'Holy Ship! Holy Spirit! Holy Shift!'

Reflections on the UMC's First Fresh Expressions National Conference

by

Special to United Methodist Insight

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The first national Fresh Expressions conference Feb. 7-9 carried the theme of "Futuring Forward: The Reawakening of the People Called Methodist," but the title of one presenter's speech could be a better description of its excitement and inspiration: "Holy Ship! Holy Spirit! Holy Shift!"

The conference was held at my home church, Providence United Methodist Church, in Charlotte, N.C. Before the conference, I went to the Fresh Expressions website to learn more about the movement. Fresh Expressions started in the United Kingdom and migrated to the United States around 2010. This is a growing and influential movement. I am not a current practitioner or involved in any FX UMC endeavor, but I found three days at the conference inspirational and revolutionary. 

FXUMC is a national and local movement that is using the lens of Christ, following the powerful and human John Wesley and the fire of the Holy Spirit to be the church in a new way to our neighbors and our communities. However, conference presenters reminded participants that there are no easy answers and that those interested in providing Fresh Expressions must do the “homework.” Like any new endeavor, Fresh Expressions will require learning a new “language” to describe the programs, practices and methods of implementation.

The conference had 430 participants in attendance and more than 300 people nationwide on Zoom. All appeared excited to learn about the FXUMC movement. Among them were United Methodist bishops, church administrators, pastors and laypeople from North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, East Ohio, North Alabama, Virginia, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota among others. Many participants commented that "the host church had a well-organized and trained volunteer team that made a difference to the conference."

Among those attending was the president of the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church, the Rev. James Neelly. He said there are 35 churches with almost 2,000 members in the Bahamas, but that they, too, are losing members like the UMC. He was very excited by the conference and said he wanted to "get some Fresh Expressions happening in the Bahamas.”

Our host, Bishop Ken Carter of the Western North Carolina Conference, inspired us with his theme of “Social Holiness and Social Flaws.” Other keynote speakers included the Rev. Dr. Elaine H. Heath, former seminary dean and founder of a new Christian community; Dr. Candace Lewis, president of UMC-related Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta; the Rev. Dr. Stephanie Moore-Hand, vitality strategist for the Western North Carolina Conference; and Luke Edwards, FX leader and associate director of church development for Western North Carolina Conference.

Dr. Lewis and Dr. Moore-Hand especially drew lots of "Amens!" in affirmation of their assertion: "We can do hard things!" Also getting lots of affirmation was a quotation attributed to John Wesley: “Liberty is the right of every human being.”

The Rev. Rodrigo Cruz especially excited the audience with his sermon, "Holy Ship! Holy Spirit! Holy Shift!" He reminded the crowd of our Wesleyan roots and of John Wesley's love for reaching out to people. Rev. Cruz said he was thankful for Wesley’s travel by "holy ship" to America and for the Holy Spirit guiding us through this historic turbulence within the church and the world.

Rev. Cruz  concluded by describing a "Holy Shift," a needed change of attitude from exclusion to inclusion, from traditional ways of being the church (the inherited church) to new deeply spirit-led fresh ways to reach our neighbors. He described the shift as a movement from buildings and restrictive walls to being the church showing love, evangelism and mission “outside those walls” of doctrinal constraints and policies often filled with closed and fearful attitudes.

In addition to the speakers, music was a key element, starting every day with worship and following interesting FX workshops. Some topics included:

  • Dynamic Prayer,
  • Diverse Expressions: Reimaging Evangelism in 2024,
  • Listening Church: Deep Listening Catalyzing Effective Discipleship,
  • Doing Justice Together,
  • Planting Younger, Diverse and Inclusive Expressions,
  • Church Planting in the 21st Century,
  • Queer Expressions – LGBTQIA+,
  • Brew Theology,
  • Young People Want Church, “Church” At the Table, and
  • A Bilingual Ministry in Greensboro, NC.

Participants also had an opportunity to sign up for an “evening Emerging,” an experience of how Fresh Expressions has been put into practice. I signed up for an emerging FX experience for hikers in the mountains surrounding Asheville, N.C. The FX gathering happens every Sunday morning for Hikers at 9 a.m. Ron and Holly Johnson with their pastor’s approval, hold a mini meeting offering Jesus stories in a non-threatening way before going hiking – an FX for non-church people. The group may have some discussion, but no judgments or traditional worship. The gathering has 119 participants signed up and averages 8-20 hikers on a Sunday.

Many more innovative and exciting FX approaches were presented at the conference, and the presenters acknowledged that many have been successful but not every attempt was a success. However, many reported making new connections, opening discussions and increasing interaction with non-church folks.

The conference was filled with short, pithy words of wisdom that participants could adopt easily:

  • “We’ve often forgotten why we are called to be disciples – to love God, to love neighbor.”
  • “Watch out for doctrine that turns folks off.”
  • "There is an epidemic of loneliness; bring in new life and a belonging community.”
  • “Sometimes the church is too stuffy.”
  • “There is a difference between welcoming people and valuing people.”
  • “The hope for the Gospel is the local UMC. Incarnate the Gospel!”
  • “While we grieve our buildings, we have not loved the unloved people of the world.”
  • “Remember the power of Jesus, John Wesley and Martin Luther King Jr.”
  • “Go woke or go broke!”
  • “Fresh Expressions is not something other, it is the church.”

Bishop Tom Berlin from Florida spoke on the closing day. He counseled the excited crowd, “Don’t be superior to the current church. We need to be together, to be blended.”

The Rev. Dr. Michael Adam Beck, the UMC's Fresh Expressions director, closed the conference with a slide: “Passio dei: Reawakening the Heart Fire of Methodism.” Another Fresh Expressions national conference is planned for Feb. 21-23, 2025.

Overall, the conference's emphasis was for United Methodists to be the church in the world. We were urged to recognize the Holy Spirit stirring within us to reach the lonely, the outcasts, the NONES, the DONES, the hurt, so many not yet touched or influenced by the Agape love of the living Christ. Fresh Expressions doesn't seek “butts in the pews,” but to spread Christ’s love through into the streets, neighborhoods, and places of activities that need our nonjudgemental and non-threatening love.

Resources

Check out these books for more information on Fresh Expressions:

"Fresh Expressions In A Digital Age: How The Church Can Prepare For a Post-Pandemic World" by Michael Adam Beck and Rosario Picardo.

"Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church for People Not in Church" by Bishop Kenneth H. Carter Jr. and Audrey Warren.

"Fresh Expressions United Methodist: A Distinctly Wesleyan Spirit-Led Movement of New Christian Communities that Serve The Present Age," written by numerous authors and contributors.

"A Field Guide to Methodist Fresh Expressions" by Michael Adam Beck with Jorge Acevedo.

Also, Amplify Media, an online platform of the United Methodist Publishing House, has launched a new channel on Fresh Expressions. "Hosted by Rev. Beck, the channel highlights case studies of these new Christian communities that are reaching people outside church walls," according to UM News,

Learn more

Watch channel

Gene Buccelli calls himself a “doubting Thomas,” and a church critic over the years. He was baptized in the Baptist church (Southern and American Baptist Church aligned in Washington, D.C.). He found the United Methodist Church during its historic merger in 1968 "as both Jesus and John Wesley’s love and acceptance embraced me." He has been a member of Providence UMC in Charlotte, N.C., since 2001.