Advent, Christmas, & Covenant Discipleship

Advent and Christmas help us understand discipleship.

Advent

In Advent the church reflects on the need to be prepared for Christ’s return to consummate his reign on earth. How do Christians prepare for Christ’s return? We love God with all that we are and all that we have and love those whom God loves. We witness to Christ and his kingdom in the world. We follow him and his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Covenant Discipleship helps congregations form disciples who habitually follow and work with Jesus and his mission of preparing this world for the world that is coming. Covenant Discipleship acknowledges that preparing for the coming reign of God on earth as it is in heaven is a way of life. It is too important to be limited to a few weeks in December. That is why the practice of weekly giving an account of what I have done to participate in Jesus’ work of preparing this world for the coming reign of God is so vitally important.

Along with preparing for the coming of the Lord, Advent is about hope. It’s important to understand here that Christian hope is not wishful thinking. Rather, it is active anticipation of the promised reign of God on earth as it is in heaven. The practice of preparation leads naturally to such hope. I like what theologian Jürgen Moltman has to say about hope:

“Hope is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God. Thus, faith believes God to be true, hope awaits the time when this trugh shall be manifested; faith believes that he is our Father, hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith” (Theology of Hope, p. 20.).

Covenant Discipleship forms disciples who practice and witness to hope in Christ. They trust in God’s promises because they walk with Christ in the world. When they practice acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion they catch glimpses of the reign of God that is breaking out in the world. When people practice the discipline of discipleship their eyes and ears and hearts are opened to the reality of God’s kingdom around them. Discipline sets us free to be a people of hope.

Christmas

Christmas is the church’s celebration of the incarnation of God in the birth of Jesus Christ. In the words of Charles Wesley, God “emptied himself of all but love” and became one of us. In Christmas we celebrate the truth that “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. … From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:14, 16).

The theological term for what we celebrate in Chrismastide is “incarnation.” God became flesh, bone, and blood. God became a living, breathing human being. He became one of us, fully human, in every way; and yet, at the same time, fully God. The angel who spoke to Mary’s husband, Joseph, in a dream describes the incarnation by quoting Isaiah 7:14, “’Look, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23). Incarnation means “God is with us.”

Christmas tells us that Christianity is incarnational. It is concerned with flesh and blood human beings, communities and systems. It acknowledges that we are embodied persons who are loved by the God who became one of us to be one with us. Therefore, Christians are persons who are called to be with one another and with others whom God loves everywhere in the world.

Covenant Discipleship equips Christians to live incarnational lives. When we make acts of compassion and justice holy habits we become more and more reflections of Christ in the world. Being incarnational means obeying Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19 to “Go” into the world to train everyone we meet in his way of love and justice.

Alan Hirsch describes incarnational living in his book The Forgotten Ways

“The Incarnation not only qualifies God’s acts in the world, but must also qualify ours. If God’s central way of reaching his world was to incarnate himself in Jesus, then our way of reaching the world should likewise be incarnational. To act incarnationally therefore will mean in part that in our mission to those outside of the faith we will need to exercise a genuine identification and affinity with those we are attempting to reach” (page 133).

Christian discipleship, therefore, is much more than agreeing with a set of doctrines or creeds. It is more than believing Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior. It says believing doctrines and creeds are important because they compel us to follow and live the way of Jesus in the world. The incarnation tells us that Christian faith and hope are meant to be lived in, with, and for the world that God loves. Covenant Discipleship provides the accountability and support people need to make sure they live their faith where they live their lives outside the walls of the church.

Covenant Discipleship helps Christians keep Advent as a season of preparation and hope in Christ and his promise to return and complete his reign on earth as it is in heaven. When disciples live Jesus’ way of cross-shaped love they become channels of his grace for the world. Their eyes, ears, and hearts are opened to the reality of God’s reign in the world now and they give others a glimpse of that reign whey they see or experience compassion and justice.

Covenant Discipleship helps Christians embody the miracle of Christmas when they help the church be the incarnate body of Christ in, with, and for the world that God loves.

 

Disciple-Making

This is the final installment of a series of articles based on Bible study sessions I lead during the 2011 South Georgia Annual Conference held at Tifton, Georgia in June. This article is in the second of two parts. In part 1 I addressed the problem of “programitis” in which the church has confused study and discussion about discipleship with discipleship itself. The following is my attempt to describe a disciple-making system that will help a congregation become the church Paul describes in Ephesians.

In Ephesians 4:1-16 Paul assumes that the way of Jesus is different than the way of the world: “… lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” First of all he is saying that all Christians are called. Call is not limited to women and men ordained to the work of a pastor. Some are called to be teachers, lawyers, carpenters, plumbers, computer programmers, maids, daycare workers, nurses, physicians, scientists, politicians, etc., etc. Paul is talking about a way of life. He is saying that what we say we believe should shape how we live. He describes the essential character of the way of Jesus:

• Humility-knowing that God is God and you are not. Seeing the image of God in others and in yourself. Knowing you are no better, or worse than others, especially people who are poor, outcast, sick, or prisoners.
• Gentleness—imitate Jesus by generous kindness to others, especially the poor and  members of the household of God; prone to forgiveness and placing the needs of others ahead of your own.
• Patience—longsuffering and slow to anger
• Bearing with one another in love
• Unity of the Spirit

Paul is fleshing out Jesus’ commandment to his disciples in John 13:34-35

 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The baptized are called to love as Christ loves. In the waters of baptism Christ calls you into his house, his family, his way of life. The church’s job is to be a community centered in the life and mission of Jesus and to help Christians to live out their calling in the world.

A community centered in the life and mission of Jesus, that helps its people to live out the calling of their baptism needs Christ-centered leadership. Paul tells us that leadership is shared between apostles (those sent to serve), prophets (those who speak God’s truth), evangelists (those who proclaim the good news of the reign of God), pastors (those who proclaim the word, administer the sacraments, and order the communities life), and teachers (those who teach Scripture and tradition to all). The mission of leadership is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

Shared leadership transforms members from consumers of religious goods and services into missionaries—servants with Jesus Christ in the world.

Shared Leadership helps members to become missionaries who live out the baptismal covenant in the workplace and the marketplace.

Christians “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” when congregations develop and support an integrated disciple-making system akin to that developed by John Wesley and the early Methodists:

1. Clear Expectations: The mission of the congregation is directed toward making disciples of Jesus Christ and equipping members to live as his witnesses in the world. Members are expected, according to their ability, to follow Jesus’ teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The congregation’s vision is to become a Christ-centered outpost of the reign of God. To that end, strives to be

• Missional: “A missional church faces outward toward the world, not like a porcupine stands against its enemies, but like water fills every container without losing its content. … The church is measured, not by its seating capacity, but by its sending capacity.”
• Relational: The gospel is all about the formation of community. The individualistic ‘meet my needs’ orientation is seen as antithetical to the ministry of Jesus. The African word ubuntu is used, which means ‘I am because we are.’
• Incarnational: means Christianity does not go through time like water in a straw. It passes through cultural prisms and historical periods, which means that Christianity is organic. And like with any living thing, in order for things to stay the same, they have to change. The church is a living, breathing, moving, changing organism that lives in, with, and for the world.

John Wesley understood the importance of clear expectations in the disciple-making process. This is why he developed a “rule of life” for the Methodist societies. “A rule of life is a pattern of spiritual disciplines that provides structure and direction for growth in holiness. … God calls us to be holy as God is holy, to grow into greater intimacy with the One we are created to resemble (see 1 John 3:2). A rule of life allows us to cultivate and deepen this growing likeness. It fosters gifts of the Spirit in personal life and human community, helping to form us into the persons God intends us to be.”  Wesley created his rule of life to set clearly before the people who desired to be Methodists expectations for the life of discipleship. He believed that the evidence for salvation is shown by a new way of life shaped by the teachings of Jesus Christ and summarized by him in the Great Commandment:

… you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:30-31).

Wesley’s rule of life is “The General Rules.” It is simple and practicable. In it the community finds a common set of expectations and practices that guide its life. The General Rules provide the means by which persons exhibit “evidence of their desire for salvation,”

First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind …
Secondly: By doing good; by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all [people]. …
Thirdly: By attending upon all the ordinances of God; such are: The public worship of God; The ministry of the Word, either read or expounded; The Supper of the Lord; Family and private prayer;  Searching the Scriptures; Fasting or abstinence.

The General Rules provided a framework around which the community was organized. Its goal was to cooperate with the dynamic of grace (prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying) to form persons in holiness of heart and life. Congregations today, therefore, must adopt a simple, coherent rule of life to guide its life and mission. The General Rules provide a good model.

A contemporary adaptation of the General Rules is available in the General Rule of Discipleship:

To witness to Jesus Christ in the world and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Disciple-making begins with expectations and trust in Christ and his grace. A congregational rule of life is the historic way congregations set before the people the expectations of discipleship. The rule of life then guides the congregation in organizing to help members live and grow toward holiness of heart and life.

2. The congregation provides an intentional disciple-making system designed to provide the means to live the Baptismal Covenant and grow in holiness of heart and life. This system includes practices and structures through which the congregation cooperates with the dynamic of grace and leads to the formation of “holy tempers” (see Galatians 5:22-23):

• An interconnected, intentional system of small groups for mutual support and accountability for Christian formation. The congregation will provide groups that meet people where they are—seekers, new Christians, growing, and mature Christians—and help them to grow in holiness of heart and life. The small group system of early Methodist societies provides an excellent model.  Such a system is how the congregation will cooperate with the dynamic of grace that seeks to draw people to Christ, awaken them to who and whose they are, accept the gift of God’s love through faith, and live and serve as daughters and sons of God who are channels of grace for the world.

• Worship that is sacramental and evangelical in which Christ in all of his offices (prophet, priest, and king) is proclaimed.

• Every member participates in a curriculum for Christian initiation and formation. This is integral to the small group system discussed above. The “entry level” groups will focus on catechesis, similar to the early Methodist class meeting. The leaders for this catechetical process will be seasoned Christians who can be trusted with the care of souls. An essential element of the catechesis will be teaching and encouraging the practice of the means of grace: works of piety and works of mercy.

• Mission and witness in and with the local community, especially with poor and marginalized people.The congregation understands that “the church doesn’t have a mission; the Mission has a church.” Mission is not primarily something the church does. Mission is the church’s identity and purpose.

3. Practice evangelism that is Biblical and invitational. The congregation and its leaders understand that evangelism is the responsibility of the whole people of God. It is not a program that is delegated to “professionals.” Evangelism is witnessing to the good news of God’s reign given to the world in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and initiating persons into new life in the kingdom of God. The evangelical task is to share Christ’s good news in ways that those who hear it receive it as good news indeed.

In the letter to the Ephesians Paul gives the blueprint for a church that is Christ-centered and missional. The challenge for congregational leaders today is to resist the temptation to quick growth that leads to programitis. The Wesleyan tradition gives powerful compass headings that help us to steer clear of programitis and move toward mission centered in Jesus Christ; mission that removes the blockages to grace and helps the congregation to grow in holiness of heart and life.

Doing Justice

When Covenant Discipleship groups write their covenants they are guided by the General Rule of Discipleship:

To witness to Jesus Christ in the world and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The vast majority of groups have the most difficulty with acts of justice. They struggle with this part of the General Rule for many reasons. The core of the struggle is either ignorance or misunderstanding of the meaning of “justice” in the context of Christian faith and discipleship.

If you are struggling with the Biblical meaning of “justice” this video by Rev. Tim Keller is an excellent help: Doing Justice

Keller is senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, NY. He has also written a good book on the topic, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just. In the book Keller makes the vital connection between the doctrine of justification by grace through faith and God’s call upon the Church to be an advocate and agent of  justice for the poor.

Ash Wednesday

Collect for Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Invitation to Keep a Holy Lent

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. it was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditation on God’s Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Litany of Penitence

Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,

We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;

Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,

That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,

Bring us with your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Amen

[From The Book of Common Prayer]

Advent

Christ the Lord

“The First Sunday of Advent is regarded in the Western Church as the beginning of the liturgical year. But Advent is first of all about the end of time. Because the term itself means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival,’ and because it precedes Christmas, many have misunderstood Advent to be exclusively a time to get ready to celebrate the coming of a child at Bethlehem. In fact, the primary focus of Advent is on what is popularly called ‘the second coming.’ Thus Advent concerns the future of the Risen One, who will judge wickedness and prevail over every evil. Advent is the celebration of the promise that christ will bring an end to all that is contrary to the ways of God; the resurrection of jesus is the fist sign of this destruction of the powers of death, the inauguration and anticipation of what is yet to come in fullness. “

– Laurence Hull Stookey in Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church

Here are a a couple of excellent reflections on the true meaning of Advent:

Taylor Burton-Edward at United Methodist Worship writes about the season he calls “Admastime”

Dan Dick writes about how the church tends to accommodate the culture and”dumb down” Advent and Christmas in a post titled “Once More, With Feeling.”

 

First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen

(from The Book of Common Prayer)

Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday

Christ the King

Collect for Christ the King Sunday:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(from The Book of Common Prayer)

The Method of Methodism: The Class Meeting

Rev. Kevin Watson is working on his Ph.D. in Wesleyan studies at Perkins School of Theology. He is the author of Blueprint for Discipleship, an excellent book on the General Rules. He also contributed to Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition. Kevin has written a very good series of articles on the Methodist class meeting at his blog, Deeply Committed. I recommend you read the series:

1. The Methodist Class Meeting for the 21st Century: The Foundation

2. Why Classes

3. Who is This For?

4. Top Ten Ways to Guarantee Class Meetings Will Fail

5. Is the Class Meeting Judgmental and Exclusive

6. Where Are They Today

Of course one adaptation for the Methodist Class meeting for today is Covenant Discipleship groups. You can read more about these proven and effective incubators for forming lay  missional leadership  here: Covenant Discipleship

A Disciple’s Journal (Year A – 2010/2011) is Available Now

A Disciple's Journal

The new A Disciple’s Journal is available now, just in time for the first week of Advent. You can get your copy at Amazon.com here: A Disciple’s Journal

Here’s what readers are saying about A Disciple’s Journal:

This has been THE best resource for organizing/recording my life as a disciple of Jesus I have ever found. I’ve been using it for several years now. Nothing has ever come close for me.

It includes the listing of the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, an excerpt from a John Wesley sermon, and a Charles Wesley hymn text on one page, and room on the facing page to record notes from the reading, prayer concerns, and a way to chart what you’ve done in the four areas of acts of compassion, acts of justice, acts of devotion and acts of worship each week.

I’m part of a Covenant Discipleship group whose covenant is based on these four areas– so this makes reporting progress and challenges in each area a matter of checking my notes in the book.

It also includes brief orders for morning and evening prayer– based on the Book of Common Prayer.

I’ve tried lots of things over the years– but this just works, and works brilliantly. — Taylor Burton-Edwards

 

This is a unique combination of prayer book, inspirational resource and journal. I have used previous volumes by Steve Manskar the past few years and this lives up to the standard of his other books. If you want to balance your spiritual life, including both the inward journey and the outward journey, this book is for you!

Tom Albin, Dean of The Upper Room and Ecumenical Relations

Order your copy today here: A Disciple’s Journal

Church Government & Polity as Means of Grace

Continuing our discussion of leadership based on the Historic Examination for Full Connection. This month we look at Questions 10-13:

10.    Have you studied our form of Church discipline and polity?
11.    Do you approve our Church government and polity?
12.    Will you support and maintain them?
13.    Will you exercise the ministry of compassion?

“Nothing can be more simple, nothing more rational, than the Methodist discipline: it is entirely founded on common sense, particularly applying the general rules of Scripture. Any person determined to save his soul may be united (this is the only condition required) with them. But this desire must be evidenced by three marks: avoiding all known sin, doing good after his power, and attending all the ordinances of God. He is then placed in such a class as is convenient for him, where he spends about an hour in a week. And the next quarter, if nothing is objected to him, he is admitted into the Society. And therein he may continue as long as he continues to meet his brethren and walks according to his profession.” John Wesley, Sermon 107: “On God’s Vineyard,” § III.1.

Before I discuss the implications of these questions about polity and discipline, I will point out their position in the list. They are more than half way down the list. Why? I think John Wesley gives us a clue in the following lines from a letter he wrote on June 25, 1746:

“What is the end of all ecclesiastical order? Is it not to bring souls from the power of Satan to God; and to build them up in his fear and love? Order, then, is so far valuable, as it answers these ends; and if it answers them not, it is nothing worth.”

Mr. Wesley was certainly one who valued the importance of ecclesial order. He believed that the polity of the Church of England was the best in all of Europe and America. The Methodist societies were highly ordered and disciplined communities. This quote tells us that Wesley believed the purpose of ecclesial order must always be mission. When it does not support the church’s work of participating in God’s mission in and for the world, then the polity must change.

If Mr. Wesley thought the first task of leadership was to support and maintain church order, I think questions 10-12 would have been at the top of the list. But they’re not. This does not mean that he believed polity is not important. Rather, placing these questions in the second half of the list tells me that church governance is important but it is always secondary to mission. The order also tells me that faith in Christ, holiness, and clear understanding of doctrine come first. Polity is important but it is secondary. It must always be subordinate to holiness and mission. Its purpose is to provide the organization and discipline the community needs for growth in holiness of heart and life and to participate in God’s mission for the world.

Leaders who are clear about the church’s mission will be conversant with the church’s polity. They utilize polity as a means to mission’s end: people formed as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ participating in his work of preparing the world for the coming reign of God. Leaders do not use polity as a means of coercion or domination. Rather, they employ it as a means of grace.

Polity as a means of grace is evident in Question 13: “Will you exercise the ministry of compassion?” I suspect this question is placed here to make the point the church governance and polity is to be a means of grace and compassion and not an instrument of domination and coercion. This question also indicates that leaders must be willing to change the polity when it becomes an obstacle to compassion.

Leaders in the Wesleyan tradition help to focus the church upon its mission in the world. They understand that the church exists to participate in God’s mission for the world. Its polity, therefore, must support the mission and help its members with the discipline that promotes growth in holiness of heart and life.

Questions for discussion and reflection:

• How familiar are you with The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church?
• How does The Book of Discipline promote growth in holiness of heart and life for the members of your congregation?
• How does The Book of Discipline function as a means of grace?
• How does The Book of Discipline help the local church participate in God’s mission in the world?
• How does The Book of Discipline help the global United Methodist Church participate in God’s mission in the world?
• What part(s) of The Book of Discipline would you change because they do not promote the exercise of the ministry of compassion?

It’s not too late, but time is running out to register for the Wesleyan Leadership Conference, October 14-16 in Nashville, Tennessee. Register today at http://www.gbod.org/wesleyanleadership.

If you bring a group of 3 or more, each person can register at the $95 “early bird” rate! Please contact Nancy Dunlap at 877-899-2780, ext. 7141.

Why we need to recover the Class Meeting and Class Leaders

A recent headline in the local paper caught my attention: “Clergy Sacrifice Health for Flock.” The article featured quotes from Nashville area pastors recounting their struggles balancing the demands of pastoral ministry, family, and self-care. The point of the article is all too often there is no balance. The demands on the time and energy of clergy leaves little time for proper exercise, a healthy diet, and Sabbath time. The end result is increasing rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes among Protestant clergy in North America. In other words, pastoral ministry in the North American church is destroying the physical and spiritual well-being of clergy.

There are certainly many complex reasons for this growing trend. It seems to me that it is also a symptom of a dysfunctional, enculturated church. David Lowes Watson describes this church in his book Forming Christian Disciples:

“Instead of places where people come to be formed as Christian disciples, congregations … become places where people are primarily concerned with being helped and blessed. Instead of finding how they can serve the risen Christ in the world, proclaiming and living out the coming reign of God, they … look for ways in which they themselves can be enriched by God’s love and peace and justice. And even when they do make a serious attempt to form their members into Christian disciples, they will tend to focus on the development of personal spiritual growth to the neglect of helping Jesus Christ with the unfinished task of preparing the world for God’s coming shalom.”

Such congregations have become providers of religious goods and services. They are places of sanctuaries where members go to escape the world. The pastor and paid church staff are the providers of these goods and services. They spend most of their time and energy working to provide the programs that people expect for themselves and their children. They are also expected to visit the sick and homebound members, and comfort the grieving. All of their time is consumed with serving and meeting the needs of the congregation. In these times of economic hardship and declining membership, church leaders are under increasing pressure to keep current members happy and do all they can to attract new members. Because they are paid staff, the responsibility for all this work falls on their shoulders. It is no wonder that the stress of unrealistic expectations and demands is resulting in increasing rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes among clergy.

It seems to me that this is a wake-up call to United Methodist congregations. We have within our DNA the means to address this growing problem: the class meeting and class leaders. The class meeting is a system of small groups designed to teach people about the basics of Christian discipleship and provide ongoing support for living in the world as a follower of Jesus Christ. The class meeting provided much of the pastoral ministry in early Methodism. They equipped lay members to provide pastoral care and support for their sisters and brothers in Christ. This liberated the preachers to focus on the work they were called to do: proclaim the gospel so that it is good news for those who hear and receive it, administer the sacraments, and order the life of the congregation.

Class leaders were (are) lay pastoral ministers who work in partnership with the preacher/pastors. They do the bulk of the pastoral care and nurture that is now required by the ordained/licensed appointed clergy. The work of the class leader is to help the members of his or her class to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ and to do the pastoral work of visiting them when they get sick and experience life crises and transitions. The key here is that class leaders are mature Christian women and men who are affirmed by the congregation and work in partnership with the ordained/licensed appointed clergy to see that the pastoral ministry of the church is faithfully performed.

Pastoral ministry is historically the responsibility of the congregation. It should not be the sole responsibility of the clergy. Unfortunately, the so-called “mainline” churches in North America has done an excellent job of training clergy and laity to believe that pastoral ministry is the work of the clergy. It is their work because they are the “experts” who have been trained. This, of course, is a lie. The consequence of this lie is a disempowered, passive laity who have been trained to believe that the job of the clergy is to care for their spiritual needs. And that the purpose of the church is to provide clergy who serve them and are equipped to meet their spiritual needs.

It’s no wonder that many clergy get caught in this lie and end up over-weight, suffer from heart disease and diabetes. Is this the church of Jesus Christ who came proclaiming “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.”?