Missing Methodism: Optimism, Sanctification and Lay Service

A recent move to Washington, DC from West Virginia has provided me with the opportunity to reflect on the role that Methodism has played in this recent life transition. This reflection helped me to recognize how deeply I love and value Methodism.

I was raised Methodist with an ecumenical background, sometimes failing to realize how Methodism distinctly shaped me spiritually and which characteristics of Methodism uniquely allowed it to do so. However, with my recent move, I have seriously reconsidered long term attendance in churches outside of my denomination. This has been a much more difficult prospect than I assumed it would be, having both experienced and valued many aspects of other denominations. As a conservative, friends in other denominations have asked why I do not leave the United Methodist Church (UMC). I reply that I would most likely – eventually – have to leave, but I was not ready to do so yet. I have many friends in other denominations, who have left churches that they felt were on the path to becoming theologically liberal, though much less so than the UMC.

After attending several churches since my move, the reasons why it has been difficult to consider leaving my denomination have become apparent. The laity play a unique role in Methodism. We covenant together, fellowship regularly, and are expected to share with one another intimate details about the state of our walk with Christ. Methodism places a unique value on its laity that enables them to profoundly live out their roles as distinct members in the body of Christ. In Methodism, all persons must serve within the church as well as take their witness to their local communities; we vow to one another and to God that we will do so.

Churches I have attended since moving are filled with kind Christian people but lack emphasis on lay involvement. That involvement allows Methodists to both form deep bonds with one another and serve God within the church.

Alongside this is the Methodist emphasis on fellowship, taking joy in relationship with the other persons in the congregation. In living out their covenant vows with one another, the laity help encourage one another through times of joy and hardship. They help one another grow in their faith and encourage one another to persevere.

I am grateful for the opportunity that I have had to reflect on the impact that the people of my church in Parkersburg, WV have had on me. Outside of my parents, they have done the most to shape my faith and walk with Christ, even more so than any pastor, who has served in our pulpit. The congregation of my church has been a true example of unconditional love since I was a child, unconditional but still a corrective when needed. In so doing, they have modeled to me the love of Christ, who corrects and forgives, and continuously reaches out in love. At times when the decisions of church leadership were disappointing to me, my church family has been the tie that kept me in the denomination. Leaving them has been one of the most difficult adjustments of my transition to life in Washington.

Another of the beautiful aspects of Methodist lay involvement is that each person is able to offer a service to God. My regular service in church is one of the things I most miss since moving from West Virginia. It was a joy to serve God and a blessing to serve my brothers and sisters in Christ. It also allows the beauty and variety of talent that God has given to different persons to be displayed and appreciated, and in so doing, glorify God. It dignifies them as image bearers and recognizes that they are co-equal parts in the body of Christ. The woman who prepares church meals is as equally valuable as the person who leads the hymn or the pastor preaching the sermon. All are necessary for the church to function in making disciples of members and evangelizing to a lost world. This beauty and variety are lost when the role of the laity is under-emphasized.

There are times when I have hesitated to disclose my denomination because of its current association with liberalism. Recently though, I have realized that I love Methodism in its truest sense: its optimism and joy in salvation and sanctification, its emphasis on grace, and the role it provides for those on the journey of sanctification to use their gifts to the service of Christ and His church. I am deeply grateful for the role it has played in my spiritual formation and hope that in the coming months, as it too goes through a difficult transition, it will be preserved so that other Christians may also benefit from its richness.

Sarah Diane Stewart is a Methodist laywoman from Parkersburg, WV who now resides in the Washington, D.C. region.