What if we Rethink Church?

This is my newsletter article for the newest edition.

Rethink Church. For some, this is an unspeakable task. They ask, “Why in the world would you want to change church?” For some, this is the most exciting thing that the United Methodist Church has undertaken in the last 50 years. They ask, “What took so long?” For some, this is another program doomed to languish in the sea of ineffectiveness. They ask, “Why should I invest in this when it will be gone soon and I’ll still be here?”

There are probably a dozen more perspectives from which to see the Rethink Church initiative. What’s yours? What lenses do you use to view the efforts of the global UMC as it seeks to put new tools into our toolkit? How do those lenses keep the efforts of this local church in perspective?

Over the years, many different metaphors have come in and out of “fashion” when talking about individual and communal efforts to “rethink church” and what it means to faithfully follow God. One image that United Methodists have continued to return to during our history is the image of walking. Walking with God. Walking together in community. Walking alone (in times of spiritual despair). Walking, one foot in front of the other. Walking, one of the first large motor skills a child learns. Walking, something that many people take for granted because they can and have never had a point in their life where they couldn’t. Walking.

Twentieth century Methodist missionary and theologian, E. Stanley Jones, wrote: “In walking, equilibrium is upset by every movement in order to make progress. The upset is to set us on our way. God has to allow enough upset to come into our lives to break up the equilibrium in order to make us move forward” (Growing Spiritually, pg 265, emphasis mine).

As we continue our journey to Rethink Church here at University UMC, I pray that your equilibrium is upset over the next three weeks. I pray that, like in walking, your equilibrium is upset to the point that it “make[s] us move forward.” Our church’s walk with God can only move forward by our willingness to endure disequilibrium. I would encourage you to track your moments of disequilibrium over the next three weeks. Ask yourself why those moments are producing such an off-balance feeling and seek God for an honest answer to the question.

As I mentioned on Sunday, the Rethink Church initiative is an effort of the entire UMC, but Jesus spent a good portion of his ministry attempting to get religious people to rethink their preconceived notions about what following God looked like. In addition, part of our doctrinal heritage as United Methodists includes “the sober realization that the church is in need of continual reformation and renewal” (Book of Discipline, Para. 101, pg 44).

Be on the look out for Rethink Church questions on your tables at Cornerstone Café and on the church website during the rest of this series!