 It's my pleasure to introduce to you my good friend Phil Amerson. We met 25 years ago. I began to calculate this the other day We were both he was already a member of a group called the gathering a group of pastors from around the country who enlarge our membership Churches and I was asked to be a part of that group. And so I was participating in that group until eight or nine years ago I was drawing immediately to Phil because Phil was wise He had a variety of experiences in local churches that his resume that you find in your booklet shows that And he had so many different kinds of experiences and ministry that I thought sort of opened my eyes in so many ways One of the things though that Joan thought it was very important for me to share with all of you that We were able to go to Wrigley Field and watch a Cubs St. Louis Cardinals game With Phil and Elaine Amerson because we were using the tickets of his daughter's boss Mayor Richard Daly in Chicago and you would think those are great tickets There's no bad ticket in Wrigley Field, but it was not behind home plate. It was in right field And I want to say that it was one of the great great fun experiences my life Yeah, I have so many I have many Baseball fields major league baseball field parks that I've been to many more that I have not but I can cross Wrigley off the list But I'll act like I haven't been there when I started on that Phil Amerson comes. He's a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary You got his PhD from Candler from Emory University. He has served numerous churches Phil stays more current than about anybody I know and every once while he and I will talk and he starts telling me something that's happening or something I need to know about and I'm thinking Is this guy ever gonna really retire and thankfully but the church he has not and so I want to Bring and introduce my friend Phil Amerson to us this afternoon. So thank you Phil for being with us Thank You Bishop McKee it is indeed an honor to be with you and my goodness I've already gone to church several times With Bishop Palmer last night What's love got to do with it? Where is love? What's going on? I felt like I was reliving my youth and Then this morning Thank You Bishop McKee for that Episcopal address. It was Really a gift for me to hear and your emphasis on the distinction between Certainty and clarity is one that I'll take Well, I appreciate it so much and I think it's one that the church needs to hear and then Dr. Cassatt I've already told you this but That was the best memorial sermon and the whole worship experience It was worth coming all the way from Indiana just to hear that and thank you for a remarkable time I told Vic I slipped in the back and I'm glad I was seated in the back because as he was coming to the conclusion And naming the names of those being memorialized. I was weeping Some of you may have heard me if you were near the back Thank you. What a remarkable time So it's after lunch and I realize Some of you may be nodding off so I can tell you what this presentation is about simply by telling you about c.s. Lewis who in on june the fourth 1941 was asked to preach at University church st. Mary's oxford It's interesting because Lewis was not a preacher. He only preached seven times and this is one of those seven seven sermons It's the middle of the second world war And Lewis made two statements then that I think are a summary of what I'm going to say So you can listen to this and then if you need to nap a little bit as I go through You can do that. He said That if you're not puzzled by scripture And if you're not puzzled by the current situation Then perhaps You are just painting god in your own image If you don't live with some sense of puzzlement About scripture and about the current situation. Perhaps you're painting god in your own image And the second thing more pertinent to what I want to share Lewis said next Only to the blessed sacrament to holy communion or the eucharist next only to the blessed sacrament Our neighbor is the holiest object presented to our senses Our neighbor Is the holiest object presented to our senses I'm so honored to be here. It's always good to be In texas My dad is a texas native Dad passed away eight years ago at age 93 But he grew up over in the panhandle During the dust bowl years he graduated from texas tech. He's a red raider and always proud of it And we used to travel through north texas when I was a kid. So I have memories of dallas area in those years But I also remember my dad who loved quoting john gunther who said if a man's from texas He'll tell you If he's not Why embarrass him by asking? I want to begin with a word of prayer and then a poem by window berry Well lord may now the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable on your site You are indeed our rock our strength And our redeemer Amen window berry pinned a little poem that Haunts me it continues to stay with me. It's simply this The seed is in the ground Now may we rest in hope While darkness Does its work Recently I was on a walk with a friend And he asked me a question that most of you have heard He said is there a future for the united methodist church? I've heard it often but this time it had a special kind of urgency It was a question that I felt I needed to try to answer Now I confess I don't have easy answers and if you came thinking i'm going to bring some formula or some fix Or some solution then please know That I don't have that What I have is the simple Offer that jesus gave to the disciples Which was to follow him? And so this is an invitation for us to journey together On a trail to follow The master to follow jesus as we think about our future Today we want to consider What it means to be rooted and grounded in love and what that may have to do With the future of the denomination tomorrow morning. We will consider being connected to bear good fruit and What it means then later in the second third presentation communities of restoration and joy Our scripture is Ephesians 3 And then john 15 As we consider our context Let me begin by sharing with you my answer to my friend on that walk The answer was yes Indeed I have no doubt that the united Methodist church has a future Now as to what our mission witness and structure will be Here's a word of hope We can choose the pathway forward I believe our work is 100 year work A too many pastors think that They can solve whatever the puzzle is that they face, you know with just the right formula and we'll do it in six months My friend west jackson puts it this way If your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime Then you're not thinking big enough If your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you're simply not thinking big enough researcher david scott notes that What is happening in the united in the united Methodist church is part of a much larger Phenomenon that's going on. It is in fact happening in every denomination Across our culture scott says It's shared by other denominations. It cuts across all races and classes and theologies He writes the united Methodist church in the u.s. And christians Generally are fooling themselves if they think that they can solve a cultural problem With organizational solutions Scott concludes. I don't know what the adaptive solution To the cultural problem of u.s. Religious decline is I wish I did he says But I am sure that understanding the nature of the problem Is the first step toward finding a solution? Let me propose that our most hopeful options involve stepping away from the everyday Uh concerns And looking at the larger question Of the influence of the dominant culture on who we are Douglas john hall speaking about Mainline church or ecumenical Protestantism in north america wrote and this has been 20 years ago Christianity has arrived at the end of its sojourn as the official established religion of the western world The end of chrismdom he says May be the beginning of something more nearly like the church Now I may need to define those words chrismdom is that dominant structure where everyone believes that uh, they're part of System that uh represents Their their nationality or their particular culture But chrismdom hall says is in decline But it may mark the opportunity For there to be a beginning for the church by stepping away from easy assumptions and practice patterns of the dominant culture I believe New day for Methodism is possible It can surprise And perhaps even delight us Some of you remember Shek the cheque statesman and poet baklav haval Who's who put it this way? It is as if something were crumbling Decaying and exhausting itself While at the same time Something else Still indistinct Is a riot is rising up from the rubble philosopher churros taylor calls our complicated age Axial time And walter bruggeman speaks of this as an age of disorientation Cultural mores norms and religious beliefs Are Fluid at the best and disappearing Entirely in many places Many speak of this as an error Era of extinction when perhaps a million animal and plant species are at risk Many of our institutions also appear to be at risk in the wake of its tsunami of disease Disruption and disinformation it's axial time Here in texas You also were visited by a winter Experience We'll call it in february It was like a bad relative from north dakota came and decided to spend some time And not only plumbing but electrical systems were damaged by that visit This is the period of time we're in fortunately Scientists are already working On the next concern for a pandemic And it begs the question What about the church? As the pandemic began united methodists were distracted There was a splintering That you heard a bit about you know a lot about in your own local setting probably Splintering around theological ideological and cultural differences It diverted the energy and a lot of our resources Unity was confused with uniformity This is a moment I want to say for united methodists to reclaim our motto At the bicentennial all the way back in the year 1966 when the methodist church that had been in the united States for 200 years at that time Came up with a motto which were simply two words forever beginning Instead of a return to normal This is a time to step away from the languishing assumptions of old order christendom And to begin anew Deuteronomy six reminds us that we drank from wells. We did not dig and we eat from vineyards We did not plant We have quite a legacy Months of quarantine have given me the chance to think about this legacy There's some remarkable folks who have provided guidance to us over the years So today i'll be focusing some on our history tomorrow We'll look at the present and then the future Did you know for example it was charles albert tendley Philadelphia Methodist pastor son of a slave Himrider and scholar who offered the inspiration for the hymn we sing Which is we shall overcome or did you think of Bishop rubin job who summarized the west lee in general rule of discipleship Do no harm Do good Stay in love with god And i have to mention georgia harkness The first woman by the way to hold a full professorship in theology in the united states Who wrote it is the christian's rightful faith That however dark the night God's love surrounds us So let's go back to another axial time Another time of disruption when methodism was just beginning it's maritime bristol england 1742 Methodism is in its infancy The new room is a worship center a dispensary and a school John westley asked them how they're going to pay for the debt on this new building And a captain thomas foyer responds But everyone in the society give a penny a week And it will easily be done Someone interrupted But many do not have a penny to give that person said Captain foyer's response was Let each one give what they can weekly and i will supply what is wanting Others in that meeting made a similar offer to captain foyer They were concerned that nothing should prevent the poorest methodists From being involved in the society You see what was envisioned as a financial building campaign morphed into a fundamental essential Ecology of early methodism it is simply A watching over one another in love The society was divided into groups and leaders were appointed The early methodist polity is what researchers would call an adaptive change Spreading from bristol to london to newcastle. You know, that was westley's triangle circuit These class meetings began to emerge societies And classes became more like second families Than a sect or a church in formation Watching over one another in love became habitual Note the three distinctives of early methodists They were The poor were included in significant numbers There was no need to set up an outreach ministry over there for them in that place the poor were already present 1739 you see was the harshest winter in memory in england and by 1742 The poverty and the the disease was still rampant people were marching in the streets asking for employment The economic depression would go on for nearly a decade in england So methodism was birthed in the midst of that economic challenge Secondly weekly meetings for prayer and a watching over one or one another in love was seen as essential The primary goal was a mutual accountability shared by all I am not one who particularly holds to a paternalistic view of this I think what was going on was everyone was seen to have strengths and everyone witnessed weaknesses and all were needed For the class to function for people to bring their gifts And thirdly as we said someone interrupted the person or persons who interrupted It's not known. However, this was a critical shift in direction or reimagining a move from scarcity to sustenance Today, do you know any righteous interrupters? Acting out of love for the least of these and For the benefit of all I'm not talking about grumblers the curmudgeons or the chronically unhappy critics Rather, I speak of those who see the gospel as having relevance in our time and our place Methodist history is complex I think of a young man in a trustees meeting Uh a group had asked to use the church's kitchen for a while that group fed hungry people in town And he was a righteous interrupter when he asked just one question. He said so let me see if I have this right What we're saying is the church kitchen shouldn't be used to feed hungry people It was as if The whole scene changed And the trustees who are ready to say uh, no not our kitchen too many problems with utility costs and insurance and the rest My friend chris Simply asked one question The church kitchen shouldn't be used to feed hungry people A righteous interrupter Our history is complex not always remembered with pride But let me share with you a few righteous interrupters There are two Methodists most people don't think of first as Methodist branch ricky and jackie robinson challenged racial segregation major league baseball before by the way brown versus board of education before the military was racially integrated And there was up in Hood River, Oregon a pastor many have never heard of Reverend Sherman bergoyne Who decided that he was not able to keep silent as People in town wanted to take the names of japanese american soldiers off the monuments there because after all the japanese were our enemy And bergoyne not only fought that over the criticism and concerns of leaders in the community and in the church But he helped with resettlement of japanese americans Who had been in camps? And there are others that come to mind In the book being interrupted reimagining the church's mission from the outside in i'll bear it and ruth harley Call for a counter flow in the way the church is understood Rather than being a place for the spiritually thirsty to find a weekly refueling They speak of a shift in circulation from the outside in Worship overflows with stories from encounters outside the sanctuary with neighbors Barrett is rector of hodge hill church in the diocese of birmingham england He writes that worship begins with two interpretive questions the first What do you bring with you from your week in the world that you want to say thank you to god for? And secondly What do you come with that weighs heavy on you that you want to bring to god in prayer and concern? Barrett writes more attention is given to gathering than sending The worship benediction has been changed now it is let us go in peace to meet and love christ in our neighbors anglican sam wells puts it succinctly prophetic ministry he says it's not about condescendingly making welcome alienated strangers It means seeking out the rejected because they are The energy and life force that will change us all The challenge for the church is to see jesus in the face of the ones we have rejected And to let jesus the jesus we discover in them Become our cornerstone The first century church emerged in another axial time Paul a righteous interrupter faced persecution and finally prison Ephesians was a circular letter, you know written likely by a secretary or an apprentice or a close colleague of paul And sent to believers emerge in emerging churches all across asia minor challenging systems of polytheism Exclusion shame and honor With a focus on neighbor love In the prayer in Ephesians 3 14 20 There is the summons to be rooted and grounded in love a gap a love a specific word for sacrificial love use 17 times in Ephesians Unlike filial meaning brotherly love Throughout the new testament There is this focus on faith made evident in a gap a love And georgia harkness Defines a gap a love. She says means an uncalculating Outgoing spirit of loving concern which finds expression in the deeds of service Without limit What does it mean? To be rooted and grounded in such love Well, I think it's the nurse that pulls a second shift To hold the hand of one who is dying of covet When the family can't be present It's the underpaid daycare worker or teacher Who takes from her meager salary so poor children have books or supplies It's those offering healthcare or food to refugees in syria Or Gaza It's the young consultant who Leaves his work for a while To run a shelter In the middle of a city for people who are without a house It is The spouse the child or friend Who sacrifices to stay near As a loved one moves through the darkness of dementia These and multitudes of other ways Show us the meaning This morning Bishop McKee talked about the pandemics that occurred in the early years of the church Robert Jewett has a small little commentary on the book of romans. It's only 1140 pages And in that commentary he begins to uncover the question of Why did christians seem to prosper a little better than other groups? And bob by the way who died of covet in december Would argue that it was simply because they practiced that new testament idea Of offering a cup of cold water John Wesley used Ephesians 3 as the scripture basis for his sermon the catholic spirit It's no surprise that he does that and he writes In that sermon we are to keep an even pace rooted and in the faith once delivered to the saints and grounded in love In true catholic love till we are swallowed up In that love forever and ever So charles taylor comes to the end of his large book that was recently published and titled a secular age With a chapter that's simply entitled conversions He writes the gospel establishes new links across boundaries not based on kinship But on a kind of love which god has for us all a gap a love Unlike early christians. He writes We moderns Have given up on the possibility of human transformation Have united methodists given up on transformation Are we too shaped by crisis theology? We're being born again as a singular event a one time Happening with no more conversions necessary Faith you see is a verb That is too often misunderstood as a noun a stopping place A neuroscience friend of mine and i've talked about this a lot in recent months He suggests that transformation requires a place of lowered anxiety We're thinking about beginning a new can occur New consciousness comes from slowing down And as westley put it living at an even pace And with faith grounded in love Georgia harkness reminds us The christian gospel is not that we are saved ourselves by finding god It is that god finds us And saves us when we let him When we are assured that gods god ceases not to love us We can watch in patience through the night and wait for the dawn I believe this is possible in our local ministry settings In places like bristol in 1742 It is a regenerative cycle Interruption stepping away finding a calm beginning a new Interruption stepping away finding a calm Conversion alters where we look and what we see Dr. Willie Jennings of Yale Divinity School tells of being a consultant with a school facing financial hardship Students and faculty were able to calm down Step away from old patterns And think anew Jennings writes the school was strapped for cash But there was unused gospel Flying all around The school was strapped for cash But there was unused gospel Lying all around I perceive united method says god's people Who have a lot of unused gospel lying around? I perceive that Like our ancestors in bristol There may also need to be a little conversion in how we see Methodism is not easily classified historically or sociologically We are one of only one instrument in the great faith symphony orchestra But a critically important voice Sharing harmonies that unite personal and social holiness The temptation is to think that there is an easy solution to our current situation Why can't general conference or the bishops or the annual conference help our disorientation? Dr. Harkness would say We need a great deal more theology not less So I join with George Rieger and early theologians like John Vincent and Ted Jennings Who point to a way beyond our current denominational impasse It is to remember and reclaim the ministry of jesus The ministry of the west sleaze and early methodism With the least of these it is here we discover that this is where jesus continues to be found today I do not mean the economically improversed only But they must be included For they are central To a contemporary understanding of what it means to follow jesus Let me close by sharing with you story from my ministry His name was tony he would slip in and sit in the back of the sanctuary He would often greet me after worship a good morning chappy I was to him a chaplain. He was a military veteran Good morning chappy. He would say tony lived in his car We tried to get him into shelter, but he was more comfortable in this car One sunday as we were welcoming new members. We did that rather frequently and of course we went through quite a drill They had to attend a couple of three classes and they knew the questions that would be asked and they Knew when to come forward. So we were singing that closing him that invitational him and About 15 or 20 people came forward and they were ready to Hear the membership vows and to share with the congregation what mission effort they would Be committed to and out of the corner of my eye There was What it's it's tony He didn't attend a new member class Let's see but And so I deliberately took the microphone and went to the other end of the line wanting to start there Hoping the ushers might intercede, but they were much smarter than I was and we Had the membership vows and then one by one it would go down They would introduce themselves and someone might say I planned to sing in the choir or I plan To work with habitat for humanity or I plan to cook meals for the youth And I held my breath as they got closer and closer to toning And finally toni had the mic in his hand and he said well I'm just here to love people and share my art with you My goodness. I didn't need to worry at all except I needed to worry about phil I was the one that needed to be converted I was the one that didn't see toni as a potential part of our family Not long after that on a cold winter night Tony was found having died In his car I still remember the service that was held in the chapel. It was overflowing with people he had met People who had purchased some of his art We thought we were the only ones to bring the gospel into the world But it was toni who helped us discover a whole lot of unused gospel We had been missing He taught us about being rooted and grounded in agape love Today partly due to toni's interrupting our routines A shelter and resource center offers food and meals and places of health care for hundreds in that community every week Because of people Who got to know toni? From the outside in Our three takeaways are or trail markers for today are these First followers of jesus Are forever beginning disciples Acting with agape love Secondly rethinking mission from the outside in We'll need some righteous interruption And thirdly As fear is calm We may be converted To welcome others As christ has welcomed us So tomorrow we'll continue on this trail together With a question with them with the topic of how we're connected to bear good fruit And how we are gathered in communities of restoration and joy When we first planned this 18 months ago or more The idea was to do a little dialogue and we were going to have Some younger and more experienced pastors here But that didn't happen for a lot of reasons covid being the main one But i'm encouraging you to ask questions and i'll try to respond We may not have time today, but let's see if we do okay so I think andy lewis is going has got how we're going to do this and we may Collect the question stay and do that tomorrow. So andy, you want to make that announcement? I think that's okay with you phil. Okay. Thanks andy Could you turn andy's mic on please? Is it on? I don't think it's on It's not on Yeah So while they're coming I was thinking about technology and all the joys I don't know how many of you remember Clarence jordan at coin and ea farm Clarence had a master's degree in agriculture and when he finally started coin and ea farm He said the way I learned to farm was I would climb to the top of the barn every morning and see what the other farmers were doing and His whole his whole notion about technology was he said, you know, they've got these new Chicken houses and the hens lay the eggs and they drop down on a conveyor belt And they go on down the line and he said the chicken then looks to see if they lay the egg and they have it So they lay another one That's technology off of this way So at this time, uh, we're going to hear from dr. Phil amerson. Uh, the second Keynote of his of our time together with A With dr. Amerson so Phil we gladly Hear you Thank you, bishop mckay. Thank you dr. Amerson It's uh, I couldn't I couldn't uh Be happier than to follow Something about lpi because we're going to be talking about the connections Many of them that have been here for quite a while Yesterday, we talked about the past Our history today. I want to talk more about the connections in the present But let me begin by simply saying Reminding you that if you have questions, uh, I'm going to take some of those at the end of this presentation We have a couple from yesterday And uh, also, uh, I just want to tell you what a joy it is to be here The staff of the church and the staff of the annual conference Have been just splendid Uh, I I am reluctant to go home because I won't have this kind of care there I'll it'll be the other way around. I'll be taking care of my spouse but I want you to know how fortunate you are to have An episcopal leader who is not only a fine Administrator but also a fine preacher And I've been around the church a long while And uh, when I heard the sermon last night Talking about a lover's quarrel with the church. I found myself grateful That there is a preacher as well as a good administrator here in the north texas conference So thank you bishop mckee for your leadership We're going to today take a look at Question of righteous connections Our regenerative connections yesterday we talked about righteous interruptions And uh, some of you We're going to see if we have There we go The trail markers from yesterday are Followers of jesus are forever beginning disciples acting with agape love Rethinking mission from the outside in will require righteous interrupters And as fear is calmed We may be converted to welcome others As christ welcomes us As we begin today with this topic Connected to bear good fruit hear this poem The poem is entitled the red wing church. It's by ted cooser some of you know coosers poetry He was the poet laureate For the us a few years back The red wing church The red wing church There's a tractor in the doorway of a church and red wing nebraska In a coat of mud And straw that drags the floor a broken plow sprawls beggar like behind it on some planks That make a sort of roadway up the steps The steeple's gone A black tar paper scar That lightning made Have replaces now replaces it They've taken it down To change the house of god into homer johnson's barn But it's still a church With clumps of tiger lilies in the grass And one of those box like Glassed in signs that give sermon topics Reading now A bird nest and a little broken glass The good works of the lord are all around The steeple top is standing in a garden just up the alley. It's a henhouse now Fat legorns gossip at its crowded door Pews stretch on porches up and down the street The stained glass windows style the mayor's house And the bells atop the firehouse in the square The cross Is only god no square Dr. Henry Howell was not the most popular professor In the small college I attended He was modest in appearance slight in build He was soft spoken however trekking through The wilderness or a forest with dr. Howell You realized you were there with a giant Kneeling beside him at creek edge to test the water or count the species It was a transformative experience We were fortunate in those years ahead of time really dr. Howell was focusing on ecology And he spoke of our role in valuing diversity and regenerative connections needed across all systems water soil plants animals air and human A devout man howell Prayed as each class began often quoting Ephesians three That we be rooted and grounded in love On occasion he read from st. Augustine I recall his alabama accent as he summarized God loves each as if there is none other in all the world to love And god loves all As god loves each A friend theologian marjorie suhake writes prayer involves god who Works with the world as it is in order to bring it to where it can be Ours is an independent relational and regenerative world you see Ted coosers poem the red wing church portrays disconnection Parts of the old church are shed scattered all across town The poem summarizes what many perceive is happening in all churches and rural places in small towns and Yes in urban neighborhoods and suburbs as well Difficult transitions and decline are evident Young people in ever greater numbers say Christianity today no longer looks like Jesus Our youth are able to connect with others around the world on social media And sadly they are often disconnected from any faith community The church that will not speak truth in times of deception Or act in loving ways in a time of hatred Is not trusted by most young people Christians are viewed as bigoted And distrusting of science Making disciples Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world may fall quickly from our lips But what if we are the ones to be transformed first? A sustainable future will require more than techniques strategies or doctrinal purity At our best We united Methodists are people who watch over one another in love Steve Harper reminds us Love is the north star in our theological sky And the singular mark of a mature Christian After this winter's ice storm a layperson From this conference said that his church was installing gas powered generators to prevent future damage I couldn't help but chuckle and think Yes, and some holy spirit powered regenerators might be helpful as well Recently I had lunch with two friends One a seminary administrator spent several minutes outlining the school's programs focused on leadership As the lunch ended the other friend John McKnight known for his work with asset-based community development generally offered Gently offered Maybe we should focus less on leadership And give more attention to connectorship McKnight spoke of the core value of relationship Of informal associations where leaders leave space for the imagination of others Reverend Michael Mathers recent book having nothing possessing everything Identifies the flow of his ministry in three parts Naming Blessing Connecting Like Dr. Howell in the natural world Mather is about cultivating the deep root systems of diverse Regenerative and enduring connections in our communities Within each parish neighborhood or town city or suburb Connections based on a Christ already present among the neighbor I believe is possible One based on mutual respect and love waiting to be named blessed and connected On my study wall Is a portrait. I'll tell you about in a few minutes It's elizabeth eckford and hazel mastery standing in front of little rock central high school in 1997 I thought of them as I thought of another connector in a Drive-in urban church that I know A neighbor who lives nearby Often interrupts the finance meeting or the trustees meeting or umw meeting and he will ask For five minutes To introduce a neighbor who lives nearby Who will share something about themselves? Folks in these meetings have gotten to the point where it's really not a good trustees meeting If a neighbor hasn't been introduced connection outside in We need to remember That our mission efforts are 100 year work Sometimes longer there can be short meetings, but it's often Longer work and so I come to this photograph Two women in front of little rock central high school 1997 Photojournalist will counts was best known For an earlier photograph of these two women It's an iconic image An angry crowd yells abuses at a young elizabeth eckford on her way to school She was one of the little rock nine who first integrated central high school behind her at the head of the crowd Is hazel mastery Screaming and vectors I visited with will counts about these two photos several times After 1957 he said he stayed in contact with each of the two women And regularly prayed for them will was a member of my congregation When that second photograph was taken He said then 40 years later on the 40th anniversary of central highs desegregation I looked across the room and there they were both in the same room He said it was if the red sea parted and I was able to go And bring them together And ask them if they would be open to another photograph. They had had some conversation a couple of times when they had spoken but The relationship between hazel and elizabeth was understandably never an easy one But you see a regenerative connection was begun on that day For them and for the larger community. It's a complex story There are many tributaries in this relationship elizabeth and hazel and will counts each one Had to choose a path to join in naming blessing and connecting Here is the basis of in-depth evangelism Regenerative connections with god and neighbor the great methodist missionary eastanley jones wrote of christ as both incarnate in fleshed And ex-carnate in our world christ is present in human flesh And in the connection among all humankind Jones quotes colossians 3 11 christ is all things and in all people Jones famously said an individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body And a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul One is a ghost The other is a corpse Here he is pictured with three fingers raised some of you will be old enough to remember or know what he is Signifying he says this represents the oldest creed in the church the first creed. It's simply jesus is lord katlyn curtis writes The bloodline of god is connected to everything shells on the ocean shore the mushrooms growing in the forest The trees stretching to the clouds the tiniest speck of snow in the winter And our dust to dustness we are all connected and tethered to the sacred gift of creation There are so many linkages in north texas. I Believe display the health of your connections. You've certainly done it this morning You certainly have shared many of those But i've read about you i've done my homework Westley umc in greenville and st. Luke community in Dallas partnered early with hospitals to serve as cova vaccination places churches like warren umc and dallas were warming stations in february along with Dozens of other churches st. Stephen and mesquite joined with the red cross for community-wide blood drives First umc sherman linked with mental health professionals offering clinical care These and dozens of other expressions of god's love took place across your connection Rachel sussman's book the oldest living things in the world Offers photos and essays about long-lived plants and animal species She highlights Enormous grove of aspen in utah's fish lake national forest called pando In latin pando means i spread Amazingly this grove is one single system It may appear as hundreds of separate trees, but in fact it is a massive 106 acre wide individual Each of the 47,000 trees is Genetically identical The root system All connected is one plant similar colonies of Ancient individuals that are also a community are found in coral reefs in our oceans Mark veldmeyer pastor of st. Ender umc and highland ranch colorado writes Such kinship means that they are one organism and one living community simultaneously When an individual tree dies, it's as if the grove loses an essential member of the body A forest is more Than what you see says susan samard professor at University of british columbia samard tracks carbon isotopes over long distances through underground interfungal networks connecting the forest above Put simply she says trees talk Often over vast distances through shared nutrients and chemistry Today scientists want skeptical now flock to her to learn that forests aren't a collection of individuals No, they are harmonious yet complicated social network A conference a denomination Is much more than we see Forrester peter woe laban speaks of this as a wood wide web He asserts trees register pain Learn things and even seek to protect or nurse others nearby He joins professor samard and proposing a regular back and forth communication increasing the resilience of an entire community They speak both of these Of hub trees or better mother trees Connected broadly with others in the forest managing the resources of the whole plant community If too many hub trees are removed they argue the whole system can collapse I think of margaret mesvita mashinga as a mother tree for the church in zimbabwe I knew her as a student in claremont california Then a few years later On our way to worship in zimbabwe. She suddenly pulled the small pickup truck over to the roadside She got out shouting a few words in shona And looking back I can still see her looking over her shoulder and saying to me are you coming And about that time from underneath the bridge ahead eight little boys Came bounding up the trail each shouting mama mama mama You see These boys were hiv aids orphans Who were forced at that time to live under a bridge? She mesvita was their substitute mama She would bring them food and take them to sunday school Her ministry samukai child protection center displayed her love for the connections Needed with these abandoned orphans. She would try her best to reunite them from reluctant families Who didn't want to accept these aids orphans, but she did it often What if we viewed our congregations as hub institutions or as mother trees In our communities. What if we understood the deep root system of our faith connecting us with all What if we discovered again the evangelistic importance of Naming blessing connecting with others outsiders god's children Too often our focus is either on the individuals sitting in the pew or these days on a screen Or some institutional structure and we miss the immediate web of community at our elbow We miss the potential for new beginnings available through neighborhood relationships The list of regenerative connectors that comes to mind you saw some of them this morning They include judges and teachers and nurses and daycare providers and cooks and bus drivers They are farmers and craftspersons and bankers and law officers and business executives and journalists and social workers I think of physicians counselors hospital administrators Let me give you some specific examples of regenerative connectors In Dallas I think of city squares poverty fighting work If you want to hear an institutional conversion story, you need to connect with a member of this annual conference the reverend doctor larry james In his books and conversation he tells of the remarkable conversion That transformation From seeing poor people as clients to valuing them as coworkers James makes it clear everybody is rich and everybody is poor just in different ways Everybody is worthy of respect Respect is the great change agent of social reality Then there is the reverend dr. John Fannis still in san diego Who works who not only works to provide basic resources for for immigrants like pop-up kitchens But Fannis still also coordinates a worship service on Sundays at the border Where folks gather on both sides to share prayers and songs and a blessing that no wall can separate Did you know about like glacia frontera? It's been going on for oh Well more than a decade And there's young grant meryl A pastor in northern indiana who expands on his pastoral dirties to share a brief Weekly faith message on his tiktok account now. You may think that's not out of the ordinary Out of the ordinary Only last I heard grant has 300 000 followers I think of two women beth richardson and mary lou redding who write of the power and connection of god's love And encourage others through publications By the upper room There is wild style pascal An independent african-american artist a united methodist a journalist a photographer a friend Who keeps an animated conversation going with the indianapolis? public officials They have come to value and to know they will be challenged by his research sharp whip and careful reporting as a christian challenging and connecting and then there is the reverend ingrid mackentire co-founder of open table nashville Who seeks to break the mold of what people call the church? She led in the building of 22 micro homes known as the village at glencliffe It's a safe place for mentally Medically vulnerable neighbors who are chronically homeless As they wait for permanent housing The homes at glencliffe form i think a sacred halo Around the glencliffe united methodist church And there is the prophetic work of the reverend hannah adair bonner director of frontera westley in tusan Along with campus ministry hannah's witness includes producing films podcasts And the convening of national gatherings of younger umc emerging leaders Hannah reaches the disconnected whether on the streets in prison Or among the undocumented There are hundreds of other illustrations of united methodists in the united states Who share the gospel in such fruitful ways? We often miss seeing them and the rooted That they help connect us with Hear the prayer again from paul and effusions 318 i pray that you will have The power to comprehend With all the saints What is the breadth and length and height and depth? And to know the love of christ that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of god No matter the future United methodism's connections may change in form, but our rooted just still deep and wide 30 years ago the congregation i served supported a young faculty member at africa university There were no theological litmus tests for this professor or for those offering support The young man was eban niwatiwa And he was later elected bishop in zimbabwe Today masvita Mashinga and her husband gift work with bishop niwatiwa after their theological education they returned to zimbabwe matzita I think of as our mother tree today. She is a leader in mental health in zimbabwe And now the chair of pastoral care and counseling at africa university gift her spouse is a pastor conference leader and an episcopal candidate Methodism's ecology in zimbabwe is intertwined with ours Africa university now prepares graduates for work with NGOs across africa Into europe and even as far away as australia and new zealand Many are on the forefront of responding to the covet pandemic Dr. Howell would understand as well This ecology Diverse and regenerative root systems of faith naming blessing connecting Our takeaways or trail markers are Number one loving action is our north star and singular mark of a mature christian Secondly deep evangelization extends across space and time to name bless and connect And third each mission site can be god's mother tree in the social forest where it is located The poem about the red wing church ends with this line The cross Is only god knows where It can be read as a statement of loss and an evitable secularization A confession that god's work goes on often unseen Scattered beneath the surface of what we know and think we understand Righteous interrupters and regenerative connectors act because they see a church That is still unfinished But nonetheless rooted and grounded in love I hold that god's love extends far beyond our divisions And any scattered nests It often extends well beyond my vision And I suspect it extends beyond your vision Still I delight That we are given the privilege Of naming it When it appears among us May god continue to bless you In your work of naming blessing and connecting Amen Are we doing questions? Do we have two questions from yesterday? You want from yesterday? Okay, yesterday's questions Yesterday's questions Da-da-da-da Today Today Connie Marshall wrote saying I was touched with your story about Tony But have to ask if it changed your opinion of the importance of people needing To take a course on membership before they are invited to join the church And the answer is no It changed me It changed what I did in those membership classes And you can never tell the whole story In one presentation But Tony and I visited several times about what it meant to be a united Methodist So that wasn't suggesting at all that we should shortcut the importance of educating people about who we are and what we do Rather it was an understanding that I was the one that needed converting Much more than Tony Okay, second question is this from Alicia Signer Methodism was powerful when based on band meetings and holiness Kevin Watson has an excellent new book out perfect love Recovering an entire sanctification The lost power of the Methodist movement. I'd like to hear your thoughts about these important Sometimes forgotten pieces Well, that is a temptation that I will try to avoid since I'm a graduate of both asbury college and asbury seminary And I learned early on that sanctification is a second definite work of gray subsequent to regeneration Or that's what they thought it was And it's an important way of understanding Sanctification some people hold to that you need to know that there's a whole history of 17th 18th 19th century Christendom that plays into this Part of the reason for the holiness movement and its focus on sanctification as a second experience Has to do with the challenge that came from the Pentecostal movement Early in the 20th century where the focus was on the gift of tongues. Do you have the gift? And so the holiness folks ended up saying well, you need to have the experience I hold that sanctification is a lifelong process I'm not quite a Lutheran that would say that you get sanctified when you come to the end of life But I do believe sanctification is a process a call just as faith is an ongoing journey I should tell you in closing I remember sitting in the chapel at asbury seminary many years ago And bishop kern from ohio was there and I can still hear him as he addressed the question of sanctification And he said you folks here at this place talk a lot about sanctification Pause pause pause I'll tell you if you're sanctified or not But let me hear the way you talk about your predecessor and your successor And I'll know if you're sanctified I've met many sanctified people Kevin Watson's work is very helpful. I use his work and many of the many of the things I did with this presentation As have been a number of other people like david loes watson Class meetings and bands are important and they can be a valuable resource But we need to be careful that we don't Exclude people simply around whether or not they believe the way I believe on a matter like sanctification Sanctification is God's gift and however it comes to you I celebrate Whether you have it as an experience or whether like me you believe it is something that you're called to live toward all your life so Thank you for the question and I thank Kevin Watson for his work. It's important to the church just now And we also need to be reading many others and thinking along with them So I thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you We appreciate it what we're going to hear from you later this morning. I understand this well Let me express my gratitude To all of you for being with you Um This has been remarkable Someone caught me out here in the hallway Yesterday and said you must have attended a lot of annual conferences and the truth I have And uh, they I I forgot I was in Texas and there's a bluntness that often comes here And this person says well, how do we compare? Well, and I want you to know That on a 10-point scale I rank the north texas conference. I give you an 11 Thank you the music the worship the preaching the presentations the emphasis on the future and diversity and leadership and You're doing good Thank you. Yeah They are doing very good work. They are indeed And I'm I headed back to indiana where the cicadas are now and I don't know if you know about cicadas, but they come every 17 years And what we've discovered is that as they swarm in our community We have even larger swarms of people who come all the way from Canada to see a cicada It ain't no great thing folks So be glad you're in texas where I don't believe you have swarms of cicadas, but I'm heading back to that joy this evening I want us to continue now to look at the third emphasis and that is restorative and joyful communities Not far from my home is a path That is one that is marked as a certified sustainable trail. It's wide Uh big enough for more than one person It's one of those if you want to walk far walk together trails As we conclude let us acknowledge a sustainable trail for the united Methodist church is still emerging We are after all god's church part of god's wider economy We are part of god's symphony of hope many remarkable previous travelers Have signaled a way forward, but they're not here right now except in the vision they shared in the direction they Pointed there are those connections They're the wider connections across the world and across the church that I talked about in the last conversation And we identified there three trail markers First loving action is our north star and singular mark of a mature christian Secondly deep evangelization extends across space and time to name bless and connect And third each mission site can be god's mother tree in the social forest where it is located In 1974 By senile by centennial celebrations of columbia university a world-renowned economist Sir Dennis robertson was asked a big question. The question was what do economists economize And to the surprise of almost everyone he gave an astonishing answer. He said we economize on love noble prize Nobel Prize winner Edmund Phelps later agreed That altruism is central to any sound economic analysis But as you might guess they were both both economists and they quickly had to say but it's complicated Long before modern economic theories jesus points to love as a joyful Place the source of communities that are joy filled From john 1511 through 17 we read I've told you these things for a purpose that my joy may be your joy and your joy wholly mature This is my command love one another the way I loved you This is the best way to love put your life on the line for your friends You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I am no longer calling you servants Because servants don't understand what their master is thinking or planning. No I've named you friend Because I've let you in on the things I've heard from the father You didn't choose me remember I chose you And put in you the put you in the world to bear fruit Fruit that won't spoil As fruit bearers Whatever you ask of the father in relation to me. He gives you and then watch this It jumped out of the page there in the message Peterson translates verse 17 But remember the root command Love one another Jesus speaks of love more profoundly than any other of Of the gifts that were given as the children of god Moses provided 10 commandments, you know and then the miss vat In Hebrew scripture. There are 613 commandments Jesus reduces it all down to one command The root command love one another So that your joy may be full and you may bear good fruit Agape love is a willingness to lay down one's life for another It is essential to a joyful restoration of lives and communities John's gospel was written in Ephesus a few decades later Than the letter to the Ephesians It's full of interpersonal struggles, dissension, disagreement Faith rooted in sacrificial love is said to be a pathway forward But we celebrate an awareness that the life we make today Will shape what happens in the future United Methodists find a home in shaping that future together Stories of restoration and joy in the scriptures come bubbling up You know them those scripture stories the 90 year old Sarah who laughs Joseph who embraces brothers Manna that comes in the wilderness the Babylonian refugees return Nehemiah announces the joy of the Lord is our strength A prodigal returns home Magica star a baby leaps for joy in Elizabeth's womb Water is turned to wine Winds of Pentecosts blow across the church Christ is recognized in the breaking and sharing of bread Joy and restoration in these stories are communal So long for solo performances can be lovely and moving But scientists have shown that it is choral singing voices raised together That's That form sustainable social bonds and personal life Social bonds and personal well-being Last month I watched the Wesleyan Investor Awards given to five national innovative leaders And in each case joy was evident One awardee was Diamon Harjes of the learning tree in Indianapolis Diamon is a long time friend and he's been a guest at this annual conference. I know Years ago Diamon noticed folks I he identified in his neighborhood as neighborhood healers They practiced generosity and hospitality They knew how to host parties to celebrate others not a party in a church building No, but in the neighborhood homes Did someone graduate from school get a new job Complete a project start a band Then celebrate and And welcome outsiders to join the party So Diamon would ask a foundation director a police commander the mayor a hospital administrator a school principal It was a reweaving a restoration of fabric in that community A group of young men would gather together and celebrate as well They called themselves the cultivating joy cipher They began to meet regularly and as a result of these gatherings and a re-weaving of that community with the larger structures in the city It's it's really rather amazing millions of dollars of investment in housing economic development The arts and small business initiatives have come to that part of Indianapolis As Diamon puts it we kidnap people from old routines and bring them together so they can fall in love with each other Wesley emphasized both personal and communal religious experience Methodists were to walk with others in classes, bands societies and conferences Paul Chokot writes Christianity according to the west leaves is not so much a religion as it is a relationship It is from the outset both personal and social About 200 miles south of the Red Wing church Portrait in Ted Cooster's poem is a place called the land institute near Salina, Kansas The land institute has been much on my mind as I've thought about root systems I had the privilege of meeting west jackson co-founder of the institute two summers ago Jackson left university teaching and research nearly 50 years back to go home to Kansas He shifted from genetics research in a lab to investigating crop sustainability and teaching about regenerative agriculture Along the way he won the mccarthur fellowship unofficially known as the genius award West works to restore communities in soil and communities among humans Professor Robert Jensen retired from UT Austin says west jackson has perfected the art of seeing small and thinking big Seeing small and thinking big Uncomfortable with traditional religious language jackson jokingly told me He considers himself a five eighths Methodist He grew up as a Methodist and still worships occasionally, but he says The best way to see how my Methodist roots are displayed is when I talk about a creaturely worldview It is west who says if your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you're not thinking big enough A large photo There on the stairwell at the land institute Shows two root systems actual size side by side On the left are thin winter wheat roots grown and replanted annually less than one meter long The other is a perennial root system over three meters long reaching broadly outward Jackson proposes a mix of wheat soy bean and oil seed like a sunflower plants Grown together as perennials perennial polycultures. He calls them Imagine the mutual benefits for soil and water preservation from deeper root systems and actively diverse plantings think of what Might be helped in terms of preventing erosion or restoring nitrogen to the soil Really quite remarkable and if I had time I would tell you how this is already influencing agriculture across the world, especially in Asia What do root systems? In the kansas river valley have to do with a vibrancy of congregations in north texas Or ministry in towns rural settings or in the dallas metroplex Imperfect as all metaphors are I think there is something for us to see here About ministry as regenerative in communities and personal lives What if we sought regenerative roots of faith Do we plow under ministry investments too quickly? As we shift from one strategy to another Being fruitful is a fixation for many north american denominations We do a lot of plowing under and replanting While understandable many of these efforts are counterproductive increasing stress and diverting local indigenous innovations Rather than the vision from jeremiah of a tree planted by water Anxious north american christians turned to questionable spiritual husbandry Perhaps in anxiety about institutional decline Many have been as the song by country singer johnny lee goes looking for love in all the wrong places What if we focused on being sustainable As well as being fruitful Recently a pastor of a large congregation and I visited and he put it succinctly He said programs that attracted people two years ago pre-pandemic No longer seem effective Expectations and attention spans seem to shift month from month. They're constantly churning. He says We've learned to take the longer view now We've learned to take the longer view now And then he pointed to jim collins And jerry porous's book built to last who made the distinction between Time-telling and clock building Time-tellers can tell you the latest industrial fad Clock builders build sustaining institutions Change comes to the doorstep of all of our institutions including the church Including the church some call it creative destruction Some see it as slow and steady entropy or a post denominational society a decline to be expected and accepted I hear this and I think of ezekiel's haunting question looking out across those bones That valley of dry bones can these bones live again West Jackson reflects on ecology of human institutions by saying we too quickly seek the how-to And insufficiently focus on the why Ron Heifetz and Marty linsky distinguish between technical and adaptive challenges technical challenges Seek a how-to response Adaptive challenges on the other hand require new discoveries more imagination and an adaptive leap for a culture Adaptive challenges require a look at core mission Along with the why questions Have too many ministries lost the why behind their activities Several years ago. I directed a mentoring program for pastors At our first gathering the apprentices were in one group And the mentors met down the hall in another The apprentices were smart thoughtful energetic committed folks typically younger though not always The early conversations were About all they were accomplishing new programs and successes their voices brimmed with confidence Meanwhile down the hall a different set of con conversations were unfolding The mentors demonstrated what I would call the three experience based attitudes encouragement forgiveness and laughter Apprentices were confident even prone to a little bragging many of the apprentices were emerging as you've guessed it may be already righteous interrupters Among the mentors there was confusion and confession And a sharing of failure as mistakes and lessons learned were shared Oh, they knew the direction they were headed. They just needed another mentor Another experienced one to walk beside them Stories of regret often followed words of forgiveness. There was laughter and oftentimes tears The patterns seemed true in class after class of this program I now see the mentors as regenerative connectors They were perennials with an ability to adapt and keep growing the roots roots ever deeper and wider encouragement forgiveness and laughter Over a year as the apprentices and the mentors prayed and dreamed together the joy of a common calling bubbled up They learned the truth of the adage that leadership is often better caught than taught A community of joy was being born it had it had an expansion that Continues to this day. I see those men and women who were in that program As they celebrate the ability to be creative in difficult places If we had time I would tell you of similar patterns among laypersons I would love to tell you more about gene blind from birth and carol his spouse who offered infectious joy That helped sustain and restore an old core city church As new and younger members were attracted to the journey unfolding for that congregation They were part of a generative root system That sustains that faith community These folks were clock builders 53 years ago here in dallas There was an event where dr. Albert outlaw preached for the uniting of our denomination Outlaw said the heart of the gospel is startlingly simple That god loves you and me and all with a special love And that jesus christ is sufficient proof to this love Outlaw challenged united methodists to be true protestants reformed and ever reforming He closed his sermon With these words This is the day that the lord has made Let us really rejoice And be glad in it Glad for the new chance god gives us now To be a church united in order to be uniting a church Repentant in order to be a church redemptive a church cruciform in order to manifest god's triumphant agony on the part of all humankind Like the early church in emphasis Or the 18th century methodists today there are multiple obstacles threats and challenges Let me suggest that considering the question of sustainability We need to think about the far horizon for the church and not just the next general conference If we are to develop sustainable ecologies We will move beyond patterns of sickening denominational self-concern We must shift from denominational preservation to be mindful of opportunities for witness all around Whether reducing racism welcoming a stranger addressing economic injustice or protecting our natural world There is so much Work to do Would I advise advice throwing a few more parties and inviting strangers to join? Well, yes Should we celebrate righteous interruptors and regenerative connectors who build communities of restoration and joy? absolutely definitely When considering the challenges that to easily appear to impede our future to block the flow Of our waters as a denomination. I'm reminded of window berries wonderful poem our real work He says it may be That when we no longer know what to do We've come to our real work And when we no longer know Which way to go We have begun our real journey The mind that is not baffled is not employed The impeded stream Is the one that sings Albert Outler called for a cruciform way of proceeding We know from the gospels that those who try to gain their own life will lose it But those who lose their life for christ's sake will find it. It's paradoxical So here in closing are my seven paradoxical in notes For a reshaping And a reimagining reimagining the united methodist church First Following the jesus of scripture Can lead to the christ alive today Secondly stepping away from christendom can be a step toward being the church Third calmed and converted We move to be forever beginning disciples Fourth god loves each as none other and god loves all equally Fifth strong local hub trees interconnect to a global forest Sixth diverse linked perennial roots Encourage forgive and laugh And lastly The impeded stream Is the one that sings The calling for united methodist today is to ripple and splash with a delight in one another's company As i heard here last evening during the ordination service I heard a lot of joy Was a sign of great health More often than not ministry is poetic that doesn't mean you don't work But those of you who are laypersons and those of you who are pastors Look for the poetry the romance around you Samuel wells writes in a book entitled a future that is greater than the past That the church is a work of art God is the artist who makes the church Through the action of the holy spirit in the form of christ out of the material of human beings The church is not beautiful in a detached distant sense But if and when it is well and honestly made It exhibits an overflow of presence That generates joy And finally reflecting on Ephesians wells says We the church are God's work of art Or better he says We are God's poem I give thanks for the north texas conference You have blessed me this week Even as I head back to cicadas I will remember the gift of great preaching Wonderful music and the the witness you provide in this place. Thanks be to God