Reflections on April 5th from your District Superintendent
It has been a difficult week following our gathering in Lansing on April 5 with our brothers and sisters of the West Michigan Conference. We came together to vote on the plan to join together to become the Great Lakes Annual Conference. Since it was turned down my heart has been heavy -- and yet my spirit of full of hope.
My heart has been heavy because I feel like we have all lost something special. We all had so much to gain by coming together. There was creativity, understandings of ministry, points of view, financial savvy, and focus that each conference brought to the mix that all of us would have benefited from – making us stronger and sharpening our combined understanding of what it is to be servants of Christ. I have appreciated so much learning from my brothers and sisters in West Michigan through the discussions and planning that has taken place in the last couple of years. I hope that dialogue will continue. We have a lot to offer each other.
My heart is heavy because I saw new possibility and vision in the structural plan to make the district the center of education and assistance to the local church. The district, along with the district superintendent, is closer to the individual churches and has the potential to focus on the needs specific to churches in the district.
My heart is heavy for all of those who have labored so faithfully, at our instruction, to develop a NEW plan for a NEW way of doing ministry where the local church was really the focus – and giving primary attention to the making of disciples for the transformation of the world as our basic purpose. Those persons who gave so much of themselves – listening to each other, listening to groups of both conferences, discussing, debating, praying, listening to God, holding feedback sessions, getting information out to us all – are probably wondering “Why?” “Why” did they waste all that time, energy, and work? I would hope that as time goes on they and we will all realize that it was worth it. We have all learned so much from each other just by being together and making the effort to understand each other’s points of view.
My heart is heavy for my many dear friends and those I was getting to know from West Michigan who came down on both sides of the vote – those who feel that they lost so much and those who felt they won. My heart is heavy for the sense of distrust that some had for leaders on both sides who had worked so hard. The reality is that everyone ultimately lost something in the results.
My spirit is full of hope because we made the effort to meet together, discuss the work of the church as faithful disciples, to worship and pray together, and to plan together. We HAVE learned much. We HAVE been changed. We have grown in our understanding of the call and claim of Christ on us.
My spirit is full of hope because even though forming a new conference has been voted down, our commitment and focus on making disciples for the transformation of the world has been strengthened because we spent so much time discussing it. We will now put new energy into disciple making and open ourselves in new ways to the reason the church was called into being. Even on the district level I believe it will make a difference in how we think about ourselves and our churches. We will get on to our basic call, with expectations that churches will focus on making disciples for the transformation of the world. That clearly has become our agenda!
What will happen in the future is now the question on so many people’s minds. I don’t think anyone knows. What we do know is that the future has always been in God’s hands. We will move into the future seeking to trust where God is leading us and praying that we will be ready to respond. I ask you to make it a habit to pray each day for the United Methodist Church in the WHOLE state of Michigan. Let us continue to think about all of us and not just OUR side of the state.
Your brother in Christ,
Duane