'Missional Manifesto' Draws Thousands Online

February 23, 2012

12:13 PM

United Methodist News Service Photo by Corey Daniel Godbey

Hands in prayer

Values of prayer and relationship, as shown in 2008 by members of Methodists Associated for the Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA), are found in the Mission Manifesto.

An ad hoc group of clergy and laity have written a "missional manifesto" for The United Methodist Church that is drawing thousands of Internet visitors from around the globe.

"A Missional Manifesto for the People Called United Methodist" debuted during the second week of February. The document outlines "visions and values" for United Methodists that have grown out of face-to-face and online conversations among both clergy and laity.

"Spurred by concerns over continuing church decline, and the Call to Action project of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, people throughout the church have been talking over meals and via Facebook about their hopes and dreams, and their fears and concerns about where the UMC is headed," says the website's introduction.

The Rev. Jay Voorhees, pastor of Old Hickory United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN, originally offered the document on his personal blog site, Only Wonder Understands. As news of the document spread across the Internet, so many people from across the United States and all the way to Nigeria attempted to read the statement that Voorhees' blog site crashed.

As a result, he created a new stand-alone website at missionalmethodist.org to house the statement and receive feedback. Voorhees wrote recently on new site:

Well, it’s been a little under a week since we first put up this site as a place for thinking about the missional calling of the United Methodist Church, and we’ve been pleased to see thousands visit the site and several sign on in support of the manifesto itself. As we’ve said from the beginning, the hope behind this is to spur conversation about the foundational call (our missio dei) for the people called United Methodist, and we have loved to hear from those who believe that [there] is more to our call than simply putting butts in seats. [Editor's note: The latter statement is a reference to the Council of Bishops' Call to Action program goal of increasing membership].

So far, some 70 clergy and laity have signed on to the document, which is still a work in progress. Voorhees said that the drafters of the document are now working on "Version 1.1" of the manifesto, which they hope to release within the next week to the 10 days.

"I don't see this [statement] in opposition with the CTA/Vital Congregations initiative, but rather in parallel, offering a foundation upon which the practices (the so called drivers) of vitality can be built," Voorhees told UM Insight. "I truly believe that what the CTA misses in providing a sense of purpose and calling that provide meaning and purpose to the practices, and the manifesto attempts to offer a vision for who we are."

The revisions are based on feedback received to the initial document, and will include more sacramental theology and Trinitarian references, according to Voorhees. In addition, plans are in the works for a congregational study guide to accompany the Missional Manifesto. Individual United Methodists and congregations are invited to review the document in advance of the 2012 General Conference scheduled April 24-May 4 in Tampa, FL, and contribute suggestions via the missionalmethodist.org website.

Organizers have not yet indicated how or whether the document may be forwarded to the 2012 General Conference.

Drafters of the manifesto listed on the website include the Rev. Kenneth Carter, superintendent of the Waynesville, NC, District of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference, along with the Rev. Michael Rich of the same conference; the Rev. Ben Gosden, associate pastor of Mulberry Street UMC in Macon, GA (South Georgia Annual Conference); Jen Unger Kroc, a member of the United Methodist Church of Geneva, NY; John Meunier, local pastor of a two-point charge near Bloomington, IN; and others who have contributed through online discussions.

The Missional Manifesto's creative team said previously that the document had its genesis in October 2011 at a Wesleyan Leadership Conference sponsored by the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, TN. Voorhees' most recent post said there will be more conversation and "special online events" as the denomination moves toward the 2012 General Conference.

A Missional Manifesto for the People Called United Methodist

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These are all excellent and thoughtful responses to the Missional Manifesto. Since the document is still very much a work in progress, I hope that these readers will reproduce their comments on the missionalmethodist.org website for the benefit of the writing team. In particular, the issue of "churchy" and "archaic" language has been raised already in other online conversations, so the response given here can help move that revision along. Thank you.

Cynthia Astle more than 12 years ago

Missional Manifesto

I read the Manifesto, and most of it is good. However, there is something that troubles me.

I would have no problem saying "United Methodists assert that God’s love is the most important truth we know and the starting point for the story of salvation."

But I do have trouble with saying "United Methodists assert that God’s love, NOT OUR SIN, is the most important truth we know and the starting point for the story of salvation." The downplaying of the reality of sin is a serious error. Such a statement makes the book of Romans incompatible with Methodism - just read the first three chapters. There is no understanding of God's love unless we first understand that we are sinners. There is no scriptural holiness unless we understand sin.

The best statement of God's love I know is Romans 5:6-8: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This manifesto sounds great, and nearly all Methodists can affirm it. The problem is that it is nebulous enough to mean something different to all of them."

Somehow that passage seems out of step with the Missional Manifesto, or vice versa.

Mike Childs more than 12 years ago

Dismay at Missional Manifesto

When I read the “Missional Manifesto for the People Called United Methodist,” which is being proposed by a group of UMs, it made me want to cry. I was even more dismayed when I read that thousands of UMs are endorsing it.

I was dismayed by its use of masculine language for God, and by its literalist reference to “the return of Christ.” But most of all, I was dismayed by its advocating the use of John Wesley’s General Rules as a “common rule of life” for United Methodists in 2012.

You can read the General Rules on the UMC website at http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1658. According to this official UMC website, they were written by Wesley in 1735, nearly 300 years ago now. They are expressed in the language of 1735. While many of the rules call for behavior that some Christians still consider admirable, all of it is described in ways that are, to say the least, quaint for 2012. Some of the “evils” they require Methodists to avoid seem totally unrealistic today: “the putting on of gold and costly apparel,” for example. And to say that being a Methodist requires “a desire to flee from the wrath to come” seems totally unlikely to make any of today’s people want to join us.

Although John Wesley was an admirable Christian and an innovative and forward-looking one for his time, his time is now long past, and much has been learned about the Bible and Christian history since his time. For this reason, I am dismayed to see today’s UMs being asked--and especially to see many agreeing--to specifically “affirm the teachings of John Wesley” as the current Missional Manifesto asks. What seems vastly more appropriate for Christians in 2012 is to affirm and practice the teachings of Jesus as our best discernment leads us to understand and express them and to see them applying to today’s world.

Barbara Wendland more than 12 years ago

Missional Manifesto

Although John Wesley,in his Journal's and Diaries would often comment on the increase or decrease in the membership in the societies, he was much more interested in the ideals of the statements put forth by the Manifesto of spreading social holiness, preaching the love and grace of God and proclaiming the kingdom of God.

Rev Dr. Kathy Haley more than 12 years ago