Pilgrimage Ponderings
A Lingering Question
I am all about inviting people into relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe that we need Christian community in order to fully grow in that relationship. So I want people to belong to a church family, whether or not they actually join. I want churches to be places where genuine community is expressed and lived out, where people try hard but still make mistakes that hurt each other and then figure out how to pick up the pieces, together, and go on. I believe that effective leadership is key in helping congregations become these sorts of faithful communities.
So when I know all this is important to me, I wonder why reading things like The United Methodist Church's Call to Action Report gives me pause. You can read an article about it here: http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2454759&ct=8832343¬oc=1 .
The part that makes me stop and think is the whole idea of defining faithfulness in ministry using cultural definitions of success. I was recently reminded that God calls us to be faithful whether that faithfulness results in "success" or not. The Call to Action report suggests (to me, anyway), that unless the clergy of United Methodist congregations are able to make their congregations successful by specific measurements of faithfulness (attendance, involvement in the community, etc.), they should not continue to pastor churches.
I have often said that I do not make disciples of Jesus Christ and I do not "save" anyone. That's God's job. My job is to be faithful in loving God with all of my being, in loving my neighbor as myself, and in proclaiming the good news of God's love for all people.
I don't know whether I am successful in any of that or not. I do not know if my feeble efforts of faithfulness are effective, or make a difference. What I do know is that I can only work on, manage, change, or make something different happen in my own life, by the grace of God. I can cajole, influence, persuade, manipulate other people, but I can't make them do things.
My lingering question, I guess, is this: How do we measure faithfulness? And what are the appropriate measurements in our life together as people who seek to love God and one another? Maybe that's the same question asked two different ways. Or maybe that's two different questions. Still thinking....
J: Faithfulness cannot be measured on a church/congregational basis. A person’s faith is only known between them and God. He knows the true measure of their heart. I sometimes respect the Christian who does not openly display their faith or flaunt it to the world. We are all disciples of God and are called to lead people in many ways (some privately and some using neon signs). I don’t attend church as much as I should so I can’t be called a perfect Christian but I have seen those who do attend regularly conduct themselves in ways that aren’t very Christian like… am I better then them? Who is to answer that but God? I have been a member of a “big” church with tons of money and people and I have been a member of a “small” church (less people tends to mean less money). I personally see God’s face in a smaller crowd. However, I do see a need for a church to be “measured” (especially in the Methodist church because we do not hire or fire clergy). The only way that can be done is to look at the tangible aspects (attendance, tithing, programs and community outreach… the things that you can see on paper). As for you Kathy, you have been more successful in encouraging others to have a connection with God then you know. (10/26/10)
Kathy: J-- Thanks for your words of encouragement. And I appreciate ALL comments to my blog. I just told a friend who emailed me about this post that I really believe that we can move forward together as people of faith if we will talk with and to each other rather than talking "at" each other. Thanks for your honest responses. Blessings! K. (10/26/10)
Taylor Burton-Edwards: Kathy, Thanks for sharing your thoughts and questions, and for the invitation to honest dialog. Steve Manskar and I, along with a staffer at GCFA, presented some questions for charge conference forms that both addressed that disciplinary paragraphs about membership and discipleship head on and that, we thought, addressed the question you were raising as well. How can we measure faithfulness? What are the fruits of discipleship we can describe well? How do we show we are moving on to perfection in love in this life and helping others do the same? I've written about these-- seeking input from others to make them better, and perhaps even get them approved by the forms committee (which agreed they measured discipleship, but thought they would make the form too long and be too hard for most congregations to answer) next time around (2013). You can find those on the emergingumc blog. Your comment system won't let me post the link directly. But you can find it at emergingumc dot blogspot dot com slash 2010 slash 10 slash united-methodist-metrics-for dot html Peace in Christ, Taylor (10/28/10)
J: Sorry for commenting twice. I do see the need to evaluate a church as a business (very few people like to admit that but it is). For without the financial support of it's members it would not exist. It is particularly difficult this time of year when there is a push for pledging your financial resources (sometimes ten percent is hard but I tell people they should tithe more than they pay for their cable bill... God loves humor). It's an uncomfortable truth but the church needs money to operate and people have to give it. The article suggest that the "data-mining" not be opinion based... wow. My faith in God and my support of my church cannot quantified. Whenever I see words like reform, measure and consolidate I become concerned (it happens at the agency where I work and many things have not turned out for the better). Fallback on the principles John Wesley, how would he "measure" a church. (10/28/10)