Prophets without Honor

 

At last the draconian, Jesus-embarrassing folks in DC have finally done something that is Scripturally sound. I’m talking about the House’s resolution to condemn Bishop Budde, who dared to ask the president to have mercy on those who live in fear at the National Prayer Service. Bless their hearts for acting in accordance with all the small prophetic books at the back of the Old Testament that one can find only by looking in the index in front.

Prophets in Scripture were not the crystal-ball-peering fortunetellers that we imagine when we hear the word “prophet” nowadays. They did not foresee how long you would live, if you had finally found True Love, or who would win next week’s Super Bowl. No, the role of the prophet in the Bible was to speak God’s truth to those in power. In approximately 100% of the time, those in power did not receive this message warmly, as, approximately 100% of the time, the message from God would condemn how the powerful were currently wielding their power.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Amos were just a few prophets who proclaimed doom and destruction upon nations that thought that they were doing just fine, thank you very much. In general, the prophets judged kings and their kingdoms by how well they treated the widows, orphans, and foreigners. (Pick up any of the books of the prophets and read beyond the few familiar verses you hear on Christmas Eve about Bethlehem, and you’ll see the truth of this statement.) Micah 6:8 offers a classic summary of the prophetic message: “God has told you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah’s dictum is fantastic for Sunday school memorization. Other prophets are less family-friendly. Amos, for instance, speaks for God and announces, “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy. . .” (Amos 4:1) and, later, when God is even more riled up, “Take away from me the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” (Amos 5:23-24). Jeremiah’s insult to King Johoiakim was delicious in its detail: “With the burial of a donkey he (Jehoiakim) shall be buried---dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19).

By the standards of these prophets, one “have mercy” at a prayer service seems like small beans and unworthy of congressional opprobrium.

And yet it is Scripturally sound that the prophet would pay a price for their proclamation. Tradition tells us that several prophets were martyred by kings who hoped that shutting them up would get God off of their backs. There were lesser indignities of the prophetic life, such as Hosea who had to stick with a serially unfaithful wife and give his kids excruciatingly embarrassing names. Ezekiel lay on his left side for 390 days. “Ezekiel, this is the Lord, you can now stop lying on your left side.” “Well, finally, thank God! Umm, I mean, thank You. . .” “That does it, give me 40 more days on your right side.”

King Jehoiakim was so enraged by Jeremiah’s words that he took Jeremiah’s scroll and tore it into pieces in front of everyone, which was surely his version of a congressional rebuke.

Even Jesus spoke prophetic words to his hometown, simply by reading aloud Scripture that proclaimed good news to the poor and release to the captive. He was run out of town and almost thrown off a cliff for his troubles.

So, to members of Congress who have stayed silent in the face of the shredding of the fabric of our country and of our highest aspirations of tending to the poor and strangers in our midst, thank you for getting at least one thing right in these days. A prophet is truly without honor in her own land, and your congressional resolution makes that fact clear.

Bless your hearts.

GC 2020 Preview

 

This morning, I had the privilege of being prayed for by my Florida pastors at Cypress Lake UMC. I’m heading to Charlotte next Sunday for two weeks as a clergy delegate from Missouri for the 2020 General Conference. And, no, “2020” wasn’t a typo.

As I’ve been preparing for this road trip, I’m discovering that packing as a retiree is wonderfully freeing. At previous General Conferences, I’d be looking for shoes that were both professional looking and comfortable. This year, I’m just planning to wear my Hokas with every outfit, just one more way in which living la vida retiree is wonderful.

So, why is this Missouri retiree who’s a full-time Florida resident headed to General Conference?

For the United Methodists that are reading, here’s a brief history and three things to watch for:

To catch you up:

In 2019, a special General Conference was held to resolve the disagreements in the UMC around sexual orientation. In spite of tempered optimism that a middle way might be found, the punitive “Traditional Plan” passed, presumably surprising the traditionalists who had been busily building a new denomination.

Quick Sidebar for a Sally Summary of the Traditional Plan: If I were to rip the Sunday morning offering out of the hands of the ushers and run off to the Bahamas to spend it in wanton living with someone other than my husband, I would be entitled to a church trial (in addition to some much-needed mental health care.) If I were, however, to officiate the marriage of two people who have demonstrated their love for each other over the years and are of the same gender, I would be placed immediately on unpaid leave for a year, and I would lose my ordination if I dared to do that again.

Reaction to the Traditional Plan was swift. One byproduct of this reaction was the election of progressive-minded delegations throughout much of the US for the 2020 General Conference. In Missouri, a group came together to create a moderate/progressive slate of delegates that was beautifully inclusive. To our happy surprise, the entire slate was elected on the first ballot, an unheard-of event, resulting in me being one of six clergy elected in Missouri, plus six laity. We all set about preparing ourselves for General Conference to be held in May 2020.

And then COVID.

The challenges of holding a gathering of people from around the globe (40% of the delegates are from outside the US) during a global pandemic were huge, especially given the waxing and waning of the virus in different countries at different times. After a couple of attempts to hold it sooner, the 2020 General Conference was finally rescheduled to April 22-May 3, 2024. Nope, it’s not the 2024 General Conference, it’s the rescheduled 2020 General Conference, and so those of us who were elected in 2019 are headed to Charlotte next week.

As for the traditionalists who “won” the 2019 General Conference, many of them have left to create their new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, or have simply left. There will still be some traditionalist delegates at General Conference. Some traditionalists, I hope, feel they still have a place in the UMC. We have much to learn from each other. Other traditionalists may be like the man who spoke on the floor of the SCJ Jurisdictional Conference, who said he intended to serve the purpose for which he had been elected, to keep the UMC from becoming too progressive. While I admire this man’s sense of higher purpose, my fear is that there are others whose sole goal is to burn down the church on their way out. Or perhaps I’m just a wee bit cynical after the General Conferences I’ve attended or observed.

So, here’s my take on the three main priorities from People Who Know These Things:

1. Regionalization: At its heart, regionalization would give the US UMCs the same privileges as UMCs outside the US, to adapt certain parts of the Discipline to the missional needs of their area. Currently, the US must abide by everything in the Discipline in ways that others don’t. Plus, delegates from around the world have to spend their time voting on US-centric legislation, such as US pension plans that conform to US laws.

One happy byproduct of Regionalization is that we’d lose the term “Central Conferences,” which is how we refer to everyone outside the US currently. When the UMC finally reunified in 1939 after dividing over slavery before the US Civil War, the Black churches and pastors in the US were placed into a Central Conference, which wasn’t our finest hour. We’ve since corrected that error, but it will be nice to lose that terminology when everyone around the world including the US will have their own region.

One important note: Regionalization alone won’t magically solve our issues around sexual orientation. There will be a limited number of decisions that can be made regionally, and our biggest documents are unchangeable by region.

What to watch for: If we’re able to have an early vote and pass Regionalization, it will be an indicator of trust around the globe in our ability to move forward together. It’s a constitutional amendment, so even if it is ratified by the General Conference by the required 2/3 vote of delegates, it would then go to all of the Annual Conferences, where 2/3 of the aggregate votes in every Annual Conference must affirm Regionalization before it becomes law. It will likely be 2025 before Annual Conferences will hold those votes if it does pass General Conference. And, one historic note: I was at the General Conference in 2008, when a similar amendment passed the General Conference and then was defeated at the Annual Conference level.

2. Revised Social Principles: This document has been years in the making, created by a committee of some of our finest minds. It’s a timely update of the heart and soul of our witness for social justice. This version does not contain the harmful language about sexual orientation.

What to watch for: If the Revised Social Principles remain intact and pass early, many of the resolutions that have been submitted to remove harmful language will be blessedly moot.

3. Remove Harmful Language: Beyond the Revised Social Principles, there are other areas to remove harmful language. And, if the Social Principles don’t pass, we’ll work on removing the harmful language line by line through the legislative committee process.

What to watch for: Surely we can get this one done. She says hopefully.

4. One More Thing: Did you notice what isn’t there? The greatest hopes for this General Conference are to get rid of the negative stuff, not to add positive, permissive language yet. We won’t magically fix everything in Charlotte this year. If we can get the three things above done, however, we will be well on our way to our new future. The Council of Bishops has already called another General Conference for 2026. I assume their thinking is that we’ll build on the foundation that we set in Charlotte.

So, there’s your scorecard to keep track of how things are going at General Conference. I’ll post updates periodically through General Conference. And, even if you’re not playing along, please join me in praying along for this important moment in our denomination.

 

 

 

My Apportionment Dollars at Work

About a decade ago, a Congolese woman fresh to our country from a refugee camp in Tanzania walked into Central UMC. It turns out that when a refugee gets a “golden ticket” to leave their refugee camp and come to the US, the refugee doesn’t get to choose where they end up. Mama Riziki ended up in Kansas City. Although she didn’t know much of the language or the culture, she knew she needed to find a United Methodist Church. She is the daughter of a United Methodist pastor who was martyred in the Congo when he refused to leave after local insurgents threatened him and his family. He sent his family away to safety, and insurgents made good on their promise to murder him. In his church. While he was leading worship. Truly, he was a martyr.

Mama Riziki’s first visit to worship at Central a decade ago has blossomed into a standalone 150+ member congregation, Kuomba UMC, made up primarily of African immigrants under her leadership.

Our apportionment dollars have supported this church every step of the way. When this new congregation outgrew Central rapidly, the Missouri Annual Conference gave them use of a building from a closed congregation. Since then, they have paid Mama Riziki’s salary. They have trained her through licensing school and course of study. When the disrepair of their building made it borderline uninhabitable, the Missouri Conference found them another place to worship in the interim while providing $300,000 worth of repairs to their building.

Conference and District staff, whose salaries are paid by our apportionment dollars, have gotten to know this congregation. They realize that these first-generation Americans have minimum-wage jobs and extremely large families. Knowing that this congregation has a very low likelihood of becoming financially self-sufficient anytime soon has not deterred the Missouri Conference from offering them continued support. The generosity of every church in Missouri that pays their apportionments has changed the lives of this group of people. If you’re ever in Kansas City, I’d be happy to introduce you to some of these folks whose lives you have touched.

All of the above goes to explain why I take such personal umbrage when I hear that the head of the GMC has directed UM churches that want to align with the GMC in the future to withhold their apportionments from the UMC.(You can read Jay Therrel's blog post here.)  Jay Therrell may think of apportionments as some sort of tax that supports an evil empire from which he wants to separate. The reality is much more important than he would lead his followers to believe. Apportionments in Missouri created Kuomba UMC. Apportionments across the nation provide the support for over 95% of the United Methodist budget in Africa. Apportionments give over $2 million to Africa University each year. (You can read the report on Africa University here.) Every dollar that a church withholds at the behest of the new leader of the GMC is money taken from United Methodist Christians in Africa.

Apportionments do much further good than Africa, but my gaze is on Africa today. I remember when I was a General Conference delegate in 2008. That year, the conservatives loaned cell phones, not yet universally owned, to all of the African delegates for their use while in the US. (You can read the story of the cell phones written at the time here.) The phones were useless for trying to call home to Africa. However, they were a great communication tool to guide the African delegates in their voting on issues related to sexual orientation. The US contingent of the UMC was growing more progressive on these issues, mirroring a nation which would soon legalize same-sex marriage. The conservatives relied on the African votes to pass their platform.

Way back then, someone more cynical than I told me, “You just watch, the conservatives will cut the Africans loose as soon as they get what they want from them. They don’t want to pay to support the African church.” Being much more innocent back then, I told that person, politely, that I simply didn’t believe them.

All these years later, I owe that person the opportunity to say to me, “I told you so.”

Trying to change the GMC’s position is not my job, although I’m taking time now to point out the effects of their actions on African United Methodists. And since I can’t change that other denomination, I’ll do what I can do.  The best thing that I can do at the moment is to get back to celebrating Kuomba’s ongoing success.

In a couple of weeks, Central and Kuomba UMCs will worship together, rejoicing in all that God has done through our partnership. Mama Riziki and I will co-celebrate communion with our congregations that day, and we’ll share the bread and cup in Christian unity. One of the wonderfully surprising things about our alliance is that Central is proudly Reconciling, and Kuomba is proudly African. The last time we spoke about such things, I asked if Kuomba had a problem with Central being Reconciling. “No,” came the answer, “as long as we don’t have to do weddings between two men ourselves, we are happy for you to do what you want.” These words are a beautiful microcosm of the hopes for the renewed UMC.

After worship, we’ll all share ice cream a together on the lawn. I know already that as I look around and see all of our faces on that day, the sweetness of the ice cream will be eclipsed by the sweetness of that moment, with brothers and sisters in Christ dwelling together in unity despite their many differences.

Those precious moments are my apportionment dollars at work. Why would I withhold such goodness from God’s people? Thanks be to God for all the Missouri churches, from small to large, whose faithful generosity creates these moments, and for every UM church that gives towards this same vision of faith, hope, and love around the world.

 

 

 

 

Midsummer Night's Dream

 

Thirty-nine years ago today, I was in Helsinki with a group of United Methodist college students from the Western North Carolina Conference. We were visiting churches throughout Scandinavia through a bi-annual student exchange. As part of the program, we were put up in people’s homes.

In Helsinki, the young woman who housed me and my roommate met us at the entrance to her ancient-yet-stately apartment building. She explained, apologetically, that she had to be out of town during our stay. Since it was the summer solstice that day and the sun would never fully set, she instructed us how to work the blackout shades on the windows. Her parting words were to remind us of the folktale that if you slept with seven different flowers under your pillow on Midsummer’s night, you would dream of the man you would marry. With that, she handed us the key to her apartment and left.

After getting settled, we rejoined our group at the local Methodist church for an evening’s worth of programming. Although it was late at night when we returned to the apartment, the sky felt magical, still bright with perhaps a trace of dusk. We had pulled the blackout shades in the apartment and gotten ready for bed when I remembered the tale of the seven flowers. Even though we were in our jammies, we got back in the birdcage elevator and went down to the building’s enclosed courtyard so that we could pick seven different types of flowers.

My roommate was a southern Methodist, too religious to believe in such tales. I was a southern Methodist also, too religious not to believe that there is more to this world than can be seen. Fearful for her soul, she quickly stopped picking flowers. Fearful of getting caught, I kept picking flowers anyway and put them carefully under my pillow when we slipped back into our apartment.

I don’t remember what I dreamt that night. I do know that I met Andy less than a week after I got back to the US, and he’s been the man of my dreams ever since. Happy Midsummer’s, everyone, and may you dream sweet dreams tonight!