{Many Questions and Few Answers Along the Never-Finished Journey of Faith}
The Motion I WISH I Had Made at Annual Conference
As much as I was enthused leaving Annual Conference here in South Georgia, I do have one regret: I wish I had made a motion from the floor to define discipleship for our annual conference. You see, I counted some 70 times that the phrase “making disciples for the transformation of the world” was mentioned in one form or another. But not once was that phrase defined or elaborated on. Much of our business set as its goal the “making of disciples” but we never defined discipleship clearly. My great concern is that we endorsed a great deal of business on the premise that we all understood and agreed on a basic definition of discipleship.
So I regret that I didn’t follow my gut and propose a motion that would do 3 things:
- Admit, as The United Methodist Church, that we’ve failed in our attempts to form disciples in the ways of Jesus Christ. This addresses something bigger than merely a decline in membership. This confession puts front and center the fact that we’ve been more consumed with our own self-perpetuation than we have the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Failing to make disciples admits that while we may have enjoyed some years of good attendance and participation, by and large we failed to make committed disciples of Jesus Christ. This is an admission that measuring our current health by the standards of 1968 is based on the myth that we were once a perfectly healthy church who formed disciples. The truth is while we may have formed many disciples, we also failed as the years went by in forming new disciples. Therefore 1968 should NOT be our baseline for success in terms of disciple formation.
- Locate the primary setting for discipleship in the local church. I’ve heard a number of people advocate the idea that discipleship can happen in different areas of church life. And while this may be true, discipleship must always be focused on the local church level first. Annual Conferences do NOT make disciples. Districts do NOT make disciples. There is no discipleship without a local community whereby disciples can worship, attend to the ordinances of God, participate in the sacraments, etc.
- Define discipleship as an annual conference. If discipleship is our primary concern as an annual conference; and if this concern is one located in our local churches; then it would be helpful to finally define discipleship as an annual conference. The goal of this was to form a working definition that could be lived out in a variety of contexts. Discipleship, at its very best, will have both universal values and local expressions. The goal of this definition was to define our values and priorities while at the same time leaving it open-ended enough to plug into any local setting.
Below you’ll find an example of the motion I wish I’d proposed from the floor of my annual conference. Maybe some of you will take this and tweak it (hopefully improving it) and propose it from the floor of your annual conference. If more of us did this maybe we could finally begin working towards the mission we claimed called us to.
Whereas, We admit that the greatest issue facing The United Methodist Church is a lack of depth of discipleship; and
Whereas, the local church is the primary and most significant location for the formation of disciples of Jesus Christ according to paragraph 201 of The United Methodist Discipline (2008 ed.); and
Whereas, it is necessary that we define discipleship as it pertains to life in the life of our local churches in the South Georgia Annual Conference and in the transformation of the world;
Therefore, be it:
Resolved, that the primary focus of ministry, proclamation, and life in the local church should be the formation of disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world — all ministry should serve as a means to this end.
Resolved, that the primary of location for discipleship are the local church communities across our conference — any conference-led initiatives towards the goal of disciple formation should be focused on how best to achieve this goal at the level of the local church.
Resolved, that discipleship is the process of being formed in the ways of Jesus Christ as taught in Scriptures and expressed in acts of justice, mercy, worship, and devotion under the empowering guidance of the Holy Spirit — all teaching and practice of discipleship should meet this criteria and be emphasized that such formation and practice is meant to be lived out both personally and corporately.
Member of Christian Century Blog Network
I Contribute to:
Missional Manifesto for the People Called Methodist
This was beautiful…
This was beautiful…thoughtful, and scriptural…
Glad this resonated with you! I appreciate your reading and comments!
I’ve enjoyed much of your writing this spring. Your blog was forwarded to me by a facebook friend and I’ve since gone on to share it with my son who is in his first experience leading for Young Life. We are a varied family of seekers and fans of Christ but lack a formal tie to a church or denomination. We are in some ways that missing disciple you describe.
I hope now that your annual conference season is past- and the resulting “conference fever” I know so well- I hope you will return to discussions of your faith, challenges, and readings. Your posts are a source of much good conversation on these topics. The conference stuff- meh. Not so much. The answers we seek- each of us and as communities- do not lie in the corporate or committee structures of denominations nor the articulated speaking points of elders. They lie in our hearts and our actions.
I look forward to hearing more on that. Thank you for your gift of sharing. I will continue to be an eager reader and avid fan.
Jeff
Thanks, Jeff! Don’t worry, there’s more to come outside of the “conference stuff.” I have a couple of books I’m reading through to discuss issues of faith, discipleship, and leadership. ‘Tis the season for UMC structure so I wanted to “strike while the iron was hot.” But don’t worry, I’ll soon be returning to more general matters of faith and practice. Thanks for being an active reader!!!
Bravo!
I disagree that the primary location for discipleship is in the local church. I was formed as a disciple in the following communities: the Mission of Peace of the Northeastern Jurisdiction, the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (which discipled like my local youth group should have), the annual conference, my campus ministry, and my seminary. I continue to be formed as a disciple in my conference residency group and my centering prayer group. Yes, the local church was the baseline for involvement, but true spiritual growth occurred beyond the local church.
Other than that, I support sections one and three of your motion
LaPeregrina,
With all respect, I think your response contradicts your position that the local church is not the primary location for discipleship.
You said the CCYM disciplined you like your local youth group should have. The local youth group is the local church and it did not do its job properly in forming you as a disciple.
Primary location does not mean the only location. It appears that you are or have entered the ministry. How many laity will benefit from attending Mission of Peace or CCYM or annual conference or any other experience outside the local church to foster spiritual growth? For most laity and many discipleship starts and continues in the local church. If the laity do not grow as disciples in the local church then where will they grow? Or at least as this proposal indicates it should be the local church.
I have had experiences outside of the local church which spurred my discipleship such as the Walk to Emmaus. However, the Walk to Emmaus sends its participants back to the local church to be and grow as a disciple. Just as your annual conference and seminary sends you back to the local church to be and grow as a disciple.
As you indicate, some may feel that the local congregation is not the primary area for making disciples. This may be because the local church has failed to form disciples for so long. For early Methodism the classes and societies were where disciples were formed. So, should the local church be responsible for organizing accountability groups or should this happen outside the local church? If the local church, who is hub for the spiritual life of its members, is not responsible in forming disciples of its members then who is responsible? Where is the primary setting? If no one is responsible, the task will likely not get done.
Grace and Peace
Thank you for pointing this out:
“How many laity will benefit from attending Mission of Peace or CCYM or annual conference or any other experience outside the local church to foster spiritual growth?”
After a lifetime of being Methodist and spending the last 20 years in the same church, I am struggling with the lack of spiritual growth enabled within my local church. After a “crash and burn”, I realized I was tired of the book learning and wanted to know how it “applies”. Just because I want to grow spiritually does not mean that I want to go on to ordained ministry or even be a church staff person. I want to know what it means to live a life centered in God 24/7. That is where the UMC has fallen horribly short and why it is failing–it quit teaching people how to live a life centered in God–it only talks about it–it lost its method and its message.
I have returned to the roots of Methodism in Wesley’s writings. Many of the descriptions he gives of himself pre-Aldersgate resonate with me. It is very frustrating to learn that the founder of Methodism tread the same path I have been on, used what he learned to ignite a revival that resulted in a denomination that has only repeated the cycle!
The basic thing Wesley did was to provide a structure in which people could live out a life centered in God. The primary/key focus was always the individual’s conversion/salvation and change of heart. And the primary duty of the church was to encourage each other in their spiritual growth. I recently read an excerpt from Wesley’s sermon, “On Zeal” that gives a wonderful description of a disciple. It can be found in Steven Manskar’s, “A Disciple’s Journal Year B” pg. xlii. Also under the heading of “The Wesleyan Way of Making Disciples” Manskar includes 2 stanzas from a Charles Wesley hymn: “Help us to help each other, Lord, Each other’s cross to bear; Let each his friendly aid afford, And feel his brother’s care. Help us to build each other up, Our little stock improve; Increase our faith, confirm our hope, And perfect us in love.” I can not say I have experienced that in my local church. This statement from another blog is a better description:
“Too many of us who say we’re “family” in Christ simply aren’t very engaged with each other. We coast along on the surface on Sunday morning, get our needs met, and act like that mythical “friendly church” until we’re out the door. We’re not fighting, but we’re not “lov(e)ing one another deeply…” (1 Peter 4:8).”
On my own, I “have gone looking” and have finally, at the age of 58 reached that “Blessed Assurance”! I always thought I’d be Methodist–The Wesleyan Church is looking pretty good on paper.
Thanks for the comments, Diane! We can agree to disagree here I suppose. By and large the only contact with the gospel most laity have is through the local church. If disciples are to be formed, it’ll happen for most in the local church first. But thank God for those other places able to pick up those lost in the gaps of local churches. Those other places can continue the work of the local church and faithfully help many be “changed from glory into glory.” Connectionalism is truly a great thing!
Thanks for putting this out there. You’ve inspired me to think what I wish I had put forward as a motion at Annual Conference. This is not to take issue with you. It’s just fun to play with the idea. I wish that I had made a motion that the Annual Conference, our leadership, and our congregations would do more to celebrate the discipleship that is present and too often ignored in the wringing of hands that happens that our churches aren’t growing in numbers in the ways that we would like. I’m afraid in our Annual Conference that by paying attention to what we aren’t doing – we miss what we are doing…all the time. I am always struck when the laity report comes up that the only thing (I’m not using hyperbole here) that is ever celebrated is the ministry of the laity in and through the agency of the congregation (vacation bible school, sunday school, mission trips, community service) – what is never celebrated is how people are living out their faith in their lives and homes (apart from the visible agency of the Church). Anyway…thanks for providing the opportunity to muse on this.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments! I agree that too much of our work seems to be concentrated within the walls of our churches. My hope is that by locating discipleship within the local church, local churches would then do the necessary work to send people out as disciples in the world.
Thanks for the great critique!
I couldn’t agree more with your post-conference motion. I also wish I had thought of something similar for my conference. I was somewhat discouraged with two of three resolutions our Church and Society presented, “A Resolution to Civility” and A [call out of the pew]. Both passed without opposition and little discussion. While I don’t disagree with either one both seem redundant, especially the latter. And how will either of these resolutions impact the local church and its members? How many will even know that it was passed?
I have two suggestions to ponder for such a resolution. One, in light of my issue that such a resolution would not be known in the local congregations I suggest having some type of identifiable action item. Such as, next AC focus on disciple building or weekly or monthly column/email/blog on building disciples in the local church and in homes.
Two, why make disciples and how? Why? In early Methodism all a person had to do to join a society was ascribe to “a desire to flee from the wrath to come, to be saved from their sins.” How? In order to continue in the society they were expected “to evidence a desire of salvation, by doing no harm, doing good and attending to the ordinances of God.” (Heitzenrater, p. 138). Something to consider.
Reaffirming and reclaiming our Methodist roots would have addressed both resolutions presented at my AC and much more.
(FYI, In July I will be leaving the great state of Texas for a few weeks for the great state of Georgia to attend COS at Emory)
[...] what it means when we say “making disciples for the transformation of the world” here, here, and [...]