Frontier Americans referred to John Wesley’s adherents as the “shouting Methodists” because of their expressive worship. Today, those who are frustrated at the seeming apathy of local congregations might doubt that exuberant worship continues in modern United Methodism.
Aldersgate Renewal Ministries’ annual conference, meeting in July in Columbus, Ohio, offered one cure for the woes of modern Methodism. The conference theme, “Going Deeper: Re-digging the Ancient Wells,” alluded to Isaac’s use of the wells his father Abraham had dug, and to the situation of United Methodism’s rich but often untapped spiritual heritage.
The Aldersgate conference is an annual event, focusing on the work of the Holy Spirit within the United Methodist Church. Over 1,100 people attended the July 2-6 event, celebrating Aldersgate’s 30th year of ministry. Aldersgate operates under the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in Nashville.
Bishop James Swanson urged conference participants to “quit worrying about what the left side of the church is doing, and what the right side of the church is doing, and start worrying about what God is doing.” (Photo courtesy UMNS) |
Holston Conference Bishop James Swanson empathized in his address with the many present who “go to churches where you feel you are the only one who believes that God can still bring water out of a dry well.” Even though, Swanson said, “That’s where some of you find yourselves. . . . I do believe that God is telling us in the midst of those dead and dry situations, ‘Don’t lose hope!’”
The bishop preached from Ezekiel 27, where God brings Ezekiel to the valley of dry bones. He said that the “formula” the passage gives readers for renewal that God diagnose the problem and we, like Ezekiel, admit the limits of our understanding. Swanson remarked, “Ezekiel at least had the sense to scratch his head and said, ‘You know what, I really don’t know.’” He stated, “I really wish that us bishops sometime had the sense to say, ‘You know what? We don’t know.’”
God instructs Ezekiel to “prophesy” to the bones, observed Swanson, because, “As Ezekiel goes to preaching the bones get organized . . . the bones begin to understand their place in the Kingdom of God. The word gets them organized and they at least begin to look like they can function as a live being.”
For too many churches, Swanson said, “We’re trying to have a church without the spirit of almighty God.” He argued that this cannot be an effective strategy because, “The purpose of the church is to bring people into saving relationship with Jesus, but you and I can’t do that. People can hear about Jesus from you, but . . . [if] a man or a woman doesn’t know God, they can’t react. It is only by the Spirit of God that a dead person . . . comes alive!”
The bishop also criticized those who follow denominational politics too closely, saying Methodists should, “quit worrying about what the left side of the church is doing, and what the right side of the church is doing, and start worrying about what God is doing, and get of one accord in this place!”
Swanson’s message echoed the concern expressed by Dr. Gary Moore, Executive Director of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries. Alluding to the United Methodist mission statement, Moore said, “A whole lot of us are trying to be in ministry to the whole world without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.” He said that for some in the UnitedMethodistChurch, “You didn’t know that . . . there was a safe place where you could go to worship in freedom and experience” the transforming work of Christ.
While Moore and Swanson had lamented the UnitedMethodistChurch’s lethargy as a result of the Holy Spirit’s absence, J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, emphasized the real presence of forces that worked to destroy Methodism’s witness. He declared, “Folks, we are in a war. It’s not against flesh and blood; it’s not against people. We have enemies in the spiritual realm.” He joked, “I have to apologize for the militant imagery . . . I know there are those in the church today who want us to just put away all our weapons.” Grady objected to that pacifist streak, insisting, “God gave us spiritual gifts for spiritual war. This is not a time to be sweet.”
Grady preached from 2 Kings 11, where Athaliah, daughter of King Ahab, seizes Judah’s throne, killing most of David’s descendants who could challenge her illegitimate reign. And only the young prince Joash survives. Grady said, “When we look at it [the UnitedMethodistChurch] today, we are looking at an invasion. There is a spiritual Athaliah at work in your denomination.” Grady reminded the audience that “Athaliah introduces Baal worship to the House of Judah,” and explained that, just as in the Biblical account, “anywhere Athaliah goes there is an agenda of abortion and infanticide . . . and I have a feeling there is an agenda of abortion in some of your top offices.” Alluding to those who want a redefinition of marriage and the family, he observed, “Athaliah despises true holiness; she uses the temple items for Baal worship,” and that she “brings a spirit of Universalism.”
Urging action, Grady challenged, “We cannot peacefully coexist with Baal or with his henchmen.” When Athaliah is ruling in the king’s house, there has to be a no-tolerance policy . . . make your own applications here as it applies to the UnitedMethodistChurch.” He recommended that conference participants “Go ahead and get subversive . . . pray and pray; infiltrate and put your foot down in some places.”
Grady commended Aldersgate because, “You have been functioning in the role of Jehoshaba [the High Priest’s wife who protected the boy king Joash until her husband had Athaliah executed] . . . [as a] people who are still contending for the truth. For thirty years you have been nursing something precious.”
Calling the present clergy, Aldersgate staff, and Bishop Swanson forward for intercession, Grady held up Swanson’s forefinger, and prayed that God would use the Bishop to point out those who needed to be called to account for their wrongful leadership of God’s church.
The Rev. Dr. Joy Moore of Asbury Seminary in Kentucky mentioned a song, entitled “Waiting on the World to Change” by pop artist John Mayer, in which she reports, “they sing everything that is wrong with the world and those who lead it.” In contrast, says Moore, Christians should realize that “the change that we’re waiting for has already come . . . You wait when you’re in anticipation, when you don’t have” everything you need.
According to Moore, “There are so many Christians today who are trying to make something new; we’re trying to let the church emerge.” Speaking of emergent worship, Moore declared, “I don’t care how you do it, I care about what you do . . . The well has already been dug, we just have to tap into it.” She contended that Christians are “not [responsible for providing] therapeutic deistic tips on how to get ahead or survive a recession” but that “our task is to bear witness to where God has been so that they [people throughout the world] know He is here.”
In keeping with the weekend’s theme, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Greenway, the former president of Asbury Seminary, said that participants need to take “time to dig out our hearts.” “The number one block for us going deeper is our hearts . . . we have do to do the heart-work necessary for us to be open” to God’s work in our life.
For a more thorough discussion of “shouting Methodists,” see Hudson, Winthrop S. “Shouting Methodists.” and Armstrong, Chris. “Christian History Corner: How John Wesley Changed the World.” Christianity Today, Vol. 47, No. X. 01, Web-Only. 16 June 2003. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/juneweb-only/6-16-53.0.html?start=1
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