January

By Reverend Elaine J.W. Stanovsky
Seattle District Superintendent

GLOBAL
In November, extended cabinets from across the church traveled to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, at the invitation of the Council of Bishops. It’s the first time in 40 years such a gathering has occurred. The theme for the convocation was The United Methodist Way.” All district superintendents in the Pacific Northwest as well as Craig Parish, David Valera and lay leader, Amory Peck, attended.

Bishops of the church led us to think together about the need in our denomination for unity and growth, both spiritual and numerical. Iowa Bishop Greg Palmer reminded us that we come from good stock. We come from a Methodist tradition of being limber to engage the needs of our communities and the world in creative and adaptive ways. Missouri Bishop Robert Schnase called us as church leaders to reemphasize the basic practices of the Christian faith that lead to fruitful congregations: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, International Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity.

Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher reminded us of the General, or Simple, Rules of Methodism: Do No Harm; Do All the Good You Can; Keep Loving God.

Church consultants, Lovett Weems, Randy Maddox, and Gil Rendle, reminded us what’s required of us as leaders of the church, not just managers. We have to be the change we want to see. We have to be in relationship with young adults; we have to deepen our faith experience so we can intensify our faith expression; we have to learn how to show our love of God and passion for the gospel. Gil Rendle brought the 840+ participants to uproarious laughter when he described how he feels passionate in the midst of inspiring worship and preaching like that offered during the event. He said that he is moved to dance by the passion of the worship. “Why, I’m dancing right now,” he said, as he stood, unmoving, on the stage, demonstrating for all of us the desperate need for our faith to be visible to others. It was a great opportunity for key leaders from across the church to focus on the vitality of the church, consolidate the learning many of us have been pursuing in recent years, about deep and adaptive change, and effective evangelism and witness. We come away with a common language, resources and challenges to renew our faithfulness across the church. That’s a very good thing.

LOCAL
Monday, 65 clergy from the Seattle and Tacoma districts gathered for a Spiritual Day Retreat at Blaine Memorial UMC. Building on our study of The Missional Leader last spring, we had promised ourselves to work on our own Christian Practices and to develop our capacity to teach and lead our congregations to engage in the spiritual practices of the church. So, everyone received a copy of Bishop Schnase’s book, and participated in workshops focusing on topics as varied from Taize worship to Creativity as a Christian Practice.

For closing worship we walked an evergreen spiral laid on the floor that led to the Christ candle, where we each lit our candles. This ancient Celtic advent service invited us to journey back to Christ at the center and to renew our faith and faithful witness to the world. As clergy emerged from the spiral, Sharon Moe and I gave each one a daily devotional guide with an invitation to try a new discipline of daily devotions for a year, together. To uphold one another throughout the year, a web forum invites clergy to share their experiences and reflect with their colleagues on their devotions.

Many have expressed appreciation for this event. We meant it for nourishment and gift.

Reverend Elaine J.W. Stanovsky is the Seattle District Superintendent of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church

Robert Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Abingdon Press, 2007.