91 sites. 128 churches. Thousands of lives saved.Our Statewide Pancake Breakfast for Imagine No Malaria was an astounding success.

With only a third of the participating sites reporting back by the time of printing, our outreach efforts served over 2,700 people and raised over $27,000!

Churches big and small were involved in the effort. A community meal surrounding a visit from Bishop Trimble in Malvern brought together folks from seven churches and raised $1,700. Fourteen churches joined together for a breakfast in the metro Des Moines area and sold over 600 tickets for their event at the DMACC Ankeny campus.

Despite proms, Drake Relays, graduations, senior bus trips, and other events that pulled people away on the beautiful spring weekend, churches were pleased with the turnout.

Judy Brotherton from Wesley UMC in Muscatine said despite it being “a beautiful day… almost too warm for people to be wanting pancakes,” they had around 200 people join them.

Many sites used the opportunity to be creative with their fundraising and activities. The breakfast in Macedonia was boosted by a matching gift to bring their total donation for the day to $1,000. First UMC Decorah saw this as an opportunity to “practice” serving the community; youth at the church served the congregation and they are in the planning stages for another breakfast over Nordic Fest weekend. Altoona UMC featured a guest drummer who had just returned from Africa and raised about $2,700.

The Des Moines Metro breakfast had numerous activities for children including face painting, jugglers, and crafts. St. Paul’s UMC in Williamsburg gave each person who attended a nametag that read, “I saved a life today.”

Numerous resources were put together by the Imagine No Malaria steering committee and volunteers. Joel Sutton, who was part of the breakfast with the Lorimor, Afton, and Arispe churches, said, “I would like to say thanks to you and whoever was involved in setting up the Pancake Breakfast website and resources. It made planning our breakfast a breeze and the posters, placemats, and inserts were very helpful. We had a blast!”

Above all, the breakfasts were an opportunity for United Methodists across Iowa to work together, to reach out to their neighbors, and to inspire others to join us in this effort to save lives. We made a positive difference… with not much more than some pancake batter and willing hands! THANK YOU!

More photos and stories can be found at www.inmiowa.org and www.iaumc.org.

*Katie Dawson is the Iowa Coordinator for Imagine No Malaria.

Spotlight: New Hope United Methodist Church, Des Moines

An opportunity to volunteer several hours on a Saturday was offered on the New Hope UMC’s Facebook page and nine youth showed up, eager to help raise money for Imagine No Malaria.

The youth, ranging in age from freshmen to seniors in high school, helped to clear tables, set out new placemats, and tend to general clean-up. Others poured orange juice. All of them were happy to assist, and have participated in fundraising for Imagine No Malaria at their church, through special offerings and “mosquito tossing.”

“I didn’t know the goal [to eradicate malaria] was 2015,” youth volunteer Kayla Jansen stated. “I just thought they wanted to get rid of it someday, but by 2015

— that’d be awesome!”

Pictured are Brady Jansen, Triston “Bear”’ Nearmyer, Nathan “Fergie” Ferguson, McKayla Johnson, Kayla Jansen, Jordan Williamson, and Rachel Jackson.

Two SectionsSection A013000May 10, 2013Vol. 160 No. 02

Bishop visits southern IowaPage 4A

Privileged!

Page 8A

Experience camp this summerPage 5A

Batter that Mattersby Katie Dawson*

THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER May 10, 2013

GOOD WORKSIllinois pastor startsoutreach ‘in a box’The Rev. Jeffry Bross, aUnited Methodist pastor inBatavia, Ill., has found an in-novative way to reach out tohurting people. He leadsFlowing Grace, a portable“church in a box” affiliatedwith Batavia UMC nearChicago. The church wor-ships at a local school, butMr. Bross recently moved hisoffice to a storage facility.There, Mr. Bross says hemeets and counsels peoplein transition—who’ve lost ahome or are going through a divorce, and who need a word of encouragement. To learn more, visitwww.flowing-grace.com.

Tennessee UMC offersdrive-time devotionals For many families, time inthe car is the best time toteach kids about faith, soSusan Elswick of CovenantUnited Methodist Church inCordova, Tenn., created aseries called “Drive Time De-votionals,” for families withchildren. The devotionalsserve as guided discussionsfor parents to talk to theirchildren about the pastor’sweekly sermons while on theroad. See the devotionals atwww.covenantumc.org/drive-timedevotionals/.

Longtime organist, 99,not ready to step downCatherine “Katie” Stevensstarted playing the organ atchurch in 1951, after sheand her late husband, Her-bert Stevens, moved toHagerstown, Md. On March13, she marked her 99thbirthday—and she’s stillplaying the organ at Wash-ington Square UnitedMethodist in Hagerstown.Ms. Stevens also still lives in-dependently, occasionallydrives and flies annually tovisit her granddaughter inFlorida. “I never dreamed I’dstill be playing organ,” shesaid. Members of the churchare glad she’s still at it. “It’svery difficult to find someonewho can play a pipe organ,”said the Rev. Jerry Lowans,the church’s pastor. “She’squite an asset to the church.”

—Compiled by Mary Jacobs

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—It’s hap-pened more times than Mary LynnHolly can count. She’s sitting at herdesk at the end of a particularly diffi-cult day, weary, ready to go home,questioning whether there’s meaningto her work. Then the phone rings,and she shifts into “help” mode.

At those times, it’s always a callerwho really needs her. She spends along time with them, and doesn’t evenmind when she’s late getting home.

“I’ve lost count of how many timesI end my day talking to someone whoneeds me,” says Mary Lynn, tearswelling in her eyes. “It’s then I knowI’m where God wants me to be.”

Mary Lynn is an “InfoServant,”who’s worked for the official informa-tion service of the United MethodistChurch more than 20 years. But Info-Serv is less about questions and an-swers, less about phone numbers andaddresses, than it is about “informa-tion-as-ministry.”

Vicki Wallace, InfoServ’s director,says they approach every person—every question—as seriously as ifthere could be unforeseen conse-quences.

“It might appear as though we’rejust answering questions, but we arecalled to do so much more,” she says.“The exciting part is not knowing howwhat we do might impact someone’slife,” says Vicki, who’s been with Info-Serv since 1996.

“There was a time I responded toan email trying to be very caring. Ihad no idea that the next day I’d re-ceive a response that said, ‘Thank you.Because of you, I didn’t end my lifelast night.’”

One-on-one assistanceInfoServ provides a voice for the

church to those who are asking ques-tions important to them, says the Rev.Larry Hollon, chief executive ofUnited Methodist Communications(UMCom). The service offers a cus-tomized response that’s unique to thequestion rather than a template re-sponse.

“In a world of automated text chaton websites and menu options leadingto more pre-recorded computer-con-trolled voices for call-in informationin the corporate world, InfoServ isstaffed by real human beings whosefirst concern is to serve,” says Mr. Hollon.

InfoServ is the brainchild of Sue

Church hotline provides ‘Info’ ministryB Y S U S A N PA S S I - K L AU S

United Methodist Communications

UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE FILE PHOTO BY TIM TANTON

InfoServ staffers Vicki Wallace and Mary Lynn Holly worked side by side at the UMC’s 2012 GeneralConference in Tampa, Fla.

Couch, former public relations direc-tor for UMCom. The service was cre-ated because the communicationsagency was continually bombardedwith general questions and neededsome kind of centralized “hot line” toprovide information. Putting Sue’sgood idea into motion were stafferSam Barefield and new hire PeggyWest. After two years of planning, theinnovative service went online Oct. 1,1974.

“We learned very quickly that wehad to help callers find out what theyneeded,” Peggy said. “Although we didhave some time to set it up, we didn’tknow what we were going to be askedor the volume of calls we would have.”

At first Sam and Peggy mannedthe phones themselves—and it didn’ttake long to see that they were in overtheir heads. On the first day, theylogged 50 calls. By 1980, they were upto 112 calls a day. By 1988, 140 calls aday.

Peggy said, “We were desperate to hire people quickly because wecouldn’t keep up with calls or have thetime to build an information system.”In a pre-computer era, there were nodatabases. Paper was the tool of ne-cessity. The staff did everything man-

ually, including reading every singlepublication and news story or articlerelated to the denomination.

“Occasionally, in those first fewweeks, we would turn off the phonesfor five minutes just so we could catchour breath.”

Times & topics changeToday the information service’s

two-person staff responds to morethan 11,000 requests each year,mostly by email, live chat and phone.

InfoServ’s audience today is dif-ferent than it was in the 1970s, and soare the questions people ask. Once,the inquiries were mostly fromchurch staff or members, but today’saudience has broadened to includepeople who aren’t familiar with theUMC or with church at all.

“The questions aren’t just aboutwhere to find a person or aboutchurch history and basic facts,” Vickiexplains. “People are asking deeperquestions. They want to know aboutGod, theology, what we believe andwhy. We’re called upon to do more interpretation, explanation and education than ever before. Whenever possible, we try to make a connection to the local church in

their community.”In fact, it’s the “connection” of the

United Methodist Church that makestheir work possible. They often relyon staff in other general agencies forassistance or connect people to re-sources they provide.

InfoServ has always receivedquestions about the church’s positionon various social issues, such as gunviolence, immigration and sexuality.To stay up-to-date, the team coversnearly every minute of the legislativeprocess during General Conference,following closely petitions that passand changes that occur.

Any and all questions are wel-come; still, most of the queries to In-foServ are personal, such as, “May Ibe re-baptized?” or “May I get mar-ried in your church?” InfoServ has al-ways been and continues to be aone-on-one experience. It’s the per-sonal touch that is key to their mis-sion.

If you have a question, contact In-foServ at infoserv@umcom.org orchat live at infoserv.umc.org.

Ms. Passi-Klaus is a publicrelations specialist/staff writerfor United MethodistCommunications.

U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R | M AY 1 0 , 2 0 1 3

HISTORY OF HYMNS

The easiest way to hide a name ona map is to print it in large letters. Asour eyes scan the smaller features ofthe map—our focus narrowed to takein the minutest details—we can quiteeasily miss the larger type.

G.K. Chesterton used a similaridea in one of his detective stories,“The Three Tools of Death.” In thestory, Detective Gilder remarks of adead body, “The skull seems broken aswith some big weapon, but there’s noweapon at all lying about. . . .” Chester-ton’s protagonist, a Roman Catholicpriest named Father Brown, replies,“Perhaps the weapon was too big to benoticed. Silly way of putting it, I know.Sounds like a fairy tale. But poor Arm-strong was killed with a giant’s club, agreat green club, too big to be seen,and which we call the earth. He wasbroken against this green bank we arestanding on.”

Paradoxically (and Chesterton wasalways one to delight in a good para-dox), a thing can be too big and tooobvious to be noticed. Such is the casewith “Jesus, the Saving Name,” a hymnwritten by Anglican Bishop TimothyDudley-Smith (b. 1926), now retired.

B Y C H R I S T O P H E R H OY TSpecial Contributor

B Y D O N L AT T I NReligion News Service

“Jesus, the Saving Name”Timothy Dudley-SmithWorship & Song, No. 3039

Jesus, the saving Name!Ascended, glorified,he reigns who once for sinners came,and once for sinners died. *

3A

Poetic touch enriches hymns by Anglican bishop

U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R . O R G

The casual singer could hardly fail tonotice, even from the hymn’s titlealone, that it is a rhapsody of praise tothe name of the Savior. But what thesinger might not notice is how Jesus’name ties each of the five stanzas to-gether.

Here is thefirst line of eachstanza:

“Jesus, thesaving Name! . . .Eternal Lordmost high . . . Sal-vation’s sourceand strength! . . .Unwearied gracedivine . . . So lifton high hispraise. . . .”

Do you see the connection? Here’sa hint: Look at the first letter of eachline, and then you’ve got it. The firstletters, when taken together, spell J-E-S-U-S.

It would seem that the good oldpoetic device of acrostic has not goneout of fashion since the ancient He-brew writer penned Psalm 119. Ofcourse, in the case of that psalm, theacrostic is not based on the letters of asingle word; it is an “abecedarian”acrostic, meaning that each successive

letter of the acrostic is the next letterof the Hebrew alphabet.

And Bishop Dudley-Smith haswritten abecedarian acrostics of hisown. “All Our Days We Will Bless theLord” is just such a hymn:

All our days we will bless the Lord,Bless and hallow his Name adored;Call together to God most high,Drawn to him who will hear our cry;Ever look to him, Lord indeed,Friend and Father to those in need. *

As it happens, that hymn is basedon Psalm 34, another Hebrew psalmwhich has an abecedarian acrostic ofits own.

In the case of “Jesus, the SavingName,” however, the acrostic bears asecond layer of significance. Considerhow it looks on the page:

JESUS, the saving Name!Eternal Lord most high . . .Salvation’s source and strength . . .Unwearied grace divine . . .So lift on high his praise. . . .

You will notice that the name ofChrist runs horizontally across thepage in the first line and verticallydown the page in the acrostic. These

two perpendicular motions hint at thesign of the cross. There is no indica-tion in Bishop Dudley-Smith’s owncommentary on the hymn that he wasaware of this cruciform shape whenhe wrote it, but that does not make itany less fitting. What is even better,the hymn refers to Jesus’ saving deathseveral times, making the sign of thecross all the more pertinent.

And the bishop’s poetic sensibili-ties do not end there. Consider thefirst verse of the hymn:

Jesus, the saving Name!Ascended, glorified,he reigns who once for sinners came,and once for sinners died.

If you were to whisper those linesof poetry softly to yourself, you woulddiscover that the hissing “s” soundpermeates the whole stanza. Not onlydoes it appear as typical alliteration atthe beginning of words like “sinners”and “saving,” but it is also an internalsound in the words “ascended” and“once.”

To write a hymn with this degreeof poetic sensitivity is particularlychallenging since, as Bishop Dudley-Smith himself has said (borrowing aphrase from the late hymnologist Erik

Routley), hymn is “lyric under a vowof renunciation.” A hymn writer can-not take as many artistic liberties asthe lyric poet; his work must meansomething, and it must mean it to theentire church congregation. A lyricpoem only needs to mean itself.

To create a fully functional hymnthat has as much poetic integrity as“Jesus, the Saving Name” is a testa-ment to Bishop Dudley-Smith’s mas-tery of the craft, just as his talent for“hiding the obvious” is a testament tohis creative imagination.

* © 1993, 2007 Hope PublishingCompany, Carol Stream, IL 60188.Used by permission. All rightsreserved.

Mr. Hoyt, a Master of Sacred Music student at Perkins School of Theology, Southern MethodistUniversity, studies hymnology with Dr. C. Michael Hawn.

Timothy Dudley-Smith

Former ‘Jesus freak’ traces evolution of Christian rock

Bob Gersztyn owned 300 rock ’n’roll albums in 1971, the year he ac-cepted Jesus Christ as his Lord andSavior. Among them were some choice1960s vinyl from Jimi Hendrix, theBeatles, Bob Dylan, and the Mothersof Invention.

But all of a sudden, this was thedevil’s music.

“I destroyed some of them with ahammer and took the rest to a usedrecord store,” he recalled with a laugh.“I think I kept 10 classical music al-bums that I decided were not anti-Christian.”

Mr. Gersztyn retained his love ofrock ’n’ roll, but limited his listeningto Christian rock, a genre that wasjust getting going in the era of thehippie-inspired “Jesus freaks” and thehit musical, Jesus Christ Superstar.

He joined a Four Square GospelChurch in Los Angeles, enrolled inBible college, and became a Pente-costal preacher. He also started em-ceeing and booking concerts for suchChristian artists as 2nd Chapter of

Acts and Keith Green.Today, at age 65, Mr. Gersztyn’s re-

ligious fervor has mellowed; he rarelyattends church and calls himself “anallegorical Christian.” But he has puttogether his love of pop music andphotography to publish an illustrated,two-volume work titled Jesus Rocksthe World—The Definitive History ofContemporary Christian Music.

The book, totaling some 600pages, traces the his-tory of Jesus musicfrom Negro spirituals,gospel, and blues toits modern-day rootsin Southern Califor-nia with the CalvaryChapel and Vineyardchurch movements inthe 1970s.

It also tells thestory of rock and folkstars who had “born-again” conversions,such as Bob Dylan,Noel Paul Stookey (ofPeter, Paul and Mary) and JohnMichael Talbot (of Mason Proffit).

Mr. Gersztyn, who grew up in a

Catholic family in suburban Detroit,decided Jesus was the answer whenhe heard a radio account of how gui-tarist Jeremy Spencer had suddenlyquit Fleetwood Mac during a per-formance at the Hollywood Bowl. Itwas soon learned that Spencer ran offwith an infamous evangelical Chris-tian sect called the Children of God.

Mr. Gersztyn, his mind altered byan estimated 100 LSD trips in the

1960s, convinced hisgirlfriend to head outto Southern Califor-nia with him to jointhe Children of God.

“I was smokingpot one day whenJesus appeared to mein a vision,” he re-called. “He told mehe was the source ofall love, then said,‘Come follow me.’”

Mr. Gersztyn,who wound up join-ing the Four Square

Church rather than the Children ofGod, became part of an army ofyoung people who went off seeking

spiritual bliss after drug-inducedmystical experiences in the 1960s and1970s. Many of them found a homeamong the counterculture “Jesusmovement,” also known as “the Jesuspeople.”

The music born out of that move-ment has since grown into a huge in-dustry. Estimates of its annualrevenue range from $500 million to $2billion—depending on who does thecalculating and what bands are in-cluded as “contemporary Christian.”

Today, Christian music includespopular bands like Third Day andMercyMe, and it’s hard to imagine apop music genre that does not have a“Christian” band.

“There are Christian death metalfestivals in Norway,” Mr. Gersztynsaid. “You have bands that sound likeRage Against the Machine, but they’resinging about Jesus.”

Mr. Gersztyn considers Christiancountry/rock musician Larry Nor-man, who died in 2008 at age 60, tobe the single most important figure inthe history of contemporary Chris-tian music. He is remembered for his1969 Capitol Records album Upon

this Rock, and his song “Why Shouldthe Devil Have All the Good Music?”which features the verse, “Jesus is therock and He rolled my blues away.”

Mr. Gersztyn, who now lives inSalem, Ore., said his musical horizonswidened in 1987, when he went to seea Bob Dylan concert in Eugene. Mr.Dylan, then in his evangelical Chris-tian phase, was opening for the Grate-ful Dead.

“Most of the people were there tosee the Dead, not Dylan,” Mr. Gersz-tyn recalled. “I was still really into theChristian thing, and being a minister,and didn’t want to get too close to theDeadheads because I thought Godwouldn’t be happy about it.”

In his book, however, Mr. Gersztynwrites that the emotionalism and im-provisational spirit that inspires agreat Grateful Dead concert is notthat much different than the HolySpirit that drives parishioners togospel music ecstasy in manyAfrican-American churches.

“In both instances,” he writes, “theexperience is communal, with the au-dience or congregation being as mucha part of the show as the performers.”

4A | Iowa Conference Edition of The United Methodist Reporter May 10, 2013

The Iowa Conference Editionof the United Methodist Reporter

May 10, 2013Volume 160 | Number 02

The Iowa Conference edition is a ministryof the Communications Ministry Team

of the Iowa Annual Conference.

BishopJulius Calvin Trimble

dkbrockmeyer@iaumc.org

Communications Ministry TeamArthur McClanahan

Director of Communicationsamcclanahan@iaumc.org

Kristin A. ClarkCommunications Manager

kristin.clark@iaumc.org

Shundrea TrottyCommunications Assistantshundrea.trotty@iaumc.org

Communications Advisory TeamDavid WendelChairperson

CirculationJill Stanton

Pastoral Record/Clergy Rolls/Information Reports

jill.stanton@iaumc.org

Production/PublisherUMR Communications Inc.,

Dallas, Texas

The mission of the Iowa Annual Conference:Making Disciples of Jesus Christ, Developing Leaders, and Transforming the World.

The mission of the Communications Ministry Team is to provide and facilitate an engaging, effective, and empowering communications ministry by informing, engaging, and empowering.

Iowa Conference Center2301 Rittenhouse StreetDes Moines, IA 50321-3101515.974.8900www.iaumc.org

e-mail for news submissions: reporter@iaumc.orgOpinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily re ect of cial United Methodist positions. News, opinionsand editorials in Section B (the United Methodist Reporter) are those of UMR Communications in Dallas, TX.

The Iowa Conference Edition is published every other week.

The United Methodist Reporter (USPS 954-500) is published weekly by UMR Communications, 1221 Pro t Drive, Dallas, Texas 75247-3919. Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, Texas and additional mailing of ces. Postmaster: Send address changes to The United Methodist Reporter. PO Box 660275, Dallas, Texas 75266-0275.

Sunday, April 21, was a very special day in Southwest Iowa, as Bishop Julius Calvin Trimble was the guest speaker in worship at the Malvern United Methodist Church. Many other area churches joined together to hear Bishop Trimble, including Strahan UMC, Wesley Chapel UMC, Randolph

UMC, Tabor UMC, Emerson UMC, and Hillsdale UMC.A combined choir, under the direction of Harva Paul,

provided special music. Rev. Ed Kail, Field Outreach Minister of the Southwest District, sang a solo and led congregational singing. Ricky the Raccoon was a hit with children’s time, as he donned netting in preparation to meet mosquitoes. Bishop Trimble was presented a prayer shawl by the Malvern UMC to encourage him in his efforts to keep raising awareness and funding in the Imagine No Malaria campaign.

Southwest District Superintendent Rev. Brian Milford presented the Bishop to the congregation. Rev. J. Robert Burkhart, Assistant to the Bishop for Administration, was also in attendance.

Following worship, an Imagine No Malaria pancake lunch was held in the fellowship hall. Bishop Trimble assisted in ipping pancakes for the worthwhile cause, at which $1,700

was raised. It was a day lled with blessings.

*Rev. Carl Phillips is the pastor at Malvern, Wesley Chapel, and Strahan United Methodist Churches.

Bishop Trimble visits Southwest Districtby Carl Phillips*

Confirmation retreat to Des Moinesby Douglas Harding*

The con rmation class of the Van Buren County United Methodist Churches participated in a weekend retreat in Des Moines, April 19-21. The retreat enabled students to learn about their United Methodist history as well as modern day workings of the church. Those in attendance were students Hunter Boecker, Brooke Dunkin, Hanna Sprouse, Quentin Story, Tessa Story, Martin Vineyard; pastors Ann Donat, Peggy Ellingson, Douglas Harding; and chaperones Beth and Fred Sprouse.

Bright and early Saturday morning the class was greeted by Naomi Sea Young Wittstruck at the IAUMC Conference Center. One of the conference Leadership Development Ministers, Naomi Sea Young led the group in a presentation on Advocacy Justice, then took us on a tour of the Conference Center. Highlights included the Chapel, the Bishop’s of ce, and a small table owned and used by Methodist founder, John Wesley.

From there the group went to Bidwell-Riverside Center, a neighborhood help center combating poverty. Sponsored by Methodists since the 1890s, Bidwell-Riverside runs a day-care center, food pantry, clothing distribution, and many other help ministries. We learned about poverty, including the fact that Bidwell-Riverside gives away 10,000 pieces of clothing each month.

After a picnic lunch near the Soldiers and Sailors Monument next to the State Capitol, the class ventured to “Methodist Hill,” home of the Iowa Methodist Medical Center,

First UMC, the former Iowa Methodist Nursing School, and the former Iowa United Methodist Conference Center. We also saw Hawthorn Hill, once used to provide safe housing for single women working in Des Moines that now provides shelter and aid to families and children. A highlight was seeing the original Disney wall paintings from the rst Blank Children’s Hospital building.

Our group traveled to the Drake neighborhood, where we visited with Rev. Jackie Thompson at Grace UMC. We also met with Father Basil at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, who explained to us some of the similarities and differences we United Methodists have with Orthodox Christianity.

Sunday found us attending worship at Burns United Methodist Church, the historic Black Methodist congregation in Des Moines, where we were warmly greeted and made to feel welcome. After a rousing music- lled service the class was invited to join in dinner, giving us a wonderful opportunity to meet and greet the members of Burns.

*Rev. Douglas Harding is pastor of the Keosauqua-Center Chapel-Milton United Methodist Churches.

Van Buren County con rmation class spends time with Bishop Trimble

Bishop Julius C. Trimble met with con rmation classes from several United Methodist congregations during a February 17 visit to the Southeast District of the Iowa Annual Conference. “The members of the [Van Buren County] con rmation class were a little quiet at rst,” Rev. Doug Harding observed. “They didn’t quite know what to expect.”

The Bishop heard about the con rmands’ involvement with “Snacks in the Sack,” a variation of the backpack feeding program, noted Rev. Harding. “Some of these youngsters have been collecting funds for that program and others have been helping pack the sacks of food. They do that at the Douds Church because the elementary school is located nearby. Others have participated in the local CROP walk and they talked about that a little bit. In addition, they’ve all been assisting in worship services in their own local churches.”

Rev. Peggy Ellingson is the main con rmation leader. “She put together the program,” Rev. Harding noted. “She organizes it and it’s held at the Keosauqua church because it’s centrally located.”

Bishop Trimble offered a blessing for each of the con rmands as his visit drew to a close. “Each went up to him, in turn. He spoke to them individually for a couple of moments as he laid his hands on. It touched them all and it touched the adults who were witnessing that, too. It was a truly memorable experience! It gave our youngsters a wonderful, personal moment with the Bishop.”

Camp Contact information:

Lake Okoboji Camp and Retreat Center (near Spirit Lake)Bryan Johnson, Site Director1.866.856.9862Okoboji.Camp@iaumc.orgwww.okobojicamp.com

Pictured Rocks Camp and Retreat Center (near Monticello)Patric Newton, Site Director1.866.651.1223PicturedRocks.Camp@iaumc.orgwww.picturedrocks.org

Wesley Woods Camp and Retreat Center (near Indianola)Deke Rider, Site Director1.866.684.7753WesleyWoods.Camp@iaumc.orgwww.wesleywoodsiowa.org

Iowa UMC Conference Of ce (Des Moines)Kathy Potter, Camps & Retreats Registrar1.800.765.1651David Hobbs, LDM for Camping & Christian Formation515.974.8913

At Lake Okoboji United Methodist Camp & Retreat Center, we’re excited to be a place where traditional camp activities like archery, swimming, and camp res are blended with exciting adventure activities like go-karts and rock-climbing. All camping events at Okoboji are designed to create an environment where Christ’s love is shared in word and deed. For many youth and adults,

Okoboji is the place where they can share and develop their faith under the guidance of caring Christian staff.

In addition to Adventure Camps, Specialty Camps, Short Stacks, and our other summer offerings, Okoboji is proud to announce a brand new event for summer 2013: Okoboji Family Camp. Family Camp is a two-night adventure designed to bring parents and children closer together and closer to Christ through fellowship and fun. The staff has also begun a podcast – an internet radio show – called the Okoboji Campcast. The Campcast was created to share news about Lake Okoboji UM Camp & Retreat Center, and to provide a place where families can nd more information about things like preventing homesickness and camp

registration. The Okoboji Campcast can be downloaded for free from iTunes, or by visiting our Facebook page.

We’re gearing up for summer 2013, and encourage you to visit www.okobojicamp.com or www.facebook.com/okobojicamp for more information about Lake Okoboji UM Camp & Retreat Center. It wouldn’t be summer without camp!

*Courtney Glienke is the Ministry Assistant at Lake Okoboji UM Camp & Retreat Center.

It just wouldn’t be summer without camp at Lake Okobojiby Courtney Glienke*

May 10, 2013 Iowa Conference Edition of The United Methodist Reporter | 5A

why camp? SHARING OUR STORIES: Nick Smith

My camp story starts in 2009. I had recently dropped out of college and was struggling with what I was going to do with my life. I was lost, disappointed in myself, and unsure if I’d be able to recover from it. A friend of mine from church suggested I apply to the camp she was going to work at that summer. I did and soon after received a response saying they had nished their hiring. I was bummed, but understood because I hadn’t applied until sometime in April. However, I got another email a few days later saying a position had opened up. I had my interview, was hired, and moved up to camp for lifeguard training within about a week’s time. I knew God played a role in getting me there.

I worked as a counselor my rst summer and I loved it. I hadn’t experienced camp before, but I fell in love

with it. That summer gave me my con dence back and with the encouragement of friends I returned to college. I was happy again. Being back at school was amazing, but I missed my camp family so I returned for another year. I’ve gone back every summer since, regardless of other opportunities. I always ended up returning to Okoboji. Even after graduating Simpson College with a degree in Biology, I knew I wanted to stay in the camping world because I knew rst-hand the impact it can have on the lives of campers and staff. I will be returning for my fth summer and I’m very excited to ll the role of waterfront coordinator again and taking on the responsibilities of Junior staff coordinator. Okoboji UM Camp is my holy place; it’s where I most experience God.

Online catalog and registration link: www.iaumc.org/camps

Spring is nally here (we think!) and the weather beckons us to be outside. One of the easiest and healthiest changes you can make is to increase your physical activity by taking regular walks. What is a healthy number of steps you need to do each day? Research has discovered that people who spend at least 2,000 calories per week in conscious activity (climbing stairs, walking, intentional exercise) have notably better health pro les and live longer than people who are not active (sedentary). When people walk 10,000 steps per day they use 300-450 calories. Multiply this amount over a week and you will have walked over 70,000 steps and burned 2,000 calories.

You know walking is good and healthy for you, but what will motivate you to do it? The little pedometer is a great motivator. It brings to your consciousness how active you aren’t and its presence urges you to increase those numbers. You can check your local sports equipment suppliers or www.creativewalking.com or www.walking.about.com for information and purchase of pedometers. Clergy persons and their spouses (both retired and active) who are enrolled with the General Board of Pensions are eligible to sign up for the Virgin HealthMiles pedometer and walking program. Visit www.virginhealthmiles.com/iaumc and click on the “Join Now” button. Complete instructions were mailed in the Wellness Screening packet. Wellmark, our health insurance provider, also promotes walking through their “Walking Works” program that includes a pedometer. Check www.Wellmark.com.

Where should you walk? Around your neighborhood is a good start. Up and down the hallways of public buildings or in our many malls. Iowa is also blessed with many trails. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation’s website gives the location and description of trails around the state: www.inhf.org. Many of the County Conservation areas have nature trails that can be used for walking. Check with each County’s Conservation Commission or Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

I hope this has helped you to do one little change that may have a lasting effect upon your life. As you walk, remember: “Our steps are made rm by the Lord” (Psalm 37:23). Blessings upon you as you become more active.

Kae Tritle, RN Wellness Coordinator for the Iowa Annual Conference

Go for a walk

BOOK REVIEW

B Y DAV I D N . M O S S E RSpecial Contributor

B Y YO NAT S H I M R O NReligion News Service

M AY 1 0 , 2 0 1 3 | U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R

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U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R . O R G

Bell’s latest will spark fresh theological dialogue

Rob Bell’s new book brings tomind this (no doubt hypothetical) ex-change between the 18th-centuryphilosophers David Hume and Im-manuel Kant: Hume claimed thathuman beings could not prove the ex-istence of God. To which Kant pur-portedly responded that while Hume’sstatement may be true, neither couldone disprove God’s existence. Mr. Bellseems to be an eager participant insuch a dialogue in What We TalkAbout When We Talk About God.

To his credit, the author moves theGod-debates from their typical for-mat of “my God is bigger and betterthan your non-god” playground-styletaunts to more creative modes of dis-course. Although I must confess thisis the first of Mr. Bell’s books that Ihave read, several of my colleagueshave said it extends themes hebroached in Love Wins and otherbooks.

There is something here to infuri-ate just about any reader, from left toright or middle of the road. Whether

one subscribes to a nailed-down,true-for-all-time view of Scriptureand tradition, or sees truth as ever-changing and ultimately unknow-able—along the linesof postmodernismand perhaps even de-construction—Mr.Bell enjoys taking oneveryone.

He effectivelysprinkles rhetoricalquestions throughoutthe book, such as,“Can God keep upwith the modernworld?” Of course, thatquestion itself is post-modern, an exampleof how Mr. Bell crossesboundaries, not onlyregularly but with glee. He under-stands that the same old argumentsin form and content won’t satisfy anew generation that sees life, science,relationships and religion much dif-ferently than any prior generation. Sohe moves his discussion of God intonew categories, presumably to furthertheological dialogues in which today’s

culture seems to be at an impasse.Mr. Bell notes that—while we lack

evidence for the existence of God thatwe can study, analyze or evaluate in

any tangible way—scientists do admit atthe highest levels thattheir own researchsurprises them on aregular basis. Thus,the idea of absolutehuman certainty isspurious at best. Thefirst half of the bookis devoted to thistopic.

The second halffocuses on the themeof “God with us, forus, and ahead of us.”Mr. Bell uses this

language to try to explain experiencesthat “point past themselves to a largerreference point, to something orsomewhere or sometime or someonebeyond the experience itself in itsmost basic essence” (p. 105). Later, heexplains how Jesus, being bothhuman and divine, helps us to know aGod who isn’t distant—a God who is

interested in our conditions andstruggles, who teaches and helps us,and gives us hope (p. 131). Near theend of the book, he explores Scripturein ways that are both interesting andhelpful.

As Mr. Bell points out, the truth isalways the truth no matter where itcomes from. This understanding andthe long view he takes of earth’s cre-ation puts him at odds with manyfundamentalists who insist on a lit-eral reading of Genesis. In the 17thcentury, Anglican Archbishop JamesUssher dated creation to the eveningpreceding Oct. 23, 4004 BCE; Mr. Bellis too scientifically savvy for that, yethis belief in an incarnation of Godputs him at odds with the RichardDawkins or Christopher Hitchenscrowd, too.

While some critics throw chargesof heresy at Mr. Bell, he seems well-grounded in the broad general truthsof the faith, using both Christian tra-dition and Scripture to support hispositions. He offers us ways to con-template ancient and timeworn ques-tions in a new vein. Yes, he invites usinto a conversation that will seem way

outside the norm for many people inthe church. Yet it is beneficial to re-member that when the Samaritanwoman talked with Jesus, from theirunauthorized conversation came theevangelist John’s statement that,“Many Samaritans from that city be-lieved in him because of the woman’stestimony” (John 4:39). Crossingboundaries is not always a bad thing.

This book is easy to read andhighly stimulating. At turns you maycheer, scratch your head or mumble toyourself—all in but a few pages. Yetby the end you will have a new appre-ciation for the gospel of Jesus, and abetter idea of “what we talk aboutwhen we talk about God.”

The Rev. Mosser is senior pastor atFirst UMC in Arlington, Texas, andthe author/editor of several booksfrom Abingdon and WJK Press.

What We Talk About WhenWe Talk About God

Rob Bell

HarperOne, 2013

Hardcover, 240 pages

In new book, seminary prof reflects on son’s death

DURHAM, N.C.—Nearly eightyears ago, professor Richard Lischergot a call on hiscell phone thatwould tear at hisheart and test hisfaith.

It was hisgrown son, a suc-cessful lawyer,telling him hiscancer had re-turned.

In the ensuing95 days Dr. Lis-cher—a man used to offering pastoraladvice to others—stood by his son,Adam Ewers Lischer, as he lost hisbattle to cancer. That experience is thesubject of Dr. Lischer’s eloquent mem-oir, Stations of the Heart: Parting witha Son.

Grief as the subject of memoir isnow commonplace. But this volume,written by a professor of preaching atDuke Divinity School, conveys notonly the anguish of grieving families,but also offers testimony to a faiththat is tested but survives.

The journey, Dr. Lischer writes,

took him from “the bitter gall” of feel-ing his son’s death was a “robbery” toa “settled sorrow” that proclaims: “Hewas my son, and I give thanks forhim.”

Dr. Lischer, a gifted writer who haschronicled his earlier life as aLutheran minister in Open Secrets(Three Rivers Press), is among a newcrop of theologians writing aboutfaith in a different way.

These writers aren’t interested inthe formality of doctrine or in ab-stract theological argument. Instead,they write about how faith is lived dayto day and in times of crisis.

“Because this felt so terribly signif-icant to me, I wanted to write it down,”Dr. Lischer said, speaking from his of-fice overlooking the Gothic gray DukeChapel. “Silence was never an option. Ifelt as if I needed to make a testi-mony.”

At its core, Stations of the Heart is alove story of a father and son. Thatson was a onetime assistant districtattorney in eastern North Carolina, ahusband, a recent Roman Catholicconvert and an expectant father whena three-month checkup revealed a re-currence of melanoma, this time inthe form of multiple, inoperable le-sions. He was 33.

The father, a longtime professor atthe divinity school and an expert onthe preaching of the Rev. MartinLuther King Jr., was supposed to bethe guardian of the faith. And yet, thebook recounts, as Adam’s disease pro-gressed, their roles reversed. In hisfinal three months, Adam and his wifeattended daily Mass, read the Bible,recited the Psalms. His father, mean-while, replaced the prayer book in hiscabinet with a dictionary.

It’s not that he lost his faith, hesaid; but “the lights went down for awhile.”

Permission to doubt“I can’t use the familiar platitudes

certain religious people use,” Dr. Lis-cher said. “‘God will take care of him,’and ‘God’s plans are always the wisest.’It sounds like hollow speech. But thatdoesn’t mean you don’t trust in thelove of God.”

At a time when believers and non-believers are locked in extreme polari-ties, Dr. Lischer offers an alternative: Afaith that permits doubt.

“He’s willing to be publicly vulner-able, and that’s what makes the bookpowerful,” said the Rev. Heidi Neu-mark, pastor of Manhattan’s TrinityLutheran Church and the author of

Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey inthe South Bronx.

The ability to put words on paperhelped Dr. Lischer cope with the grief.Within eight months of Adam’s deathin 2005, Dr. Lischer was writing aboutthose harrowing daysfollowing the diagno-sis.

During that awfultime, he scribblednotes at the end of along day, usually afterhe returned homefrom the hospital. “Isimply felt that what Iwas writing was repre-sentative of what somany people must feelin similar situations,”Dr. Lischer said.

Much later, hebegan to fill in the gaps. He researchedAdam’s disease and interviewedfriends and colleagues to round outhis portrayal of his son.

But the book is not intended to bea biography or a definitive account ofwhat happened to the Lischer family.It’s a personal account of a father’sgrief.

After their son’s death, Dr. Lischerand his wife, Tracy, read the letters of

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in which the the-ologian who died in Nazi Germanywrites about the gap that separatesgrieving people from others. Godkeeps the gap open despite the pain,Dr. Lischer wrote, because God is not

supposed to be theguarantor of happi-ness and security.

Dr. Lischer’s God,manifest in Jesus, isfound in the home-less shelters, prisoncells and cancerwards. God lives not“in the restored fleshwe hoped for,” hewrote, referring toprayers for his son’shealing, “but in theflesh of those whosuffer.”

Nearly eight years hence, Dr. Lis-cher still rejects pat truisms. The factthat Adam will never be able to brushhis daughter’s hair or read her “Good-night Moon” will always feel wrong.

But, Dr. Lischer adds, “When youget perspective, your faith tells youthere is a basic goodness in the giftsGod has given. It’s a terrible thingwhat happened. But that he was herein the world—that was good.”

RichardLischer

B Y G L E N N H A N N I G A N

Special ContributorB Y S U S A N K I M

Special Contributor

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UM cancer survivor vowsreturn to Boston Marathon

Sina Noori is a fighter.While waging a life-and-death bat-

tle with cancer, she has refused toyield an inch. While facing the spiri-tual challenges, she has responded infaith, recently being baptized by theRev. Steve Wood at Mount PisgahUnited Methodist Church in JohnsCreek, Ga.

If there is one consistent thread inMs. Noori’s life, it is that she finisheswhat she starts.

On April 15 in Boston, she did notget the chance.

Ms. Noori was approximately ahalf mile away from finishing theworld’s most famous marathon whena bomb destroyed what had been asun-splashed, near-perfect day.Shortly afterward, a second explosionadded to the chaos. Ms. Noori’s hus-band, Mike, was waiting in thestands near the finish line. In addi-tion, there were various friends fromthe Alpharetta area on hand for theevent.

“I was so worried, I felt like I wasin a cloud of confusion,” Ms. Noorisaid. “I knew my husband and friendswere waiting for me at the finishline, but I could not tell what wasgoing on.”

In the pandemonium, a spectatorhanded Ms. Noori a phone so shecould call Mike. He was fine. Everyonein their extended group was fine. Butthere were some close calls.

Stacey Hurd, a friend from MountPisgah, was nearing the final curve tothe finish line, a few hundred yardsahead of Ms. Noori, when the firstbomb detonated. Though Ms. Hurddid not know at the time, the legcramps she experienced near the endof the race were a blessing, causingher to break stride and walk, keepingher a safe distance from the deadly ex-plosions.

The exhilaration of finishing themarathon was replaced with confu-sion and fear.

“We were forced to stop justshort of the finish line,” Ms. Hurd said.“It was a terrible feeling. My heartsank. I was worried about the familyand friends waiting for us.”

Another friend, elite runner AmyBartholomew, had finished the racealmost an hour before the blasts. Shewas waiting for Ms. Noori in a racetent near the finish. Her husband,Bryan, was waiting in the stands withMike.

Ms. Noori, Ms. Bartholomew andtheir husbands had been invited as

special guests to the Boston Marathonand given VIP treatment. Officialsfrom John Hancock, sponsor of themarathon, extended the invitationafter reading an online blog that Ms.Bartholomew had written about Ms.Noori’s brave battle with breast can-cer.

Ms. Noori was diagnosed with ad-vanced breast cancer in 2011, just fourweeks before she was to compete inthe Florida Ironman, a grueling eventthat combines a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike race and a 26.2-mile run.Doctors told her that due to the ur-gency of her condition, she wouldhave to skip the race and begin treat-ment immediately. Ms. Noori did notlisten.

“I told them I had to race,” shesaid. “I had trained too long and toohard.”

Ms. Noori competed in the Iron-man, finishing in 13 hours, 14 min-utes, 27 seconds.

Through a double mastectomy andthe chemotherapy and radiation thatfollowed, Ms. Noori barely took abreak from training. She ran and rodeher bike faithfully. When daily radia-tion treatments weakened her lungsand made breathing difficult, she tookhot yoga. Her lungs improved.

“I was determined not to stop ex-ercising,” she said. “I did not want to

be stuck in bed. I had to keep mov-ing.”

While cancer took a heavy physicaltoll on Ms. Noori, and she lost her hair,the emotional and spiritual ramifica-tions were a different story.

“Cancer is one of the best gifts Ihave ever received,” she said. “I did notget depressed. I found out how muchpeople love me. I found out how muchI love God. I am so blessed.”

Ms. Noori, who was born in Iran,grew up as a Muslim. It was closefriend Stacey Hurd who first invitedher to Mount Pisgah.

“These Christian people gave melove and took care of me,” Ms. Noorisaid. “I had a sense of peace as my re-lationship with God grew. I know I ama different person now, a better per-son. I am more loving and softer, abetter wife and a better role model formy child.”

But that softer core is still wrappedin a steely resolve. Ms. Noori is notone to leave something unfinished.

“I did not get to complete themarathon,” she said. “So I am planningon returning next year. I want to finishwhat I started. I can’t quit now. I feellike I have angels surrounding me.”

The Rev. Hannigan is the editor of the North Georgia Advocate, a publication of the UMC’s NorthGeorgia Conference.

Newtown’s teddy bears:How many is too many?

When a distressed child hugs ateddy bear, there is a moment of inno-cent comfort that not only soothes thechild but the grownups around her,too.

No wonder, then, in the wake of theDec. 14, 2012, mass shooting in New-town, Conn., the donation of choicefor many people was a teddy bear. Thebears—huge, tiny, handmade, store-bought, rainbow-colored, traditionalbrown—began arriving within 24hours of the tragedy. They came fromchurches, children’s groups, Facebookcampaigns, car dealerships and indi-viduals across the globe.

Undeniably, for some of the chil-dren in Newtown—and adults, forthat matter—a new stuffed animalwas just the right gift at the right time.

But then a hundred bears arrived.Then a thousand. Then tens of thou-sands. Along with prayer shawls.Flowers. Rubber bracelets. What cal-lously might be referred to as “stuff ” ifit didn’t so fiercely represent a burningcollective desire to reassure the peopleof Newtown that the world is not, infact, an evil place.

A lot of “stuff ” landed at the New-town United Methodist Church, whichhas been a pillar for the town’s ongo-ing recovery. The pastor, the Rev. MelKawakami, has been featured on na-tional television and in dozens ofprint and Web news reports.

Now, several months after thetragedy, Mr. Kawakami quietly worriesthat he has perhaps offended somegift givers because he hasn’t yet re-sponded to them. His “sisterchurches,” he says, have already helpedwrite more than 300 thank-you notes.But there are thousands more to go.

“You don’t want to sound ungra-cious,” he says, “and you don’t want tobe ungracious. Because we became awitness for how deeply people weretouched.”

It’s not about the giverJust what is the best response to a

horrendous act of public violence?There’s no right answer, Mr.Kawakami says. “One strategy mightbe to do something in your own com-munity that honors the victims andalso honors those who survived.”

Also, he says, don’t underestimatethe power of prayer. “We wouldn’t havemade it if we didn’t know there wereuntold numbers of people praying forus.”

What about our own need to send“stuff?” Mary Hughes Gaudreau, a U.S.

disaster-response consultant for theUnited Methodist Committee on Re-lief (UMCOR),believes it’s im-portant to recog-nize the hearts ofpeople involvedin giving.

“I really dothink when peo-ple give gifts afteracts of public vio-lence that, insome ways,they’re trying todeal with their own pain,” says Ms.Gaudreau, who has supported Mr.Kawakami and the Newtown churchduring the ongoing recovery. “We don’twant to have suffering be the lastword. We need to touch something ordo something tangible to make thatreal.”

UMCOR is a nonprofit ministry ofthe United Methodist Church dedi-cated to alleviating human sufferingacross the globe. Within the agency’sbroad range of response to disasters, avital component is emotional andspiritual care.

Sometimes when you’re trying tooffer emotional and spiritual care, it’simportant to examine yourself as agiver, Ms. Gaudreau says. “There aretimes when we find people who getvery angry when their desire to dosomething good is rejected. They des-perately want to help and they feelfrustrated when their help is notneeded. . . . [We] need to considerthose six key words: It’s about the peo-ple we serve.”

That doesn’t mean the teddy bearswere rejected. Some of them went tolocal parents who have lost newbornbabies. Some were given to church vis-itors and parishioners. Some weretransformed into compost destinedfor a memorial garden. And some didmake it into the arms of kids.

What would Mr. Kawakami say isthe best response? He would like peo-ple to keep praying for Newtown. “Butif I could attach a tag to that,” he says,hesitating: “If you can freely send outthe prayer—without expecting some-thing in return.”

In normal times, he says, whensomeone sends a gift, you respond.“But multiply that by ten-thousand-fold and there isn’t a way to respond.My fear is that someone has taken of-fense because they’ve heard nothing.”

Ms. Kim is a freelance journalist in Laurel, Md. She is a regularcontributor to www.umcor.org,where this story first appeared.

MelKawakami

COURTESY PHOTO

Sina Noori (left), a member of Mount Pisgah UMC in Johns Creek,Ga., and her friend Amy Bartholomew competed in the 2013Boston Marathon. Ms. Noori was a half mile from the finish linewhen the terrorist bombings occurred. A breast cancer survivor, sheplans to return next year and finish the marathon. “I can’t quitnow,” she says. “I feel like I have angels surrounding me.”

U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R | M AY 1 0 , 2 0 1 3U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R . O R G

8A | Iowa Conference Edition of The United Methodist Reporter May 10, 2013

“Faith is going out knowing.” Hebrews 11:8

Our calls to ministry, laity and clergy alike, usually require the kind of faith in God that means “going out not knowing.” My call to ministry came on a tractor seat in western Iowa, three miles south of Salix to be exact. It was con rmed in the second pew from the back of the Salix Community United Methodist Church. To be even more speci c, in the second pew from the back, stage right, where I was sandwiched between my grandparents and my mother.

Everything about my call to ministry shouted “Bob, you are called to serve small rural churches.” How could I discern anything differently? I was raised on a farm and in a small church in a tiny community. Farming was so deep in my soul that as a child I was convinced my blood was red because my father farmed with red Farmall tractors. How surprised I was when a neighbor cut himself and he did not bleed green. He was devoted to farming with John Deere equipment.

However, as you can see from my pastoral record, appointment after appointment came and went, never to a rural farming community. Was this result of God’s sense of humor or was there a higher purpose? I’ll come back to this.

As I look back over almost fteen years as an assistant to the bishop it has become clear to me that just as God has prepared me for every appointment, God also has prepared me, or at least provided the resources in one form or another, for this ministry of “administration.” In order to be as effective as possible one has to have an understanding and appreciation for all the people of Iowa, whether people directly tied to the land or working for or in relationship to people of the land, town and farm dwellers alike.

These forty-two years of ministry have been a privilege. It has been a privilege because of the multitudes of laypersons I have had the good fortune of coming to know, for how they have mentored me in God’s ways, prayed for and with me, and offered grace when I haven’t made the best decisions. It has been a privilege because of my many clergy colleagues that also have taught me about ministry, shared in the joys and pains of ministry, and also prayed for and with me.

While a major portion of my ministry has been as what is currently known as “Assistant to the Bishop for Administration,” I have always seen this as a ministry in, through, and on behalf of the local church, what United Methodists call “extension ministry,” extending the ministry of the local church. Bishop Charles Jordan helped frame this understanding for me. He often reminded me that any assistant to the bishop must see one of his or her major roles as stretching the bishop’s time in order that the bishop can provide more leadership for and connection to local churches under his or her care. The three bishops I have been privileged to serve have all added to this understanding about this relationship with and extension of the local church.

One of the important ways of serving the local church as an assistant to the bishop is to develop the kinds of relationships with laity and clergy throughout the Annual Conference that not only allow the person(s) in these positions to represent the bishop when he or she is unavailable but also to advise the resident bishop on how best to provide leadership for the people he or she is called to serve. I have also come to understand that it is extremely important for an assistant to the bishop to know the Annual Conference well enough to advocate on behalf of United Methodists with the bishop as he or she learns the culture and nature of Iowa and Iowa United Methodists. What a privilege this continues to be!

Now, after forty-two years I still have days when I ponder my call to ministry and the direction it has taken. Why would God pluck up a farm boy from rural Iowa and send him to ministries that often appear to be several steps removed from the land? As I have been prayerfully contemplating retirement I have been responding to every inquiry about my “retirement plans” by saying “I’m just going to garden.” Well, here comes God again! Careful what you pray for. You just may get it. I had a moment of clarity recently about my gardening. I believe God is calling me to explore the possibility of working with one of our United Methodist-related ministries to assist in developing an urban farm. Maybe God has been preparing me all along for a ministry of farming! Another privilege!

J. Robert Burkhart (Bob)

The Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church exists to encourage communities of faithful people who live out the love of Jesus as instruments of God’s grace, peace, and justice. We are lay people and pastors, churches of all sizes, ministries and programs, all connected by the Holy Spirit into one body – the Iowa Conference – in order to live out our mission: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

In all parts of the Iowa Conference, God is calling us to a season of resurrection. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19 NRSV). God is calling us to be reborn as a conference so that we will grow our number of communities of faith and Christian disciples, develop hundreds of new leaders for God’s transforming work, and intentionally focus resources on our common mission. Every step of the way, God is leading us outside of our churches and into our wider communities to build relationships with new people, reaching out especially – as Jesus did – to persons living on the margins of society.

This future is exciting, but it also asks us to takes bold steps of faith, together, as we love and serve our neighbors. As United Methodist disciples in Iowa we acknowledge that we are fully dependent on God’s grace. Yet with conviction we embrace those spiritual practices of prayer, presence, gifts, service, and witness as we seek – with God’s help – to transform the world. To live out our vision and mission, we believe as the Iowa Conference we must focus on these strategic priorities:

1. Creating World-Transforming Communities of Faith A. Establishing new communities

of faithB. Increasing vitality in existing

communities of faith2. Equipping Ourselves and

Others as Transformational Leaders A. Equipping lay leadership to

disciple others and transform the world

B. Equipping clergy leadership to disciple others and transform the world

3. Directing Our Resources to Our Common GoalsA. Developing and implementing

an effective communications ministry

B. Aligning organizational structures and staf ng resources for the sake of the mission and vision.

C. Increasing the nancial health of the Iowa Conference

We believe we impact lives through the love of Jesus that is re ected in what we do. We do not have all the answers. We are on a journey of faith led by the Holy Spirit. We have entered into a new season of opportunity. As we travel together, we believe we are called to be unapologetically Christian and unashamedly United Methodist. We believe we are much stronger together than we are alone. We believe it is time for us all to unite to make a difference. When we follow and live out Christ’s example of generous love and compassion, the world will be transformed.

How do you see yourselfengaging these prioritiesnow and in the future?

Proposed Strategic PrioritiesIowa Conference, United Methodist ChurchSummary — May 2, 2013

United Methodist ReporterIowa Edition

To the Editor:

I read with disbelief the “Proposed Strategic Priorities” (The United Methodist Reporter, Iowa Conference Edition, April 19, 2013) that will be presented to the Iowa Annual Conference in June. I read them several times. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t nd anything related to ministry with the poor. Is this no longer a priority for the Iowa Annual Conference? If we are no longer in ministry with the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick and disabled, the children and the elderly, why do we exist? If we no longer consider ministry with the “least of these” a priority, we have truly lost our way.

Sincerely,Eloise M. CrankeDes Moines, IA

WesleyanWisdom

After the blast

Faith inAction

The independent source for news, features and commentary about the United Methodist Church

THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER

UMs in West, Texasjoin in recovery | 3B

Give confirmation theattention it merits | 6B

Church vitality rootedin honest assessment | 7B

May 10, 2013 Section B

� See ‘Mile’ page 4B � See ‘Age’ page 8B

The Texas Conference of theUnited Methodist Church has pro-posed changing its minimum stan-dards for clergy to discourage peopleover 45 from becoming candidates forordained ministry.

The conference’s board of ordainedministry is seeking feedback throughSeptember this year and does not planto make anyfinal decisionon its stan-dards until Oc-tober.

But the pos-sible changeshave already sparked debate acrossthe United Methodist blogosphere.Some call it an example of blatant agediscrimination, while others hail it asa welcome consideration for servingthe needs of tomorrow’s church.

According to a number of long-time church observers, the Texas Con-ference is believed to be the first tomake such a proposal for age guide-lines.

The proposal comes at a timewhen Texas and other U.S. conferenceshave increased emphasis on recruitingyounger clergy evenas they also dealwith people joiningthe clergy as secondcareers.

“This doesn’tsurprise me, and itwouldn’t surprise meto see other confer-ences move in a sim-ilar direction,” saidJan Love, dean of UMC-affiliated Can-dler School of Theology at EmoryUniversity in Atlanta. “One must al-ways remember that leadership skillsare not always defined by age.”

But she added that she sees theTexas plan as an important step in

B Y H E AT H E R H A H NUnited Methodist News Service

B Y M A RY JAC O B SStaff Writer

How old istoo old to joinUM clergy?

Jan Love

Read the Rev.ChappellTemple’scommentaryon page 6B

PHOTO COURTESY OF FIRST UMC OF ARLINGTON

As part of their One Mile Mission focus, members of First UMC of Arlington, Texas, have gotten involved in schools within a mile of thechurch. Church member Tolli Macalik (l) works with a parent and student to clean up and landscape Webb Elementary School.

‘One Mile’ model helps focus mission

For years, members of First UnitedMethodist Church of Grapevine,Texas, tried to organize a Wednesdaynight supper—with little success.

People were too busy. Volunteerswere hard to find. They tried havingthe meal catered. Nothing worked.

Then, in 2009, the church launched“One Mile Mission,” encouragingevery group in the church to findsome way to serve within a 1-mile ra-dius of the church.

That new focus led leaders to trygiving the Wednesday night suppers anew spin.

“We realized we were trying tofeed people who weren’t hungryenough,” said the Rev. Cindy Ryan, as-sociate pastor of FUMC Grapevine.“We started to ask, ‘What if we did agood meal for people who needed it,who were hungry, or lonely?’”

The result was “Be Our Guest,”where elderly, low-income, homelessor lonely people in the communitywere invited for a free monthly dinner,served on china and white tablecloths.Soon, up to 180 people were coming toeat, and 150 people—from the churchas well as the community at large—signed on as volunteers.

“For our own meal, we couldn’t getenough volunteers,” Dr. Ryan said.

“Once we started feeding others, wehad 150 volunteers.”

FUMC Grapevine, which averagesaround 1,200 in weekly worship, hasalways been a mission-mindedchurch, Dr. Ryan said. But the simpleidea of designating an area of roughly1 mile around the church created aloaves-and-fishes effect.

DesperationThat simple idea was the brain-

child of two United Methodist pas-tors—and it arose out of desperation,according to the Rev. David Mosser,senior pastor of First UnitedMethodist of Arlington, Texas. Hecame up with “One Mile Mission”

along with FUMC Grapevine’s thensenior pastor, the late Rev. KennethDiehm.

When he was appointed to the Ar-lington church in 2008, Dr. Mossersays, his congregation was mired ininternal conflict. Some members com-pared their own church, unfavorably,with other UMCs in affluent suburbanareas that were growing quickly. Mem-bers had few connections with thechurch’s neighborhood—its residents,schools, nursing homes and non-profit agencies. The majority of thechurch’s 800 regular attendees liveseveral miles from church; at the time,most drove in for worship or meet-

Bringing it

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FAITH focus2B

Pope may issueencyclical in 2013Pope Francis has “fleshedout material on the theme offaith” for his first encyclical,and may publish it by year’send, said Vatican spokesmanFather Federico Lombardi.Pope Benedict had com-pleted work on an encyclicalon that subject in late 2012,with release expected in thefirst half of this year; but heresigned before that hap-pened. Catholic News Serv-ice reported that it’s notunusual for a new pope tofinish an encyclical started byhis predecessor.

Israeli court rulesfor praying womenThe Jerusalem District Courthas ruled that women whowant to wear prayer shawlswhile praying in the women’ssection of the Western Wallin Jerusalem are not break-ing the law, Religion NewsService reported. Fivewomen from Women of theWall, an activist group, werearrested April 11 for dress-ing in prayer shawls andpraying at the site. A lowercourt ruled for the women,and the district court agreed.Israel’s ultra-Orthodox reli-gious leaders believe onlymen should lead groupprayers or wear prayershawls.

Panel to investigatesuspicious church fire A national task force thatspecializes in arsons at wor-ship facilities will investigatethe April 26 fire at BethesdaTemple Apostolic Church inLos Angeles. Eighty firefight-ers were able to extinguishthe blaze in about 50 min-utes.

Ecumenical panelsprotest kidnappingsThe World Council ofChurches and NationalCouncil of Churches areprotesting the April 22 kid-nappings in Syria of GreekOrthodox Archbishop PaulYazigi and Syriac OrthodoxArchbishop YohannaIbrahim. The kidnappingsoccurred as they were return-ing from a humanitarianmission. Their driver, Fatha’Allah Kabboud, was killed.NCC President KathrynLohre expressed “anger andsorrow.”

—Compiled by Sam Hodges

FAITH WATCH

U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R . O R G

THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER has provided denominational news coveragesince its beginning as the Texas Methodist newspaper in 1847. The Reporter has noofficial ties to the United Methodist General Conference or to any of the denomination’sgeneral boards or agencies. This newspaper aims to provide readers with a broadspectrum of information and viewpoints consistent with the diversity of Christians.

All material published in this newspaper is copyrighted by UMR CommunicationsInc. unless otherwise noted. Reprint of material from this newspaper must be au-thorized in advance by the Managing Editor, and fees are assessed in some cases.To request reprints, email news@umr.org, or fax a request to (214) 630-0079.

Alan Heath, CEOSam Hodges, Managing EditorBill Fentum, Associate Editor

Mary Jacobs, Staff WriterCherrie Graham, Advertising Manager

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www.unitedmethodistreporter.orgnews@umr.org

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Board of DirectorsTom Palmer, Chair

Brad Bowen, Vice-ChairMichael Schaefer, Treasurer

Karla Abernethy-Thetford, Secretary

John AllenCharles Carnahan

Lynn HamricMichael Heiskell

Nathan KirkpatrickLisa Neslony

Arthur McClanahan

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Hiram SmithMartha Taylor

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Kim Wheless

B Y S A M H O D G E SManaging Editor

Two clergy hit the highway to save lives

The goal of beating malaria inAfrica put two United Methodist cler-gymen on the road in hilly East Ten-nessee.

And they weren’t riding in auto-mobiles, either.

The Rev. Charles Maynard walked100 miles from April 21-25 in theHolston Conference’s Maryville Dis-trict, visiting 17 United Methodistchurches to promote Holston’s ambi-tious goal for assisting the UMC’sImagine No Malaria campaign.

As he walked, the Rev. RandyPasqua pedaled, covering 130 milesby road bike over two days, and visit-ing 19 churches with the same mes-

sage.Mr. Pasqua described his journey

as plenty tough, given the Ap-palachian foothills terrain, but not asdemanding as Mr. Maynard’s.

“I got to sit down the whole way,and he had to walk,” Mr. Pasqua said.“I got to coast downhill, too.”

Holston set a goal at last summer’sAnnual Conference to raise $1 millionfor Imagine No Malaria by the time oftheir 2013 session, planned for June9-12 at Lake Junaluska, N.C. As ofApril 15, the conference was a littleover halfway there.

Neither Mr. Maynard, superinten-dent of the Maryville district, nor Mr.Pasqua, who leads camping min-istries for the conference, has been toAfrica. But they both strongly supportthe conference’s goal, convinced thatmany lives are being saved throughthe spread of mosquito nets, which gofor $10 each and can provide protec-tion for an entire family.

Mr. Maynard has a close friendfrom seminary days, the Rev. FredDearing, who with his wife Libby hasbeen working in South Sudan for thelast couple of years. Their communi-cations about the extent of malariaand the effectiveness of the UMC’s ef-fort helped get him more deeply in-volved.

“It’s been more than theoreticalbecause of that connection,” Mr. May-nard said.

Mr. Maynard, 58, is an author, andwon an award from the SoutheasternEnvironmental Law Center for a col-lection of his essays titled The BlueRidge Ancient and Majestic. He’s indemand as a storyteller, as well.

And Mr. Maynard has been anavid mountain hiker since his youth.It was on a hike with a couple offriends a few months ago that he firsttalked about walking 100 miles forImagine No Malaria.

“I said, ‘How crazy is this idea?’They said, ‘Pretty crazy, so it shouldsuit you just fine,’” Mr. Maynard said.

Mr. Pasqua, 61 and a longtime bi-cyclist, recalls getting recruited byMr. Maynard. They agreed their effortwould be to raise awareness, not toraise funds directly. And they decidedto start from different directions, Mr.Maynard going south to north, andMr. Pasqua going west to east.

They met along the way, servingcommunion together at First UMCMaryville, in a service marking WorldMalaria Day.

“That was a neat moment,” Mr.Maynard said.

In their separate journeys throughfour counties, they often had com-pany. Don Washburn, a UM camp di-rector, rode both days with Mr.Pasqua. The Rev. Laura Rasor and herhusband, David Cheney, rode withhim one day.

Mr. Maynard’s companions in-cluded one of his daughters and alongtime hiking buddy, Hal Hubs.

In one of the five days, Mr. May-nard hiked alone, and covered 21.5miles—the most he did in a day.Deeply read in the history of the re-gion, he found himself moved to be inthe same territory that naturalistsWilliam Bartram and John Muirwalked, and that Methodist leaderFrancis Asbury traveled as well.

He also found himself thinkingabout Africa.

“I thought about the fact that formost people [there], health care is awalk, not a drive, away,” he said.

The effort by Mr. Maynard andMr. Pasqua—dubbed “Next Mile”—got considerable local media cover-age. Proof that they had in fact raisedawareness about anti-malaria efforts

came to Mr. Maynard when he waswalking one day, and a young womanpulled over in her truck.

“She walked up to me and said,‘Are you a Methodist?’” he recalled. “I said, ‘Does it show?’ She said, ‘Well,here.’ And she handed me a bottle ofwater and a bag of nuts and $10. Shesaid, ‘We’ve been talking about this atour church, and I just wanted you toknow that a lot of us support you.’”

Another poignant encounter waswith an elderly woman who had beentold by her pastor that Mr. Maynardwould be walking by, and might needrefreshments.

“She had lemonade and cookies,and she was literally at her front door,waiting,” he said.

Mr. Maynard thought about sleep-ing in churches along the way, but de-cided he would need to be well-restedto complete 100 miles. So hearranged car transport to get himhome each night.

The last stretch, for him, came atEden UMC, where three churches col-laborated on a covered dish supper,erected a “Finish Line” banner andplayed music from Chariots of Fire.

“It was kind of nice to be walkingtoward Eden,” Mr. Maynard said.“There’s something poetic in that.”

shodges@umr.org

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FIRST UMC MARYVILLE

The Rev. Randy Pasqua (center) gears up with riding partner DonWashburn, as the latter’s wife, Jackie, looks on.

The Rev. Charles Maynardcrossed four counties in his100-mile walk.

CorrectionAn April 26 Reporter articleon Bridwell Library’s newdigital collection of RabbiLevi A. Olan’s sermonsmisspelled the name of afinancial supporter of theeffort. She’s Lois Wolf.

FAITH focus 3B

Strong support forAfrica UniversityNearly 30 conferences paid100 percent or better of their2012 apportionment forAfrica University, the UMschool in Zimbabwe. TheWisconsin Conference paid169.31 percent, and GreaterNew Jersey paid 104.69percent. Other conferencesin the 100 percent or bettergroup are: Louisiana, EastOhio, Illinois Great Rivers,Minnesota, Northern Illinois,West Michigan, West Ohio,Baltimore-Washington, NewEngland, New York, Penin-sula-Delaware, Upper NewYork, West Virginia, WesternPennsylvania, Kansas West,Oklahoma Indian Mission-ary, Southwest Texas, Florida,Holston, North Carolina,Red Bird Missionary, Ten-nessee, Alaska Missionaryand Desert Southwest.

Martin named deanat Wesley Theological The Rev. Robert K. Martinhas been named dean ofWesley Theo-logical Semi-nary, the UMschool inWashington,D.C. Dr. Mar-tin, an or-dained elder inthe MissouriConference,has since 2000taught churchleadership at Saint PaulSchool of Theology. He be-gins his new post in July.

Cokesbury storesnow all closed The last Cokesbury storesclosed on April 27. TheUnited Methodist PublishingHouse decided to shutter all57 stores, which had, as agroup, begun to lose money.UMPH is focusing on phoneorder and online sales, bol-stered by field representa-tives. “There have beenextraordinary and beautifulexpressions of mutual appre-ciation shared by Cokesburystore personnel and the laityand pastors they’ve served,”Neil Alexander, UMPH presi-dent, said. “I have beendeeply impressed and grate-ful for the intense dedicationand generous care shown bystaff in handling every detailrequired in these finalweeks.”

—Compiled by Sam Hodges

UM CONNECTIONS

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UMs get, give help in hard-hit West, Texas

The Rev. Jimmy Sansom apolo-gized for his inability to recall exactlywhere he went first on the day after afertilizer plant explosion broughtdeath and widespread destruction tohis small town of West, Texas.

“I can’t remember if I went up tothe command post,” he said in aphone interview more than a weekafter the April 17 disaster. “I think Idid. My mind’s just frazzled rightnow.”

Mr. Sansom, pas-tor of West UnitedMethodist Churchand nearby WesleyChapel UMC, hasbeen going hardever since the explo-sion, which claimed15 lives and dam-aged hundreds ofhomes.

He’s answered a rushing stream ofphone calls, text messages andemails, dealing with everything fromtrying to find missing church mem-bers to providing the Red Cross withtemporary office space in the WestUMC basement to working with UMCofficials on how the denominationcan best help.

Despite all the trouble Mr. Sansomhas seen, and despite his fatigue, he’sgrateful.

“In the midst of death andtragedy, there were blessings,” he said.“It could have been so much worse.”

The explosion at the West Fertil-izer Co., still under investigation, oc-curred at 7:51 p.m., killing 12 firstresponders who had come to put outa fire at the plant, and three others.

West—just north of Waco and

about 75 miles south of Dallas—is aclose-knit farming community ofabout 2,800 people, most of themCatholic, and many of Czech heritage.

The days since the explosion havebrought funerals, a memorial servicein Waco attended by PresidentObama, and an ongoing, often agoniz-ing, process of assessing propertydamage.

Authorities have divided the 350homes nearest the explosion intothree zones, with Zone Three beingthe hardest hit. Some 70 homes therewere destroyed, with another 85 de-clared unsafe and requiring extensiverestoration, the Dallas Morning Newsreported.

The explosion occurred wellacross town from West UMC. But theforce broke seven church windowsand knocked tile out of the ceiling.

“None of the stained glass re-ceived breakage. They may have beenbowed a little bit,” Mr. Sansom said.

West UMC, which usually has from50 to 70 in Sunday worship, was a cou-ple of days accounting for all its mem-bers. None had been killed, and thesame was true for Wesley ChapelUMC, about 11 miles away in Gholson.

“Some people received scratchesand had to go to the doctor to getshards of glass taken out of them,”Mr. Sansom said.

Seven families within West UMChave suffered extensive damage totheir homes, as did one person inWesley Chapel UMC, Mr. Sansomsaid.

“School wasn’t in session, whichwas a blessing, because otherwise wewould have had three or four hundredcasualties,” he said.

The Red Cross asked to use thefellowship hall of West UMC as a pro-cessing center. The church made that

space available free of charge, Mr.Sansom said.

While he has been busy checkingon church members, the Rev. LaraineWaughtal, disaster relief coordinatorof the Central Texas Conference, hasbeen in charge of the UMC response.

Ms. Waughtal arrived in West theday after the explosion.

“I sat down with [Mr. Sansom], tohelp him go through the process ofhow to get in contact with all hismembers,” she said. “Of course,church members were coming in, andI was getting to meet them.”

Ms. Waughtal said she has at-tended numerous meetings with localofficials and other relief groups. Herfocus lately has been lining up earlyresponse teams from within the Cen-tral Texas Conference.

“The early response teams willstrictly be debris removal, cleanup,securing the homes and getting readyfor the long-term recovery,” she said.

The United Methodist Committeeon Relief (UMCOR) has provided$10,000 for West relief efforts. SomeUnited Methodist churches, such asChrist UMC in Farmers Branch,Texas, have taken up offerings forWest UMC. Bishop Mike Lowry of theCentral Texas Conference has made aspecial appeal to conference churchesfor relief funds, while also encourag-ing contributions through UMCOR.

“We have received donations rang-ing from $1 to $10,000—from indi-viduals, churches andorganizations—both from within theconference and from across the state,country and world,” said Vance Mor-ton, director of communications forthe Central Texas Conference.

Mr. Morton added: “One sizabledonation came from a church downon the Texas coast who stated in theletter that accompanied it that theyremembered the generosity of ourconference during their recoveryfrom Hurricane Ike.”

Bishop Lowry has visited West,

going with Mr. Sansom to visit UMfamilies whose homes were badlydamaged.

Mr. Sansom said the town hasbeen nearly overwhelmed by contri-butions from a wide range of groupsand individuals. His wife, Shannon,found herself sorting donated goodswith fellow Protestants, but also withBuddhists, Muslims and Sikhs.

“They were all working together,”he said. “The love of God has beenvery much present during suchtimes.”

Mr. Sansom acknowledged deal-ing with a peculiar form of survivor’sguilt. Not only was he not hurt, he wasat a Dallas Mavericks game with hisson, Jeff, when the blast occurred.

Though he left for West as soon ashe got the call from his wife, and wasup until 2:30 a.m. trying to help inthe chaotic aftermath, he still blamedhimself for being away from town, atan entertainment venue, when disas-ter struck.

“I had a colleague call me while Iwas coming back, and he said I justneed to calm down and be there foreverybody else. I can now see thatGod’s hands were involved and that Iwasn’t there during the blast so that Icould be freed up to minister to others.… I feel a whole lot better now.”

shodges@umr.org

B Y S A M H O D G E SManaging Editor

Robert Martin

Rev. JimmySansom

PHOTOS COURTESY CENTRAL TEXAS CONFERENCE

West UMC offered its fellowship hall to the Red Cross.

There was hugging aplenty at West UMC on the Sunday after theblast.

How to HelpDonations to help survivorsof this and other disasters,payable to “Advance GCFA”and marked in memo linefor “U.S. Disaster Response,UMCOR Advance#901670,” can be left inchurch offering plates or sentto: Advance GCFA, PO Box9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Contributions are alsoaccepted at umcor.org and(888) 252-6174.

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FAITH focus4B

� MILE Continued from page 1B

ings, and then drove back out.And that neighborhood was de-

clining. What had been a middle classcommunity 30-40 years ago had be-come the second poorest ZIP code inTarrant County. Pawnshops and cheapmotels littered the streets. Houses hadfallen into disrepair.

People in the surrounding neigh-borhood didn’t know much about thechurch, either, even though its campusoccupies 14½ acres in downtown Ar-lington.

“If you stopped someone on thestreet and asked, ‘Can you tell mewhere the United Methodist churchis?’ I suspect they’d answer, ‘I don’tthink they have one here,’” Dr. Mossersaid.

Frustrated, Dr. Mosser confided inDiehm, his longtime friend and col-league. (Diehm passed away suddenly,of undiagnosed leukemia, in early2011.) Together, the two pastors cameup with the One Mile Mission concept.

Both presented a simple proposi-tion to their respective congregationsin early 2009: Picture a circle with a 1-mile radius, centered on the church’ssanctuary. Challenge every group inthe church, large and small, to findsome way to serve people in that geo-graphic area: the residents who live inthe homes, the students who attendthe schools, the patients in the hospi-tals and nursing homes. Maps of thecommunity, with a big red circle, wereposted around the church.

One Mile Mission was launched.

Too many to countJust as it did in Grapevine, the idea

worked its magic at FUMC Arlington,too. Soon, groups in the church—choirs, small groups, committees,

Bible study groups, Sunday schoolclasses, youth groups and others—came up with ways to be of service.

The Rainbow Class, an adult Sun-day school group, began “adopting”students from out of town who live inthe dorms at the University of Texas atArlington, by way of the Wesley Foun-dation on campus.

Volunteers from the church startedmaking connections with nearby ele-mentary schools, and started collect-ing needed supplies, hosting teacherappreciation events and helping tutorkids after school. At one of thoseschools, the Chancel Choir begansponsoring the music and theater artsprograms with scholarship moneyand volunteer assistance.

The church’s Library Committeecame up with the idea of a Book Car-nival, giving away thousands of freebooks to neighborhood kids to readover the summer.

Seventy-five church memberssigned up as “prayer partners” whopray for individual officers in the Ar-lington Police Department and sendcards with words of encouragement.

Partnering with the local libraryand Rotary Club, the church openedup a small building on its campus,home to the community’s English as aSecond Language (ESL) program.

Children and youth in the churchpitched in, too, collecting coats forhomeless folks at a shelter near thechurch and organizing supplies for anearby women’s shelter.

Now, there are so many differentmission projects going on thatMichelle Clark, the church’s missionand outreach coordinator, happily re-ports she can’t keep track of them all.

“It’s cool to know that [church

members] do things on their own, anddon’t feel the need to have permissionto engage in mission in their commu-nity,” she said.

Grassroots workFirst UMC Grapevine saw a similar

snowball effect. With the launch ofOne Mile Mission, 40 volunteers fromthe congregation began reading withstruggling students at a nearby ele-mentary school, and “it just began tomushroom,” Dr. Ryan said. Learningthat some kids were arriving at schoolon Monday mornings hungry—be-cause their families didn’t haveenough food at home—the volunteersbegan partnering with a local manwho’d been purchasing, at his own ex-pense, 25 bags of food each week tosend home with needy kids. Nowthere are 800-900 bags of food goinghome with kids in 12 schools inGrapevine and nearby Colleyville.

Church members also reached outto residents—most of them undocu-mented Hispanic families—in a mo-bile home park within a mile of thechurch. In 2009, church members de-cided to host a fiesta at the park withpiñatas and hot dogs.

“In the first few minutes, it wasreal awkward, because no one came,”Dr. Ryan recalled. “There were justthese church people standing aroundwith food. But all of a sudden, peoplejust started coming. It was a life-changing moment in our church.”

The church now hosts about threefiestas per year at the park. Localschool administrators turn up, as dofirefighters, police officers and folksfrom nearby community agencies.

One trailer park resident joinedthe church, on the spot, at the first fi-

esta and remains active today. Othersbegan attending the church’s bilingualservice, and several residents volun-teer with the weekend food programas well as the church’s summer feed-ing program for low-income kids.Church members have helped repair72 trailer homes in the park.

Because of One Mile Mission, “wegot really bold as a church,” Dr. Ryansaid.

A way that worksThe power of the One Mile Mission

concept at these two churches doesn’tsurprise Isabel Docampo, professor ofthe supervised ministry program atSouthern Methodist University’sPerkins School of Theology. Turningoutward and connecting with peoplein neighborhoods can energize a con-gregation and strengthen church

members’ faith, too, she said.“What happens to people is, the

meaning of their faith comes into per-spective,” she said. “It makes faith veryrelatable to their everyday life and ex-perience.”

Dr. Docampo cites the New Testa-ment story of the rich young ruler, whoasked Jesus how he could be saved.

“Instead of saying, ‘Believe in God,’Jesus said, ‘Sell everything and followme,’” she said. When church membersengage their neighbors, the story’smeaning becomes clear.

“They’re able to see that it’s notgiving out of your excess, it’s just shar-ing, it’s just being in relationship,” shesaid. “People realize, ‘This is how itheals my spirit. This is where I needGod.’ It’s a salvation experience. Yousee life differently.”

Dr. Docampo says she’s witnessed

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FIRST UMC GRAPEVINE

Members of First United Methodist in Grapevine, Texas, serve asvolunteers at nearby Cannon Elementary, reading to youngstersafter school. LEFT: FUMC Grapevine had trouble generatinginterest in Wednesday night suppers, but “Be Our Guest,” a dinnerfor seniors, low-income neighbors and others, has brought manyvolunteers as well as diners to the church.

UMR PHOTO BY MARY JACOBS

Partnering with the Rotary Club and the local library, FUMC ofArlington, Texas, provides a house on its campus for thecommunity’s English as a Second Language program.

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FAITH focus 5B

several examples of this kind ofneighborhood focus revitalizing acongregation. She cites Parker LaneUnited Methodist in Austin, Texas,which, like the churches in Grapevineand Arlington, has become a nervecenter of its neighborhood, home to ahealth clinic and a range of neighbor-hood groups.

“We’re not swooping in from theoutside,” said the Rev. Tina Carter,Parker Lane’s pastor. “Our objectivewas to become the neighborhood. Wemeet our neighbors and we know ourneighbors.”

Dr. Carter can often be seen walk-ing around the neighborhood, usuallyin her clerical collar, alone or with oneor two others, praying for the commu-nity and for the people she meets.

“It sounds cheesy, but when you

start praying for somebody, twothings will happen,” she said. “You’regoing to start loving them, and you’regoing to learn their name.”

Hearts, not numbersNeither Grapevine nor Arlington

can point to significant upticks in at-tendance, baptisms or giving as a re-sult of One Mile Mission, but Dr.Mosser believes that, without OneMile Mission, his church might’ve lostmembers instead of holding steady inits numbers.

“We live in an urban area; to justhold our own is a major victory,” Dr.Mosser said. “What One Mile Missionreally changed was the attitude, frompeople saying ‘What’s wrong with us?’to ‘How can we help others?’”

Leaders from both churches say

they’ve seen a heart transformation:Children in the church are more at-tuned to the needs of those withoutadvantages. Church members knowfamilies in the neighborhood by nameand know about their daily struggles.People start becoming bolder aboutgetting out of the church and into thestreets.

“It’s helped redirect our energyfrom self-serving things,” Dr. Mossersaid. “Having a good music program,or a good children’s program, thoseare important, but they’re means to anend. Not only do we get to know ourneighbors, but they get to know us.”

In recent years, both churches haveextended the boundaries of their mis-sion focus. The circles on the maps inthe Arlington church now includemission projects within two miles of

the church.Grapevine branched out to three

“villages”—the 1-mile area as well asmission stations in Kenya and CostaRica. Leaders from both overseascommunities have visited Grapevine,observed the church’s local missionwork and taken new ideas back totheir own communities.

Dr. Ryan believes the One MileMission generated energy that in turnspilled over to the Kenya and CostaRica projects.

“All of us care about people inneed, but it’s so overwhelming,” shesaid. “When you put the magnifyingglass on specific areas, specific needs,specific projects, then people are ableto respond.”

Rezolia Johnson, a pastoral internat FUMC Arlington, believes any con-

gregation could easily adopt One MileMission—and spark similar mission-ary entrepreneurship.

“By getting more intentional aboutengaging in mission in their ownbackyards . . . churches won’t be littleislands anymore,” she said.

Recently, FUMC Arlington hosted a5K walk around the community.Church members spotted new needs.Someone noticed a litter-filled creek,and the youth later gathered a workparty to clean it up.

That’s the beauty of One Mile Mis-sion, Dr. Mosser said: Church mem-bers come up with their own ideasand run with them.

“There’s a freedom and a focus atthe same time,” he said.

mjacobs@umr.org

PHOTO COURTESY OF FIRST UMC OF ARLINGTON

Left to right: Ashley Ray, Katie Kelly and Allison Ray help pick uptrash in the neighborhood around FUMC of Arlington.

Neighborhood kidsattended ParkerLane UMC’s freesummer camp inAustin, Texas. TheRev. Tina Carter issecond from theright.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PARKERLANE UMC

COURTESY PHOTOS

ABOVE: To launch “One Mile Mission 2.0” in March, members of FUMC ofArlington walked around the neighborhood as part of a 5K event benefittingthe local school district’s Families in Transition program. RIGHT: As part ofits One Mile Mission, members of FUMC of Grapevine began hosting“fiestas” at a mobile home park within a mile of the church.

FAITH forum6B

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FAITH IN ACTION

Discovering the purpose and potential of confirmationB Y A N D R E W C . T H O M P S O NUMR Columnist

B Y C H A P P E L L T E M P L ESpecial Contributor

I spoke with a pastor not long agowho told me a shocking story aboutconfirmation. Hehad arrived at a newappointment oneJune and discoveredthat—in hiswords—“all thechildren from sec-ond grade and upwere already con-firmed.”

If you are famil-iar at all with thepractice of confirmation, that state-ment will strike you as odd. Howcould students as young as second orthird grade be confirmed? And whywould this pastor’s predecessor haveconfirmed all the children in hischurch en masse?

Could it possibly be that there is amagic confirmation curriculum outthere applicable for students from age7 to age 17?

Unfortunately, no. The new pastorwanted to find out how much the chil-dren in his church had absorbedthrough their “confirmation.” So hequestioned the sixth-graders, sincethat is the age when many churchesconsider children ready for the confir-mation process.

And what did he find? Mostly, thatno sixth-grader in his church was fa-miliar with basic terms connected ei-ther to Methodist practice (such as“John Wesley”) or to Christianity gen-erally (such as “Trinity”).

As he put it to me, “They didn’tseem to know any of the basics ofMethodism or Christianity.”

It is a regrettable incident. It pointsto a real failure in ministry. But itgives us the opportunity to thinkabout confirmation with respect totwo important considerations: its pur-pose and its potential.

One way to think about confirma-tion is as a rite of passage. And it isthat. It signals both to the childrenbeing confirmed and to the congrega-tion that these are young discipleswho are ready to take full part in theministry of the church.

But thinking of confirmation pri-marily as a rite of passage is not suffi-cient. It has a greater purpose.Confirmation ought to be a deeply for-mational event in the lives of thosewho go through it. It should be a timewhen they are taught the disciplines ofprayer and Bible study. It is the bestopportunity for adolescents to gainexposure to the wider field of ministryand mission—in which they are ex-pected to take a part as professingmembers of the church.

Confirmation is a time for confir-

opment. It’s not about a native disin-terest on the part of the youth.

Regardless, pastors and congrega-tions often fail to craft a confirmationprocess that could really be formativefor children. They fall into the “rite ofpassage” rut where all sixth- or sev-enth-graders go through a short cur-riculum with a little ceremony at the

end of a worship service that marksthem as “confirmed.”

And then there are the outliers—such as the example I began with—that suggest some pastors even useconfirmation as a way to bolstermembership numbers.

Confirmation’s purpose is so muchgreater than this. But to see what itcould be, we have to realize that itspurpose is largely still just potential.Ms. Arthur believes that when confir-mation is approached as a primaryvehicle for the formation of youth, itcan be “a powerful experience of en-culturation . . . into the body ofChrist.” For that to happen, we need tounlock the potential that will allow

confirmation to really have an impactin the church.

Churches should consider empha-sizing and expanding their confirma-tion process so that it becomes locatedat the center of the church’s ministriesof Christian formation. We should askourselves what confirmation mightbecome for our youth if we did it notover six weeks but, rather, six months.Or even a year. And we need to becareful about choosing a curriculumthat has real spiritual substance.

We need to give confirmation theserious attention it deserves. Not justfrom the pastor and the parents ofconfirmands. But from the entire con-gregation. We’ll be more liable to dothat once we realize just how impor-tant confirmation can be to the faithdevelopment of the children involved.

If we want confirmation to be arite of passage in the best sense, thenlet’s make it a rite of passage thatleaves a lasting impression. Let’s de-vote our energy to really shapingyouth through their minds, bodiesand spirits. That’s going to take buy-infrom the whole church. But you knowwhat?

Our kids are worth it.

Dr. Thompson is an assistantprofessor of historical theology and Wesleyan studies at MemphisTheological Seminary. Reach himat www.andrewthompson.com.

mands to learn about what the churchis really for, and to take their place init. That means confirmation is an op-portunity for the church to bringhome the heart of discipleship for agroup of people who have just becomeable to grasp what that really means.

Sarah Arthur, a popular author inthe areas of youth ministry and Chris-

tian devotion, has written about thisdeeply formational purpose of confir-mation. She devoted a chapter to thattopic in my book, Generation Rising: AFuture with Hope for the UnitedMethodist Church.

Ms. Arthur contends that“churches struggle to reach youth be-cause congregations presume thatyouth are uninterested in the church’straditions, rituals, narratives, gram-mar, and practices—in short, its wayof life.”

For her part, she doesn’t believeyouth are uninterested at all. At times,there are challenges to communicat-ing and relating with youth. But this isabout the reality of adolescent devel-

Andrew C.Thompson

Too old to be a United Methodist elder? Let’s hope not!

I’m almost surprised thatMethodists haven’t crashed the wholeInternet, as manyemails, Twitter mes-sages, and blogpieces that havebeen circulatingthrough cyberspaceover the subject inrecent days. The“outing” of a TexasConference internalproposal—one in-tended just for dis-cussion—that would discourageanyone over 45 from entering the or-dination process, has created a virtualfirestorm of comments, some serious,some snarky and some somewhere inbetween.

The truth, however, is that when itcomes to ordination, it should not somuch be about the years which havepassed as the years that are left. That

is to say, while it is sensible to suggestthat those entering ordained ministryshould have a reasonable minimalnumber of years of service to thechurch which they can render—say10, perhaps—it is entirely different tomandate that someone who is 45, witha potential viability of 27 years ofministry ahead, is “too old” to becomean elder.

Such is not to imply that some dis-crimination on the part of Boards ofOrdained Ministry should not takeplace, for that’s exactly why they’vebeen established, as one of myyounger clergy friends has pointedout. And having served on the TexasConference Board for many years, Ican testify that one of the most diffi-cult but important tasks that any suchgroup has is to deliberately discernwhether a candidate has the necessarygifts, graces and temperament toserve the people of our congregations.But in that process of discernment, Imight also suggest that age is perhapsone of the least relevant indicators of a

person’s vitality, readiness and poten-tial effectiveness in ministry.

In all of the discussion that is on-going, three simple observations needto be made.

First, ordination is a gift of thechurch—it is not the inalienable orcivil right of any man or woman, evenif they have gone to all the trouble andexpense of acquiring the necessaryeducational credentials. No one is en-titled to be ordained, no matter whohe or she is, or even how fervently theymay have sensed their own individualcalling from God. Rather, ordination isthe corporate affirmation of that call-ing which, by very definition, may ormay not be given following the seriousreflection and prayer of others withinthe community of faith.

Second, the order of elders is notthe brass ring of the church either—itis but one expression of meaningfulministry, not inherently better orworse than others. Deacons and localpastors are not “junior varsity” mem-bers of the clergy; they are simply col-

leagues whose gifts and graces, as wellas life situations, work better under adifferent arrangement. To suggest thatan individual pursue those avenuesrather than the elder track is not todowngrade their divine calling atall—it is to better define it.

Third, the church needs servantleaders not simply of all races, gendersand backgrounds, but even of all agesas well. Toward that end whatever ef-forts we can make—and the TexasConference has helped to lead in thisrespect—to recruiting and encourag-ing younger clergy we should certainlydo. But similarly, there is absolutely noplace for prejudice against those whomay be on the other end of thechronological scale. Encouragingclergy in their 60s to retire early inorder to clear some space for thosewho are younger, for instance, ortelling pastors that once they havepassed that benchmark that good ap-pointments may also pass them by,suggests a deplorable lack of respectfor the contributions which those in-

dividuals have made and can continueto make.

Imagine, for instance, if someonehad tried to tell John Wesley that hewas too old to keep on going when heturned not just 45 or even 65, but 87and was still very much in the game.Likewise, we may even wonder a bitabout our mandatory retirement agein the United Methodist Church of 72,given the fact that our Catholic friendsjust elected a new pope who is fouryears beyond that marker. When all issaid and done, therefore, it is my hopethat the proposed age guidelines will“time out” (appropriately enough) be-fore they are ever enacted.

If not, even the great St. Augus-tine—who wasn’t ordained until hewas leaning towards 40—wouldbarely have made the cut-off pointhad he lived in Carthage, Texas, andnot that other ancient city by the samename in North Africa.

The Rev. Temple is pastor ofLakewood UMC in Houston, Texas.

ChappellTemple

‘If we want confirmation to be a riteof passage in the best sense, thenlet’s make it a rite of passage thatleaves a lasting impression.’

U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T R E P O R T E R | M AY 1 0 , 2 0 1 3

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WESLEYAN WISDOM

Diagnosis: So you want to be a vital congregation?

LETTERS

More than ‘strangely warmed’

In Michigan the 11th largest city inthe U.S. is called “Dih-TROIT.” How-ever, in northeastTexas, there is a vil-lage called “DEE-troit” with apopulation of 732and a UnitedMethodist churchwhose membershiphas gradually de-clined from around100 to 56. ThisEaster, they had analarmingly low attendance of 15.

I’ve just spent five days with them,talking about “re-vitalization.” If wecan develop a plan for revitalizingMartin Memorial UMC in Detroit,Texas, it might be helpful as a para-digm for other churches in prettymuch the same predicament.

The Rev. Jerry Irvin, pastor at Mar-tin Memorial, invited me there to helpthe congregation discover the dynam-ics of renewal and four-way growth:growing deeper in discipleship; grow-ing together in Koinonia fellowship;growing outward in missional service,locally and globally; and, as a byprod-uct, growing larger in membership.

The first thing I told the congrega-tion—in 13 one-on-one interviewsand in the five sermons I preached—is that we need to recover from ouraddiction to big numbers. I used thisreference: If you had 20 people in your

home, you would say that your housewas “packed” with friends, or fellowChristians and their special guests.But if 20 people came to worship inthe sanctuary, you’d say, “Almost noone was at church last Sunday.”

Almost all students of Methodisthistory acknowledge that theMethodist class meeting was Wesley’smost ingenious concept. The averageattendance in those meetings was adozen. Churches of small membershipare similar in that it’s easy to knoweach person by name, address, familyrelationship, job and other aspects oflife’s journey. Small size is an asset, nota liability, if we can move from actinglike a club with a “member/guest”mentality to a culture where we cometogether seeking meaning in life.

I will be sending to Martin Memo-rial a “Blueprint for a New Future” thatis lengthy, detailed and difficult toadopt. It will cover everything frommy first impression of the buildingand grounds, to the worship service,to my interviews with people who toldme what they see as the strengths oftheir church and their worries, includ-ing where they think the church willbe five years from now. As I preachedin my fourth sermon, the question fora new future is not, “Can it be done?”but, “Are we willing to pay the price?”

Peter Drucker, one of the 20th cen-tury’s most effective corporate con-sultants, began every on-site visit byasking the management team: “What’syour business?” (He was amazed athow many executives fumbled for an

answer to that fundamental question.)Second, he asked, “How’s business?”His parting words after that firstmeeting were usually, “If you keepdoing business like you are now, youwill soon not be doing business at all.”

His questions and conclusion areapt for thousands of our churches thatneed to get off the slippery slope to-ward closure.

During 20 years of consultationswith local churches, I’ve used a modelI call the Provolutionary Cycle. Ifdrawn on a board, it looks like an up-side-down horseshoe. At the lower-leftend of the horseshoe is the beginningof every local church: a dream. Thedream is fleshed out as a vision with amission, and that usually involvesadopting the doctrine and polity of adenomination or “mother church.”Then comes a generation of “mis-sional” ministry—often followed,sadly, by one or more generations of“maintenance mode” ministry. In thismode, the congregation becomes veryinstitutionalized with policies, rules,regulations, sacrosanct traditions and“clubbish-ness.” Church-ianity re-places Christ-ianity. Growth is mostlybiological or by transfer of member-ship, and typically there are moredeaths per year than professions offaith.

The Provolutionary Cycle eventu-ally goes from maintenance mode to astate of polarization. The church be-comes a house divided where peoplefight over a number of questions.Sometimes it’s about important issues

that are tearing at the veil of unity inall faith communities. Sometimes it’sover trivial matters, driven by person-ality conflicts or power struggles forcontrol of the church. This leads tocontentious meetings, lower atten-dance on Sundays and a high dropoutrate.

By then, on average, the congrega-tion is demonstrably older than thesurrounding community. The churchis in “survival mode,” struggling alongwith few program ministries and abare-bones budget designed to paythe necessary bills and “do what wecan on apportionments.” As a UnitedMethodist church, it’s probably now ina circuit charge with a part-time pas-tor, or the district superintendent istalking about merging it with anotherchurch. However, the circuit andmerger options seldom result in revi-talization. Lyle Schaller said it’s “likeleaning two tombstones across eachother to prop each other up.”

Have I just painted a portrait ofyour church? If so, you have two op-tions. You can give up on becoming avital congregation and move towardclosure. Or you can dream again, put-ting all structure, worship and fi-nances “on the table” and drawing a“Blueprint for a New Future.”

Causes of UMC declineWe love scapegoating in United

Methodism, and the bishop and cabi-net, being non-local, are our favoritescapegoats. Indeed, the near-epidemicspread of “blaming the system” is anissue that must be addressed. Our de-nomination must develop a modelthat includes more ownership bystakeholders who have remainedfaithful across the years with no voicein the appointment process.

Another factor we must face began

in the 19th century. Over time, campmeetings, class meetings and revivalsdisappeared as paths to conversion. Bythe 1880s, Sunday school curriculumeditors had deliberately introduced“gradualism” into the ethos ofMethodist church education. Churchcamps and youth “sub-districts” stillplay a limited role in the spiritualgrowth of young people; but confir-mation has become cerebral instead ofemotive, and very few Christians see itas a turning point in their journeys.

A third major reason for our losseshas been the movement toward ecu-menism. Methodists have neverclaimed a monopoly on truth andwe’ve taught our kids to respect allother churches and faiths. But in asense, this strength has become aweakness. Denominational loyalty hasshriveled through the years asMethodists give their blessing to chil-dren abandoning their denomina-tional heritage after they marrypersons of other Protestant traditions,Catholics, Mormons or people of otherreligious faiths.

Cultural trends are hurting us, too.Diana Butler Bass and George Barnahave very different perspectives andprocesses of data-gathering, but allstudents of North American and Eu-ropean culture have seen a sharp de-cline in the numbers of peopleprofessing religious faith.

I have now taken you down thetypical road of diagnosis. This is nec-essary homework, but no amount ofdiagnosing will revitalize a congrega-tion. In the next column, I’ll outlinewhat we did at Martin Memorial UMCand my proposal for how they can liveinto a new future.

Dr. Haynes is a retired elder fromthe UMC’s West North Carolina.Email: dhaynes11@triad.rr.com

B Y D O NA L D W. H AY N E SSpecial Contributor

DonaldHaynes

I have appreciated Dr. DonaldHaynes’ good articles about John Wes-ley and our Methodist roots. I wouldlike to add an insight to his referenceabout Wesley’s Aldersgate experiencein the March 1 Reporter. Dr. Haynes re-ports, “After feeling his heart ‘strangelywarmed,’ Wesley returned home towrite the words we all have memorizedabout the witness of the Spirit.”

I confess my memory is not asgood as many, so I was surprised acouple of years ago when I read againthe text from Wesley’s journal. My wifeand I were volunteering at MooreMethodist Museum, St. Simons Island,Ga., and I was helping develop a visualdisplay to encourage confirmationclasses to learn about the Aldersgate

experience. As I read from the journal,I discovered Wesley’s report of his ex-perience does not end with the oft-quoted familiar words: “I felt my heartstrangely warmed.” Nor does it endwith the next sentence, which is alsoquoted but not so often: “I felt I didtrust in Christ, Christ alone for salva-tion; and an assurance was given methat He had taken away my sins, evenmine, and saved me from the law ofsin and death.”

Wesley continues with this: “Ibegan to pray with all my might forthose who had in a more especialmanner despitefully used me and per-secuted me.” Wow! That got my atten-tion. It is one thing to feel inside thatGod loves me . . . and to celebrate that.

It is quite another to be so powerfullymoved by the Spirit to pray “with allmy might” for one’s enemies. Surelythis in keeping with Wesley’s preach-ing of both personal piety and socialoutreach. It is a challenge for all of usto not only celebrate the work of God’sSpirit within us, but also to respond tothe Spirit with love and forgiveness,even for our enemies.

The Rev. Cleo KottwitzRetired Elder, Missouri Conference

Columbia, Mo.

The Reporter welcomes brief, civilletters, and reserves the right toedit for space and clarity. Send tonews@umr.org or The UnitedMethodist Reporter, 1221 ProfitDrive, Dallas, TX, 75247.

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more strategic thinking about churchleadership. Whether it’s the right stepis debatable, she said.

“The reason I think it’s an interest-ing strategic move that needs to bethoughtfully considered is that havingsomeone become ordained is a hugeinvestment of institutional resources,”she said.

Those resources include financialsupport for education, pension andhealth benefits. The mandatory retire-ment age for United Methodist clergyis 72.

The Rev. Carol Bruse, the chair ofthe conference’s 70-member board ofordained ministry, said the aim of theproposed standards is to help the con-ference plan for future needs. The pol-icy would not affectcurrent clergy orclergy candidates inthe Texas Confer-ence.

“It’s not just thecall of God on peo-ple’s lives. What wehave to discern is thecall of the church,”said Ms. Bruse, thesenior pastor of West UniversityUnited Methodist Church in Houston.She entered the candidacy processherself at age 35, after years workingin construction and as a stay-at-homemom.

“Of course God calls every Chris-tian,” she said. “But who does thechurch need at this particular time atthis location? That’s the hard part. Wedon’t have it all figured out but we’redoing our best.”

Even if the board of ordained min-istry ultimately adopts this policy, Ms.Bruse and other board membersstressed that it would only serve as aguideline—not an outright ban on allolder candidates.

“I bet there will be a 67-year-old inevery ordination class until the end oftime because God is just weird likethat,” Ms. Bruse said. “You’ve got yourDavids who are young, your Pauls whoare in their 40s and your Abrahamswho are beyond childbearing years.”

What the proposal says Under the proposal, the Texas Con-

ference board of ordained ministrywould encourage candidates seekingcredentials as:

• an elder over 45 “to pursue li-censed ministry, certified lay or otherexpressions of lay ministry”

• a deacon over 45 “to pursue otherexpressions of ministry”

• a licensed local pastor over 60 “topursue certified lay ministry or otherexpressions of lay ministry”

• a certified lay minister over 70 “topursue other expressions of lay min-istry”

For too long, Ms. Bruse said, the

board of ordained ministry would or-dain anyone who finished seminaryand passed the required psychologicaland background checks.

The Texas Conference, with morethan 284,000 lay members as of 2011,is the largest conference in the SouthCentral Jurisdiction and one of thelargest in the United States. But con-ference research projects that in thenext 15 to 20 years it will have fewer,bigger churches seeking longer-tenured pastors, Ms. Bruse said. Thepolicy change would give the boardand others in the conference a way totell some people “no.”

It would also serve as a realitycheck for those considering becomingclergy about the time and financialcommitment involved.

Earning a master of divinity de-gree typically takes three years for afull-time student and longer for part-time. Ordination candidates thenmust complete two to three years asprovisional members of their confer-ences before being fully ordained. Itcan take another eight to 10 years for apastor to become proficient at thecraft.

“When candidates come in, theycan be clueless about our system,” Ms.Bruse said. “They come in and spendtheir life savings on seminary, andthey don’t want to leave their home-town.”

The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr., pro-fessor of church leadership and direc-tor of the Lewis Center for ChurchLeadership of Wesley TheologicalSeminary in Washington, consultedon the Texas Conference plan.

His center annually tracks clergyage in the denomination. As of 2012,elders 35 or older made up more than94 percent of all provisional and or-dained elders, and 53 percent of allelders were age 55 or older, Dr. Weemssaid. That percent-age of older clergy isunprecedented inthe denomination’shistory, he said.

The center doesnot track the ages ofthose entering. Butas late as 2009, thecenter found thatabout 25 percent ofthose in the provi-sional process were baby boomers(born between 1946 and 1964).

“The best thing about the TexasConference proposal is that it takesthe initiative in spelling out the clergyneeds for the United Methodist wit-ness in their area,” Dr. Weems said.

“Their proposal may seem jarringto some. It can, however, be a startingpoint for a process to help potentialcandidates explore what is their bestavenue into ministry. Age is one ofmany factors conferences should con-

sider in helping persons discernwhere their gifts can best serve thechurch.”

Is it discriminatory?The proposal has plenty of detrac-

tors.The Rev. Jeremy Smith, who regu-

larly blogs about issues facing youngclergy, calls the Texas proposal “out-right ageism.”

“To lose the perspective of newmiddle-aged and senior clergy in anannual conference, especially thosethat bring interdisciplinary expertisefrom their first careers, would betragic indeed,” he wrote on his blogHacking Christianity. Mr. Smith is theminister of discipleship at First UnitedMethodist Church in Portland, Ore.

“I can name quite a few effectiveclergy leading vital congregations thatwere commissioned after age 45. I betyou can name several as well.”

Richard H. Gentzler Jr., director ofthe Center on Aging and Older AdultMinistries at the United MethodistGeneral Board of Discipleship, saidthe denomination’s Committee onOlder Adult Ministries is reviewingthe proposal and plans to send a re-sponse to the conference.

The Rev. Gwen Purushotham, wholeads the Division of Ordained Min-istry at the UMC’s General Board ofHigher Education and Ministry, ex-pressed her own misgivings about thepossible standards.

“My personal opinion, I think theprimary thing we should think aboutis the mission of the church and whatkind of leaders do we need for thatmission,” she said. “I would personallyask the question whether limiting thatto certain age groups for certain [min-isterial] orders is going to serve thatmission.”

Retired Bishop D. Max Whitfield,who is bishop in residence at South-ern Methodist University’s PerkinsSchool of Theology in Dallas, said hecan see the pros and cons of the pro-

posal.He said the benefits include the

focus on helping younger and morediverse people respond to God’s call toordained ministry. However, the pro-posal “fails to acknowledge the effec-tive ministry performed by extremelycapable persons who respond to God’scalling later than their early years oflife,” he said.

Bishop Whitfield also wonderedwhether the document meets thestandards of the Book of Discipline,the church law book, which requires“openness, acceptance, and supportthat enables all persons to participatein the life of the Church, the commu-nity, and the world.”

“The church must deny ‘everysemblance of discrimination,’ and thisdocument fails that test,” he said.

For the Rev. Mark Whitley, the pro-posal has personal resonance. He grewup attending church only sporadicallyand only discovered the UnitedMethodist Church as an adult. After

years of working with the AmericanRed Cross, he entered the candidacyprocess at 43 and was ordained anelder in 2011 at 53. His wife, Susan,was ordained an elder a year later.

Today, Mr. Whitley is the seniorpastor of Verdigris UMC in Claremore,Okla. His wife is the pastor of SkiatookFirst UMC in Skiatook, Okla.

Mr. Whitley said he and his wifeare “all in,” having spent virtually alltheir savings in preparing for theirpastoral call. But he said the two haveno regrets. Before becoming a pastor,despite his career advances, he said healways felt a “gnawing sense of empti-ness.”

“Every pastor understands thepain of ministry,” he said, “but thepain of leaving my call right nowwould far exceed whatever pain I feelas a pastor. It’s who I am.”

He added that to turn someoneaway because “they’ve reached an ar-bitrary age seems deeply, deeplydisingenuous.”

The board ofordained ministry inthe UMC’s TexasConference hasproposed changes totheir standards thatwould discouragepeople over 45 fromseeking ordination asUnited Methodistclergy. Some see theproposal as a blatantexample of ageism inthe church, whileothers say it wouldallow the conferenceto focus on recruitingyounger pastors.

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