by Steve | Nov 20, 2024 | Front Page News, Home Page Hero Slider, Nov-Dec 2024, Uncategorized
New Day in San Jose –
By David F. Watson –
November/December 2024 –
The convening General Conference of the Global Methodist Church opened with the recitation of the Apostles’ Creed by a ten-year-old girl. It was a fitting beginning to our gathering in Costa Rica. We were there to plant seeds that will grow well beyond our lifetimes.
As we began to sing I felt myself overcome with emotion. So much work and sacrifice had led up to that very moment. At times I’d wondered whether we’d really get there. I looked around and wanted to remember everything. I thought of my friend Billy Abraham and how much of the groundwork he had laid for that moment he did not live to see. He was watching, however, from among the great cloud of witnesses, and I believe he was overjoyed.
We accomplished a great deal during the week-long event in September. We established the frame of a house that future generations will continue to build. We did have our challenges. Electronic voting was at times an exercise in frustration, but when has it been otherwise? (The grass withers and the flower fades, but online-voting malfunctions endure forever.) Despite the valiant efforts of the conference planning team, some of our international delegates couldn’t attend in person due to visa issues, so we made accommodations for them to participate via Zoom. It wasn’t ideal, but it allowed contributions and votes we would have missed otherwise. All in all, however, our time together was productive and uplifting. In what follows I’ll discuss a few of the more significant moments of our time together.
Some Key Legislative Decisions
The Constitution. One of our main accomplishments was the establishment of a constitution for the church. The Constitution Legislative Committee, chaired by the Rev. Ryan Barnett, had its hands full but completed its work in good order. When the body adopted the constitution in the plenary session, Bishop Mark J. Webb asked us to consider the gravity of that moment. Indeed, it was significant. We had established those standards, principles, and rules most central to the ordering of our ecclesiastical life.
Our doctrinal standards include our Wesleyan/Pietist standards of the Articles of Religion, Confession of Faith, Wesley’s Standard Sermons, and his Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament. We also added the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon as doctrinal standards. In so doing, we anchored our church in the Great Tradition of Christian faith, the faith that has been confessed “everywhere, always, and by all,” in the words of Vincent of Lerins.
We are catholic Christians of a Methodist extraction. This may be Abraham’s most significant contribution to the denomination he did not live to see birthed.
Under normal circumstances, changes to the constitution would require a two-thirds majority vote, except for those parts protected by restrictive rules, which would require a three-fourths majority. The wisdom of the group, however, was not to lock down the constitution with these protections until we have the opportunity to refine it during the 2026 General Conference. Through that conference, changes will require a simple majority. We authorized a commission to combine the Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith and propose a new doctrinal standard in 2026. We also authorized a commission to bring back a revised version of the General Rules. The work of both committees must be adopted by the General Conference before going into effect.
Theological Education. The Committee on Ministry and the Local Church, chaired by the Rev. Leslie Tomlinson, established educational requirements for clergy. We affirmed that “those wishing to serve God’s people through ordination within the Global Methodist Church should pursue the highest level of learning and preparation possible.” For elders in the U.S., that is the Master of Divinity degree, though other master’s degrees may also suffice. Elsewhere in the world the expectation may be either a master’s degree or bachelor’s degree. We also added this qualification: “In addition, individuals whose setting, age, or life circumstances make such formal academic degree programs difficult or impractical may, with a secondary diploma, complete a non-degree certificate of pastoral studies from an educational program or programs approved by the Commission on Ministry, requiring the completion of at least the core classes outlined below.” The GMC is not currently using the standard Methodist language of “Course of Study” for non-degree education for ministry, though the reason escapes me. Rather, we refer to these as “alternative educational pathways.”
We also established a Commission on Approval responsible for assembling a list of approved educational institutions for ministerial theological education. Because there was some concern about this motion, it came off the consent calendar. I spoke in favor of it because I am concerned that we avoid outsourcing our education to non-Methodist programs. Many institutions approved in my former denomination had only a nominally Methodist presence. If our clergy are not educated in contexts where they can be formed deeply in the Methodist tradition, we can’t expect them to be Methodist in belief or practice when they come out. Seminaries in the Wesleyan-Methodist tradition like United, Asbury, and Wesley Biblical are examples of specifically Methodist institutions. Truett’s Wesley House, where they have invested significantly to develop the resources for formative training in the Wesleyan tradition, provides another model that educational institutions may wish to adopt.
Bishops. I served on the legislative committee in which there was probably the most disagreement going into the conference: the Episcopacy and Superintendency Legislative Committee, chaired by the Rev. Jordan McFall. Many Global Methodists are understandably skittish about bishops. The committee work was intense. We sliced, diced, and smithed words. Though we had two well-developed plans in hand, we began work at 8:30 a.m. and did not adjourn until almost 9:30 p.m. What follows might be a bit “insider baseball,” but I want to describe the care with which we went about this work.
The committee considered two models: the General Episcopacy Plan, developed by the Transitional Leadership Council, and the Hybrid Plan, developed by members of the Florida Conference delegation. We met in two subcommittees, each charged with refining one of the plans. Then we came back together as a whole. After lengthy discussion and debate, the committee chose by a large majority to move forward with the General Episcopacy plan. The Rev. Jay Therrell, who had been the primary spokesperson for the Hybrid Plan, stated graciously that, in the interest of unity, the drafters of that plan would not bring it forward as a minority report.
The General Episcopacy plan then went through a rigorous process of further refinement. One element of this proposal was the selection of two-year bishops to guide us until we could elect bishops to six-year terms in 2026. The Transitional Leadership Council had put forward a slate of candidates, which the committee voted to eliminate in favor of taking one nominee from each delegation. This created problems, however, because we have Global Methodists in Nigeria who came on board too late to send a delegation. They would therefore be unrepresented. It also meant that the process under which annual conferences had operated in good faith to nominate candidates was no longer valid. A motion came forward in the plenary, then, to restore the slate put forward by the Transitional Leadership Council with the possibility of further nominations from the floor. We limited the number of two-year bishops who could be re-elected in 2026 to 50 percent, and we established a 75 percent threshold for their re-election. The reason is that we did not want the two-year episcopacy to be an inside track to a six-year term. This motion passed after some debate.
The Mission Statement. The final legislative item of conference business was a proposal to adopt a new mission statement. Up to this point, our mission had been, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.” Earlier in the year I wrote a piece expressing my desire that we change the mission statement. My primary reason was to link the mission of the Global Methodist Church to historic Methodism. I later submitted legislation to this effect, incorporating suggestions from the Rev. Paul Lawler and Dr. Jason Vickers. The proposed language read, “Led by the Holy Spirit, the Global Methodist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.”
Earlier in the week I was deflated after learning that the proposal had failed by one vote in its legislative committee after considerable debate. Later, however, that committee reconsidered the motion and it passed in an amended form. This amended version included the language of the old mission statement of worshiping passionately, loving extravagantly, and witnessing boldly. Many felt this version was too wordy but didn’t want to let go of the old mission statement entirely. It was unclear how we would move forward. As we worked our way through various business items on the last day of the conference, I became a bit nervous. We were running out of time. As the clock ticked down, I began to sweat bullets. Our mission is a crucial matter. I believed that without a mission linking the church to Wesley’s Methodism, within a generation we would be no more Methodist than the average Bible church (that is, not Methodist at all). The way forward was unclear. It could require considerable debate. Would we be able to reach agreement on the mission statement before our time expired?
It was the Rev. Paul Lawler who saved the day by proposing an inspired solution. We would make the mission statement: “The Global Methodist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.” Then we would use the following as a vision statement: “Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the Global Methodist Church envisions multiplying disciples of Jesus Christ throughout the earth who flourish in scriptural holiness as we worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.” The motion passed overwhelmingly.
Other Highlights. At the close of the conference, we consecrated six new bishops: the Rev. Kimba Evariste of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Rev. John Pena Auta of Nigeria, the Rev. Leah Hidde-Gregory of Mid Texas, the Rev. Kenneth Levingston of Trinity, the Rev. Carolyn Moore of North Georgia, and the Rev. Jeff Greenway of Allegheny West. The consecration service, written by my colleague Dr. Tesia Mallory, was a testimony to the faithfulness of those who had persevered in service to the faith once and for all entrusted to the saints. God was doing something new and beautiful in our midst.
There were many high points during the conference. Worship was joyful and Spirit-filled. The first Sunday we worshiped together, people came forward to kneel before the cross. Some offered prayers of thanksgiving, others of repentance, still others of supplication for the work before us. We also sang from a new hymnal, O For a Heart to Praise My God, edited by the Rev. Sterling Allen. Throughout the week the singing and preaching were powerful. Many expressed a palpable sense of God’s presence.
We honored the Rev. Keith Boyette for his faithful service in launching this new denomination. No one has put his or her shoulder to the wheel with more determination than Boyette. He has led with the heart of a pastor and the expertise of an attorney. He has shown calm amid numerous storms. Navigating the requirements to establish churches in multiple countries with various legal provisions has been no cakewalk. It was fitting for us to express our gratitude to Keith on the occasion of his retirement and the launch of this new denomination.
Bishop Luis Palomo of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Costa Rica extended gracious hospitality to us during our time in Costa Rica. Twice we worshiped with friends from this sister denomination, once at a nearby convention center and once at the Colegio Metodista de Costa Rica, a primary and secondary school established in 1921. During the second of these services, the Global Methodist Church and the Evangelical Methodist Church of Costa Rica established a covenant agreement.
As legislative committee work continued, other conference guests participated in mission and evangelism opportunities in the San José region. In partnership with the Methodist Church of Costa Rica, dozens worked with local churches and a children’s home. On several occasions, GMC guests and local Costa Rican leaders participated in an evangelism workshop led by Spirit & Truth and then headed out to pray for people and share the Good News of Jesus on the streets of local neighborhoods. Many noted they had not experienced evangelism and mission incorporated into a general conference before. These tangible commitments during a busy convening conference reveal the sort of mission-focused DNA God is birthing in the GMC.
For the Generations to Come. One of the most meaningful parts of the conference for me was getting to know some of the faithful and gifted young leaders coming up in the Global Methodist Church. We will be in good hands with these up-and-coming men and women of faith. I was impressed with their maturity, calm under pressure, and commitment to orthodox Wesleyan faith and practice. God has blessed us with anointed young leaders who will carry the Good News forward with integrity and reach the lost for Christ.
As we closed our time together, I thought about the young lady who kicked off our proceedings by reciting the Apostles’ Creed. She represents generations who are to come, generations who will confess the church’s historic faith, who will encounter the Holy Spirit, who will be changed by God’s grace and know their redeemer lives. My prayer is that a century from now, Global Methodist Churches across the globe, in places unreached by the message of the Gospel today, will continue the work of raising up new generations for Christ.
The Methodist tradition is a tradition of hope, even optimism. We have hope in a God who saves, who makes grace available to all people, who forms us by his Holy Spirit into the image of Christ. We hope with great anticipation for the salvation of the lost today and in future generations. We hope in the return of Christ and the full establishment of his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We are audacious even to hope that God can and will work through imperfect people such as us to form a new body dedicated to making disciples and spreading scriptural holiness across the globe.
David F. Watson is Lead Editor of Firebrand. He serves as Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. This essay was first published by Firebrand. Reprinted by permission. Photo by Steve Beard.
by Steve | Oct 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Forward in Faith
By Rob Renfroe
November/December 2024
In the airport, on my way to the convening General Conference of the Global Methodist Church in San José, Costa Rica, I had a remarkable conversation with a delegate to the conference. He told me what he hoped the conference would decide on an issue that was very important to him. But he was quick to add that he knew good people who love Jesus and his church saw the issue differently. He concluded by saying, “Whatever happens, I’m going to trust the General Conference.”
I had the same conversation, practically verbatim, with another delegate shortly after arriving, before a single vote had been taken. She ended her remarks with the same sentiment. “But whatever happens, I’ll trust what the General Conference decides.”
Each time I responded by asking, “Did you hear the words you just spoke – that you’re going to trust whatever the General Conference decides?” They both nodded. Then I asked, “Have you ever said those words before in your life – that you’ll just trust the General Conference?” Both smiled, shook their heads, and said, “No, never.”
People ask me what was the convening conference like? That’s a big question that could be answered in many ways. But the greatest difference from the previous eight General Conferences I have attended was the way delegates trusted each other. There were significant differences on several issues, the most emotional ones concerned the episcopacy – what the role of bishops would be and who should be considered for that role. But no one even hinted they were suspicious of the motives of those with different views. The debate was always polite and respectful. And the delegates all evidenced a genuine appreciation for other viewpoints and exuded what appeared to be a real humility as they advocated for their positions.
That was an answer to my prayers, literally. For the past several months when people asked me what I most hoped would come out of General Conference, I answered, “Two things. First, I want us to leave San José unified.” By that I did not mean that we would all have the same opinions but that we would all feel that we were on the same team, that we would all believe the decision-making process had been fair and transparent, and that there would be no reason to suspect that special interest groups were making some kind of play for influence or power.
In the past it was not that way. But in San José, no one questioned whether the bishops had cut special deals with groups they wanted to promote. No one wondered if delegates from outside the U.S. were being blocked from participating. No one wore a special ribbon or button to advance an agenda. No one castigated another delegate for using the wrong language. And no one felt the need to keep track and report if any ethnic group or gender was speaking too much. The entire time was an experience of people simply treating each other like brothers and sisters – and trusting the General Conference.
Good News has encouraged pastors, parishioners and congregations to join the Global Methodist Church ever since its creation over two years ago. We still do. In fact, now more than ever. We have met, we have decided who we are, and we have determined how we will conduct our business. And in complete sincerity, I can tell you, “You can trust the GMC.”
You can trust the GMC’s doctrine – it is centered on Christ and committed to the Bible as the Word of God. You can trust its commitment to inclusivity – the six newly elected bishops included two black men from Africa and two white women, one black man, and one white man from the United States. You can trust that the GMC’s decision-making process is soaked in prayer, open, and transparent.
There’s something else you can trust. The GMC’s leadership. I know all six bishops elected in San José, as well as the two who have been serving actively for the past two years. They are persons of deep faith. They have led growing churches. They love people and they love Jesus. They are mature and thoughtful persons. They are leaders. I respect them. I admire them. I am inspired by them. I can learn from them. And most importantly, I trust them. All of them. That was my other hope and prayer for General Conference – that we would elect leaders who would serve our new church well. I can report wholeheartedly that I believe we did. Thanks be to God, by his grace, we did!
What am I praying now for the Global Methodist Church? First, I’m praying that we will be a humble church. I pray we will never forget that apart from Jesus we can do nothing, that we must remain attached to the vine if we are to be fruitful, that God’s ways are not our ways and we must humble ourselves before his Word and seek him on our knees.
I pray we will be a servant church. During my ministry, I worked hard to be the best preacher of the Gospel I could be. I believe in the power of God’s word proclaimed clearly and unapologetically. But I believe the best way to reach secular people and impact our culture will not be by preaching better sermons, building bigger buildings, or creating slicker social media campaigns. We will reach people when, like Jesus, we empty ourselves and become servants – servants who are willing to go to a cross because we care about people and their needs. When people think of Christians and instead of thinking “those are people who vote a certain way,” “those are people who judge others,” “those are people who tell the rest of us how we should live,” and instead they think, “those are the people in my community who love others,” that’s when people will be ready to hear our message. When they think, “those are the people in our community who care for single mothers and their children,” “those are the people who help addicts get clean,” “those are the people who feed the hungry, bring hope to inmates in prison, and work in homeless shelters” – when that’s what people think of us, I’m convinced they will want to know why we do what we do. And when we tell them the reason is Jesus, I think they’ll listen.
I pray we will be a church that is open to the Spirit of God. Yes, open to the gifts of the Spirit and passionate worship, absolutely. But I’m thinking of something else – being open to however the Spirit wants us to reach the lost. No one was more formal, high church, and proper than John Wesley. But somehow this uptight, Anglican priest was open to the Spirit of God – so much so that he preached in the open fields, in the coal mines, and in the city streets when it made him feel “even more vile” – because the Spirit told him to do so. God needed Wesley to do a new thing because God was doing a new thing. And, praise God, Wesley was willing to follow the Spirit.
What will God’s Spirit call GMC pastors and congregations to do to reach the lost in our time? I don’t know. But this is a new day in the U.S. We live in a secular, post-modern culture that is suspicious and antagonistic to the Gospel and those who proclaim it. So, God will need to do a new thing. And his people will have to listen to the Spirit and follow him into a new way of bringing the Good News to people who will not respond to the same way we have always done things. I pray the Spirit of God will lead us and the spirit of our spiritual father John Wesley will inspire us to follow the Spirit’s call into the new day God has waiting for his church and the world he loves.
As we close down Good News and as I write this final editorial, there is some sadness within my heart. But more than that, I am grateful for how God has used Good News for nearly sixty years. I feel privileged to have been part of its ministry. Most of all, I feel hopeful for the people called Methodist. Hopeful because we can trust the GMC and we can be confident in its leadership. Hopeful because we can be confident that God created the GMC and he will bless our efforts to lift up the saving work of Jesus and to bring grace and truth to the world. Hopeful because I am convinced that if we are a humble church, a servant community, and a people who are open to his Spirit, what God will accomplish through the GMC will amaze us all. To God our Father, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit be all honor, power and glory, now and forever more. Amen.
by Steve | Sep 25, 2024 | Uncategorized
On Wednesday September 25, the assembly of the Convening General Conference of The Global Methodist Church elected their first slate of Bishops-elect for the period of 2024-2026. The elections took place at its meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica. The Bishops-elect are (left-right) Kimba Everiste (Democratic Republic of the Congo); John Pena Auta (Nigeria); Leah Hidde-Gregory (Mid Texas); Kenneth Levingston (Trinity); Carolyn Moore (North Georgia); and Jeff Greenway (Allegheny West).
by Steve | Sep 6, 2024 | Sept-Oct 2024, Uncategorized
Wesley’s Faith Decision
By Kevin M. Watson
John and Charles Wesley met German Pietists on their voyage as missionaries to a new colony in the Americas, Georgia. John Wesley observed the deep faith and assurance the German Moravians had when their ship encountered storms crossing the Atlantic so serious that their boat almost sank. This near-death experience created a crisis of faith for Wesley, as he realized he lacked the Moravian’s assurance of salvation. The Moravians’ faith showed him that real assurance, real confidence in one’s salvation, was possible even when faced with death. Wesley was so compelled by the Moravian’s faith that he spent significant time during the remainder of the voyage learning German so that he could converse in greater depth with them.
Wesley recorded a conversation with August Gottlieb Spangenberg (1704- 1792) shortly after his arrival in Georgia in his Journal: “I soon found what spirit he was of, and asked his advice with regard to my own conduct. He said, “My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?’ I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it, and asked, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ?’ I paused, and said, ‘I know he is the Saviour of the world.’ ‘True,’ replied he, ‘but do you know he has saved you?’ I answered, ‘I hope he has died to save me.’ He only added, ‘Do you know yourself?’ I said, ‘I do.’ But I fear they were vain words.”
Conversations with the Moravians continued when Wesley returned to England in 1738. Wesley’s relationship with Peter Böhler (1712-75) was particularly influential. By Wesley’s account, it was Böhler who convinced him he lacked “the faith whereby alone we are saved.” Wesley raised a variety of objections to Böhler’s understanding of justification by faith and assurance. But Böhler’s patience and persistence eventually convinced Wesley the doctrine represented the truth as taught in Scripture and as experienced by people in the present.
Wesley was humbled by the conviction he lacked saving faith, despite being an ordained priest in the Church of England (he was ordained in 1725) and serving as an overseas missionary. He recorded in his Journal, “Immediately it struck into my mind, ‘Leave off preaching. How can you preach to others, who have not faith yourself?’” Wesley did not think he should preach about something he believed was true but had not himself experienced. Böhler, however, encouraged Wesley to “preach faith till you have it, and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”
As Wesley’s relationship with Böhler continued to develop, the two of them eventually formed a new religious society, the Fetter Lane Society. Through this relationship and in this context Wesley had his famous heart-warming experience at Aldersgate Street on May 24, 1738.
Wesley recorded his account of his assurance of salvation in his Journal: “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
Charles Wesley had a similar experience on Pentecost Sunday, three days before John’s.
John Wesley had taken Böhler’s advice and had begun preaching salvation by faith before his experience at Aldersgate. And he continued preaching the doctrine after Aldersgate as well. A key moment for Wesley was when he preached the sermon “Salvation by Faith” at St. Mary’s, Oxford, on June 11, 1738. In the sermon, Wesley confronted many members of the Church of England with their nominal faith. He preached that saving faith “is not barely a speculative, rational thing, a cold, lifeless assent, a train of ideas in the head; but also a disposition of the heart.”
In his sermon he also offered one of his best known definitions of justification by faith: “It is a sure confidence which a man hath in God, that through the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God; and in consequence hereof a closing with him and cleaving to him as our ‘wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption’ or, in one word, our salvation.”
Böhler and the Moravians not only gave Wesley an ongoing commitment to the doctrine of justification by faith; they gave him a way of pursuing holiness of heart and life after the experience of justification and assurance through the band meeting. In the beginning, the Fetter Lane Society was essentially a band meeting (a small group divided by gender which focused on confession of sin for the sake of growth in holiness).
Böhler and Wesley formed it on May 1, 1738, more than three weeks before Wesley’s famous heartwarming experience at Aldersgate Street, and Wesley advocated for the importance of band meetings like the Fetter Lane Society for the rest of his ministry, even when they were difficult to maintain. He believed this kind of intentional accountability in community was essential for ongoing growth in the Christian life, as well as for the pursuit of entire sanctification.
Oxford temptation. Oxford was where John Wesley received his education and was formed intellectually, but it was also significant to him personally as a source of ongoing temptation. John wrestled with the temptation to pursue respectability and influence over an increased commitment to the uncompromising proclamation of salvation by faith and holiness of heart and life. His ability to succeed in the latter in one of the centers of English cultural power and influence is perhaps best illustrated by the fellowship he was granted at Lincoln College, Oxford, in the spring of 1726. …
Wesley’s fellowship also meant he entered the rotation of preachers at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. … One of the questions facing Wesley during his later missionary trip to Georgia related to his changing understanding of salvation by faith: Would he preach what he now believed to be true in an uncompromising way? Or would he compromise his convictions for the sake of acceptance by powers and principalities?
The sermons that Wesley preached at Oxford after his famous Aldersgate Street experience made it clear he would not compromise what he believed. On June 11, 1738, less than one month after Aldersgate, Wesley preached the sermon “Salvation by Faith” at Oxford. His unwillingness to change his message for the audience at Oxford led to decreased invitations to preach. His next sermon at Oxford was “The Almost Christian,” which he preached on July 25, 1741. This sermon further demonstrated his commitment to preaching his newfound convictions. In the sermon, Wesley contrasted “almost” with “altogether” Christians. …
“The right and true Christian faith is” (to go on in the words of our own Church) “not only to believe that Holy Scripture and the articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ”— it is a “sure trust and confidence” which a man hath in God “that by the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God” – “whereof doth follow a loving heart to obey his commandments.”
The final sermon Wesley preached at Oxford University was “Scriptural Christianity.” If his first two sermons after Aldersgate made him less popular at Oxford, this final sermon ended his time in the pulpit at St. Mary’s. His sermon surveyed the rise and spread of Christianity and then shifted to contemporary England, and Oxford in particular. … He concluded with a scathing appraisal of the state of Christianity at Oxford:
“May it not be one of the consequences of this that so many of you are a generation of triflers; triflers with God, with one another, and with your own souls? For how few of you spend, from one week to another, a single hour in private prayer? How few have any thought of God in the general tenor of your conversation? Who of you is in any degree acquainted with the work of his Spirit? His supernatural work in the souls of men? Can you bear, unless now and then in a church, any talk of the Holy Ghost? Would you not take it for granted if one began such a conversation that it was either “hypocrisy” or “enthusiasm”? In the name of the Lord God Almighty I ask, What religion are you of? Even the talk of Christianity ye cannot, will not, bear! O my brethren! What a Christian city is this? “It is time for thee, Lord, to lay to thine hand!”
Although his audience heard Wesley’s conclusion as a harsh and unfair indictment, Wesley himself intended it as a call to awakening and repentance. Despite preaching in a prestigious place in the halls of power, Wesley was determined to awaken his audience to their need for faith in the same way he did when preaching in the fields to common people. …
“Scriptural Christianity” was not well received at Oxford. It was the last time Wesley preached to the University. This series of sermons, culminating here, represents Wesley’s decision to adhere to the logic of salvation by faith no matter where it led, even if it meant increasing marginalization in English society, and even within the Church of England.
Kevin M. Watson is director of academic growth and formation at Asbury Theological Seminary. This article is an excerpt from his new book Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline: A History of the Wesleyan Tradition in The United States. (Zondervan Academic). Reprinted by permission. Image: The bust of John Wesley was originally displayed at the World Methodist Council Museum at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. It is now at the Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology and SMU Libraries at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Photo by Steve Beard.
by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
But Grace Said …
By B.J. Funk
On that painful morning, his words cut deep into my heart. I had driven the forty-five- minutes-drive the night before as soon as I got the call. Daddy was now with the Lord, and I went to be with my mother. Her kind preacher stayed until I got there. This was my first experience of losing a family member.
Death crept into my daddy’s sickbed at the hospital and graciously ended his seven-year struggle. It had been a long battle, cruel and painful as we all watched our brilliant daddy’s mind reduced to bouts of forgetfulness. Equally painful was knowing his life was now limited to living in a wheelchair and being dependent on others for his personal needs.
We slept. I don’t know how, but we slept. Around 9:30 that next morning, the phone rang. I answered.
“This is the funeral home. We wanted to ask Mrs. Greene if it is okay for us to start embalming Mr. Greene.”
The lights went out inside of me. Silence on my end. The words were the cruelest ever. Embalm him? No! This is MY daddy you’re talking about. Embalm him? Why? I don’t know for sure he is really dead! My mind cannot comprehend it. My heart is broken over it. And now the funeral home man wants permission to embalm my very loving and dear daddy. No! No! No!
My insides broke into a million pieces. No daughter should be asked that question. No wife should either. Somehow, I managed to say “You can,” and hung up the phone. My mother never learned about that cruel phone call. And, I have never figured out why in the world the funeral home needed permission. It was hurtful. It was cruel.
For twenty years I have kept that horrid phone call to myself. Now, however, grace calls out to me to forgive, let go and move on.
Grace said “He didn’t handle it well. Forgive him anyway. He could have used a different approach. Forgive him anyway. He was only thinking about his job and not about your family’s pain. Forgive him anyway.”
And, so tonight I am. I never knew his name, and he will never know my pain over his call. How my stomach doubled in knots, reaching up to my heart and breaking it and how my whole world shattered over his words.
It’s hard enough to accept death. Then, you have to accept that your loved one is at the funeral home without you. Then….then….you have to face that horrid word “embalm.” That’s the word that puts the exclamation mark on the truth of daddy’s death. That’s what makes the staccato on the reality of losing my daddy.
In the days following daddy’s death and burial, I began to see things a little clearer. Somewhere in between all the farewell plans we had to make, I recognized the role of the funeral home, and this thought entered my mind.
“What a blessing that there is someone who can take care of my daddy and get him ready for burial. I couldn’t. My mother or sister couldn’t. There’s only one place that can do what has to be done for us and that one place is the funeral home.”
I don’t think about that hurtful call anymore. I don’t equate it with painful or cruel anymore. I still think it was insensitive and unnecessary. Why couldn’t they just go ahead and do it?
But grace said…..let it go. Let it go. Let it go.
And so I did.
B.J. Funk is Good News’s long-time devotional columnist and author of It’s a Good Day for Grace, available on Amazon.
by Steve | Jun 7, 2024 | May-June 2024, Uncategorized
Killing Stone to Baptismal Font
By Steve Beard
Remarkably, after 45 seasons CBS’s “Survivor” is still a certifiable television hit. Millions of viewers tune in to watch the travails of contestants in a Robinson Crusoe-style tropical setting. Coral reefs, whitecapped waves, pristine beaches, and snuffed-out tiki torches.
For the last 12 seasons, the American audience has been savoring the sites and skullduggery from half-a-world away since the show is taped in the South Pacific nation of Fiji – 5,500 miles southwest of Los Angeles, two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand, and immediate neighbors with Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. If you spin your globe to examine this area of the world, you’ll discover that Fiji is made up of more than 332 islands, 110 of which are inhabitable.
With its stunning visuals and breathtaking landscape, it is not difficult to see why adventurer Bear Grylls also tapped the Fijian islands for his 10-episode” World’s Toughest Race., in 2019 (currently on Amazon Prime).
“Fiji is such a stunning country and a land of extremes,” Grylls told Lonely Planet. “It has so much incredible natural beauty and diversity, from the crystal blue oceans, to the jungle rivers, to the pristine wilderness and the rolling canyons. But it’s also a tough and dangerous type of terrain, with hundreds of remote miles of swamps, jungle, ravines and high mountains that are among the most intense I have ever been in, ironically.”
Grylls also noted, “We had huge welcomes from the locals wherever the race took us, and they were such a genuinely warm and friendly people.”
The Flying Fijians. The Fijians are not only hospitable, they are fiercely competitive and simultaneously anchored by their Christian faith. The national rugby team made international headlines in the fall of 2023 by defeating powerhouses such as England and Australia in stellar World Cup bouts. Rugby is the king of sports for Fiji.
With great devotion, the players pray and sing hymns before and after their bouts. While first-tier teams travel with sports psychologists, teams from Fiji (population 900,000); Tonga (100,000), and Samoa (200,000) prepare in a different way.
“We are able to bring in a reverend,” Flying Fijian coach Simon Raiwalui told the media. “[O]ur mental well-being is in connection with our religion and people.” The Rev. Joji Rinakama, a Methodist Church minister, serves as the Fijian chaplain. He is a former player and coach. (Tonga and Samoa also have chaplains.)
With its international rugby success and the nation’s name emblazoned on high-end bottled water, Fiji’s star has never shone more brightly on the world stage.
In an earlier era, however, it was a different story. Seafaring explorers such as Captain Cook in the 1770s fastidiously avoided the Fijian islands. In 1789, Captain Bligh noted: “I dare not land [on Fiji] for fear of the natives.” At that time, Fiji was known as the “Cannibal Isles.” The world – and Fiji – was notably different.
Thakombau’s reluctance. The spiritual turnabout of the picturesque island nation did not take place overnight – it took place over decades. The World Council of Churches notes that the first Christian missionaries to Fiji were three Tahitian teachers with the London Missionary Society in 1830. The Wesleyan Missionary Society from Australia began ministry among the islanders five years later. Ultimately, the work was done by Tongan, Tahitian, and British missionaries.
“Your religion is well enough for the white races; but we Fijians are better as we are,” Thakombau (or Ratu Seru Cakobau), the top-ruling chief/warrior during that era, told the missionaries.
With matter-of-fact exhibits in The Fiji Museum in the capital city of Suva, the nation’s cannibal history is neither denied nor celebrated. Instead, it is acknowledged and public apologies have been offered.
Live among the stars. With initial reluctance, Jodi Bulu became a Christian believer in neighboring Tonga in 1833. He would be a key component in the spiritual trajectory of Fiji. In his autobiography, he explains how his mind was changed when he heard there would be a “promised land of the dead,” a “home in the sky for the good.”
Bulu describes an epiphany that shifted his thinking: “It was a fine night; and looking up to the heavens where the stars were shining, this thought suddenly smote me: ‘O the beautiful land! If the words be true which were told us today, then are these lotu [Christian] people happy indeed;’ for I saw that the earth was dark and gloomy, while the heavens were clear, and bright with many stars; and my soul longed with a great longing to reach that beautiful land.”
“I will lotu,” wrote Bulu, “that I may live among the stars.”
Bulu’s cross-cultural ministry began when he heard the call for Christian teachers to go to Fiji. He testified, “my soul burned within me, and a great longing sprang up in my heart to go away to that land and declare the glad tidings of salvation to the people that knew not God.”
After becoming a believer, he relates his spiritual struggle while listening to a message on the love of Christ. Bulu recalled, “my eyes were opened. I saw the way; and I, even I also, believed and loved …. My heart was full of joy and love, and the tears streamed down my cheeks. Often had I wept before: but, not like my former weeping, were the tears I now shed. Then, I wept out of sorrow and fear, but now for very joy and gladness, and because my heart was full of love to him, who had loved me, and given himself for me.”
There are many factors that led to the transformation of Fiji, but there is no doubt that Bulu’s outreach was indispensable.
Bishop Gerald Kennedy. In a 1965 sermon at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, Bishop Gerald Kennedy of Methodism’s California-Pacific Annual Conference spoke about his visit to Fiji. Prior to his expedition, Kennedy was unaware of the island chain’s history and macabre nickname.
Regaling his experience in the South Pacific, the bishop extolled the missionary work of the Rev. John Hunt who left England in 1838 as a newlywed to share his faith on the other side of the world (more than 15,000 nautical miles). “He wrote one of the best books you’ll ever read on entire sanctification – right among those cannibals,” Kennedy told the clergy and seminarians. “You remember that when you say, I’m going to write a book someday, but I haven’t time.”‘(Kennedy was the prolific author of more than 20 books.)
After months at sea, Hunt and his wife had been given a small dwelling in the village and “often times a horrible stench came into his cottage when they [the Fijian warriors] returned from their raids as they killed and cooked the enemy,” Kennedy said. Through it all, Hunt worked tirelessly in translating the Bible to the Fijian language and attempted to work with the chiefs.
In an almost surreal conversation with Hunt, Thakombau asked: “What will become of the bodies of those who have been eaten, and of those who have been buried? Will they rise again from the dead?”
The Rev. Hunt replied, “Your body, the bodies of all those whom you have eaten, and the bodies of all who are in the graves, will rise again at the day of judgment; and if you and they have not repented, you will all be condemned and cast into hell-fire.”
Thakombau said: “Ah, well! it is a fine thing to have a fire in cold weather.”
Hunt responded: “I shall still pray for you with a good mind, although you treat the subject so lightly.” That was a notable understatement in a truly different and difficult era. When one reads through the blood-curdling missionary reports regarding what they witnessed, it is miraculous that they didn’t all hightail it back to Australia or any of the neighboring islands.
Bishop Kennedy pointed out that Hunt was discouraged and didn’t believe he was making progress with the Fijians. Regrettably, ten years after arriving in Fiji, Hunt would die of dysentery in 1848. From his deathbed, he sent word by a messenger back to Thakombau that he was praying for him. Hunt’s final words were, “Lord, bless Fiji! Save Fiji!”
“Now, here’s a miracle,” Kennedy said. “It didn’t happen right then, but five or six years later, Thakombau was converted.”
In telling his story, Thakombau (1815-1874) attributed his conversion to Hunt’s dying prayers. “I was first favorably impressed towards the Christian religion when I saw it made dying not only easy, but triumphant. John Hunt’s whole concern was about my conversion,” he said. “His wife was soon to be a widow and his children fatherless in a land of savages. He could leave them to the care of his heavenly Father. I barred the way to the spread of Christianity, and had forbidden the people, at the peril of life, to turn away from the gods of Fiji.”
Thakombau continued: “ … He prayed for Fiji, and for me, the chief of sinners. I went to see the body after his death, and Mr. [James] Calvert told me he had left a message of love, and his last prayers were for my conversion. My salvation was the answer to those last prayers.”(Correspondingly, cannibalism was abandoned in 1854.)
Killing Stone. While he was in Fiji, Bishop Kennedy took a boat to a sanctuary on a neighboring island to see a thoroughly unique and provocative symbol of conversion.
“Up at the front of the church was a whole rough stone. It was hollowed out in the top,” Kennedy said. The Fijian Methodists told him that it was their baptismal font. “They said it was originally the killing stone where Thakombau killed his victims,” Kennedy reported. Eventually, the stone was washed, “got the blood off of it, and brought it into that church and made the baptismal font of it.”
A few years ago, the Fiji Times retold a story about the transformation of the stone during the ministry of the Rev. Norman and Mabel Deller (1921-1936). According to Rev. Aubrey Baker, “the stone remained in the village unused, but a constant reminder of the evil of the past and the change made possible by Christ. … Even a stone could be converted. A thing that had been the agent of death became the symbol of new life in Christ.”
In his message nearly 60 years ago, Kennedy reflected on the deep symbolism of the transformed killing stone.” Don’t you like that?” he asked. “I looked at that and said to myself, That’s what the Christian Church is and that’s what the Christian Church ought to be: something to remind people who they were and what they can be without Christ. At the same time, something will say to them but this is what you can be when God finds you – and you give yourself to him.”
Steve Beard is the editor of Good News. This article appeared in the May/June 2024 issue of Good News. PHOTO: Fijian village of Navala in Nausori Highlands. Photo by Anton Leddin (Creative Commons).
