A Day in the Life…Connectivity
February 25, 2011
Today, we celebrate one aspect of being a “connectional” church, our United Methodist camping program. Many right here have benefited from that. Fairmont has two small funds in place to support young people’s camping experience: the Dee Phillips Campership Fund and the Doris Mary Christian Fund. Please let me know if that will help your young people go to camp!
There is so much more to being connected with thousands of other United Methodist congregations around the world. The following comes from “United Methodism 101,” an on-line introduction to the United Methodist Church, and from the site “umc.org.”
United Methodists often joke about the many organizational layers of church life, but, as members of other denominations have been heard to say: “If you want something done, get the Methodists to do it.” Followers of the Wesleys are indeed “methodical” about the ways they approach mission and ministry.
One reason United Methodists are able to accomplish great things is the church’s emphasis on “connectionalism.” It is common to hear United Methodist leaders speak of the denomination as “the connection.” This concept has been central to Methodism from its beginning.
The United Methodist Church, which began as a movement and a loose network of local societies with a mission, has grown into one of the most carefully organized and largest denominations in the world. The United Methodist structure and organization began as a means of accomplishing the mission of spreading Scriptural Holiness over the land. John Wesley recognized the need for an organized system of communication and accountability and developed what he called the “connexion,” which was an interlocking system of classes, societies, and annual conferences. (UM Member’s Handbook, p 24)
No local church is the total body of Christ. Therefore, local United Methodist churches are bound together by a common mission and common governance that accomplish reaching out into the world. United Methodist churches and organizations join in mission with each other and with other denominations.
Connectionalism shows through the clergy appointment system, through the developing of mission and ministry that United Methodists do together, and through giving.
An example of connectionalism: Mission work around the world, whether it be a new university in Africa or bicycles for Cuban pastors, is the work of “the connection,” as opposed to the work of a single congregation.
Methodism’s founder John Wesley said, “I look upon all the world as my parish.” Wesley reminded us that we are called to step out of our little corner of the world to spread the good news, transform hopelessness into hope and help God’s children wherever they may be.
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:35-36, NRSV)
While it would be wonderful if we could reach out personally to everyone who needs our help, we know that is impossible. So we gather regularly with our congregation and put money into the offering plate, and through a carefully crafted system of United Methodist mission and ministry our gifts stretch around the world.
Your contributions to your local church not only benefit your local congregation, but also have regional, national and international impact through our connectional giving system. Most of the money you give is used to support the ministries of your local church. A small portion funds regional ministries.
We live in a global village, and the world is our parish. When we give generously, our gifts do wonderful, life-changing things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Steve
Day in the Life…"Praying Congregation?"
February 18, 2011
I hope you’ve all read carefully the front page story in this month’s Fairmont Focus, “Becoming a Praying Congregation.” I am moved deeply within to lead us in this direction. By that, I mean the whole community. Consider this:
“There are many ways to grow and mature as a Christian, but perhaps none is more important than developing a pattern of prayer that leads to a closer walk with God. Cultivating a meaningful prayer life is something we are to do not only in private but also in community– both when we are alone and when we meet together. In fact, one of the most effective ways we may begin, renew, or deepen our prayer life is to pray regularly with a group of faithful followers of Jesus Christ.”*
Prayer for many of us seems innate, built in, something we’ve always done, always known. Our prayers and prayer memories are firmly attached to bedtimes, mealtimes, and times in worship. For others of us, prayer is somewhere between a struggle and downright strange– who are we to be approaching The Almighty, Creator of the universe?
Praying together in small groups is an experience distinct from our individual prayer times and our prayers in worship. It’s not better, but it is different. It fits quite well into our Wesleyan Heritage. From John and Charles Wesley’s collegiate “Holy Club” at Oxford to the Methodist Societies that formed the backbone of our reforming movement, small group prayer has been at the center. We pray at the beginning of meetings and sometimes at the end, and at Sunday School and when we meet in homes. However, I have this creeping sense that such prayers are the mere doorway (or doormat) to the main event–and many such prayers are my own!
This is worthy of our thought and effort. One of our “vision strategies” reads as follows:
“We will become a sanctuary of excellence by Nurturing one another through growth and renewal of our faith in God, by fostering deeper friendships and focusing on individual and group support.”
During the upcoming Season of Lent, there will be two focal points:
- March 1 (Lent begins March 9) and the Tuesdays thereafter, a pilot group will begin to pray together and to study the process by which we will become a praying congregation.
- The Lenten “home” conversations (now in the 8th year) will center on our experiences with prayer–and also the lack thereof. In those times together, we will begin to articulate what prayer means to us and to learn from each other.
It’s about here that we sometimes think, here’s one more thing to attempt and fail at…that is why I expect us to spend the next year, all the way until Easter of 2012, in this effort. It should in no way supplant what we’re about or overpower our ministries. Rather, I look for it to be interwoven into all we do, and for all we do, and for who we are, to be enriched.
It is redundant to keep saying, “life is busy”–of course it is. I am looking forward to the adventurous group that will gather for eight Tuesday nights to set the course for the whole community. I hope you’ll be a part of that–yes, you!
Pastor Steve
* Job, Rueben P. and Sharpe, Sally D., Introduction, When You Pray as a Small Group, Abingdon, Nashville, TN, 2010, p. 7.
To All the Saints in the Making-February, the Cruelest Month?
February 4, 2011
I have learned that a number of folks have declared war on T. S. Eliot, who boldly proclaimed April to be “the cruelest month.” February’s “cruelty” is Eliot’s, and thus April’s, leading contender. But who knows what this February will bring?
Lately, I referenced one of my all time favorite movies (not quite a “film”), Groundhog Day. Resolved to use every mysteriously repeated day to the fullest, for the good of others but also his own, a somewhat repentant Phil Conners says this (to the amazement of all who know him):
When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn’t imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter. (emphasis added)
Our winter, cold but not severe (so far!), has had it’s own luster: we’ve renewed our faith, witnessed baptism, were blessed by the Martin Luther King, Jr, All Children’s Choir, celebrated with the Fairmont Gospel Revue (13 years!), ate well and did good, helping to “adopt an apt,” to feed hungry people (Stop Hunger Now) and support the Raleigh Wesley Foundation–a lustrous month!
The Season of Epiphany, the season after Christmas no one’s sure what to do with, is longer than usual, maybe longer than ever. Did you know that Easter is April 24? It can be as late as April 25, but hasn’t been in our memories. (It can also be March 22, which it was in 1818!) That gives us a little longer than usual to settle in after the full tilt celebration of Christmas and, well, “prepare” for the next season of preparation– Lent.
Our Lent is always marked by several events, from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, then to Maundy Thursday’s “Seder” and Good Friday’s “Tenebrae.” Because they are repetitive, I fear they are beginning to be regarded as “same ol’ same ol’,” as if they had grown merely “long” and lost their “luster.” So I invite, nay, verily I urge you to dig out your personal calendars now and set aside evenings March 8, 9, April 17, 21, 22, 24. Important stuff!
For now, in our “winter,” we continue in the Season of Epiphany. In it, we are called to witness the several manifestations of Jesus in the world. He is met and accompanied by Magi, by John the Baptist, by Disciples and finally by Elijah and Moses. That’s pretty good company!
In this season that is both winter and Epiphany, may we enjoy both its length and luster, and look forward together to Lent. Although Lent bears its own wintry marks, it leads with certainty, with inevitability, to Easter!
Pastor Steve