Special to United Methodist Insight
The greatest gifts I have received in ministry were the gifts of community and conversation across the diversity of culture, theology, ethnicity and region. Whether it was serving in the local church, in the district, in the annual conference or even in the general church, God has blessed me with community that has been built over time through relationships. No matter where I go in this connection, I run into people I have met before in other parts of our connection. People whom I have come to love and value for their unique thoughts, ideas, experiences and passions. People who have pushed me, challenged me, and even transformed me by offering their perceptions about life, love, and the grace of God. As a disciple of Jesus Christ through The United Methodist Church, I am transformed day in and day out because of these relationships built through our connections.
So, with that as my confession, I want to share my thoughts about our beloved United Methodist Church and what I believe to be the greatest gift for our community of believers for such a time as this. But, first, let me couch it through a story of young theologians and academics who wrestled with the topic at hand.
One evening after a Christmas Conference of the John Wesley Fellowship, I wandered into a conversation with several young theologians and academics who were struggling with the panel discussions that were presented that day. They were struggling because the voices that were offered did not represent the fullness of the scope of diversity that existed amongst the Fellowship of scholars. With that, they were longing for the deeply theologically grounded, diversely challenging view points to invite them into more critical dialogue of the topic at hand. Rather than waiting for someone else to organize the conversation, I said, “Well, why not have the conversation now? Each of you comes from an academic training that differs from the other and each of you loves the church, so let’s engage.” These incredible young scholars lovingly, graciously, passionately offered their points of view of the topic that has deeply divided the church and still walked away agreeing that there is a greater unity, a greater vision that brought us together. We talked until the early morning hours, in the safe space of love and grace for one another and the church. It was a truly transforming experience for me as I witnessed and joined these young leaders in finding the voice of the Holy Spirit in our moment of Holy Conferencing.
This little group embodied my understanding of The United Methodist Church that night. Whether we were 10 people or 10,000 people or 10,000,000 people, I believe at the heart of Methodism is this gift of community and conversation that allows us to use our minds, strengthen our hearts and connect our souls through the gospel of Jesus Christ. For me, there is no option to say, “Just because I don’t understand you, I don’t agree with you, or I don’t believe what you believe, is the option to walk away from our brothers and sisters.” As the apostle Paul reminds us is 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, “Christ is just like the human body – a body is a unit and has many parts; and all parts of the body are one body, even though there are many…” We know this! That is one of the things I love about our Christian faith.
The members of the Commission on a Way Forward also offered a theological reflection that resonates with my experience in our beautifully diverse global connection.
They remind us that “The church fulfills its mission not at the center of its institutional life, but at the edge, the margins where it engages the world in a variety of contexts. The role of leadership in the church is to draw the attention of the church toward the margins. It’s at the margin that people who belong to the church engage other people beyond the church with the evangelistic mission of the church, inviting them to the spiritual life.”
They then lift up Paul’s letter to the Corinthians where he “speaks to the complexity of this task when he writes, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law….(1 Corinthians 9:20-23) In other words, he learned to adapt to the culture, listen carefully to the people and become part of these communities in order to bring the gospel witness to them and amongst them. This was a critical method for evangelism for Paul that is not far from who we as United Methodists are today.
As a member of the mission agency of The United Methodist Church, I can tell you that we have so many gifts to offer the world as the united body of Christ, bound together by our mission of “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Every corner of our connection, I have discovered these groups of grace who come together to share God’s love with the people who are most in need. I have learned about the challenges of evangelism in a war- torn communities like Central Africa Republic where Muslims and Christians bitterly fight for power and control, destroying people’s lives. And yet, we are making a difference, by inviting United Methodist Christians to love one another and show grace and God’s love to their Muslim neighbors. That’s who we are as The UMC.
I witnessed passionate leaders from the United States and Honduras finding ways to alleviate human suffering right in their own home country by educating children and empowering pastors to spread God’s love in-spite of the terrors the people experience causing thousands of people to want to flee from their homes. That’s who we are as The UMC.
As one of the young scholars from the Christmas Conference said, “Even though I don’t agree with everyone on this particular topic, I think the greater sin would be schism. As a church historian, I believe that our forefathers have shown us what damage is done when the body of Christ is broken.”
My hope is that the delegates of General Conference and the community of influencers surrounding them will remember to listen and remember what we have learned from our past, focus in on the gifts of our connection in the present and follow the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit for our future. I really don’t know what the body believes it will be, but the Holy Spirit in my heart is calling me to remember the Body of Christ.
The Rev. Amy Valdez Barker. Ph.D., an ordained deacon in the North Georgia Annual Conference, serves as the Executive Director of Global Mission Connections for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in Atlanta, Ga.