UMC - Part 6

This may be the most controversial suggestion I’ll make. I understand that the implications are enormous and complicated. I also acknowledge the “real estate” ownership questions this raises (which is another important issue).

I think the United Methodist Church either needs to become united again or intentionally part ways.

Today, there is a huge divide between liberal Methodists and evangelical Methodists. While I don’t pretend to understand all of the nuances of the issues, I know that division doesn’t help anyone.

While conferences are wrestling with questions around ordaining homosexuals and the inspiration of scripture, Methodist churches are dying daily. More importantly, people are dying daily without a relationship with Christ.

While the UMC prides itself in being open, many of my evangelical peers don’t believe that their conference is very open to them.

Being an evangelical, I’m obviously biased. It is my humble opinion that pastors should boldly preach the life-changing Word of God and the new birth in Christ. Without the powerful proclamation of the Gospel, I don’t see any hope of survival. If liberal leaders won’t support evangelicals, the denomination would be wise to allow them a way to gracefully exit.

I pray God will bless and empower the UM Church to unite and share Christ around the world!

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UMC - Part 5

The United Methodist Church (and other mainline denominations) have many (mostly) empty buildings. To survive and thrive, these churches must learn to work together.

I’d suggest that many UM churches consider merging and become multi-site churches. If you have a strong UM church with limited space and a struggling UM church with an empty building, why not link arms?

(For more thoughts on “merging churches,” click 1) here, 2) here, 3) here, and 4) here.)

While I acknowledge that this is a complicated suggestion, the UMC church could also consider partnering with other churches outside its denomination.

Currently, we are partnering with many UMC churches that use our teaching for no charge. The possibilities of these partnerships are enormous. I’d suggest the leaders of the UMC search for other Kingdom-minded ministries and churches to unite with for a greater impact.

I can’t help but wonder how many struggling churches could have a chance for survival (and more than simply survival) if they shared resources with other churches in their communities or from around the world.

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UMC—Part 4

(Note: I’m very grateful for the spirit of the discussion this week. I hope these posts don’t come across as arrogant but as humble suggestions from someone who cares. I acknowledge that my ideas may not be possible — or may not work, but hopefully, they will spur on helpful conversations.)

When I was an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church, our church grew from about 300 people to close to 700 people (which at the time was considered a very large church).

Each Methodist Church paid their share of “apportionments.” Although I’m not certain where the apportionments go, I’m assuming they support UMC missionaries, hospitals, benevolence ministries, district superintendents, bishops, administrative costs, etc.

It was also my understanding (and my UMC friends can correct me if I’m wrong), that the apportionments also helped support smaller churches that couldn’t make it on their own. I firmly believe that UMC churches partnering together is one of the keys to its future! The denomination’s connectedness is a great strength. But heavy apportionments on larger churches could ultimately hurt the whole. I’ll explain.

At FUMC, we paid approximately 17% of our budget to apportionments. (I was told larger churches paid higher perecentages.) This model could prevent strong churches from growing stronger. If the church has more resources to put toward evangelism, church planting, their own ministry passions, and expansion, perhaps the churches could grow larger and more influential.

If the UMC had more growing and visible churches (like Granger Community Church, in Indiana, Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio and Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas), these churches could help attract new leaders and bring a wave of hope and optimism.

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UMC - Part 3

As I continue to think about the future of the United Methodist Church, I’m hopeful that the UMC (and other mainline denominational churches) will attract and retain more young leaders.

To do so effectively would take many fundamental changes. One might include re-evaluating the ordination process.

When I was a UMC pastor, I was an un-ordained “local pastor” for three years, spent four years in seminary (while serving full time at a church) and had two more years before I’d become fully ordained as an elder.

While I appreciate the education and accountability, many younger leaders want to be “in the game” more than they want to leap through lots of denominational hurdles.

Today’s emerging Christian leaders are eager to make a difference—now. Many have already been around the world on mission trips and certainly have a more global and missional mindset than my generation did. If they are tied down to cumbersome process that delays their opportunities to make a difference, they are likely to do ministry elsewhere.

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UMC—Part 2

One of the biggest challenges (in my opinion) for the UMC church involves the itinerant system.

Here is a brief statement about the itinerant system from the UMC:

“The itinerant system is the accepted method of The United Methodist Church by which ordained elders are appointed by the bishop to fields of labor. All ordained elders shall accept and abide by these appointments.”

Basically, once a minister is fully ordained as an elder, the Bishop appoints the minister to whichever church the Bishop (or cabinet/board) believes is God’s best.

This model presents several challenges:

1. The local church doesn’t have much say (if any) in selecting their pastor.
2. The pastor and pastor’s family may hesitate to fully engage in a community knowing their future is uncertain.
3. The people in the church know their pastor could be moved at any time.
4. The length of tenure in the itinerant system is often much shorter than others. This creates problems of building trust, casting vision, and developing long-term relationships.

While this system had advantages and was effective for years, it is largely ineffective today. I am totally convinced that LifeChurch would not be close to what it is today if the staff, the body, or my family knew that any year I could be asked to leave and serve another church.

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Suggestions For My UMC Friends (Part 1)

A leader from the United Methodist Church asked me if I’d write a few suggestions for the denomination. I was very honored by his request and thought I’d share a few thoughts.

My family attended various Methodist Churches in Texas and Oklahoma. I did my undergraduate work at Oklahoma City University (a UMC school). After graduating from college, I entered ministry as an associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in downtown Oklahoma City.

Amy and I planned on serving God in the Methodist Church for our full ministry. After experiencing other styles of ministry, God gave us a vision to do church in a different way. We asked for permission to plant a new UMC church. Since I was only ordained as a “deacon” and not an “elder,” church planting, for us, was not an option as a UMC pastor.

Our burden to start a church became greater than our loyalty to a denomination. We left the UMC on good terms with fond memories and many great relationships.

This week, I’ll post six suggestions for my UMC friends. I offer them humbly and in love. I hope one or two ideas are helpful.

Let’s start with the use of Financial Resources. Not long ago, the UMC launched a $20 million advertising campaign called “Rethink Church.” While I wholeheartedly applaud the church’s aggressive efforts to reach people, I don’t think advertisements that promote a denomination are the best plan.

Today’s generation wants to join a cause, not an organization. I would have suggested investing $20,000 each into 1,000 UMC church plants across the United States. Starting new churches is easier than revitalizing old churches. Once a new movement begins, revitalizing the old becomes much more doable.

My thought on this: People are more likely to join a new mission rather than an old denomination.

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Teens & Technology: a Survey

A few months ago, I wrote a column for Outreach magazine about using technology to reach teens. It raised some good questions and got us thinking about what we might be able to do differently at LifeChurch.tv. As a first step, we decided to get to know a little more about the students in our SWITCH youth ministry through a quick, informal survey.

Here are the results from the 700 students, ages 12-18, who responded:

Youth Survey Results

Number of students with internet at home: 652 (93.1%)

Number of students with cell phones: 610 (87.1%)

Number of students with internet on cell phones: 293 (41.8%)

Number of hours spent each week on internet (400 responses):  4,440 hours, an average of 11 hours per student. (34 responses of “A LOT” were not included in the count.)

15 Most popular websites in order:
1.    Facebook.com
2.    Myspace.com
3.    Youtube.com
4.    Email
5.    Google.com
6.    Yahoo.com
7.    IMDB.com
8.    Y8.com
9.    Pandora.com
10.    Hulu.com
11.    Espn.com
12.    Failblog.com
13.    Addictinggames.com
14.    Myxer.com
15.    Photobucket.com

If you could make a website, what would you want on it? Music, videos, sports, pictures, games, life advice, life stories, save the earth, Christian stuff, friends, arts, photography, massive explosions, jokes, blog site, fashion, bible, quotes, clothes,  quizzes, recipes, graphics, free stuff, hot girls phone numbers, raise money for causes, Justin Beiber, coupons, a place like facebook (but where you can only say nice things), site about problems we are facing, army stuff, messaging, free money, answers to homework, books, coupons, advice about clothes, dance, art work from students, historical stuff, super gross games.

What surprises you about these results? Do they give you any ideas?

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Too Deep

Yesterday we talked about the shortcomings of shallow sermons. The other extreme can also be dangerous. We have to equally guard against our sermons being too deep.

Some pastors are hyper critical of those who aren’t deep. But sometimes deep can equal boring or irrelevant.

I love studying the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words and find that sharing some with the church to be very helpful. But an overuse of the original languages can become dull.

Similarly, the history and context of a chapter is also often important. Sometimes though, a pastor can spend so much time in the deep end that people drown in unimportant facts.

Two years ago, a very intelligent pastor moved into my community. Many of my friends attend his church. His sermons are so intellectually deep that the average person can’t track with him. His church has lost about 40% of its weekend attendance.

Several people approached him and asked if he could make the messages easier for them to understand. He adamantly opposed explaining that he’d never dumb down God’s word. While I admire his passion, I think he lacks wisdom.

Those who truly have the gift of teaching must guard against over-teaching a text.

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