar way, we must seek to understand our unique context and culture, to bring God’s timeless Word to a changing culture.
My prayer is that in some small way, reading this article has led you to draw inspiration from the Wesleyan movement. I hope and pray that in learning about John Wesley, the Spirit will spark a similar multiplication movement yet again. May the Sovereign Lord do something powerful again in our day.
Winfield Bevins is director of church planting at Asbury Seminary and author of Marks of a Movement: What the Church Today Can Learn from the Wesleyan Revival (Zondervan,)
Portrait by George Romney (1789), National Portrait Gallery, London.
by Steve | Mar 17, 2020 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, March/April 2020
By Courtney Lott –
Photo by Brett Sayles, Boise, Idaho. Courtesy of Pexels.
“I’m pretty sure there are Bernina 770 sewing machines in heaven. And I’ll be spending some time in the tabernacle with the seamstresses talking about banner making for the King!”
I had to laugh at this comment from my Sunday school teacher. One of the deaconesses of my church and a wonderful friend, this woman is not only a biology professor, but she also sews the banners that hang at the front of our sanctuary. The colors change along with the liturgical calendar, rotating between green, purple, white, and gold. With each new celebration, the artwork in our place of worship changes.
At the center of these beautiful colors are stitched symbols depicting different theological truths. Congregants can find descriptions of the meaning behind them at the back of our bulletin. Sometimes the images are reminiscent of a Celtic cross, while others are more straightforward, like a crown of thorns.
While these banners add a layer of beauty to our place of worship, they mean so much more than mere aesthetics. Though we live in a time and place wherein a great many congregants read, there is much to be said in telling the biblical story through art, in using talents like this to help communicate to those who learn differently.
There is a reason why God told his people to design the tabernacle of the Old Testament the way he did. It’s easy to get caught up in measurements most of us don’t understand, but the artistry described in the pages of Exodus is breath-taking. Curtains of finely twisted linen bursting with color form the walls, gold shines from the dishes and the lamp stand, intricate designs are carved into the wood, and angels spread their wings over the mercy seat.
Within this imagery, he also conveyed deep theological truths to his people. As much as they saw his joy in beauty in the temples designs, they also saw his holiness in the curtain separating them from the most holy place, his mercy in the sacrifices. In the craftsmanship and creativity, God encouraged his people to use their talents to image his character, his heart, his kingship.
The temple is a physical representation of the throne room of God, the true king of Israel. It was meant to remind the people to whom they were meant to bend the knee. No human king or prophet or priest could truly save them, only the Lord their God.
Created to Create. Though we no longer have a temple the same way Israel did, we are still called to reveal the redemption story through our art, both in our churches and in our daily lives. Take a moment to count the colors in a sunset, to differentiate between bird songs, or stand in awe of a clear starry night. Our God is an artist. The ultimate artist. If we are made in his image, then we are called to create as well.
Unfortunately, sometimes Christians get weird about art.
Whether it’s because of the commandment not to make images and worship them – or because we sanitize the authenticity out of artistic expression – our films, music, and the like are often cheesy at best, or low quality at worst. But as representatives of the God who created the universe, we ought to be producing art of the highest quality.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
It is an honor, an act of worship, part of our witness, to reflect our creator. Like the servants with their talents in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25, we are to take the abilities God has given us and put them to work to the best of our ability. To shortchange it with laziness or inauthenticity is to bury it in the ground where it will never be seen.
Paint Brushes and Paints. The deaconess at my church who creates the banners does not do it alone. Instead, she works together with another woman who comes up with the designs. The first says that she could never dream up the images on her own, while the other could never bring them to life. These two women are a beautiful example of how the body of Christ ought to work together to advance the kingdom.
“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Corinthians 12:21-22).
This is true not only for artists, but scientists, mathematicians, mechanics, lawyers, and writers alike.
Our heavenly father didn’t give us all the same gifts. His character is so wide and infinite that no one man or woman could represent him well on their own. Instead, he scatters the beautiful aspects of his personality across his creation, creating unique individuals to shine like different pieces of a mirror.
Separately, we are shards of glass, but together we form a reflective surface that reveals the one in whose image we were made. May we honor God with the talents he has given us, using the gifts to glorify the giver.
Courtney Lott is the editorial assistant at Good News.
by Steve | Mar 17, 2020 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, March/April 2020
By Jim Patterson –
“The Underground Railroad” is an 1893 painting by Charles T. Webber in the Cincinnati Art Museum. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
In four-part harmony without any instrumentation, members of Pruitt Hill United Methodist Church praised the Lord at a long-ago funeral in Greeneville, Tennessee.
“Have you got good religion? Cert’nly, Lord! / Have you got good religion? / Cert’nly, Lord! / Have you got good religion? / Cert’nly, Lord! / Cert’nly, cert’nly, cert’nly, Lord!”
A 9-year-old boy attending his great-grandmother’s funeral sat listening, enraptured by “Certainly Lord,” an old spiritual song. In that moment, the direction of James W. Story’s life was settled. “I just sat there listening to the worship and the rhythm,” said Story, the director of music at Gallatin First United Methodist Church in Gallatin, Tennessee. “I knew at that point in time that music moved me.”
During his long career teaching music at two area high schools and Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Story pursued his self-appointed mission to keep African American spirituals relevant to future generations. He’s produced two stage shows and a CD so far on the topic. The CD is “New World Spirituals: 1619-2019.”
“There’s a generation of young folk that really have no idea,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want to talk about African American (spiritual) music because they are old slave songs. But one must remember that those songs were part of the civil rights struggle.”
Story was influenced by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), whose most popular work, “New World Symphony,” was influenced by African American melodies derived from slavery in North America. “I am now satisfied that the future music of this country must be founded upon what are called the Negro melodies,” Dvořák said to The New York Herald in May of 1893. “These must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them.”
The stories behind many spirituals are just as interesting as the melodies and lyrics, Story believes. “The spirituals survived because it was part of history,” Story said. “Coded escape songs.” For instance, songs like “Wade in the Water” and “Follow the Drinking Gourd” were code songs. They warned escaping slaves to get off the trail and into the water to avoid dogs trying to track them. “Follow the Drinking Gourd” meant use the astronomical Big Dipper to help navigate north.
Born in Greeneville, Tennessee, Story started playing piano at 13 and was a drum major in high school and college. He graduated from Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee, in 1977 and earned a master’s degree in music education from Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1986. After teaching at White House and Gallatin high schools, he moved to Volunteer State Community College, where he established that school’s music recording program.
“Even in my choral groups at Gallatin High School and Vol State, they always knew that we were going to do a spiritual, or some spirituals,” Story said. “I always had (spirituals) in my mind.”
Without intervention, many African American spirituals might fade away, Story said. “My whole goal is to make sure that they don’t die,” he said. “These church hymnals, especially the United Methodist hymnals, they have been Europeanized. Some of those notational systems, you can’t get the true inflections of the sound in which they were perceived, the emotion working and singing.
“Singing was an avenue of rest and support and confidence, just to pull (slaves) out of the prison in which they existed.”
The United Methodist Church does have an Africana Hymnal Project, which saves African American spirituals along with photographs and original performance practices.
Years ago, Story interviewed American gospel singer J. Robert Bradley (1919-2007) – who counted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahalia Jackson, known as the Queen of Gospel, among his fans – for a research project. Story says Bradley best summed up the importance of African American spirituals.
“The spiritual gives hope,” Bradley said. “It fires up the inner power and gives me hope that I want to move higher. It makes me want to see what’s at the top of the mountain. The spiritual elevates my mind.”
Jim Patterson is a UM News reporter in Nashville, Tennessee.
by Steve | Mar 17, 2020 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, March/April 2020
The Rev. Tom Albin of The Upper Room addresses the 2020 Pre-General Conference Briefing in Nashville. Albin is heading up GC2020 prayer effort at UMCprays.org and is wearing a “prayer scarf” that everyone who comes to Minneapolis will receive. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
By Tom Albin –
Gracious God fill me with your wisdom, love, and compassion – that I may pray in your name, intercede in your nature, and align with your will. Incline the hearts of every United Methodist to your heart – that we may all love alike, even though we do not think alike.
As we intercede for each elected delegate and alternate, grant us courage and clarity to pray with the Holy Spirit for each one – regardless of the position he or she holds on the issues that divide us. Help every delegate and every alternate know and feel our prayers supporting them on their journey of discernment.
Lord Jesus Christ, bless the Council of Bishops, bless the staff serving the General Conference, bless the volunteers, guests, and visitors. Give us all the mind of Christ, that we may know how to pray. Give us eyes open to see each person and her or his needs – that our prayers might be a part of your answer to those needs.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. May your kingdom come in us and your will be done in us – on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Has God given you a burden to pray for the 2020 General Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 5-15? Do you feel a need, or desire, or urgency to pray with and for the elected delegates, alternates, leaders, participants, and guests?
I believe God is calling you and me and many in our global United Methodist family to pray earnestly and persistently for our church. The prayer above is the prayer I feel called to pray. You have permission to use it, edit it, or make it your own.
Below you will find information about the resources created to help our beloved church pray our way into a season of blessing and sending. The time of winners and losers is over. This is a season for separation and blessing. Like the New Testament Church during the second missionary journey, we have irreconcilable differences, just as Paul and Barnabas had irreconcilable differences (see Acts 15:36-41). Just as they went on different journeys, it is time for the United Methodist Church to pursue different missionary paths to proclaim Christ in ways that each group believes to be faithful.
At the request of The United Methodist Council of Bishops Worship Committee, The Upper Room and United Methodist Communications have collaborated to create a way for the entire denomination to pray together for 40 days before the General Conference begins – and through the gathering.
There is no question that this will be a historic event in the life of the global Methodist movement. For all of us who are not elected delegates, alternates, leaders or staff, our part is to pray: as an individual, as a family, as a small group, a local church, district, annual conference, or Central Conference. This is your personal invitation to engage your prayer with the prayers of 12 million United Methodists around the world. We have one goal in mind, to create an atmosphere of prayer for all those elected to make decisions on our behalf and for the future direction for our Wesleyan mission in the years ahead.
Prayer Action #1. From UMCprays.org, download the free 40-Days of Prayer and make it available to your family, local church, district, and annual conference. The PDF text is currently available in the four official written languages of the General Conference: English, French, Portuguese, and Kiswahili. The 40 Days of Prayer follows the pattern of the Revised Common Lectionary. Each day there is a passage of scripture to read, followed by a personal reflection written by one person selected from a diverse group of United Methodist delegates, members, and friends from around the world; followed by a prayer for the day. The Prayer Guide also includes information about how it may be used in a family or small group setting.
Prayer Action #2. On Sunday, March 22, play the video from UMCprays.org for your congregation which will introduce the content and process for the rest of that week. Each week, there will be a brief video featuring one active bishop from a different region of the United States and the world. Each video will provide instruction and encouragement to pray with and for the elected leaders who will gather in Minneapolis. Bishop Bob Hoshibata, Chairperson for the Council of Bishops Worship Committee, will call the UM Church to pray and prepare for the first day of the 40 Days of Prayer on March 26, when we will all pray with and for the 862 delegates, the hundreds of alternates, the Council of Bishops, and all those involved in the 2020 General Conference.
On each successive Sunday prior to General Conference, a different bishop will lead prayer for the delegates of a specific area within United Methodism: Sunday, March 29, the Northeast Jurisdiction; Sunday, April 5 (Holy Week), the Central Conferences; Sunday, April 12 (Easter Sunday), the Southeast Jurisdiction; Sunday, April 19, the North Central Jurisdiction; on Sunday, April 26, the South Central Jurisdiction; and on Sunday, May 3, the Western Jurisdiction.
Prayer Action #3. Listen to a scriptural Podcast created by UMCOM to aid United Methodists to reflect each day of the General Conference on the biblical text for the plenary worship service of the day.
Prayer Action #4. UMCprays.org is the website where all the free videos, podcasts, and language versions of the 40 Days of Prayer are available. This prayer website will have additional prayer resources and online coaching to help you engage others in prayer.
Prayer Action #5. Pray for the Dakotas-Minnesota GC2020 Host Committee chaired by the Rev. Jim Haun and Becky Boland; along with the Prayer Team led by the Rev. Pam Serdar who is designing and staffing a General Conference Prayer Room.
Prayer Action #6. Intercessory Prayer Volunteers will be available at the General Conference. Anyone interested in serving in this role should contact me at TAlbin@upperroom.org. Intercessory prayer volunteers pray quietly in each of the legislative sessions, pray with delegates before and after legislative sessions, and pray during the plenary sessions of the General Conference.
Prayer Action #7. Volunteer Spiritual Directors will be available at the General Conference. The Upper Room is responsible to recruit, train, and supervise these individuals to help those who desire an opportunity to receive spiritual support as each one seeks God’s will and direction during the General Conference. Those interested in serving in this role should contact me at the above email address for more information.
Tom Albin is the dean of the chapel at the Upper Room and the Director of Spiritual Formation and Congregational Life.
by Steve | Mar 17, 2020 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, March/April 2020
By David W. Scott –
As I have tried to explain in a series of articles found on UM & Global (umglobal.org), The United Methodist Church as a whole is not a legal entity capable of owning property or financial assets. Local church property (real or personal, tangible or intangible) is owned by local legal entities and held in trust for the denomination as a whole.
This trust clause applies to the property of all parts of The United Methodist Church, but local churches are in a unique position with regard to the trust clause for several reasons: ¶2503 of the Book of Discipline explicitly names the annual conference, which generally is a legal person capable of owning property, as having authority over local church property. Several other places in the Discipline also give the annual conference explicit powers regarding the sale or transfer of local church property or its release from the trust clause. ¶2509.2 gives annual conferences the authority to bring lawsuits to enforce the trust clause. All of these provisions add up to clear enforcement of the trust clause on local churches by annual conferences.
Thus, the trust clause as applied to local church property has generally stood the test in secular courts. While in some instances departing congregations have negotiated with their annual conferences to take assets, when the trust clause has ended up in court, annual conferences have almost always won ownership of the property of departing congregations. Incidentally, that’s true not just for the UM Church, but also for the Episcopal Church and other bodies that also have a trust clause in their church law.
As cut and dried as the trust clause may appear, there are facets to keep in mind when thinking through the sorts of conflicts and potential lawsuits that might arise over ownership of local church property.
First, while most people assume that the trust clause means that the annual conference owns local church property, that’s not technically true. The annual conference has authority over local church property, and local church property reverts to the annual conference if it ceases to be owned by a local UM congregation, but the annual conference is not the legal person who owns the church property.
Who technically owns local church property depends on whether a congregation is incorporated. Most sizable congregations are incorporated as 501(c)3 organizations, but many small congregations are not. This means that for incorporated congregations, the property is owned by the local congregation as a corporate entity. For unincorporated congregations, the property is technically owned by the trustees, who as humans are legal persons. In either case, property ownership is exercised in trust for The United Methodist Church. The owner(s) of local church property can’t do whatever they want with it; they must abide by the stipulations of the Book of Discipline.
One problem here is that most bankers, investment brokers, and real estate agents are not familiar with the intricacies of the Discipline. While it would violate the Discipline, it might be possible for local leaders to work with bankers, brokers, or real estate agents unfamiliar with the trust clause to sell or otherwise dispose of local church property without annual conference consent. Such action would violate the Book of Discipline and thus expose the local church and its leaders to lawsuits from the annual conference, but it might be harder for the annual conference to recover property that was already disposed of.
Of course, the exit provision passed by General Conference 2019 and any future exit provisions passed by General Conference 2020 reduce the chances for lawsuits between local congregations and annual conferences over control of property.
Second, it’s important to remember that local church property includes more than just buildings. The trust clause applies to all other property that a local church owns, from its hymnals to its choir robes to its sound equipment to its vans to its tableware. It also applies to all financial assets owned by a local church. Thus, the question of property ownership goes beyond whether departing congregations can continue to worship in their same building. Any or all of these items could be a point of conflict between a departing church and the annual conference.
Certainly, the church building itself (and perhaps a parsonage) would likely be the biggest point of contention, since that generally represents the largest chunk of a local church’s assets. After that, who cares who keeps the Sunday school books, right? Maybe, but maybe not.
Especially when it comes to financial property, local congregations may have significant assets beyond their building over which annual conferences may want to assert their ownership. And larger churches may have a non-negligible amount of property in the form of vehicles, equipment, books, supplies, etc. Annual conferences have an incentive to assert their right to this property, even if just to give themselves better leverage in bargaining with a departing congregation.
Again, exit provisions reduce the chances for lawsuits between local congregations and annual conferences over control of buildings, equipment, and any other property. It is therefore worthwhile to keep in mind the scope of assets that could be at stake in such lawsuits.
Third, it is worth noting the variety of local church financial decision-makers established by the Discipline. This array of decision-makers increases the chances for conflict over assets within the local church itself.
The Book of Discipline outlines property-related responsibilities for the charge conference, the board of trustees, the financial secretary, the treasurer, the finance committee as a whole, and, in cases where they exist, the permanent endowment committee and the directors of the local church foundation. Moreover, in multiple-point charges, there may be both local church trustees for the property of each congregation and a board of trustees for property owned by the charge as a whole.
The authority to make all decisions regarding property, both real and personal, is vested in the charge conference. Yet, to carry out its property and financial decisions, the charge conference relies upon the work of the board of trustees, the treasurer, the finance committee, and (if they exist) the permanent endowment committee and directors of the local church foundation. These individuals have access to and oversight of the property of a church. Thus, they might be able to direct this property to another church body (either another denomination or the annual conference) in defiance of or in absence of a charge conference decision, especially since charge conferences usually meet rarely.
Again, such action would violate the Book of Discipline and ultimately lead to lawsuits, but in an instance in which there is a lot of internal conflict within a church about that church’s continued relationship with the UM Church, there is the possibility for factions within the church to use control of church property as a means to achieve their preferred outcome.
Since this type of conflict would occur within a church, an exit plan would not necessarily mitigate it. Control of property within a highly divided congregation may actually become more contentious with the existence of an exit plan. Such a plan could make local property a prize to be fought for between local “leave” and “stay” factions, with each group seeking control of the property. Nonetheless, an exit plan that sets or allows a congregation to set a relatively high standard of agreement for exiting is likely to reduce internal conflict around that decision.
David W. Scott is Director of Mission Theology at the General Board of Global Ministries. This essay orginally appeared on UM & Global (umglobal.org) and is reprinted here by permission. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott’s own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries, nor Good News. Dr. Scott is neither a lawyer nor an accountant, and thus the information in this analysis should not be interpreted as legal advice.
by Steve | Mar 17, 2020 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, March/April 2020
By Sarah Parham –
I have shared the deepest honor in walking with people as they discern their call into next steps of following the Lord for many years now, first in campus ministry, and now in missions mobilization. As Christian believers, our first and only permanent call is to God alone. However, God does have a history of giving people secondary, specific calls or assignments to a particular people and ministry.
One thing that often gets talked about as people discern transitions, particularly in missions mobilization, is a release from current ministry contexts. When a person enters a context with a sense of calling, it is a weighty thing, and one that cannot simply be dropped on a whim. When you ask a person who has experienced this type of calling how you know when you are released, a typical response is, “you’ll know” – like you “know” when you’ve met your perfect mate, or you “know” when you’ve walked into just the right house.
Well, the truth is, they are right.
I have had the unfortunate privilege to have failed in this particular way, and as the old adage says, failure is the greatest teacher. In my last ministry setting, I had the strange situation of quitting twice. The first time I did not have the sense of release from my calling to that place, but rather a crushing dread of staying. Four years later, when I experienced a true release from that ministry setting, I knew. I did not have a release the first time. There are some lessons I learned while quitting the same ministry twice. While it isn’t easy to describe exactly what a ministerial release is, I can say with certainty some things it is not.
First, the ministerial release is not an urgent sense of retreat. The ministry I worked in was experiencing a season of pain. We were in a difficult situation, and I felt like I was being crushed. As I look back, the verse that speaks to being pressed but not crushed comes to mind. In fact, Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 is calling the church to not lose heart in ministry. It is not easy; there will be hard times. But being “pressed” is not release. These pains are like the pains of labor that bring forth new life – a new life that still needs tender nurture.
Second, a ministerial release is also not self-protective. There was a part of me that feared for my own reputation should the ministry fold. As it turns out, that isn’t God’s chief concern. Just after speaking of being pressed but not crushed, Paul speaks of “being given up to death for Jesus’ sake.” Ugh. Please note here that I’m not talking about a lack of self-care or formation that will hold us up in ministry. That is essential. God did not say he would work us to death, but rather that death is at work in us, once again bringing about life.
Third, a ministerial release is not something the minister does, but something that is done to him or her. As noted above, to hold the burden of loving the flock well is a great weight. When done well, it is held with open hands. This kind of release is not the sense of opening your hands from a tight grip. Rather, ministerial release is when God removes the weight from your open hands. The keeper of the flock is released from his or her responsibility. When I felt pressed by the ministry, my instinct was to thrust back against what was pressing me. This is not release. When it was time for me to move on, my hands were free to wave and to wipe my own tears.
Lastly, a ministerial release is a calling to go toward something new which then requires the leaving of something now. As I write this, I am preparing to attend the retirement celebration for TMS Global’s beloved Vicki and Frank Decker. They have gifted us with a living example as they consistently remind us that they are not retiring, but rather rebooting. Our new calling may not be known. Like Abraham, God calls us to follow him to what he will show us next. Our hands ever remain in the same position, open, palm facing upward, ready to receive whatever joys and burdens he gives us for the life of the world.
Sarah Parham is senior director of domestic mobilization at TMS Global (tms-global.org).
