FaithQuest Revisited

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Make-No-Wave United Methodist Church

By

Dan R. Dick

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I received an interesting email from a pastor today who “followed my advice” and raised questions about expectations and accountability in the church.  He asked the “what is the church?” and “what is the church for?” questions, and zeroed in on what our membership vows really mean.  He was shocked when the chair of the church council responded by saying, “well, we don’t have time to talk about this now.  We have church business we need to deal with.”  Later that evening, the chair of SPRC (Staff-Parish Relations Committee) called to schedule an appointment — “We need to talk.  As soon as possible.”  The pastor was surprised early the next morning when the SPRC chair, the Lay Leader, the church Council chair, and the head of Trustees all showed up together.  The conversation went something like this (church leadership in bold; pastor normal type):

We need to know what’s gotten into you?

What do you mean?

This kick you’re on to push; to make us feel bad about not doing enough?

I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad.  I’m just trying to offer people something better.  I want to help people grow in their faith.

Well, that’s fine, but a lot of people are perfectly happy where they are.

I know they are, but that doesn’t mean they should be.

See?  That’s exactly the kind of pressure we’re talking about.  Who are you to judge what kind of Christians people should be?

It’s not a matter of “judging” anyone.  It’s a matter of helping people grow in their faith.

You made a lot of people uncomfortable last night.  You made it sound like we should be doing more.

We SHOULD be doing more!  I brought up the issues for a reason.

But that’s not why people come to this church.  People come here because they know they will be loved and cared for, not judged and made to feel guilty.

Being loved and cared for and becoming faithful disciples are not mutually exclusive.  People should want both.

In your opinion.  None of our previous pastors said any of this stuff.

But it isn’t just my opinion.  It’s in the Bible.  It’s in our Book of Discipline.  I didn’t make this stuff up. 

No, you said you pulled it off the web and we all know how reliable things are you can find online.

You’re kidding, right?  You’re saying because I got the articles off the web that we shouldn’t pay attention to it?  All I raised were three questions: what is the church? what is the church for? and how do we hold people accountable to the promises they made to God and one another.  That’s all.  These are good questions to ask.

But they’re unnecessary.  We’re not trying to be super-Christians.  We’re just normal people who love God and need to know that God loves us.  That’s all.  We don’t need you telling us how we ought to live our faith.  It’s none of your business if we pray or not or read the Bible or even how often we attend church.  You are here to be our pastor, not our conscience.

But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t preach and teach from the Bible and challenge people to be the best Christians we can be.

Look, you’re young and we want to support you, but you need to be reasonable.  People are busy — we have full lives.  We don’t have time to be saints.  We need you to do your job — lead worship, visit church members, teach confirmation, pray for us, and try to grow the church.  We just don’t need you making things harder than they ought to be.

I don’t know what to say.  You tell me you want me to do my job, but when I do my job you don’t want me to.  This is impossible.  I didn’t do anything wrong last night.  In fact, I did exactly the right thing.

The pastor received a call later in the day from his district superintendent.  Hoping for support, he was irritated to discover that his DS sided with the congregation’s leadership, asking that he “back off.”  The DS told him that he needed to make this appointment work, and that he couldn’t afford to alienate key leadership.  Again, he heard that he needed to be “reasonable.”

What am I missing here?  I was called to ministry.  I am part of a church whose mission is to make disciples, but when I bring up acting like disciples I am told to back off.  If we  can’t even have discussions about what it means to be the church in the church, we’re in big trouble.  Anyway, I just wanted you to know that your “basic” questions are not “simple” questions at all.

This is one of the more dramatic responses I have received, but in no way is it rare or unusual.  Some of our United Methodist churches are held hostage by low expectations, complacency, lack of vision, and a distinct aversion to anything remotely disciple-like.  What are we going to do about it?  When mediocrity becomes the standard, it is only a matter of time until we cease to exist.  No relevancy, no urgency, no commitment = no church.  Unless it is safe and even encouraged to rock the boat, makes some waves, and shake things up, we may be looking for a new church real soon.

124 responses to “Make-No-Wave United Methodist Church”

  1. Pam Avatar
    Pam

    Sadly, I think the exchange in the blog could happen at many of our churches. We’ve confused complacency for Christianity.

    Reply
  2. Dave Whitman Avatar
    Dave Whitman

    I’m certain the “12 year” observation is a sound one. But…these are not ordinary times. What about our economic condition, the increased anxiety that people feel, the persistent need for something more, the fact that people are looking to the church for real answers? Shouldn’t we balance conventional wisdom (including the studies and research) with a clear assessment of our situation? Do we really have time to wait? Is there some way to strike a balance between appearing too urgent and anxious with appearing too laid back and relaxed?

    Reply
  3. Jeff R Avatar
    Jeff R

    After the complete dismay I had after reading the exchange between the pastor and the congregation and the pastor and his DS, I had these thoughts; First, if Taylor is correct, and I have no reason to believe he isn’t, in that it takes 12 years to bring about these systemic changes, how can we ever hope to change things within our itinerancy-based system? Second, the DS, as well as the church leadership fail to realize that by apeasing those who are comfortable with mediocrity they will indeed alienate and loose people – specifically those who are seeking a deeper sense of discipleship within the community of the church.

    Reply
  4. Don Holladay Avatar
    Don Holladay

    An interesting and important conversation. Way back in the seventies there was a popular book called “Why Conservative Churches Are Growing.” The author actually wanted to call it “Why Strict Churches are Strong.” Could this be a call for “strict” churches? Churches that stand for something?

    Reply
  5. ericpo Avatar
    ericpo

    I think that the current churches that employ stagnation as their current methods ought to be left alone….However….let them provide their own local pastor from among themselves who will meet their needs. Don’t waste a seminary trained asset on this type of a congregation. Pastors who want to support these types of congregations can apply to them and be provided a local pastor license.This will reduce the elders in the church and will focus our reso

    Talented and innovative Seminary trained clergy and staff need to be in the churches that are new or growing. Lets be real and honest. The majority of our congregations do not want to and will fight these important initiatives. Let them move on and die. Then we can take the remains and build new congregations from the ashes.

    Reply
  6. Dave Whitman Avatar
    Dave Whitman

    I felt compelled to post that from my Bishop to offer a counterbalance of hope. I was just as dismayed as many of you when I read this post. But…there are people out there that really do care about the church (like this very dedicated clergy person who put it all out there). We need to stay on point with this message and understand that, in many cases, we won’t be liked…even hated… for having said it. But the times are simply too urgent to remain silent.

    Reply
  7. Dave Whitman Avatar
    Dave Whitman

    This blog is very timely. I receive “Some of My Thoughts” messages from Bishop Whitfield in my home conference. I feel compelled to post that message in its entirety…I don’t think Bishop Whitfield will mind, since it was distributed for public viewing.

    “Contentment appears to be a value that most church members and congregations value above everything else. The Apostle Paul calls us to learn to be content with whatever comes our way in life. We are to be content when we have everything we want in life, as well as when we fail to have even the basic necessities of life. I saw many of the United Methodist Christians in the Congo who have taken Paul’s words to heart. They knew their relationship with Jesus Christ was more important than money, housing, food, education, or health. Knowing and serving Jesus was what really mattered. Everything else was of secondary value.

    However, here in the United States it appears we have taken contentment as the primary value in the life of the Church. We tolerate injustice, gossip, spiritual mediocrity, the slow death of congregations, dreadful conditions of our communities, and a lack of respect for other people. We are so content that we are the walking dead. We stand for nothing; we stand up for nothing; we become like the Church at Laodicea that is neither hot nor cold. We refuse to even invite people to attend worship with us for fear of making them uncomfortable, or members of the church uncomfortable.

    I believe creating discontentment is one of my primary roles and responsibilities as a bishop of the Church. Individuals need to become discontent with their relationship with Jesus Christ and strive to become more like Him in word and deed. Pastors need to become discontent with the way they are leading congregations. Congregations need to become discontent when they walk among people who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and believe they are somehow doing everything expected of them to see God’s Kingdom on this earth as it is in heaven. We need a great awakening of dissatisfaction with ourselves and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

    A few months ago, I wrote about the necessity of treating every person with respect, especially those with whom we do not agree. These persons are still our brothers and sisters. We need to respect their ideas, thoughts, and opinions. I certainly may not agree with them, but Jesus calls me to love my enemies and treat everyone as I would desire and wish to be treated. I was not prepared for the response. I was accused of being political. I needed to focus on spiritual issues and avoid placing the Church in the middle of political debates. I confess that I utilized public instances and public figures to illustrate my point, but some of the responses justified such crude disrespectful behavior and words. Some responses appeared to reflect approval of inappropriate behavior so long as it was in the political arena. There needs to be a great awakening of dissatisfaction with behavior that does not reflect Jesus Christ.

    We need a great awakening of dissatisfaction with the spreading of half-truths. Our next General Conference is less than two years away. It disturbs me to see the spreading of inaccuracies by varying groups to promote the adoption of legislation they believe needs to be approved. I strongly believe in our legislative process and a representative form of governance, but I strongly oppose individuals making inaccurate statements in an effort to advance their position.

    We need a great awakening in most congregations to reach new people, younger people and more diverse people. We are too content with not making new disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We prefer to remain as we are, rather than risk losing our lives in order to save the life of our neighbors.

    I remember a prayer offered while I was in seminary that went something like this: ‘Lord, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’ It is a prayer I believe I need to pray each day. A prayer I need to live out each day. Sometimes I am afflicted and I do need to be comforted. And there are other times when I need to be afflicted that I will become like Jesus.”

    Thank you, Bishop, for your leadership on this subject.

    Reply

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