______Called to Witness, ______Care and Act ______Serving as in Extraordinary Times ______

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______Congregational Ministry = ______Ministry of the + Skills and Experience ______of Professional Clergy ______

______The primary lay ______What is a representative of the laity in the local church Local Church ______Lay Leader? Shall be one Lay Leader ______for each church on a ______¶251 in the charge 2016 Book of Discipline ______Encourage use of Associate Lay Leaders ______

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______Charge Conference ______Church Council ______Committee on Finance ______

Local Church Committee on Nominations and Leadership ______Lay Leader is a Development member of: ______Staff/Parish Relations ______

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______Lay Servant Ministries ______

• Certified Lay Servant • Certified Lay Speaker ______• Certified Lay Minister ______

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______First Quarter: District leadership training, ______Orientation for new leaders

Second Quarter: Annual ______Conference (June) – For your educate before/report after ______planning Third Quarter: Celebration of church’s ministry ______(Charge Conference) ______Fourth Quarter: Clergy appreciation Sunday, Laity ______Sunday, District Conference

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Some groups, like The and many others, ______understood the role of the laity on the frontier when we had circuit riders before the day of seminary trained “professional” clergy. What happened: Laity turned ministry over to the “professional” who ______became the congregation’s hired gun who was to play pastor fetch, do all the ministry, and change all the spiritual diapers. Is it any ______wonder the UMC is in such deep trouble in the U.S.?

Failure to encourage and promote the proper role of the pastor and ______laity is the primary reason our God’s people have not matured or “gone on to perfection” and our churches are riddled with conflict. ______

- “Role of Lay Leadership,” The Effective Church Group ______https://effectivechurch.com/role-of-lay-leadership/

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______Interpreting our ______structure and ______context ______Connectional system of our denomination ______

______Seeking Overcoming Health and Poverty Interpreting our Wholeness ______Together for All structure and ______context ______Four areas of focus Leading Making New Where God Disciples in ______Calls New Places ______

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______VAUMC.ORG/LAITY ______Martha Stokes ______Virginia Conference Lay Leader [email protected] or [email protected] ______

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Section II of The United Methodist Church Book of Discipline, 2016 Ministry of All Christians

“The ministry of the laity flows from a commitment to Christ’s outreaching love. Lay members of The United Methodist Church are, by history and calling, active advocates of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every layperson is called to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20); every layperson is called to be missional. The witness of the laity, their Christ-like examples of everyday living as well as the sharing of their own faith experiences of the Gospel, is the primary evangelistic ministry through which all people will come to know Christ and The United Methodist Church will fulfill its mission.” The Ministry of the Laity, Paragraph 127 2016 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church

“The ministry of all Christians in Christ’s name and spirit is both a gift and a task….Baptism is followed by nurture and the consequent awareness by the baptized of the claim to ministry in Christ placed upon their lives by the church. Such a ministry is confirmed by the church when the pledges of baptism are accepted through profession of faith, and renewed for life and mission. Entrance into and acceptance of ministry begin in a local church, but the impulse to minister always moves one beyond the congregation toward the whole human community. God’s gifts are richly diverse for a variety of services; yet all have dignity and worth.”

Ministry as Gift and Task, Paragraph 129 2016 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church

Not from the Book of Discipline, but worth pondering….

One comes to understand that as important and valuable as our called pastors are to the life of the Church, God’s greatest need is truly not for more preachers. God’s greatest need is for more committed lay people who will witness for Christ in their everyday lives. Those who are called to the full time pastorate are vital as spiritual leaders; however, pastors will tell you that people are mostly won to Christ not from the pulpit or from evangelists or from books…as important as all these are. Pastors will tell you that most people are won to Christ through some person’s caring about them, through some person’s sharing the love of Christ with them, through the witness of some Christian person. Souls are most often won for Christ individual to individual.

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PARTNERS IN MINISTRY: A LEADERSHIP MODEL

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.” - Exodus 18:17-18 NRSV

PARTNERS IN MINISTRY ASSUMPTIONS 1. All baptized Christians are called into ministry. 2. There are no levels of leadership in the church, only different functions depending upon personal gifts and graces, the call of God, and the confirmation of the church. 3. To be effective, laity and clergy need to work as teams in every local situation and abide by an agreed upon set of ground rules for behavior. 4. In order to fulfill assumption number three, clergy and laity need to receive skill training in how to live by the ground rules and they need to receive this training together.

Ground Rules  All team members are committed to Jesus Christ and to a shared vision for the church.  All team members seek win/win solutions to problems, conflicts or any other issues that arise.  All team members keep their agreements and are open and honest in their communications.  All team members assume 100% responsibility for the results that are produced and do not engage in blaming and justifying.  All team members agree to live by the HEART principles: Hear and understand me; Even if you disagree, please don’t make me wrong; Acknowledge the greatness in me; Remember to look for my loving intentions; Tell me the truth with compassion.

PARTNERS IN MINISTRY By Darlene Amon

Everywhere you look you see the word partner—on billboards advertising banking services, in newspaper ads for insurance companies, on TV programs about nursing care, not to mention the number of Internet sites touting partners in their name.

In the church we have talked about a partnership between lay and clergy for several years. Many written articles have appeared across the denomination, and we heard about partners as a new style of leadership. While some conferences have even had Partner in Ministry themes, lay and clergy need to accept a few basics before actually knowing how to practice partnership in ministry.

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First, we need to have a clear understanding of our call: All baptized Christians are called into ministry. For most of us, baptism means an invitational rite into the body of Christ that represents the forgiveness of sin and the newness of life in Christ. But who associates baptism with a call to ministry? In I Corinthians 12:13, the apostle Paul makes a connection between the Holy Spirit and baptism as a sign of entrance into ministry of the whole body. Historically, our emphasis in baptism has been on the benefits received and not on the claim of Christ on the one baptized. We forget that the Holy Spirit empowers us to give our life away in service to Christ—that’s being in ministry.

We must understand, accept, and live the fact that in God’s design all baptized Christians are called into ministry. That means none of us can sit back and coast or let someone else minister on our behalf. Each believer has GOD-given abilities to strengthen the whole body, and “ministry” is what God does through the entire body—not just clergy and not just laity, but the whole body, together as partners. It may take some transformation for that to happen, but then that should be the fundamental nature of the church—transformation in our own lives as we accept Christ as Lord and Savior…transformation for our churches as those called discover their God-given gifts…transformation when lay people catch the vision that ministry belongs to them, as well as to clergy.

There is a church where the Lord is using the laity in dynamic ways, in what were traditionally clergy-oriented roles of pastoral care. It began with a highly intentional school to equip individuals who already showed signs of spiritual giftedness. Even some indication of resistance from the larger church body which said “that is a job for the pastor” didn’t keep the caregivers from tripling in size to meet the needs of the congregation. It became apparent that the laity, through the work of the Spirit, were the real transforming agents in the church. A congregation is limiting the church and limiting God if they say the pastor must be the only person to do the work of Christ.

Once we realize that we are all ministers called to be about the basics of transformation, we need leadership (see “Spiritual Leadership?” Links, May 1998). This new style of partnership calls for ministry and leadership to be shared by the pastor and local church laity. It calls for teams of lay and clergy to trust each other, to always seek win/win solutions, to keep agreements, and to assume full responsibility. We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are. When we risk enough to move from where we may have been for years by opening ourselves to the transforming work of God in Jesus Christ, there’s no telling what will happen in our lives, our churches, and our .

Partners in Ministry, let’s reach out together to make disciples of Jesus Christ!

Darlene Amon served as Virginia Annual Conference Lay Leader, 1994-2000

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STRUCTURE OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

The structure of The United Methodist Church centers around mission and ministry for Christ. The United Methodist Church is organized structurally as:  The General Conference which meets every four years (quadrennium) to enact legislation and adopt resolutions and is the only body that can speak for the entire denomination.  The Judicial Council which interprets legislation from the General Conference  The Council of Bishops which has oversight of the Episcopal areas in the US and the Central Conferences  Jurisdictional Conferences based on geographical and regional divisions of the United States  Central Conferences for the Church outside the United States  Annual Conferences  Districts  Local churches and charges.

The General Conference may modify The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church and adopt resolutions to be placed in the Book of Resolutions. Legislation is passed by General Conference; however, legislation that would change the Constitution of The United Methodist Church must be affirmed “by two-thirds affirmative vote of the aggregate number of members of the several annual conferences present and voting…” (¶59, 2016 Book of Discipline.)

The Judicial Council is in attendance during General Conference sessions. When requested to do so, the Council reviews the constitutionality of proposed legislation.

The annual State of the Church Report is a resource to help evaluate our current realities within The United Methodist Church, to celebrate the momentum of our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and to identify opportunities and challenges as we move forward in ministry. The report is presented by the Connectional Table (the denomination’s “church council”) in collaboration with the Council of Bishops and the General Council on Finance and Administration. The State of the Church report is a great educational resource for all church leaders. The report can be found at: http://ee.umc.org/who-we- are/state-of-the-church-report

In our connectional system, many often think we have a headquarters or "home" of the denomination when we do not. The general (churchwide) agencies of The UMC are spread across the United States.  The office of the Council of Bishops, Board of Church & Society, and General Commission on Religion and Race are in Washington, DC.

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 The office of the Connectional Table (the "church council" for the denomination), Wespath (Pensions & Benefits), and General Commission on the Status and Role of Women are in the Chicago area.  Global Ministries is in Atlanta.  Archives and History is in Madison, NJ.  The United Methodist Women's office is in New York City.  Communications, , Finance & Administration, Higher Education, United Methodist Men and the Publishing House are in Nashville.

The general agencies and commissions are mandated to work within the provisions of The Book of Discipline and in harmony with The Book of Resolutions. So, just as an example, what might seem to some like a very political topic these days - climate change - is a part of our Social Principle on Global Climate Stewardship. When the agencies of The UMC speak in support of caring for God's creation, they are voicing what is in our Social Principles.

Here are membership statistics for The UMC from the 2019 State of the Church report.

Jurisdictions

Annual conferences in the United States are grouped regionally into 5 jurisdictions. The Virginia Conference is among the fifteen Annual Conferences in the Southeast Jurisdiction (SEJ).  The Jurisdictional Conference which meets every 4 years following the General Conference elects the Bishops which serve within that jurisdiction.

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 A Jurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy determines which Bishop will serve in each annual conference.

Regional bodies, similar to our jurisdictional conferences, outside the United States are called Central Conferences.

The Local Church, Districts, and Annual Conference

The local church is the basic unit of the denomination’s structure. Each local church in the United States is part of a district, an administrative grouping of generally 40 to 80 churches with a full-time superintendent. The Bishop appoints full-time Elders to serve as District Superintendents. This group is referred to as the Bishop’s Cabinet.

Local churches are organized into annual conferences that meet yearly for legislative purposes. Annual conferences approve programming and budget, examine and approve candidates for ministry, elect conference leaders, and in our case, approve continuing relationships with health and welfare institutions.

People jokingly say the Virginia Conference covers the state by geographical boundaries to the north, east, and south, but only as far west as Virginia Tech. The western boundary line is basically the borders of Montgomery and Patrick Counties. The Virginia Conference takes in one local church in Knotts Island, NC.  Many people are surprised to find that approximately 86% of our local churches in the Virginia Conference have 150 or fewer people in average worship attendance, putting them into the small membership church category.  More and more small churches are being served by Part-Time Local Pastors and Lay Supply, the majority of whom work other full-time jobs.

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 Only about 4% of our Virginia Conference churches had an average worship attendance of 351+ pre-COVID. This puts them in a “large church” category for our conference; however, this average worship attendance is small compared to true large size churches in the denomination.

Local Church Leadership Structure

Each local church has the right to determine the structure which will enable the church to effectively engage in ministry. The suggested structure in The Book of Discipline is the N.O.W. organization. The important key to the N.O.W. organization is that the local church is given the flexibility to mold its ministries to follow God’s Vision for the local church, to meet the needs of its congregation, and to be in mission to the local community and to the world. No longer is the local church bound by rigid structure that may inhibit the mission and ministry of the church. Freedom, within certain guidelines, has been given for ministry to be created following God’s instructions thereby meeting the needs of both the congregation and the community.

 Nurture ministries in a local church include the Sunday School, various kinds of worship services, and stewardship as a lifestyle.

 Outreach is the community ministries of compassion and advocacy. These are ministries that deal with church and society issues, global ministries (missions), welfare ministries, issues concerning women and race. Outreach ministries may be ministries that feed the hungry, that reach those in jail, that care for abused women and children, that minister to older adults or young children, that repair homes of the needy, that minister to people of differing cultures.

 Witness includes evangelistic outreach, membership care perhaps through shepherding programs, spiritual formation through Bible study and prayer ministry, communications through a church newsletter, lay speaking to better prepare laity to be in nurturing and caring ministries and to speak for Christ.

Many churches are moving toward a simplified church structure. From the 2016 Book of Discipline – Alternative Structure ¶ 247.2:

The charge conference, the district superintendent, and the pastor, when a pastor has been appointed, shall organize and administer the pastoral charge and churches according to the policies and plans herein set forth. When the membership size, program scope, mission resources, or other circumstances so require, the church conference may, in consultation with and upon the approval of the district superintendent, modify the organizational plans, provided that the provisions of ¶ 243 are observed.

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Churches are encouraged to develop a church management structure that best serves the mission and ministry of the congregation in accordance with the Book of Discipline and in conversation with the people of the church and your district superintendent.

Resources:  Mission Possible: A Simple Structure for Missional Effectiveness by Kay Kotan and Blake Bradford can be used as a book study for church council, nominations and leadership development and other ministry teams.

 A PowerPoint presentation for the Virginia Conference churches participating in Next Level Innovations: https://www.nextlevelinnovations.org/wp- content/uploads/2018/05/PresentationHandoutVA040718-Kay.pdf

 North Georgia Conference One Board Model resources: https://www.ngumc.org/oneboard

 The Arkansas Conference Center for Vitality has an online workbook: https://vitality.arumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Simple-accountable-leadership- ARUMC-workbook-online.pdf

What are the Four Areas of Ministry Focus? https://www.umc.org/en/content/four-areas-of-focus-overview

The Four Areas of Focus express the vision and yearnings of the people of The United Methodist Church. Narrowing our focus to these four areas allows churches to use their resources effectively as they live out God's vision for the church.

Overcoming Poverty Together Christ calls us to be in ministry with the poor and marginalized. Our emphasis is on "with" – standing with those who are regarded as "the least of these," listening to them, understanding their needs and aspirations, and working with them to achieve their goals. It also means addressing the causes of poverty and responding in ways that lift up individuals and communities. United Methodists believe working side by side with those striving to improve their situation is more effective long term than top-down charity.

Seeking Health and Wholeness for All Knowing that poverty and health are intertwined, The United Methodist Church has been a key player in fighting diseases such as malaria and AIDS and promoting initiatives that improve well-being. The church had a $75 million goal to provide education, infrastructure, communication and prevention measures to defeat malaria. In fact, the death rate from malaria in Africa has been cut in half, thanks to international efforts such as the denomination's Imagine

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No Malaria campaign. A new "Abundant Health" campaign for the denomination would reach one million children with lifesaving interventions by 2020.

Leading where God calls The church needs leaders rooted in Christ, who have a vision for changing the world. Today's young people have fearless hearts, vibrant ideas and a passion for ministry. Their talents should be nurtured to shape the church's path into the future. The church must recruit young people — including women and people of color the world over — for ministry, equip them to be effective leaders and be open to where they want to lead us. We also must strengthen lay members, who are ministering at every level of the church.

Making New Disciples in New Places Around the world, United Methodists are innovating with what it means to be the church, planting new congregations and revitalizing faith communities in every kind of setting. United Methodists seek to re-evangelize the world so that we can reach more people, especially the young and those from diverse backgrounds. By being relevant and vital, United Methodists will touch more lives and draw more people to Christ.

Leadership Article: Steadfast Leadership

Nine Steps to Becoming a STEADFAST Leader

Source: Posted on the Veterans Enterprise website at https://veteransenterprise.com/nine-steps-to-becoming-a-steadfast-leader/

Retired Brig. Gen. Becky Halstead, founder of STEADFAST Leadership, LLC, and the first female Commanding General in U.S. military history to lead at the strategic level in combat operations, talks how she developed prime leadership habits in the Army that carried over to civilian life.

As I moved up the ranks in the Army, one thing that was important to me was remembering to lead my soldiers the way I wanted to be led. I had been led by many types of leaders – good, bad, and ugly – and didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of those I considered toxic or ineffective. That meant that I needed to lead myself first by being open to learning what leadership truly meant to me – by studying leadership styles of those I served with and for, and by learning from my own successes and failures.

Following that strategy, I discovered what leadership traits were important to me, along with the values and skills that made our military teams so successful. I wanted to share my leadership philosophy and principles in a way that would be easy for each soldier under my command to easily relate to and remember.

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I developed the acronym STEADFAST, and shared it broadly as the values that I led by and expected those on my team to follow. STEADFAST stood for Soldiers; Training; Excellence; Attitude; Discipline; Family, Friends and Faith; Accountability; Safety; and Teamwork.

As I approached retirement from military service and pondered how to best contribute as a civilian, I discovered that lessons learned in the Army (teamwork, leadership, selfless service, etc.) are needed in civilian organizations. In developing a business model, I decided to adapt STEADFAST to the civilian world (from students to corporate leaders). Following is a brief explanation for each letter in the acronym (with adaptations for the civilian world in parentheses).

S – Soldiers (Selfless Service)

Selfless service is what soldiers exemplify and their leaders must do the same. As a military leader, it was important for me to remember that it was not about me, but about the soldiers under my command, individuals who had chosen selflessly to serve, to sacrifice their lives for their country and their fellow soldiers if need be. Commit to being the best you can be, not for your own gain, but for how it will better the lives of others. Lead the way you want to be led.

T – Training (Trust and Tenacity)

In the military, we train together, live together, operate as a team, trust each other implicitly, never leaving a battle buddy behind. Leaders establish trust in their organizations by ensuring everyone is trained and enforcing standards at the same level for all. Training increases competence, and with increased competence comes increased confidence and trust.

E – Excellence (Encourage and Embrace)

An approach to leadership that will build excellence in any organization focuses more on teaching than on exerting authority. To build a team that flourishes, proactively extend yourself to team members, and reward the behavior you want to see without discouraging those who need additional training or support. Embrace rules, regulations and policies as structure to ensure standards of excellence are met or exceeded.

A – Attitude (Attitude and Approachability)

As a leader you will grapple with disappointments and challenges on a daily basis. Effective leaders take a deep breath, listen and reflect before reacting. Don’t ignore or avoid the situation–simply take the time to make a rational, unemotional response. Your attitude is the one thing in life you do control. Remember, just because you have the right to say or do something, does not mean you should!

D – Discipline

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Self-discipline is the decisive element for being the best you can be. Discipline determines destiny. In organizations, discipline is the basis for the shift from good to great. In the military and civilian worlds, rules and safety regulations exist for a reason and failure to be disciplined in following them can be the difference between life and death. In a disciplined and respectful organization, the environment is demanding but fosters trust and cooperation. Discipline is the number one leadership principle; when you are disciplined, all the other principles begin to fall into place for you.

F – Family, Friends, Faith

Success is a team sport. Many times the support of family and friends, and faith in something greater than ourselves, shapes our success. None of us have ever accomplished anything of consequence without support and belief systems. Relationships, from family and friends to God, help you get through the storms in your life. Leaders must be the calm in the chaos.

A – Accountability

Accountability goes beyond responsibility because it involves action and consequences. Being accountable for your own mistakes demonstrates leadership character, and true character is who you are when no one else is watching. To be effective, inspirational, and influential leaders, you must hold yourself accountable to the same high standards twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. You must also have the courage to hold others accountable.

S – Safety (Standard Setter)

Safety in the army is extremely important. Standards are established for the purpose of keeping soldiers safe and alive. Your values determine your leadership standards. When leading yourself and others, you set the standards for others to follow by upholding the values you identify as important to you in your everyday actions. You must be the standard, and never ask of another to do something you are not willing to do yourself.

T – Teamwork

Many times listening to those who live and work “where the rubber meets the road” provides insight that isn’t evident at the higher decision-making level. Leaders understand that everyone on the team provides a unique and valuable perspective or skill. Everyone on the team ought to be value added to the team. TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More. In leading yourself first, you recognize that a better “me” is a better “we.”

You each have at least one person to lead – YOU. Lead yourself by determining your core values and living them each and every day. The leadership journey begins inside.

About the Author Retired Brig. Gen. Becky Halstead founded her own leader consultancy company, STEADFAST Leadership, LLC, after 27 years of service in the U.S. military and experience as executive director for a leadership consultancy company. She specializes in inspirational speaking

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(nationally and internationally), developing leader training programs, leader coaching, consulting, and advising. Her inspirational book, 24/7: The First Person You Must Lead is YOU, is available at Amazon in Paperback and for Kindle.

Leadership Article: Acts of Compassion and Justice

What Would Wesley Think?

Source: Author Glenn M. Wagner, Michigan Conference Communications. Posted on July 30, 2020 by the Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church at https://michiganumc.org/what-would-wesley-think/

Rev. Glenn Wagner asserts, “It can be fruitful to approach today’s challenges with guidance from ’s visionary founder, John Wesley.”

What would John Wesley think about how United Methodists should be dealing with critical issues of our time?

It may be a stretch for any of us to pretend to know what a person who died 229 years ago on March 2, 1791, would have to say on contemporary issues of consequence or even believe that Wesley’s posthumous wisdom would be heeded. But I think we can deduce Wesley’s thoughts based on his writings, which include 400 volumes of sermons, notes, commentary, and correspondence. Many of the books written by John Wesley are still available in print. There are also many informative books about Wesley by authors interested in his life.

Under John Wesley’s leadership, Methodism grew from a small group of devoted believers into a global movement for Christ. The clear imprint of John Wesley’s spiritual ideas and personal devotion to the gospel of Jesus is still discernable in the organization, people, and spirit of the Church.

Just as Jews, Muslims, and Christians still honor the wisdom of biblical ancestors and Americans still seek guidance from our national founders, it can be fruitful to approach today’s challenges with advice from Methodism’s visionary founder.

Question: What would the founder of the world Methodist movement, that touches the lives of 80 million people globally and over 12 million people in the United States, say if he could be called upon to offer his advice today to United Methodists during a deadly pandemic?

Wesley response: John Wesley was no stranger to upsetting circumstances. Wesley remembered the fire in February of 1709 when, at the age of five, he was rescued from the burning parsonage of the St. Andrews Anglican Church in Epworth, England. His father Samuel served as rector there for

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40 years. John was saved in a dramatic rescue from the flaming upper floor. It happened after previous failed attempts to rescue him prompted an emergency family prayer for his survival and, brave onlookers made an impromptu human ladder by balancing on each other’s shoulders to reach John just in time. His parents reminded John that he was “a brand plucked from the burning.” Wesley learned under challenging circumstances to look for the presence of God amid each trial.

Plagues that caused massive loss of life were also a remembered part of life in England at the time of Wesley. In response to recurrent epidemics of bubonic plague, authorities in London instituted the tradition of publishing a Bill of Mortality each week. The “Great Plague of London,” which hit the city in the summer of 1665, is estimated to have killed between 75,000 and 100,000 Londoners (out of a total population of about 460,000). This Bill of Mortality was still being published in 1723 while John Wesley was a student at Oxford and he noted in a letter home that an outbreak of smallpox took the life of one of his university classmates.[1]

Because of his conviction that healthy living is assisted by responsible life choices made in gratitude to God, John Wesley studied and shared the latest information about ways persons can work to maintain good personal health. His book, Primitive Physic, promoted healthy habits. I believe Wesley would concur with medical doctors who advise safe practices for the sake of all during this pandemic. Wesley’s three simple rules, which include, Do all the good you can, Love God, and Do no harm are still sound guides for personal and congregational practice.

John Wesley is also remembered for his willingness to adapt his leadership for the sake of the gospel in a period of great change.

As Methodists in America encountered the challenges of living faithfully on the frontier, John Wesley first encouraged loyalty to the Church of England. When the colonies experienced rising tensions with England, Wesley wrote to his preachers in America on March 1, 1775, advising them to be non-partisan in their preaching. “My Dear Brethren . . . It is your part to be peacemakers, to be loving and tender to all, but to addict yourselves to no party. . . Keep yourselves pure, do all you can to help and soften all; but beware how you adopt another’s jar.” [2]

On June 15, 1775, John Wesley, responding to troubling news from America about the brewing conflict, wrote an impassioned letter to Lord North, England’s first Lord of the Treasury, urging official consideration of American grievances and encouraging a more peaceful approach to resolving conflict.[3]

When Wesley’s official attempts to encourage Church of England leaders to ordain and send additional priests to America failed and further complications arose when the American colonists secured independence through revolution, Wesley noted that God must be doing a new thing in America. Wesley then broke with convention and decided on his own to ordain and send new leadership for the fledgling American Methodists to help meet their emerging needs for the sake of the gospel. His original intention for Methodism was not to organize a new denomination but to provide help for persons who wanted to be intentional in their

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faithfulness. The American Revolution inspired Wesley to take a bold new step for the future of the movement.

On October 3, 1783, Wesley wrote again to the preachers in America asking them to abide by Methodist discipline and to accept the leadership of Francis Asbury as Wesley’s General Assistant.[4]

Based on Wesley’s own experience dealing with public health issues, unexpected conflict, and changing global circumstances, it is clear from John Wesley’s writings that he would counsel the importance of unity. I believe Wesley would promote a non-partisan commitment to the gospel of peace, while at the same time embracing changes that may be needed.

John Wesley would have empathy for the enormous suffering caused by this pandemic but would prayerfully observe with gratitude how the coronavirus is also creating a new opportunity for the church to be in ministry. I believe John Wesley would affirm the way that the internet today is carrying the gospel message to new people. John Wesley would also realize that if a virtual meeting is required to sustain the church safely in troubled times, he would be first among ZOOMs for the sake of Christ’s mission.

Question: What would John Wesley think about a church and nation being tested by profound division?

Wesley Response: John Wesley would remind United Methodists of the central importance of our personal decision to “live with a single eye.” Wesley began this practice during his days at Oxford University when he, with a small group of like-minded Christian believers, sought to order his life after the example of Jesus so that every aspect of his living was focused on giving glory and honor to God. Living with this single eye was John Wesley’s highest priority. This emphasis for all of his personal and ministry decisions was the reason he and his friends were ridiculed on Oxford’s campus and sarcastically referred to as “Methodists.” Wesley advocated throughout his life for the benefits of living with intentional method and loving God in all things. He believed that a person who lived without faith was like “an unbridled horse without course in a field wandering around expending much energy but to no apparent purpose.” [5]

In seminary, I was privileged to read pamphlets written and published by John Wesley that were available at the university library on this subject of living with a single eye. John Wesley’s pamphlets covered topics of speech, dress, finances, use of time, and social action on issues of public consequence. Wesley challenged his readers to consider all the practical ways we may each order life so that every aspect of our living is done in gratitude to God for the gift of life. I learned from Wesley that we live life differently when we live it each day with eternity in mind.

In a letter to John Morgan on January 15, 1734, Wesley wrote, “. . . let us agree what religion is. I take religion to be, not the bare saying over so many prayers, morning and evening, in public or in private; not anything superadded now and then to a careless or worldly life; but a constant ruling habit of soul, a renewal of our minds in the image of God, a recovery of the

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divine likeness, a still-increasing conformity of heart and life to the pattern of our most holy Redeemer.” [6]

Again stressing the importance of holy focus, Wesley wrote a letter to his traveling preachers on August 4, 1769, in which speculated about how Methodist unity might be preserved when he would someday be gone. “I take it for granted it cannot be preserved by any means between those who have not a single eye. Those who aim at anything but the glory of God and the salvation of men, who desire or seek any earthly thing, whether honor, profit, or ease, will not, cannot continue in the Connexion.” [7]

Question: What would John Wesley think about ministry with the poor in a time of great need and disruption to giving?

Wesley Response:

In regards to stewardship, John Wesley led the church by his sacrificial example. It is said that he determined how much money he needed to live and committed to giving the rest of his wealth for the service of the gospel. His rule for stewardship was “earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can for the glory of God.” [8]

Wesley’s will stated the last four British pounds in his name were to be gifted in gratitude to his pallbearers, so when his body was lowered in the grave, he would die with no assets and no debts. We can guess that Wesley would diagnose our current stewardship issues by keeping our focus not on our debts but the urgent mission of Christ, the transformative power of the gospel, and the immediate needs of the poor. He would lead by his sacrificial example.

Question: How would John Wesley counsel regarding acts of police violence against persons of color and the heightened awareness of systemic racism?

Wesley Response: John Wesley was a champion of social justice. He was an advocate in his day for better working conditions and in support of education for children. His last letter was written less than a week before his death to William Wilberforce, a young abolitionist leader in the movement to bring an end to slavery. Wesley offered his heartfelt praise and encouragement to this young leader:

“Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.” [9]

Wesley did not shy away from directly addressing social injustice. He encouraged Methodists to model this social witness in their groups and in their personal lives.

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Early Methodist class meetings, small groups of eight to 12 believers, met weekly for prayer, Bible study, and doing good works after the pattern of the Oxford Holy Club. It was their practice to spend time during each meeting asking each other, “How is it with your soul?” Members would then encourage each other to do good works. This weekly evaluation required honesty and love.

In Wesley’s correspondence, there are many examples where he offered an assessment of the observed actions of others. In his final letter to Francis Asbury in America dated September 20, 1788, John Wesley chided his friend, “In one point, my dear brother, I am a little afraid both the Doctor (Thomas Coke) and you differ from me. I study to be little: you study to be great. I creep: you strut along. I found a school: you a college! nay and call it after your own names! O beware, do not seek to be something! Let me be nothing, and ‘Christ be all in all!'” [10] In the same letter Wesley critiqued his friend for taking the title of Bishop and added, “They shall never by my consent call me Bishop!” Asbury later noted in his diary that this was a bitter pill from one of his dearest friends.

From Wesley’s point of view, the significant problems of the world demand our attention. He also believed we must never lose sight of the need to do the hard work of addressing our short-comings and maturing our own personal witness for Christ. It is clear from Wesley’s correspondence that sacrificial service and personal humility are to be valued. Positively impacting issues like systemic racism and economic disparity may be long and difficult struggles. We can begin with being more open to others and generous with our resources for the sake of the gospel. Wesley is remembered for his bold outward-facing vision, “The world is my parish.” He also taught his followers to recognize the importance of caring for their own inward and personal witness.

Question: What would John Wesley suggest to church leaders challenged to run worship services without gathering together and without congregational singing?

Wesley Response: A great challenge for John Wesley during this pandemic would be how to lead worship while understanding how the singing by infected persons is known to spread the coronavirus. Singing hymns of praise to God was an important way that John Wesley helped teach lessons of faith to early Methodists. He and his brother Charles used personal pronouns in their hymn lyrics to personalize the gospel message. Enthusiastic group singing of hymns helped people to remember and apply faith to life. John Wesley knew that singing is a great tool for learning.

In his rules for singing, Wesley concluded with “Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. Attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.” [11]

Given the current dangers of singing together in worship, I believe that Wesley would adapt worship to encourage believers to sing along at a distance, consider the words while the music

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is played instrumentally, or sing while separated outdoors. Wesley would support mask- wearing to inhibit the spread of the virus in public spaces. Wesley would seek to keep the blessing of singing to strengthen our faith while standing firm against the harm that unmasked congregational singing in enclosed spaces can cause during this pandemic. I believe John Wesley would urge Methodists to wait to resume pre-pandemic congregational singing indoors until a proven vaccine can make singing safe again for all.

Question:

What parting advice would John Wesley offer to United Methodists in need of encouragement?

Wesley Response:

Prayer is an essential part of Wesley’s “method” for giving glory and honor to God in all things. Wesley’s covenant prayer still offers comfort and direction for believers.

“I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

Notes:  [1] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 2  [2] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 165  [3] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 166-167  [4] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 197-198  [5] John Wesley, Causes of the Inefficiency of Christianity in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley VII London: John Mason, 1829, pp. 285-286

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 [6] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 27  [7] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 145  [8] John Wesley, Causes of the Inefficiency of Christianity in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley VII London: John Mason, 1829, pp. 285-286  [9] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 237  [10] Gill, Frederick, editor, Selected Letters of John Wesley, Philosophical Library, New York 1956 pg. 221  [11] John Wesley, “Directions for Singing,” quoted in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists ed. Franz Hildebrandt, Oliver A. Beckerlegge and Frank Baker, vol. 7, The Works of John Wesley (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), 765.

Leadership Article: Risk Taking

8 DISRUPTIVE CHURCH TRENDS THAT WILL RULE 2021 (THE RISE OF THE POST-PANDEMIC CHURCH)

Source: Carey Nieuwhof and posted at https://careynieuwhof.com/8-disruptive-church-trends-that-will-rule-2021-the-rise- of-the-post-pandemic-church/

Having been through a year like no other, what can you expect as a church leader in 2021?

In all likelihood, this year will lead the church into the post-pandemic world. It won’t be the light switch you hope for (and suddenly, we’re all back!). Instead, it will be a gradual emergence into whatever our normalized future looks like. But at some point in 2021 you’ll look back and realize most of the pandemic is behind you and the future is ahead of you.

The question is, what kind of new reality will emerge?

For church leaders, it will be a different world for sure. Since 2016, I’ve done an annual church trends post. For the most part, many of the trends have emerged and are still relevant to what we’re all experiencing right now. Some accelerated dramatically.

While no one can say exactly what the future holds, here are 8 trends I’m watching and would encourage you and your team to consider and process as well.

1. The Majority of Attenders May No Longer Be in the Room

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Physical church attendance has been in decline for decades and COVID in all likelihood accelerated the decline even further.

The average church has seen their re-opened attendance come in around 36% of previous levels. Almost no leader I’ve interviewed expects church attendance to jump back to pre- COVID levels for a while.

For years, most pastors didn’t know how to handle anyone who engaged the message or mission outside of their facility. Moving forward, many church leaders will realize that people who are engaging from home or other places will count just as much as those who are attending in a facility.

Over the last year, so many things have shifted home: work, shopping, food, fitness, school and (at least for a season) church. People have realized they don’t have to go to a building to engage. And as a result, some won’t do that nearly as much in the future.

As 2021 rolls on, many growing churches will see off-facility attendance (home partipation, micro-gatherings and distributed gatherings) eclipse facility-based attendance: the number of people participating in the mission who are not in the building on a Sunday will surpass the number of people participating in the mission inside the building.

More and more growing churches will embrace online viewing from home, micro-gatherings and micro-campuses as normal.

What pastors have to understand quickly is that this trend isn’t about people who are dropping out. It’s about people who are leaning in.

If you can be good with the fact that micro-gatherings, distributed gatherings and people watching from home count, then you can mobilize those people in the same way you would people who are in your building.

In the same way retailers have come to understand that an online purchaser is still a client, and restaurant owners have embraced the fact that drive-thru, take out and delivery can still be fulfill their mission around food, so church leaders have to get good with the fact that people who aren’t in the main room count. Your church is still around. The church is still around. It’s just left the building. In the post-pandemic church, it’s possible that the majority of attenders as well as your most engaged people may not be in the room.

2. Growing Churches Will Shift Their Focus from Gathering to Connecting

This leads us to the second trend. Historically, the church has wagered almost everything on gathering people in a building.

This year, however, growing churches will focus less on gathering and much more on connecting. (Thanks to Tony Morgan for this language.)

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Connecting people who are engaging from home both with the church and with one another will become an essential skill for all church leaders. In 2021, if coming to Christ means coming to your church in a set location and a set hour, you need a new strategy.

The easiest way to think about this is the same way church leaders have thought about small groups for the last 25 years. Almost no church leader today feels threatened by the idea that hundreds or thousands of people will be meeting in their homes to connect with other people. The church facilitates groups but doesn’t host them in a centralized facility. Instead, leaders simply connect people who want to be connected and engage them in the mission.

This is where the potential for Sunday morning starts to move it to the new direction.

Small groups by nature tend to be closed and intimate. Gathering in people’ homes and outside the building on Sunday morning (or off-Sunday) would consist of micro-churches that are outward focused. Think of groups, but with an evangelism thrust.

The good news is that this scales in a way that gathered worship doesn’t period. It costs less and produces for more.

Gathering people on Sunday mornings will be as important as ever. It just won’t all happen in a building owned by the church.

3. Some Pastors Will Try to Fill Auditoriums While Others Focus on Fulfilling the Mission

The first two trends are disorienting and it’s easy to see why they would seem discouraging to many leaders. It’s a whole new paradigm the church is emerging into.

Just search the comments on this blog or social media and you’ll see church leaders who are having a really hard time coming to terms with what’s happening. I get it—it’s hard.

As a result, the natural tendency will be to ignore Trends 1 and 2 and focus on filling up auditoriums again once everything is fully open.

That might create a short-term win but result in a longer term loss and missed opportunity. After all, for most leaders filling rooms was getting harder long before the pandemic.

So what’s underneath the obsession about filling auditoriums?

Often arguments include things like “Christians can’t forsake getting together” or “we have to gather in community.” That’s deeply true.

What’s not true (or biblical) is that the gathering has to happen in a building owned by the church (see the first two trends).

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As someone who’s led a church for two decades, I promise you I like full rooms too. A little too much to be honest.

As much as they make for great pics on Instagram and make you feel better about yourself, full rooms do not guarantee a fulfilled mission.

What’s under all this? Let me quote from a text a friend sent to me recently: It would be interesting to know whether pastors value in-person attendance more than distributed attendance (micro-gatherings) or online attendance. My feed had a lot of pastors quoting the stat that showed only people who attend in person saw improved mental health in 2020.

Personally, I saw that as very self-serving and bit dangerous as in “see…you need to come back to the building like I said you should…”

I’ve seen that in my feed too. (I also haven’t seen any pastor mention that in the same poll, low income earners, young adults and single people fared better than others. No one wrote about the political findings either.)

At stake here is a full room versus a fulfilled mission. In the future, leaders who only focus on filling a room will miss the biggest opportunity they have to fulfill their mission.

If the size of your vision shrinks to the size of a room you can fill, you’ve missed the church’s mission.

4. Growing Churches Will See the Internet and Their Buildings Differently

So, what do you do with your building? Great question.

You use it to equip people, not just gather them. Yes, people will gather in your building. And that’s awesome.

For too many years, pastors have been focused on one thing: Getting the greatest number of people in the room at the same time.

Sometimes that’s about ministry. Sometimes (honestly) it’s about ego. I’ll confess to both.

The church facilities of the future will be places where people assemble to be equipped to do ministry during the week. I realize that, theoretically, we’ve always believed that, but we often haven’t behaved that way. What we believe and how we behave are often two very different things.

The difference is that most of the people you’re equipping won’t be in the room. You may be speaking to them from the room, but they’ll be in their homes, in their cars, at work and in the community.

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Right now, most pastors are using church online to get people into the building. In the future, most pastors will use the building to reach people online.

Just because they’re not attending doesn’t mean they aren’t engaged or in community. They can and will gather outside a church building.

In the future, churches that equip Christians will eclipse churches that gather them.

5. Content Alone Won’t Cut It. Community and Connection Will.

The rush in 2020 was to get content online. Which was completely natural and appropriate.

Heading into 2021, the mood around content is shifting.

Pastors are complaining that views are down because people are ‘Zoomed out” or “Screened out.”

Sure, the spike in screen time has been a shock to all our systems, mine included.

But just because you personally feel screened out doesn’t mean the culture is. If you think people are screened out, run your theory by TikTok or Instagram. Apparently, people aren’t nearly as done with screens as church leaders think.

Which leads us into the fourth trend. Yes, content matters because sharing the Word of God matters…immensely.

However, many Christians now realize they can watch or listen to their favorite preachers, content creators and voices in the world today any time for free. So they do.

One approach is to try to equal or match the exceptionally gifted and skilled communicators out there. But for most of leaders, that’s not a winning strategy. You won’t be able to compete.

Growing churches (and yes, that includes small and mid-sized churches too) will realize that connection and community will win out over content in the end, and they’ll focus their resources there.

Nobody should be able to out-local or out-community the local the church. Absolutely produce the best content you can, but make the goal connecting with people.

When you provide connection (getting to know people, moving them into community, caring for them), it will provide a loyalty and sense of tribe that people can’t get elsewhere.

Therefore, make the goal of digital content connection, not consumption.

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6. Generational Differences Will Become Clearer Than Ever

Shifting gears a little, one of the creeping trends in the last few years is that generational differences are becoming sharper than ever.

While according to one survey, 71% of Boomers preferred physical worship as opposed to digital or hybrid church, only 41% of Gen Z preferred physical worship. Everyone other than Boomers had a preference for hybrid (a combination of in-person and digital gathering) or digital gatherings. Many studies these days show stark differences between younger adults and older adults.

And while leaders love to pick part data, try a simpler approach. If you think attitudes about worship, racial justice, sexuality, economics, and even things like climate change aren’t morphing where you live (i.e. folks around here are pretty traditional), talk to a youth pastor.

Youth pastors more than almost anyone else sense where trends are heading. If you want to get more personal, talk to some churched and unchurched teens and young adults.

While this doesn’t change core Christian theology, it does mean wise leaders will think about their tone and approach.

If you want to get a sense of how the dialogue is changing, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyon’s UnChristian is still remarkably relevant even fourteen years after its first publication while Faith For Exiles offers an updated perspective.

As Gen Z emerges into the workforce, attitudes and beliefs most leaders were thinking were aberrations and exceptions will become mainstream. Leaders who understand the emerging culture, its language and its values will have the best chance of reaching it.

7. The Political and Ideological Churches Will Lose Influence with the Unchurched

If 2020 surfaced anything, it’s how political and ideological some kinds of churches have become.

It’s easy in a tribalized culture to become tribal. And while that might score some short term points with like-minded people who are angry and self-righteous (both are characteristics of the political left and the right), in the long run it will diminish your influence with most of the people you’re trying to reach.

Unchurched people aren’t looking for an echo of the culture, they’re seeking an alternative to it.

Moving ahead a few years, the future church will consist of Christians who look, live and sound much more like Jesus than the political candidate of their choice.

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What many church leaders are about to face is this truth: Unchurched people aren’t looking for politics or ideology. They’re looking for Christ. I pray they find him in our churches.

8. Spiritual Entrepreneurs Will Thrive

These are hard times for all leaders, but as the dust settles and we emerge into the post- pandemic world, leaders who see opportunities instead of obstacles will thrive.

The missing gift set in the church is spiritual entrepreneurship—something the New Testament calls apostleship. It’s the kind of radical determination, innovation and fierceness the Apostle Paul showed.

As I wrote about here, the church today is filled with shepherds, to the point where shepherds are perhaps over-represented in church leadership. What we need most as we navigate new waters in a post-Christian culture is not more shepherds, but spiritual entrepreneurs.

Whether you call it spiritual entrepreneurship or the gift of apostleship, what we need is a new generation of Apostle Pau’ls who forge out in new directions. Who experiment boldly. Who dare greatly.

Spiritual entrepreneurs are the kind of leaders who will find tomorrow’s solutions when most leaders can only see today’s problem.

In a marketplace that’s in love with start-ups and new ventures, we need some leaders who are inclined to spend their lives in the marketplace who will take their God-given talents and energy and throw them full time behind the mission of the church.

Some of the ideas that will become widely embraced five years in the future are being birthed right now.

New ways of gathering people, mobilizing and equipping people and moving the mission forward are being developed as you read this. Micro-churches, the distributed church, community focused churches, the location independent church, and many other new forms of expression are leading the way into the future.

Right now, most of those approaches will get more criticism than praise. In the same way few people thought private citizens renting out their homes and vehicles to others was a good idea (Airbnb and Uber), so a lot of the ideas for church you’ll see in 2021 will be denounced and dismissed…until they’re not.

As is often in culture, the leaders you criticize today will be the leaders who coach you tomorrow.

So be open. A lot of good, messy, untested, might-not-work initiatives are going to launch. It’s out of that the future is always born.

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Ministry of the Laity Resources

General Church  The United Methodist Church website: www.umc.org  United Methodist News Service website: www.umnews.org/en  Ask The UMC information service: www.umc.org/en/what-we-believe/ask-the-umc-faqs  Resource UMC website: www.resourceumc.org  Discipleship Ministries website: www.umcdiscipleship.org David Teel, Director of Laity in Leadership 615-340-7179 [email protected]

Virginia Conference  VA Conference website: www.vaumc.org (File Path: VAUMC > Ministries > Laity) Dwayne Stinson, Associate Director of Influence 804-521-1135 [email protected]

Favorite Books for These Changing Times Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown. Publisher: Random House, 2017. Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Tod Bolsinger. Publisher: InterVarsity Press, 2015. Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts by Brene Brown. Publisher: Random House, 2018. Didn’t See It Coming: Overfcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences by Carey Nieuwhof. Publisher: WaterBrook, 2018. Embracing the Wilderness: The Shared Convictions of The United Methodist Church by Kenneth H. Carter, Jr. Publisher: , 2018 Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church for People Not in the Church by Kenneth H. Carter, Jr. and Audrey Warren. Publisher: Abingdon Press, 2017. Grace to Lead: Practicing Leadership in the Wesleyan Tradition by Kenneth L. Carder and Laceye Warner. Publisher: The UMC General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2017. How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season by Susan Beaumont. Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. Launching Leaders: Taking Leadership Development to New Heights by Kay Kotan and Phil Schroeder. Publisher: Market Square Publishing, 2019. Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way by Kenneth L. Carder. Publisher: Discipleship Resources, 2009. (This is the text for the United Methodist Heritage advanced Lay Servant Ministry course.) Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World by Gil Rendle. Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. Reckless Love: Jesus’ Call to Love Our Neighbor by Tom Berlin. Publisher: Abingdon Press, 2019. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Publisher: Broadway Books, 2010. The Post-Quarantine Church: Six Urgent Challenges and Opportunities That Will Determine the Future of Your Congregation by Thom Rainer. Publisher: Church Answers/Tyndale Momentum, 2020. Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times by Adam Hamilton. Publisher: Random House, 2018.

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General Conference August 29 – September 6, 2022 in Minneapolis, MN

Jurisdictional Conference Dates yet to be set at Lake Junaluska, NC (A Jurisdictional Conference cannot be held unless there is a General Conference)

Pray for our delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conference.

General Conference Elected Clergy: General Conference Elected Laity: Tom Berlin Warren Harper Lindsey Baynham Martha Stokes Meredith McNabb Shirley Cauffman Rob Vaughn Darlene Amon Rhonda VanDyke Beth Christian Mark Ogren Alison Malloy Grace Sun-khil Han Marshall Bailey Elizabeth Givens Jill Gaynor Jason Stanley Joshua Blakely Kirk Nave Jacob Paysour Jonathan Page Mark Elder

Jurisdictional Conference Elected Clergy Jurisdictional Conference Elected Laity Jeff Mickle Karen McElfish Doug Forrester Andrew Kissell Leigh Anne Taylor Kim Johnson Dan Kim Debbie Cali Tim Ward Phillip Mohr Chenda Lee Deborah Angerman David Vaughan Shawn Kiger Lyndsie Blakely Amanda LynnHolmes Lauren Lobenhofer Kenn Speicher Brian Johnson Neal Wise Jennifer Coffey Richard Underwood

Clergy Alternates Laity Alternates Drew VanDyke Colby Kip Robinson Esther Nanna Agbosu Brenda Brooks Gordon Keith Pruitt Carl Moravitz Joshua King Marie Hawks Rachel Gilmore Jane Wilson Andrew Willson Jerry A. Taylor Lynne Alley-Grant Jaydee Hanson Sarah Dumas Locke Maureen McKay Matthew Benton Michelle Hettman Carlos Liceaga

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