I am a United Methodist clergy person. This next summer I will be a candidate for bishop within my denomination. Whether or not I am elected to this position, being a candidate gives me the opportunity to reflect on the church, its life and ministry, its future direction.

Recently I was asked: What Does The United Methodist Church Need Now as It Looks to a Future of Effective Ministry? Following are some thoughts about this question.

I think The United Methodist Church needs to ask itself what gift it brings to the world as a unique expression of the Christian faith. We need to ask this not in arrogance, but in an attempt to get to the heart of what it means to be a United Methodist Christian so we can truly offer our gift to the world. What do we have to offer the world in the name of Jesus Christ that may not be offered in just this way were we to disappear?

When I ask this question, it helps clarify a sense of direction for our denomination. Recently I read an article on Emergent Church and the Emerging Church movement in Creative Transformation, a journal of religious thought informed by process theology and philosophy. Process theology is theological reflection in dialogue with the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and others. I had the privilege of studying with a prominent process theologian while I was in graduate school working on my doctorate – Schubert Ogden. Anyway, as I read what some define as the central elements of this movement it struck me – John Wesley, the Anglican priest to whom Methodists trace their beginnings, did Emergent Church in the 18th century. The Emergent Church movement emphasizes the need to be engaged emotionally and not just intellectually in the Christian spiritual life. United Methodism at its best has been about expanding the mind and warming the heart. Emergent Church seeks to link faith with care for the earth, care for the poor, with compassionate action to make the world more just and peaceful. United Methodism at its best has always sought to link faith with good works on behalf of a hurting world. Emergent Church is about engaging more consistently in spiritual practices. Spiritual practices are the “method” in United Methodism. Emergent Church seeks to mine the depth of Christian tradition and creatively appropriate this rich past. John Wesley spent a great deal of time and energy mining the Christian past to bring these resources to bear on helping people live their faith more deeply. Emergent Church seeks to reach out with the good news of the gospel by developing relationships. At its best United Methodist connectionalism is all about relationships.

United Methodism has within its culture and ethos an expression of Christian faith that is attractive to, and needed by, the world today, if we only claim who we are at our best, and seek to renew and revive our tradition for the twenty-first century. Add to these emphases our sense of connection across the world and Wesley’s deep sense of experimentation and adventure in service of Christian faith, and we indeed have something unique and special to offer. I believe we can recover who we are as we think more deeply, dream more imaginatively, work more creatively and pray more diligently.

Whether as a bishop or as a pastor in a congregation, I hope to be a part of renewing this tradition within Christian faith.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David