Methodist Identity
On a business trip with my work I had the pleasure of meeting a man named Andy Stoker. He’s the new associate director for children, youth and camping ministries in the North Texas Conference for the United Methodist Church (UMC). I like opinionated people (I wonder why?!) and Andy definitely has his opinions about things. One of them is so interesting that I want to share it on my blog.
He shared his observation about identity in the United Methodist Church: The common United Methodist Member considers itself to be Christian, not United Methodist.
If you ask a Baptist person what they are (whether they are proud to admit it or not) they will say Baptist. If you ask a Catholic person what they are, they know they are Catholic.
What’s the difference between these denominations? The UMC does not have an across the board theology. Yes, we publish a Book of Discipline, but the way that is lived out from congregation to congregation is vastly different. Honestly, I love the across the board theology of the UMC. It’s hilarious that you can meet a tea totaling Methodist and a Reconciliation Methodist in the same congregation.
I believe that most Methodists just want to agree on the majors and agree to disagree on all the rest. Oh, and we like to eat a lot of food. Potlucks are another common theme in the UMC.
This brings up more questions:
How do you build an “identifying” theology about getting together and agreeing to disagree over dinner?
Is there a way to build that theology without losing our spirit of open doors, open hearts, and open minds?
Is the common United Methodist young person with or without a church home just looking for a place to get along over dinner?
Will a “Methodist identity” provide solutions for the lack of Methodist students that grew up in the church in Wesley Foundations and Methodist-Related Institutions?
Would a common United Methodist theology spur more UM young adults out of colleges to join UM churches?
I don’t know the answer to these questions… however with the majority of my UM 20-30 something friends either not attending church or attending non-denominational churches… our future is looking dead and dying.
What is your opinion?
You are right on target. If we don’t get back to John Wesley we are going to die out. Keep on thinking and publishing. You will cause some people to think about some very important matters, and take action that will lprove fruitful.