Three of United Methodism’s nine newest bishops, elected during this summer’s jurisdictional conferences, spoke with UMAction during their Council of Bishops meeting. Bishops Peggy Johnson of the Philadelphia Area, Lowry of Central Texas, and Joaquina Nyanala of Mozambique and South Africa, spoke of the joys and challenges of leading the United Methodist Church. Bishop Nyanala is the first female elected to the episcopacy in any of the African Central Conferences.
“Part of what I have always loved about Wesley and the Wesleyan understanding of the Christian faith and gospel is the way that Wesley calls Methodism ‘practical Christianity,’” observed Bishop Lowry. He explained, “Unapologetically, we’re in the conversion business. But twinned with that in a way that is absolutely inseparable is this conviction that we are in the business of social holiness.”
Bishop Nyanala stated that the part of Wesleyanism that most “excites” her “is justification by faith.” “It gives me that certainty that it’s not how much good I do, but the relationship I have with God [that matters]. And it is under this kind of relationship that I operate,” said the Bishop. Bishop Johnson echoed her colleagues’ reverence for Wesleyan theology, saying “Wesley’s my number one favorite,” but she added her appreciation for the work of Richard Foster.
The bishops responded to questions about when and how United Methodist debates about homosexuality would end. While Bishop Lowry simply commented “I don’t know [when or how the debates will end],” Bishop Johnson theorized, “I think that there are gifts and graces behind all these isms. And I pray that we all agree in Jesus Christ. We’re so human and we like our little divisive things and it’s so easy to fight and so hard to be loving.” She quoted the lyrics of “the song, ‘I need you/ you need me/ we’re all a part of God’s family/ Agree with me…,’” and said “I think we need each other.”
Drawing on her experience in ministry to a predominantly deaf community, Johnson likened the debate between the two camps to the differences between the ASL users (Deaf persons) and oralists (those who can’t hear but choose to communicate with lip reading and speaking). She said that, “they’re both right. They need each other.”
Regarding the homosexuality debate, Nyanala predicted, “We really need to learn and participate in these discussions so that we are also able to deal with the same issue, because it’s coming in Africa also.” Suggesting haste was unwise, the bishop added, “if there is healthy discussion, it’s not bad. I don’t know if we really need to say ‘we need to finish with this’ because it is an issue and is there in our churches. We need to ask God’s wisdom so that we really deal with these issues.”
Her answer, when asked if there was any special difficulty attached to being the first African female bishop, was similar. “Who called me?” questioned Nyanala. “It is God, God himself, and I believe that He will see me through.” She vaguely remarked, “I think time will tell,” and concluded, “Challenges are always there for any kind of leadership and I think that the leader must just be wise on how to deal with these challenges.”
The bishops also commented on the package of 23 constitutional amendments that would change the United Methodist Discipline to allow for a separate American central or “regional” conference. While some quarters of the church fear that institutionally isolating the American church could lead to a less unified vision for the global witness of the United Methodist Church, Bishop Johnson suggested that the move may potentially make “everybody on the same level playing field… instead of the center of the universe being America with the satellites around us.” Bp. Lowry acknowledged that “there are complex issues in that.”
All three of the bishops acknowledged a meaningful discrepancy when questioned about the growth of the African church and the numeric decline in the United States. Bishop Johnson attributed the American decline to a “cultural shift” that followed on the heels of the WWII generation.
Pointing to those who are “functional atheist[s],” Bishop Lowry said that “The Christian faith is always threatened when we are too at ease, and in America we are too at ease. It is easy for us to imagine our life without God.” “Where the faith is growing most rapidly, they’ve captured the deep sense of that,” contended Lowry. He also listed wrestling “with the Holy Spirit’s presence” and seeking the Spirit’s “deep impact” on lives as a struggle. Due to an attitude of “theological laissez-faire, we have lost an abiding grasp of the core, orthodox, theological elements of our faith,” said Lowry. And he warned that “so many of our churches aren’t theologically left or right, they’re just turned inward” in an attitude that he stated was “such a church-killer.”
Meanwhile, according to Bishop Nyanala, Africa’s booming membership presents its own problems. “I think that is a challenge also for the church in Africa” she stated, “because I think if there is this explosion in the church, then the church must be very clear on what these people are looking for, and meet their needs.”
When queried regarding the first priority of her episcopacy, Bp. Johnson remarked that “The most important thing is making disciples and inviting people to accept Jesus Christ as their savior, and then to go out and do acts of grace and reconciliation.” Similarly, Bp. Lowry prioritized, “Simply offering Christ to all, [and] helping to spread the faith both by word and deed.” He added that as a new bishop he is trying to “get to know the area” and “know where God is already at work.” Perhaps feeling the hardship of poverty and disease more immediately, Bishop Nyanala said her priorities would be the church’s “Four Focus Areas,” to include, “the poverty and the health issues, and then leadership development in that order.”
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