This is Pastor Tim’s article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, June 13, 2022
Many of you have heard over the past few months is that Wayne Street is no longer going to be a United Methodist Church, and I am no longer going to be a United Methodist Pastor. Don’t worry, neither the church nor I am going anywhere. Wayne Street and I will continue to be involved in the life of this community. You can always count on us to be here and be a part of the St Marys community.
I am writing this article sitting in the Dayton Convention Center. I am here for our annual meeting of pastors and lay leaders where we set the course for the next year. Well, I guess not annual. It used to be annual yet it the first time this meeting has been held in person for three years. I guess it is some kind of faux pas to let the world go to hell for three years while we were hiding from COVID or something.
Many of you are wondering if I am in the wrong place. Isn’t the United Methodist Annual Conference always held at Lakeside? Well, not anymore. We are now holding it in the convention center where they have the air condition cranked up so high that I wish I had brought a long sleeve shirt. The great scene of Hoover Auditorium, where I was ordained in 2004, has been replaced with a fairly impressive structure in this center. The lights all work, there are screens and WiFi and the sound system seems to work well. The chairs are more comfortable, and I am shivering rather than being blazing hot. There is no ice cream sales going on, but I suppose that is not what we are here for. We are here to figure out a course for ministry for the next year.
It was interesting that I parked in the wrong parking garage. I am not in any way familiar with Dayton. Since all the buildings look the same to a country bumpkin like me, I wasn’t sure which one was the convention center; that is until I saw the convention center had a few hundred white people milling around in a neighborhood where that was not typical. I am sure sometime over the course of this conference, that fact will be pointed out multiple times. I don’t expect anything will be done about it, but it will be referenced.
The big thing I am here for is the vote for the churches who are leaving the UMC. I am here for really nothing more than morbid curiosity. I want to know what the conversation is around the churches like Wayne Street who are withdrawing from the UMC. I can tell you that we had a lot of discussion at Wayne Street about what we wanted to do and it boiled down to a lack of faith in the organization. This is not directed at any individual person, but as a whole, the UMC is fracturing as to what it means to be in ministry during these days. Sure, I enjoyed the morning session where we colored with crayons. Being an artsy person myself, I found deep meaning in the picture I created. I have to admit, I was a little miffed at my tablemate who hogged the forest green, but I made do. (Please note the sarcasm).
I can remember back in the late 1990s when I was fighting my way through the process (and it truly was a fight) to reach ordination. I was so proud to be a part of what all this was. Now, 25 years later, I have opted to transfer my credentials to another denomination. Something that less than a year ago I would have never thought I would do. But now, here we are. And truth be told, I am angry about it. I know a lot of people want to make this about gay marriage and the ordination of practicing homosexuals. To me, that issue is a symptom of the problem, not the actual problem. The problem I see is which way is the influence going? The Church is supposed to influence the culture but that is not what is happening. Even in the meeting I am sitting in today, we are going to talk about market strategies, investment opportunities, and how to secure the existence of church property.
And I couldn’t care less. If that is what we are about, preserving the existence of the United Methodist Church, then let it die. There are so many good people in the United Methodist system, and our leadership is constantly sending them on wild goose chases. Our reason for existing is not saving the church, we have been called by our Messiah to change the world. That is the mission I signed on to do and I don’t care what the name of the church I serve, I am here to build the Kingdom of God.
There is a line in the old hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” that goes: “So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, ‘til my trophies at last I lay down.” Over these past few days, I have laid down a trophy I have carried for decades: my ordination in the UMC. This hasn’t been the hardest thing I have ever done by any stretch of the imagination, but it has been a hurdle. And I could not be any more sorry that it has come to this point.