KEEN

Several of us "younger" clergy in the Kansas Eat Conference are attempting to organize a new way of doing and being United Methodists in Kansas. Among our hopes is to truly live out a connectional polity - to really be one Church, one people, of Jesus Christ. I'm excited by the prospects of younger people taking leadership roles in the Conference and asserting effective leadership in local churches. At the same time, I am aware of some more experienced pastors who are leery. I would imagine that if I had been a pastor for 20-30 years and some of my younger colleagues began saying that we need significant changes in style and leadership that I might be offended or put off. I hope we can all agree that for better or worse we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. I have too many mentors to count from those who have preceeded me in ministry. Many are still actively and vitally serving churches today. I imagine every generation thinks it can do some things better than the previous generation. I also think every generation gains more from the previous generation than we could ever realize on our own.

So, I am very excited about KEEN. I am excited for the future of the United Methodist "brand" of Christianity in Kansas. I am excited about young leaders stepping up in important ways, respecting but not being overly restricted by precedent and official polity. I also am very thankful for those who have helped shape my spiritual and professional life and who continue to inform my practice of ministry. I hope that we will continue to learn from each other and serve together for years to come.

Essentials and Nonessentials

Last Sunday I finished a series of sermons on "What Makes a Methodist." The last sermon I quoted liberally from Wesley's "Catholic Spirit" sermon. Our focus was on mutual love as a defining mark of Christians and one that takes precedence over many of the specific beliefs and opinions we have. Wesley was also clear, though, that this desire to share love for one another cannot make us mushy about what we believe. We should hold firm to what we beleive are the essentials of the faith while at the same time recognizing that others may hold just as firmly to another set of beliefs. I suggested in the sermon that traditionally for United Methodists, the list of essentials to the faith is pretty short. But I wonder where we might agree and disagree on what is essential. Not for the purposes of starting a debate, but just out of curiosity, what do you think are the "essentials" of Christianity? I'd start with the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, the divinity and resurrection of Jesus. What would you add or take away?

COR Leadership Institute

I'm in a sermon seires called What Makes a Methodist (for those concerned with technicalities I omitted the word "United" before "Methodist" because most of what we're talking about is common to all the denominations that come out of John Wesley's work). Last Sunday the focus was on the Connection. How appropriate that the sermon came just two days after Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute. I've been there probably 5 times before and it's always good. This one seemed like the best to me. I really appreciated the messages from Adam Hamilton and from Jim Wallis. The workshops were great. Closing worship was amazing. I thought the best part of all, though, was the simple fact that 500 churches and 1,600 people would gather together from around the nation to work together for a common purpose, making disciples for Jesus Christ. I think this is exactly what John Wesley would want for an Annual Conference (meaning the annual meeting, not the organizatoinal unit). I think it is a partial fulfillment of Jesus' prayer "that they may be one as we are one". I pray the spirit of cooperation and collegialilty will continue.