Have you heard the news? They are making a film about John Wesley’s life. The good news is they’ve found an actor that bears an uncanny resemblance to John. The bad news is that this actor is Paul Reubens of PeeWee Herman fame. Ok, ok…I’m joking! But seriously, have you ever noticed the uncanny resemblance between the two?  If Paul can do an English accent, I think we’re well on the way to seeing the ocean passage to Georgia on the big screen!

Just this morning, my wife called looking into a local soccer league for our four year old daughter. Not long ago, I found that I am a newly minted soccer coach, holding the athletic futures of five 4 & 5 year old girls in my hands. We live in a part of Oklahoma where soccer takes a backseat to T-ball and Little League, so I’ve never coached, played, or really even watched soccer. Fortunately, this must be common because there is a new coach training where we figure out the ins and outs of the game. So, for the next few weeks I’ll be trading my theology books and commentaries for “Beginning Soccer,” “Psychodynamics of Soccer-Moms,” and “Winning Strategies for Four Year Old Girls Soccer!”

Now for the hard part, what will we name our team? Based on the demographics, I have jokingly suggested My Little Soccer Ponies. Of course our colors will be pink and purple. All kidding aside, we go to sign paperwork, pick out uniforms, and get our player list tomorrow. I’m actually very excited.

I would have never imagined 1,000 folks would have stopped by this blog since I moved to WordPress a few months back. Thanks for your visits, comments, and interest. Crazy stuff…

Sometimes we picture the Bishop meeting with the cabinet in a dimly lit smoke filled room. There’s a circular table in the middle covered with green felt and ashtrays. All of the superintendents are gathered around with yellow notebooks full of comments about their pastors, and the bishop is sitting in a leather wing-backed chair in the corner. He or she only leans forward into the light to make the final say if there becomes a dispute over appointments. After months of wrangling and back-room deals, they emerge from this room, dust themselves off, and make calls to the poor little itinerant ministers who tremble as they wait to hear the call from on high.

Now, hopefully none of us truly believe that’s how the process works. In fact, I need to preface my comments by saying I’ve only been appointed one time thus far, and my appointment has been a better fit than anyone could have conceived without being guided by the very Spirit of God. I’m not saying this because one of my higher-ups might happen to read this; I’m saying it because it has simply been true. You see, I asked to be close to my aging parents, and ended up forty-five minutes away from them. This is in a conference where I could have just as easily been five hours from them. My father died in October after I was appointed in June. Because of the cabinet, I was able to spend more time with him during the last five months of his life than I had in ten years before. Our bishop and cabinet have my confidence and trust because of this.

However, that is not the case for some ministers and congregations. I believe this is because the process seems so mysterious to those who are on the outside trying to look in. That’s why weird fantasized pictures about what happens behind closed doors sometimes exist. I know many of you have suggested that itinerancy is broken and needs to be addressed at General Conference. I grew up in a Church with a congregational polity and a “call” system., and there’s no way that’s the solution (Of course, I know that’s not what most of you are suggesting). I believe in the itinerancy, and I believe in God’s desire to use our denomination to make faithful disciples. That’s why I’m United Methodist. I believe the more open, clear, transparent conversation we can have about the process the better. I also believe we can tweak the system to account for current trends and dynamics (for instance, in his book, Pastor, Willimon suggests the sixth year is one of the more effective years of ministry for many congregations).  In general, I would still hate to see the itinerancy go the way of the dodo. So what would a modified appointment system look like?

I wrote this poem a little over two years ago for my daughter that just turned four in October.  Poetry is nearly impossible to format the way I’d like on this blog, but here it is:

Ancient-future faith – a continuous line

Future expectations – our daughter in time

Born on this day – the Feast of Saint Francis

A precious two years – caught up in dances

Water and Spirit – drenched in the Name

Forged in the fire – of the cross and the flame

Family tradition – we thank God every night

You look at stars – and see God just right

Angels captivate you – can you still see

The God who surrounds – and forever will be

A promise to watch – a promise to share

The faith of forever – the One who is there

Our district’s nominating committee recently met and contacted each pastor with their committee assignments for 2007. These announcements have me thinking about the committee divisions we have in the United Methodist Church. No, I’m not talking about the old liberal-conservative divide (I am of the mind that these labels becoming increasingly useless); I’m talking about the division between Discipleship, Church Development, Evangelism, and Mission. I’m not exactly sure where these particular divisions came from, but I am sure they are fairly false distinctions. Is mission to be separated from evangelism? Is discipleship something distinct from being involved in mission? Is development of the church something that happens when removed from evangelism, mission, and discipleship?

For the most part, I tend to sit back and observe the overarching structure of Methodism. I really don’t have much influence in these areas, and don’t want to complain for complaining’s sake. However, I do think it would streamline our committees if we would think about things holistically instead of dividing everything up along what I believe are false distinctions.

Think about this. A true missions committee would spearhead initiatives locally and globally. They would be involved in everything from evangelism and social work (once again a dubious distinction) on the local level to short-term and long-term mission work on a regional and global level. Church development would be integrated into the local mission work, seeking to establish new church plants and working to help local churches embody the missio Dei locally. Somehow, the Committee on Discipleship would need to be the umbrella under which all of these committees functioned, because we’re called to make disciples of Jesus Christ, right? Discipleship isn’t just bible study and small groups. It is the holistic development of authentic apprentices of Jesus. It’s calling and leading women and men to follow Jesus in all aspects of their lives. Discipleship is growing in the love of God and neighbor, and if that doesn’t involve the overarching mission of the Church, then I don’t know what does.

Do I have a solution? No. Do I want us to start talking about these things? Yes.