Grace and Peace to you and your family through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Alexandria United Methodist Church is . . . what? We are a community of worshipers (a church) who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We have a 154 year history in the Alexandria, Minnesota, Lakes Area. We are Methodists by tradition and history (Methodist Episcopal Church (1867-1939), Methodist Church (1939-1968), and United Methodist Church (1968 to present). We follow the teachings and organization of John Wesley (1703-1791). Today, as a church, we have members who might be thought of as traditional in their theological understandings. We have others who could be thought of as progressive in their theology. And we have many who are in the middle. I believe this to be a beautiful, though sometimes difficult, thing.
Today, we are at a threshold. In a few years, we will be at another threshold. The two may or may not be independent of each other but we will definitely face the second one in the future. Let me explain my thinking.
Several years ago, before my tenure here, Alexandria UMC was having a bit of a fight. This didn't involve a lot of people, but enough (roughly breaking along the traditional/progressive lines). Most of the AUMC members know the story and I won't dwell on it. However it will become significant for the second threshold. Many people left the church over this issue while others left because of the decisions made at the 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.
When I was appointed to AUMC in 2018, I knew there were hurt feelings that I would need to navigate and I sought to bring God's Spirit of Healing. Healing has happened but not completely. At the beginning of 2020, we hit a financial crises; a cash flow problem that would necessitate reducing staff and renegotiating debt. About the time we figured it out, the COVID-19 (Covid) pandemic shut us down. We cancelled all activities in the church building and raced to get our worship services online. We had Bible Studies and Council Meetings on Zoom, Worship on YouTube, and small groups that were still meeting sat outside, weather permitting. Several of the staff that remained after the cutbacks resigned.
The question in my mind throughout this past year was, "What will Alex UMC look like after the pandemic eases or passes?" Several people have asked about our vision for future; the direction we will be taking; the ministries we will pursue. I have hopes for our church. I love all the people of this wonderful place. My vision is that we will be a place were ALL people are welcomed, included, and loved. We have some wonderful ministries that are happening here: Wood-fired pizza oven, Community Gardens, Community Playground, support for the food shelf, a Children, Youth, and Families Ministry, to name a few. However, what we are lacking, in my estimation, is a "Bold Vision" to take us into the future. A vision that is AUMC's vision and not mine. (Pastors, including me, come and go with regular frequency. As best I can determine, I am the 43rd pastor for an average of a new pastor every 3.5 years.)
This is where Healthy Church Initiative (HCI) comes in. (Here is an older article on the Minnesota Annual Conference website: Revitalization Processes.) This program/process is the joint effort of our church and the Minnesota Annual Conference to chart our course as a church in the Alexandria Area. Working together, the Annual Conference will help us determine our "Bold Vision" and assist us in implementing it. I don't know what that will look like because I cannot see the future. But I do know that participating in HCI will help us renew our vision, strengthen our missional efforts for the Alexandria community, and bring some excitement back to our beloved church.
This is the first threshold: commit to HCI and begin to do the work needed. The Church Council affirmed the need to proceed with HCI, but I have discovered a lack of interest in helping with the beginning stages. Two people, each on opposite sides of the theological spectrum, asked me the same question, "Why now? Especially with the 2020, 2021, 2022 General Conference needing to decide the future of the United Methodist Church." This brings me to the second threshold.
The much delayed 2020 General Conference, to now be held in August 2022, will decide if and how the denomination will split (called a "schism"). The issue is over how the denomination understands scripture when it comes to LGBTQ marriage and ordination, as traditional wing of the denomination states it, or how the church will be fully inclusive of LGBTQ people, as the progressive wing puts it. If the General Conference passes the most popular plan of separation (there are several), there will be at least 2, if not more, new denominations: the Global Methodist Church (the traditional Methodists - I wonder if General Motors will object to the use of GMC?), a "post-separation" United Methodist Church (psUMC), and maybe a couple of others (the Liberation Methodist Connexion and Out of Chaos - Creation). In late 2022 or early 2023, the Annual Conferences will have to ratify the plan. If this plan passes, all Annual Conferences will de-facto into the psUMC unless they vote to join another denomination like GMC. Individual churches within the Annual Conferences will go with their Annual Conference. If a church doesn't like the Annual Conference's choice, it can vote to leave the conference and denomination and join the other one. (Clear as mud, as my dad used to say.) There will be a lot of rules around how things get done and the whole process of schism may take up to two years (maybe into 2024). The second threshold will be deciding which denomination AUMC will be part of two to three years from now.
Let's return to the question asked of me, "Why now?" Why step across the first threshold when we don't know which denomination we will be members of?
By crossing the first threshold and working through HCI, I would like to see Alexandria UMC become a strong, vital, mission oriented, life changing witness to the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ before we are faced with the decision of which denomination we will be associated with, the second threshold. Working together to spread the Good News through our "Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service and Witness" without regard to our differing theological perspective, yet honoring those perspectives and understandings, will position AUMC to walk through that second threshold with strength and grace. Then, and I pray that this doesn't happen, if some people decide they cannot remain at AUMC based on the denomination we associate with, we can honor and respect those decisions, and reaffirm our friendships with humility and grace. If we don't work through HCI and catch that Bold Vision for our future, we may not have a future. We have declined enough and it is time to turn this around. Will this be hard work? Yes. It may even feel like a camel going through the eye of a needle. But with God, all things are possible. (Mark 10:23-27).
I believe we should embrace the Healthy Church Initiative and begin the work of discovering our Bold Vision and implementing it. Praise be to God, creator of all that was, is and will be, and Jesus Christ our crucified and resurrected Savior, and the Holy Spirit, the presence of God with us. Amen.
Pastor Gary
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