by Steve | Jan 24, 2017 | Jan-Feb 2017, Magazine, Magazine Articles
By Thomas Lambrecht-
After an agonizingly long period of formation, the Bishops’ Commission on a Way Forward for The United Methodist Church began its work in December. The commission consists of 32 members reflecting the broad geographical, ethnic, and theological diversity within United Methodism.
The commission is being moderated by three bishops, Sandra Steiner Ball (West Virginia), Kenneth Carter (Florida), and David Yemba (Democratic Republic of Congo). The members of the commission include eight bishops (not counting the moderators), 13 clergy (two deacons and 11 elders), and 11 laity. Geographically, one-third of the commission is from outside the United States (seven from Africa, two each from Europe and the Philippines).
The commission’s deliberations began with a conference call in mid-December. Roughly a half-dozen face-to-face meetings are tentatively planned in 2017, with more in 2018. The investment of time will be significant, with meetings planned to last 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 days each. It is expected that commissioners will do assigned reading and other background work in between meetings.
The purpose of the commission was set forth in the bishops’ statement to the 2016 General Conference outlining their call to find a new way forward in unity. The commission is charged with “discerning and proposing a way forward through the present impasse related to human sexuality and the consequent questions about unity and covenant” (October 24 press release). Highlights of that call include:
• To “seek a way forward for profound unity on human sexuality and other matters”
• To consider a way for a “deep unity [that] allows for a variety of expressions to co-exist in one church”
• “To lead the church toward new behaviors, a new way of being and new forms and structures which allow a unity of our mission of ‘making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world’ while allowing for differing expressions as a global church”
• To deal with the subject of human sexuality, all the legislation regarding sexuality that was referred by the 2016 General Conference to this commission, and “to develop a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph in our Book of Discipline regarding human sexuality.” Many assume that this means the commission will be looking for ways to delete or weaken the church’s paragraphs on sexuality. But this purpose could just as easily mean a strengthening, clarifying, and restating of the church’s long-standing teaching on sexuality and marriage. In any case, revisions are “possible,” not mandated.
The bishops, particularly the moderators, have committed to regularly communicate with the church about the work of the commission. They will issue statements monthly on the commission’s progress, which reports began last October even before the naming of the commission.
The commission faces some steep challenges. People from all over the world, speaking a variety of languages, and coming from diverse personal backgrounds, will need to forge relationships that can lead to trust and open communication. We will need to address a topic that is fraught with deep emotional and personal impact. We will need to attempt to bridge a theological divide in our church that is more like a chasm. We will need to consider the impact of the commission’s recommendations on every single United Methodist, every congregation, and multiple regions and cultures around the world.
The commission comes into being at a time when significant parts of the U.S. church have determined to live in violation of the requirements of our Book of Discipline as established by the worldwide church in General Conference. That continued disobedience endangers the church’s unity and can influence the very nature of what it means to be United Methodist. Advocates for such disobedience are members of the commission, as are persons who staunchly defend the church’s current teachings and requirements around sexuality, marriage, and ordination. How will these differences be bridged?
The commission’s work also takes place at the same time that other significant initiatives are moving forward in the church. One is the effort to delineate a global Book of Discipline that all United Methodists must live by, while allowing annual conferences and perhaps jurisdictions to adapt other parts of the Discipline to their local context. A second initiative is the development of entirely new Social Principles that are globally applicable and couched in more understandable language. These and other initiatives will need to be coordinated with the commission’s work, so that the recommendations of all groups will be coherent with each other.
The bishops of the church are coordinating a parallel effort in the grassroots of the church to engage in dialogue around the topic of human sexuality and its implications for the unity of the church.
Given the broad scope and significance of the commission’s work and the challenges it faces, the bishops have requested that prayer be a central focus of the commissioners, as well as the general church. Please remember to regularly lift up the commissioners and our work, as we seek a Christ-honoring way forward. Pray for God’s grace, not only upon the deliberations of the commission, but upon the commissioners’ lives, as we sacrifice significant time away from family, work, and ministry and experience the demands of international travel in order to devote ourselves to this important task.
Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson, vice president of Good News, and a member of the Bishops’ Commission on a Way Forward for The United Methodist Church.
by Steve | Jan 24, 2017 | Jan-Feb 2017, Magazine, Magazine Articles
Mr. Steve Beard,
Editor in Chief of Good News
While gathering in Memphis, Tennessee, the Good News Board of Directors celebrated the 25th anniversary of Mr. Steve Beard as columnist and editor in chief of Good News – at the helm for more than 150 issues of the independent United Methodist magazine.
In commenting on the anniversary, the Rev. Walter Fenton, a colleague at Good News, noted that Beard’s wide-ranging journalistic interests swung from John Wesley to Bono, Johnny Cash, and Mahalia Jackson – and passionately focused on the plight of martyrs and persecuted believers around the globe and the marginalized in our own society.
“You’re always wondering about how we as a church can find ways to be more compassionate, gracious, and just simply kind and decent to the lost and lonely in this world that too many of us hardly even notice,” concluded Fenton.
The board of directors presented Beard with a framed picture of the “Million Dollar Quartet” – Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lewis in the studio of Sun Records in Memphis, as well as original art from contemporary folk artist Chris Taylor.
Prior to his retirement, the Rev. Dr. James V. Heidinger II, president emeritus of Good News, worked with Beard for 18 years. “I remember a great picture on one of Steve’s office walls of him in a tuxedo, talking with the late William F. Buckley Jr. at a Washington D.C. reception,” recalled Heidinger. “It always reminded me of the cultural adjustment Steve had to make in coming to our former offices in Wilmore, Kentucky.”
“But how fortunate for all of us that Steve did come! And that he stayed,” continued Heidinger. “He worked himself ragged giving Good News a first-rate publication, issue after issue. It has been your calling for quarter of a century, and you have done it splendidly!”
“You are gifted professional, a skilled craftsman, and a person of great integrity,” Heidinger concluded. “You have amazingly good instincts about how we can and should relate to a church struggling for its soul…. Congratulations on this very significant milestone.”
– Good News Media Service
by Steve | Jan 24, 2017 | Jan-Feb 2017, Magazine, Magazine Articles
By Steve Beard-
As we pulled together this celebratory issue of Good News, we were confronted with the horrific news of the brutal murders of brothers and sisters in the faith.
Twenty-five people died and 49 more were injured when a bomb went off on the chapel on the grounds of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of the Egyptian Orthodox Church. In your prayers, we invite you to join us in remembering the precious women and children – the targets of this bombing – who were victims of this terrorism.
The description from Reuters is heartbreaking: “The chapel’s floor was covered in debris from shattered windows, its wooden pews blasted apart, its pillars blackened. Here and there lay abandoned shoes and sticky patches of blood.”
“As soon as the priest called us to prepare for prayer, the explosion happened,” said Emad Shoukry, who was inside when the blast took place. “The explosion shook the place … the dust covered the hall and I was looking for the door, although I couldn’t see anything … I managed to leave in the middle of screams and there were a lot of people thrown on the ground.”
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep,” St. Paul instructs. Our prayers are with the families of the victims. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Steve Beard is the editor of Good News.
by Steve | Jan 24, 2017 | January-February 2017, Magazine, Magazine Articles
The Rev. Max Wilkins with “street boys” of Kisumu, Kenya.
By Max Wilkins-
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.” – Job 21:2
“Just give them some words of encouragement.”
The assignment from the Rev. Michael Agwanda, director of Life for Children Ministries in Kenya, seemed simple enough. It was 9:30 p.m. and I was about to head out to meet with some of the thousand or so “street boys” of Kisumu – all homeless, penniless, and mostly forgotten. As we approached the first group, just settling on the sidewalk for their night’s rest, I found myself uncharacteristically at a loss for words.
What words would I have for abused, neglected, and abandoned boys of 11, 12, or 13? What comfort could I share with integrity? Their circumstances seemed so desperate, so hopeless. So, with no great words of wisdom coming to me, I prayed.
The Lord simply said, “Ask them their names.” So I did.
“My name is Godfrey,” one boy said, with a soft, almost shy voice that belied his street hardened countenance. Godfrey, an English name that literally means “the peace of God.” It was not what I expected.
More unexpected, however, was the smile. It seemed almost out of place amidst the strong odor of unwashed bodies, the ragged clothing that had become a color one could only describe as “urban grime,” the cracked and worn feet calloused by shoe-less days, and the ubiquitous glue bottles. The challenges of daily life for these boys are hardly joy inducing. Yet Godfrey lit up in a genuine smile, a smile that reached his eyes and brought light even in the darkness.
“My name is Godfrey,” he said, and he smiled.
Jesus tells a parable about a rich man and a poor man. In the story, the poor man is dumped each day on the stoop of the rich man’s house, where he suffers and begs. We never learn the rich man’s name. In fact, we never learn anyone’s names in the parables of Jesus – anyone, that is, except the poor man in this story. Jesus tells us that his name is Lazarus (which means “the one who God helps”).
I used to wonder why, of all the people in all of Jesus’ parables, only Lazarus is given a name. I don’t wonder any more. I think Jesus wanted us to know that in His Father’s Kingdom those who seem unimportant, irrelevant, left out, and forgotten, are nevertheless of great significance to God. He knows each name, each story, and each one matters to Him. To know a person’s name is to value their existence and to enter into their story.
I don’t know how long it had been since anyone had asked Godfrey his name. But he wanted me to know it. I asked him to tell me his story. I learned that his father was dead. His mother was a drug addict who had taken up with another man, also a drug addict. Both adults were physically abusive and neglectful, eventually throwing Godfrey out to fend for himself. And though his story is painful and difficult, he seemed to relish the opportunity to tell it. He had a story and it mattered to someone.
In the book of Job we find a man who has become about as destitute as one can become. His family, wealth, health, and status have all been taken from him. As he suffers alone, scraping the sores on his body and wanting to die, some friends try to offer him some words of encouragement. After these men have failed over and over to give Job any real comfort, he finally implores them: “listen carefully to my words, and let this be the consolation that you give me.” What he most wants is for someone to listen to his story with care; to hear him. To Job, this is the best (and perhaps only) consolation his friends can offer.
Although we had taken bread and milk out with us to share with the boys, I suspect that food was not what they needed most. I believe Godfrey needed someone to ask his name, to hear his story, to help him continue to hope and believe that he mattered both to God and to other people. And by the grace of God, that need is one that every believer is capable of meeting in others. We need only be present, and in being present, share the presence of God in the lives of others.
As we prepared to leave, I asked the boys if I could get a picture with them so that I could remember them and their stories. I promised I would pray for them. They happily agreed to the photo. What I wasn’t expecting was that just as the picture was being snapped, Godfrey would gently lay his head on my shoulder. Godfrey means “the peace of God,” and that night, if only briefly, I believe the peace of God was present in that place.
Many of us have sung Tommy Walker’s powerful worship song “He Knows My Name.” The lyrics are beautiful. They are also true.
I have a Maker / He Formed My Heart
Before even time began / My life was in his hands
He knows my name / He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls / And hears me when I call
I have a father / He calls me his own
He’ll never leave me / No matter where I go
He knows my name
So often the greatest gift we can bring to others is to be the presence of the Father in their lives and know their names and their stories. Sometimes that is the very consolation the world needs. And it is often in those moments that the Kingdom comes – for us and for others.
Max Wilkins is the president of TMS Global (formerly The Mission Society, www.themissionsociety.org).
by Steve | Dec 14, 2016 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, Nov-Dec 2016
Rev. Rob Renfroe
By Rob Renfroe-
My wife, Peggy, has a habit that drives me crazy — and brings me lots of joy. Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, however late we might be, she’ll stop and take a picture — several pictures. Usually her unplanned photography is preceded by her stepping off the path, bending down, and saying, “Isn’t that amazing?” Often what has grabbed her attention is something I have already passed without noticing. Even when she points it out, it seems rather mundane and ordinary to me. It’s just a rock on a path or a shell on the beach or some berries in a bush or some fungus on a decaying tree branch.
Here’s the strange thing. When we get home and she enlarges the picture and shows it to me, I see it — the interplay of different colors in a stone she spotted lying in a riverbed; the pattern of stripes on the wings of a bug she saw crawling on a blade of grass; the design of a flower’s petals as intricate and delicate as the stitching of a quilt; the brilliant hues of berries in a field, hiding their glory under a carpet of wild grass. When she shows these things to me, I can see the beauty that she saw, the magnificence of little things I had walked by and missed.
Peggy is an artist — she paints, creates, and imagines. Like every artist, she sees the world with a sense of curiosity and appreciation. Actually, it is the gift of wonder – the ability to be amazed by little things; to see more when other people see less; to be surprised again by the beauty you’ve seen a hundred times, feeling about it the way you did the first time you saw it, and to wonder how life could give you such a marvelous gift.
One of the reasons “the wise men” deserve that title is because they were wise enough to see in the star of Christmas what others missed. When they arrived in Jerusalem, the wise men asked King Herod: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). What is remarkable about the wise men is not that they saw the star. Everyone who looked into the night sky saw the same star. No, what made them wise is that they recognized the star for what it was: a sign that could lead them to God.
Scholars still debate what the star actually was. Some have suggested it was a nova, a newborn star that burned exceedingly bright for a short period of time. Others have said it was a comet. In recent times some have posited that it might have been the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, appearing to the naked eye as a single, brilliant star.
Once scientists agree upon a definitive answer, they still will know less about that star than the wise men if they do not recognize that it was more than a cosmic phenomenon. Whatever else it was, it was a sign that could lead men and women to Christ.
Life is full of signs. Your life is full of signs – but you must see what others miss.
Take, for example, the struggle you experience inside. You so want to be unselfish and accepting and forgiving, but when you’re honest, you find it hard to be the person you want to be and easy to be the kind of person you despise. What do you think that is? It’s a sign that, like the rest of us, you’re made in the image of God yet flawed inside and in need of help. It is a sign pointing you to God.
Do you remember the way you felt when you first held your newborn child? How impossible it seemed that anything so wonderful could come from you. Sure, you understood the biology and the genetics, but when you looked into that tiny face and felt your child’s heartbeat next to yours, every argument about life being meaningless and accidental seemed ridiculous. What do you think that feeling was? It was a sign that life has meaning and is grounded in something larger than itself. It is a sign pointing you to God.
Maybe for you the sign is how you feel when you gaze upon the beauty of a sunset or stand surrounded by the majesty of the mountains. Maybe it’s the stirrings you experience as you listen to great music and find yourself longing for something — you’re not even sure what. You can’t explain it, but there is a sense of wonder telling you that there is another dimension to who you are —something that science and reason alone cannot explain.
Perhaps, in a time of tragedy and suffering, when you seemed lost and alone, you found yourself buoyed by a strength you knew was not your own. Some little act of kindness, maybe from someone you barely knew, told you that someone cared and that life could be good again. And it was enough to get you through the darkness and pain. It was like a star shining in the night, giving you enough light to move forward and providing you with enough hope to hang on.
On Christmas morning as you open presents with family and friends and find yourself experiencing more pleasure from the gifts you’ve given than from the gifts you’ve received, what do you think that is? It is a sign that at the heart of reality there is a heart of compassion that loves to give and share life with others. It is a sign pointing you to God.
Life is full of signs, and what distinguishes the wise from the foolish is the ability to recognize them for what they are. I pray that, like my wife Peggy and like the wise men, you will have the gift of wonder this Christmas — the eyes of an artist that see the beautiful patterns and remarkable colors God has placed in your life. And I pray that you will be amazed at all God has done and is doing to reach out and reveal himself to you.
Adapted from The Wonder of Christmas: Once You Believe, Anything Is Possible (Abingdon).
Rob Renfroe is the president and publisher of Good News.
by Steve | Dec 14, 2016 | Magazine, Magazine Articles, Nov-Dec 2016
The United Methodist Council of Bishops has announced the membership of the Commission on a Way Forward.
“After three months of diligent and prayerful discernment, we have selected 8 bishops, 11 laity, 12 elders and 1 deacon to serve on the Commission,” said Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the Council of Bishops. “This group is representative of our theological diversity.”
Ough said the makeup of the 32-member commission is roughly comparable to U.S. and Central Conference membership.
All of the members of the Commission have already indicated their willingness and availability to serve. The team of moderators — Bishop Ken Carter, Bishop Sandra Steiner-Ball, and Bishop David Yemba — will soon convene the Commission to begin to organize their work and finalize their meeting schedule.
The Commission’s mission is to ”bring together persons deeply committed to the future(s) of The United Methodist Church, with an openness to developing new relationships with each other and exploring the potential future(s) of our denomination in light of General Conference and subsequent annual, jurisdictional, and central conference actions.”
The 2016 General Conference gave a specific mandate to the Council of Bishops to lead The United Methodist Church in discerning and proposing a way forward through the present impasse related to human sexuality and the consequent questions about unity and covenant.
The Commission is a group appointed by the Council of Bishops to assist the Council in fulfilling this mandate. As such, the Council has appointed bishops from across the global connection to serve on the Commission alongside laity and clergy. While clergy and laity will vote at a General Conference on these matters, the bishops have the responsibility to lead the church. Thus, the Commission is designed to inform the Council’s leadership of the General Conference. After hearing concerns that the proposed composition did not include enough laity, three additional laypersons were added from the original pool of more than 300 nominees.
At their fall meeting (October 30 – November 2), the Council will make a decision about a called General Conference and will review a plan to conduct additional and complementary work in annual conferences designed to broaden the conversation with hundreds of lay and clergy members.
GOOD NEWS media.
The members of the Commission are:
Members
Jorge Acevedo
USA, Florida, elder, male
Brian Adkins
USA, California, elder, male
Jacques Umembudi Akasa
Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, laity, male
Tom Berlin
USA, Virginia, elder, male
Matt Berryman
USA, Illinois, laity, male
Helen Cunanan
Philippines, elder, female
David Field
Europe, Switzerland, laity, male
Ciriaco Francisco
Philippines, bishop, male
Grant Hagiya
USA, California, bishop, male
Aka Dago-Akribi Hortense
Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, laity, female
Scott Johnson
USA, New York, laity, male
Jessica Lagrone
USA, Kentucky, elder, female
Thomas Lambrecht
USA, Texas, elder, male
Myungae Kim Lee
USA, New York, laity, female
Julie Hager Love
USA, Kentucky, deacon, female
Mazvita Machinga
Africa, Zimbabwe, laity, female
Patricia Miller
USA, Indiana, laity, female
Mande Guy Muyombo
Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, elder, male
Eben Nhiwatiwa
Africa, Zimbabwe, bishop, male
Dave Nuckols
USA, Minnesota, laity, male
Casey Langley Orr
USA, Texas, elder, female
Gregory Palmer
USA, Ohio, bishop, male
Donna Pritchard
USA, Oregon, elder, female
Tom Salsgiver
USA, Pennsylvania, elder, male
Robert Schnase
USA, Texas, bishop, male
Jasmine Rose Smothers
USA, Georgia, elder, female
Leah Taylor
USA, Texas, laity, female
Deborah Wallace-Padgett
USA, Alabama, bishop, female
Rosemarie Wenner
Europe, Germany, bishop, female
Alice Williams
USA, Florida, laity, female
John Wesley Yohanna
Africa, Nigeria, bishop, male
Alfiado S. Zunguza
Africa, Mozambique, elder, male
MODERATORS
Sandra Steiner Ball
USA, West Virginia, bishop, female
Kenneth Carter
USA, Florida, bishop, male
David Yemba
Africa, Democratic Republic
of Congo, bishop, male
By Thomas Lambrecht-
