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I've been mulling over my final blog entry for this trip, primarily because I wanted it to be profound. So, since I'm still waking up at 5 AM I figured I might as well go ahead and try my hand at it.
Today, I go back to work in the church that descended from John Wesley's work. After a pilgrimage such as the one we've just had, I find myself wondering what I've learned that may impact my outlook on life and work moving forward. I started this trip (the first day, if you recall) wondering about the likability of John Wesley. Awfully presumptuous of me, I guess, to judge the man who impacted the lives of so many.
I find myself now thinking more of John Wesley in context. In the same way that we read the Bible with the time period in mind, I remind myself that Wesley's way of sharing life with others was very different for his time period. We modern Methodists perhaps don't appreciate how different it really was. We are "mainstream" now... no longer the somewhat rebellious non-conformists who insisted on bringing God to the common man, in spite of the Powers that Be. Access to God was not just for royalty or nobility... it was and is for everyone. I think we take that for granted now. To the coal miners, the orphans, the impoverished, the common laborer and housewife... Wesley made God accessible.
Over time, the English Methodists prospered and in some ways lost sight of their humble beginnings. They moved away from Wesley's simple meeting spaces and built grander churches... pulled down the wooden columns made of ship masts and replaced them with marble memorials to themselves. Their schools for poor children became prestigious boarding schools for their now-upper-class progeny, and they moved away from the city centers and into the cleaner, more prestigious suburbs.
In America, pastors who were assigned to administrative duties made themselves Bishops, rather than superintendent organizers. They made Methodism a Church rather than a Society (primarily because they could no longer pledge allegiance to the King, the leader of the Church of England). The simple small group meeting became a disciplined, structured, legislated body of people in churches that may or may not remember that they started out as an outreach to the Common Man.
Today's Methodists are struggling. We are not struggling with God, but with each other. Throughout this trip, I wondered what John Wesley might have thought of our current debate over the inclusion of the LGBTQ community in our churches. Which led me to wonder what he would of thought of our "Book of Discipline" altogether. Part of my push-back toward John Wesley's methods was a push-back against discipline... placing (what to me are arbitrary) rules around your life to facilitate your relationship with God. (I have always struggled with the term "spiritual discipline" because it seems odd to put rules on a relationship. In reality, the "disciplines" are something other than rules, but that's a different blog post.)
It seems to me that, over the course of his life, John Wesley found that his hard and fast rules were not always the best thing. He would never dream of preaching outside the Church of England. And then he did... thousands of times. He worked daily to "earn" his way into God's favor. And then he realized he didn't have to. John Wesley started his life in a structured environment, with strict rules about religion and education. These served him well. But in the end, it was his "heart strangely warmed" that spurred him on. He rode 250,000 miles on horseback over the course of his life, bringing the hope of God to people in every corner of England, to America, and via missionary to the entire world. The world was his parish, not because he was a rule follower, but because he re-evaluated the rules and deemed hope, faith, and love more important than the structure of the church as an organization.
I know that time and circumstances change us, and certainly change our organizations. My hope is that I can find glimpses of our old Wesleyan roots in what we do today. Sometimes the overly-structured and disciplined nature of our church connection makes me wonder at the absurdity of it all. But then, I am blessed to be a part of two churches who really do focus on bringing love and acceptance to our communities. In spite of organizational debates and disagreements, the churches themselves are still doing good work. I find peace and comfort in that.
John Wesley's last words, and mine for you as I end this journey... "The best of all, God is with us."
Today, I go back to work in the church that descended from John Wesley's work. After a pilgrimage such as the one we've just had, I find myself wondering what I've learned that may impact my outlook on life and work moving forward. I started this trip (the first day, if you recall) wondering about the likability of John Wesley. Awfully presumptuous of me, I guess, to judge the man who impacted the lives of so many.
I find myself now thinking more of John Wesley in context. In the same way that we read the Bible with the time period in mind, I remind myself that Wesley's way of sharing life with others was very different for his time period. We modern Methodists perhaps don't appreciate how different it really was. We are "mainstream" now... no longer the somewhat rebellious non-conformists who insisted on bringing God to the common man, in spite of the Powers that Be. Access to God was not just for royalty or nobility... it was and is for everyone. I think we take that for granted now. To the coal miners, the orphans, the impoverished, the common laborer and housewife... Wesley made God accessible.
Over time, the English Methodists prospered and in some ways lost sight of their humble beginnings. They moved away from Wesley's simple meeting spaces and built grander churches... pulled down the wooden columns made of ship masts and replaced them with marble memorials to themselves. Their schools for poor children became prestigious boarding schools for their now-upper-class progeny, and they moved away from the city centers and into the cleaner, more prestigious suburbs.
In America, pastors who were assigned to administrative duties made themselves Bishops, rather than superintendent organizers. They made Methodism a Church rather than a Society (primarily because they could no longer pledge allegiance to the King, the leader of the Church of England). The simple small group meeting became a disciplined, structured, legislated body of people in churches that may or may not remember that they started out as an outreach to the Common Man.
Today's Methodists are struggling. We are not struggling with God, but with each other. Throughout this trip, I wondered what John Wesley might have thought of our current debate over the inclusion of the LGBTQ community in our churches. Which led me to wonder what he would of thought of our "Book of Discipline" altogether. Part of my push-back toward John Wesley's methods was a push-back against discipline... placing (what to me are arbitrary) rules around your life to facilitate your relationship with God. (I have always struggled with the term "spiritual discipline" because it seems odd to put rules on a relationship. In reality, the "disciplines" are something other than rules, but that's a different blog post.)
It seems to me that, over the course of his life, John Wesley found that his hard and fast rules were not always the best thing. He would never dream of preaching outside the Church of England. And then he did... thousands of times. He worked daily to "earn" his way into God's favor. And then he realized he didn't have to. John Wesley started his life in a structured environment, with strict rules about religion and education. These served him well. But in the end, it was his "heart strangely warmed" that spurred him on. He rode 250,000 miles on horseback over the course of his life, bringing the hope of God to people in every corner of England, to America, and via missionary to the entire world. The world was his parish, not because he was a rule follower, but because he re-evaluated the rules and deemed hope, faith, and love more important than the structure of the church as an organization.
I know that time and circumstances change us, and certainly change our organizations. My hope is that I can find glimpses of our old Wesleyan roots in what we do today. Sometimes the overly-structured and disciplined nature of our church connection makes me wonder at the absurdity of it all. But then, I am blessed to be a part of two churches who really do focus on bringing love and acceptance to our communities. In spite of organizational debates and disagreements, the churches themselves are still doing good work. I find peace and comfort in that.
John Wesley's last words, and mine for you as I end this journey... "The best of all, God is with us."
Wow, Melissia. I'm very glad you awoke at 5 to be able to share this. You are an amazingly thoughtful person and I respect your open expression of your thoughts. Proud to know you and have your strong influence at FUMCG. Thank you. I read this out loud and Bob said, "Wow that was great!" I agree.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed your blog! Great perspective.
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