July 2010 Cross & Flame - Christ Is Rock in Changing Times
By Lisa Grant, Director of Connectional Ministries
Oh the times, they are a changin’...
In just two years, The United Methodist Church has moved from seven pathways for renewal to four areas of focus. Igniting Ministry has morphed into Rethink Church. We have five practices for fruitful congregations and three simple rules.
In Western Pennsylvania, we have moved through our Believe Again! plan for ministry to five areas of focus. We are shifting from a shotgun approach in mission to concentrating on conference-to-conference partnerships and highlighting six advance special projects with Doorways to Hope at Home.
In our churches, we develop disciple-making plans, look for ways to connect with the areas of focus, and strive to be faithful, fruitful and effective.
Whether we view the changes as good or bad, the challenge is clear. We must “learn how to build the plane while flying.”
It’s hard to build a house on shifting sand, but our hope is built on Jesus Christ and I have seen Him in our denomination and in our churches in the people called United Methodists. It is a mystery, and our hope – Christ in us. When we lose ourselves in Christ, we are swept up in the Spirit and grace continues to change us from glory into glory. This is the hope of 2 Corinthians 4:7-10. We are treasures in clay jars through which God’s extraordinary grace is working.
We enable grace by going deep in soul-tending prayer, service, praise, learning and connecting in community. This is easily forgotten in the midst of causes and concerns that consume us. The church belongs to God. He will do the building in the same way God has always done – by relationship – one by one by one.
In a thousand ways the Spirit of God renews our connection to Christ: In a child loved, the neighbor helped, the grieving comforted, the ill encouraged, the stranger welcomed. In all that we do, renewal comes only when we have gone deep into God’s presence so that the preoccupations, passions, and preferences of self fade away in the light of loving others whom God sends us.
We are doing so much right in Western Pennsylvania. Let’s build on that. Let’s go deeper!