Methodism and Membership

the Methoblogworld is buzzing about the upcoming constitutional amendments proposed by General Conference 08, which must pass this year's annual conference by a 2/3 vote.  The usual suspects are coming out against an amendment to strengthen language about membership in the church being open to all (as if we need another psychological barrier to encouraging the whole idea of membership in this individualistic age).  A friend of mine made a rebuttal.  I thought it was well articulated, so here you go.  

My Church's Farmer's Market

Last summer two women in the church came to me with the idea of hosting a farmer's market at our church.  One is a chili pepper and herb grower.  She makes all kinds of chili rubs.  I bought some pear honey for her last year too.  The other woman is an elementary school teacher who had previously expressed interest in promoting good eating habits among children.

Morris had no previously existing farmer's market.  The two women thought it would be a great example of "Radical Hospitality," which is a principle of The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, by Bishop Robert Schnase.  We had been studying the book together as a congregation through a sermon series and a book study.  I thought it was a great idea, and told them so.   They went with it.  By the end of the summer, our parking lot was ringed with farmers with their tailgates open and tables of vegetables.  We opened the church so that bathrooms would be accessible for farmers and shoppers, and welcomed the kids to play with the church air-hockey table.  The market was to be on Saturdays, which meant that our church might not be perfectly clean on Sunday mornings for worship.  The church considering the ramifications of this fact during church council was a good opportunity to for us to reflect on the true purpose of a church.  

We submitted the idea to Bishop Robert Schnase's website that corresponds with the book and study material, fivepractices.org

This past week, I was also contacted by someone at The Interpreter magazine who wants to include a photo in that magazine of the market.  

Hooray church.  We plan to continue the program this year.  

Reaching out with the Old

Sometimes it's nice to hear you're not just an oddball, I read in Christian Century's June 17 issue the following...."

By a ratio of almost 2 to 1, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like medieval cathedrals to the modern, utilitarian church facilities that currently are being constructed.

This preference for the Gothic, found among both unchurched Catholics and unchurched Protestants, is even more pronounced among people between the ages of 25 and 34. "I don't like modern churches, they seem cold," said one survey respondent. "I like the smell of candles burning, stained glass windows and an intimacy that's transcendent." (survey by Lifeway Research.)

....From the article linked above...“Quite honestly, this research surprised us,” said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research and LifeWay Christian Resource’s missiologist in residence.

“We expected they’d choose the more contemporary options, but they were clearly more drawn to the aesthetics of the Gothic building than the run-of-the-mill, modern church building.”

Well, I'm not surprised, Ed. I've always had a feeling about this---now I know that feeling is part of the collective unconscious and not just my own uncommon preference. Ha! I'm right. (I try to get in one of these "Ha! I'm right"s at least once a day. Usually my wife is the lucky recipient of said "H!IR's" but today, you all get to share in the glorious experience. ON the topic of really helpful worship findings, make plans to attend the Worship in a Postmodern Accent Workshop
So, how would the Oklahoma Conference like to sink money into building materials that would be required to build a church that 25-34 year olds would prefer to worship in--or should the New church starts initiative be in the market for a good, "pre-owned" gothic church? You want to see photos of my dream appointment in New York City? It was built by the Methodists--but they wanted to attract an ecumenical congregation in a Byzantine neighborhood. Yes, I fall in line with the preferences of the unchurched, and struggle with the implications for how we might allocate resources to start new congregations.

Parallel Lives

Not that I am not happy with the life I am currently living, because I have always felt like I am walking down yellow brick road and will one day meet the Wizard with this current life that I am leading (or in minister speak, I feel I am leading the life to which I am called).....but sometimes I read something or see something that stirs in me a deep hope that reincarnation is the way things work out, because I think it would be so fun to be and do so many different things. More things than one life allows time for. (especially considering we're not promised tomorrow!) Today it was an email newsletter from Ring Lake Ranch.

Here's a list of some parallel lives I'd like to lead. If this looks like a meme to you, go'n ahead and consider yourself tagged and track back because I'd be interested to see what kind of things you'd like to do too.

1. Suppose I'll start with the life I almost led if it hadn't been for the call into ministry: I would have attended either UNC or UVA for a post graduate degree (or perhaps both) and gotten a Ph.D in Buddhism (Tibetan, though Zen is what I have learned most about from my undergrad prof. McDaniel--b/c I think I remember there being a big pro in the field at UVA) or American Religion if at UNC--just like another of my prof's, Dr. Jane Harris. Then, of course, I would have been employed at Hendrix College. One of my friends from college, Brad, actually did get his post-grad degree in Tibetan Buddhism at U of Chicago and studied in Tibet as well. I saw him at a friend's wedding in South Carolina a year ago, and he seemed very happy with his life (though he seemed somewhat disenchanted with being in school for so long.) I think he was going to go work in a museum. That sounds good.

2. If I'd followed my high school dreams for life, I'd have gone into the field of archaeology or perhaps paleontology. I just had a fantasy the other day that I had pursued this goal and had made my mark on the field by developing a computerized "virtual catalogue" of footprints and bones that could be used to connect missing links.

3. It would be great to work at Ring Lake Ranch mixing the design of workshops on spirituality with the care of horses, fishing, the mountains, hiking, etc.

4. I study architecture and apprentice myself to Frank Gehry or Fay Jones. I love organic architecture.

5. I would be an illuminator for the St. John's Bible.

6. I would be a journalist.

7. I would be a commentator for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team.

8. I would be my cat, Lao-Tzu. (At the moment, she seems quite interested in my coffee)

9. I would be a competitive scrabble tournament geek.

10. I suppose I could have continued on as the program coordinator at Occidental College Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. I had a great boss/collaborator, and it was a fantastic thing to encourage the spiritual development of intelligent college kids at America's most diverse college. It was also cool to have a huge grant to work with.

11. I would be a parrot-head, surf all day, and live on Na pali Coast.

There's more, but now that I've gotten that out of my system, time to get on the sermon.

Hmmm. I get to plumb the depths of sacred writings and weave that together with life and lives in order to inspire some words that I stand up and give to a congregation of people who consider that something that is part of the worship of God. I get to break bread and lift up a cup of juice and acknowledge the real presence of Christ in those things, and then I get to place that bread in people's hands with the words "brother/sister, the bread of life." Even though I'm not worthy of the comparison, I get to represent Christ to people who are about to die, about to give birth, and about to awaken. I get to cultivate an awareness of the undercurrents of Reality for a living.

This life is pretty cool, too.

Okay, now I'm ready to write a sermon.