A Last Word on Underwood

I've done something today I've never done before -

I've pulled my previous post on Underwood's merger with Colonial Park.

I was not forced to do this. I appreciate the comments on both sides of this issue that have been posted. I appreciate the calls and emails of support that are not posted.

The amount of traffic on that post indicated to me that it was becoming something I never intended. Here I thought my mama and a few of my friends checked out what I had to say about life, the church, the Tigers....who knew?

What I say, or comment on, about something that has occurred is not what this is all about. Based on the feedback I was getting, it was becoming clear that my post was becoming an issue and not that to which my post was attempting to point.

And I cannot let my comments on the process of this merger divert the necessary care that needs to be shown toward the good people of Underwood who are gladly merging with the good people of Colonial Park, or, and especially, the folks who have been spiritually injured and marginalized by this process who need a particular level of care from the church that they are not getting but deserve.

I was also motivated to give voice to key figures in my life from Underwood who felt theirs were silenced, or, in the end, didn't matter. It was not something they asked me to do - but something I felt I owed those who walked the journey with me in the initial days of declaring my call.

I do still very much have questions about the process - I think we all should have questions.

Mergers and closures are no small thing. And they need to be owned by the totality of the church. A Church Conference, not a Charge Conference, is the best way we have in our polity to guarantee that. A Charge Conference is the most politically expedient way to get a sought for end. A Church Conference is harder to make something happen, and it ought to be - but that which passes represents best the God inspired imaginations of the people who worship there, because it requires "conferencing" in the Wesleyan tradtion, and discernment of the Spirit of God from the whole.

It's a point to be reflected upon, because more than a few Churches in the city need to be honest with themselves about the future vitality of ministry in their current context amidst the prospects of new ministries in other places in need of being planted.

What greater witness have we, as we end our time in a given place, than to give ourselves away for the sake of the Kingdom?

It is how we do this that states most clearly our character as people of God. We cannot let the way it was done here be the template.

As it was in the first post, it is the "process" that I'm calling into question, nothing and no one else. You don't have to like that I've commented, you don't have to agree with it.

Get your own blog and knock yourselves out.

Oh, and I'm still voting against it - if you're wondering.

In the end, I'm thankful for that Church on that corner, and for those devoted people of God who are intregal to who I am. God bless, Underwood.

REPOST - "It's the 'How' That's the Problem - Or, R.I.P. Underwood"

With the transition between these two congregations having come and gone, and with a group of Underwood nomads wondering the Methodist congregations of Memphis looking for a place to call home, as well as a group content to never step foot inside a United Methodist Church again, I've decided to re-post this previously pulled article, complete with original comments - even the "anonymous" ones. I do this to keep before us the real pain suffered by this act of violence and the complicity of a system that let it happen. Oh, and I count myself as part of that system.

Some years ago, when Dr. Kervorkian's story was very active in the consciousness of the country, a poll was taken among United Methodists as to whether or not they believed that "euthanasia" was appropriate. Well, the "system" freaked out. Seemed that United Methodists, by something like 3 to 1 thought that euthanasia was an acceptable way to bring life to its close.

Missives emerged from the higher ups encouraging conversations that "death with dignity," which the Church affirms, cannot be confused with "mercy killing." Were theological hairs being split?

For the purposes of this post, I am not here to debate that issue. Rather, I want to report a case of euthanasia that has occurred in the city with a worshipping congregation. This congregation is a pivot point in my call to ministry.

Underwood is my home charge conference. I started the process for ministry from that church back in 1982. I stood before that charge conference, told of my call, and under Paul Douglass's superintendancy was voted upon as to whether or not Underwood would endorse me and send me on to the district. I still have that paper ballot stored away somewhere.

Those folks helped raise me. They are good, proud people who have cared for and loved each other well for 50 years. That congregation, no larger than it is, has spawned an extraordinary number of clergy into our conference -a fraternity of which I'm proud to be a part. And while my progressive leanings may not resonate with their worldview I've never doubted that they were proud to count me as one of their own.

At this point I want to be clear:

What I comment on is my understanding of what has recently transpired in the official actions of the legislative body of that congregation. It is not my intent nor perogative to interfere in the actions of another congregation - even one I love deeply.

But since official action has taken place, I do believe I am within my right to offer comment.

By action of a recent Charge Conference, Underwood's last service will be March 2 and they will be worshipping with Colonial Park UMC thereon - even though the merger is not official until Annual Conference in June.

Here's my problem:

Underwood has been in a state of flux for a few years. Like a number of churches in the city they are among those who have found it difficult to establish an enduring niche for ministry in their community beyond the legacy of their own story.

They didn't need to be told that. They have been very self-aware.

This issue is not whether or not they should close, merge, or do any of those things that a chartered congregation may do as it ponders its future. It is a matter of process. And this process is replete with manipulations and distortions that signal to any who observe it that the end justifies the means.

By any objective measure, to have an exploratory committee formed in Advent and be effectively closed before Easter - in a year when Easter is extraordinarily early, is a study in haste - it is pulling the plug on a congregation. It is neither merciful nor dignified.

To have questions of congregational ultimacy determined by the Charge Conference, rather than the Church Conference, while "legal," is not the way to make such decisions. Why not have the congregation "own" this decision in total?

So, congregants made a decision based upon a picture that had been painted, a "truth" that had been implied that's official sounding enough to leave the impression that it must be so and fuzzy enough to wiggle out of when people finally start waking up, albeit too late, to see what's happening to them.

It appears that some of the congregation were left with the impression that if they didn't vote for this merger measure they would be closed by June - that the annual conference would not appoint them another pastor. Did that come out of thin air?

How could anyone consider a 12-7 vote a win, when 2 of the 12 are automatic, and as many as 4 of the 12 voted believing they had no choice? The Church, when it wants to reach a particular conclusion in the face of divergent opinion, too often bows at the altars of Robert's Rules and The Book of Discipline than the altar of Christ Jesus.

This is about voter suppression, and the marginalization of choice. Choice of what to do with their last days as a worshipping congregation - choice of exploration of all options of what to do and where to go - even their choice of when to say goodbye.

March 2 may seem expedient to some. I call it violent - and that's what euthanasia is - and if, when it comes to something like this - the behavior of those on the "winning" side looks more like a conquest than a covenantal merger - you have your answer of what track this train was always going to take.

So, you've got a few who'll go along with the program. God bless them, and I trust they find what they're looking for in this new arrangement.

But you'll have a large group of folks, whose voices were silenced, who'll speak now by their exploration of other options - any option other than the mandated one. And, you'll have a congregation robbed of its chance to say farewell gracefully - something that any of us would pray for upon the hour of our deaths.

And the saddest truth is - a relationship with Colonial Park may well be the best choice for Underwood - but the way at which it was arrived will scar ministry's potential for years to come. If this is the way we're going to craft an urban strategy for ministry in Memphis, I don't want any part of it.

There is a way to do this, one that is difficult enough - but grace-full. To do violence to a congregation is not it.

Oh, and when the annual conference actually gets to vote on this merger, even though it will be perfunctory - there will be at least one "no" vote on the floor of the conference. Mine.

Urban Strategy

Last week was quite a few days for Methodism in the city.

You may not have known that, or recognized it. The only local press on the event didn't quite capture what was going on (o.k. they missed it big time), and the only photo was yet another picture of the remains of the First Church building downtown.

Now, I don't want to diminish the impact of losing that historic building has had on the city - and especially so for the congregants of First Church, who really are First Church - but, c'mon, CA, there are more United Methodist churches in Memphis than First Church and, of course, all the press that is seemingly necessary when a new guy shows up at the little chapel on Poplar Avenue.

Oh yes I did.

So, what was it? This thing that happened last week that was launched in our very own L.P. Brown Fellowship Hall? Well, that's a really good question - and I'm still working on an answer. But here's what I can say.

We met, talked, prayed, toured communities all over the city in which we currently have United Methodist congregations.

United Methodists in Memphis, like so many urban centers, suffer from either inability, incapacity, and, in some cases, unwillingness to minister to those they find within their communities. It's something not unique to Methodists, but since that's the world I know, I'll speak to it.

In a rare instance of true leadership - the Memphis Annual Conference has asked that a 20 year strategy for Methodism be formed. Informed and shaped, in no small part, by the proven leaders of Methodist Healthcare, a team of clergy, laity, and denominational leaders were in the city last week to begin the task of articulating this strategy.

Now a true critic (not that I know any : ) would say that such an effort is at least 20 years late - but that perspective negates the reality of the moment, and the true belief that God has the capacity to work in and through God's people that will surprise us still - and I, for one, am holding hope that the winds of the Spirit will yet blow.

And we're going to need a whole lot of the Spirit's leading to be faithful to the task before us. We had representatives from every General Board of the church (even a couple of General Secretaries) present at these days of discernment and planning. At first, I thought they had come to tell us how to do it, but it became clear really quickly, that they don't know how to do it, either. They're hoping God uses our efforts to do something of meaning that they program into other urban centers where ministry is languishing.

Now here's what I want folks from Saint John's to know. Not only are we well represented on the team that will come up with this strategy, Saint John's will play a vital role in announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ through the United Methodist Church.

And while we'll be a part of the connectional effort to stabilize and revitalize the Methodist witness to the city - I say we don't need to wait for some larger strategy.

We already have one. What is it?

By doing what we do, and not apologizing for it - not boasting, but inviting - and always being willing to accept the challenge that comes with the true, radical hospitality of the Gospel - -

May God bless our efforts and may we be found faithful in them.