ADD: Overly criticizing the UMC results in the UMC looking bad. I strive to make the UMC look good. I want people to be enticed to come to a UMC church, especially my church. I hope I represent the UMC well, but really I hope I represent Christ well.
If you are sick of hearing about GracePoint, don’t read this. If you know a lot about it, skip down a couple paragraphs to hear my lack of opinion.
Well here is something that has been on my mind over the last 24 hours. Here in Wichita, everyone in the “Christian” community is talking about how GracePoint Church has left the United Methodist Denomination. They are now called GracePoint Community Church. Apparently the U.M. conference is hanging on to GracePoint United Methodist and will try to start again with that name.
From what I could gather, GracePoint seemed to leave the conference for a couple reasons. 1 it is/was really difficult to launch a new church and/or multisite church in the United Methodist Conference. The counter argument I have seen to this is that C.O.R. up in the K.C. area seemed to do it and do it very well. However that is 1 success. How many failures? We don’t hear about them. The second reason GracePoint left I’ll quote from their website:
“We know many people today have grown up with boring or hurtful experiences in traditional religion.”
This may not be a reason at all. But if you were trying to reach people that had boring or hurtful experiences in traditional religion wouldn’t you want to distance yourself from an organized religious group (say the United Methodist Church)? Especially if the people you are reaching out to had a hurtful experience at a United Methodist Church. But maybe we, as a UM church, need to address that hurt rather than distance ourselves from the UM Church. Maybe there has been too much hurt though…
Jim’s Final Thought: I am not going to express my opinion about GP leaving the UM conference. I think mistakes have been made on both sides. Maybe one side more than the other. Yes, I am trying to be vague. Why? It is none of my business what another church does. I don’t know the countless meetings and prayers the leadership at GP had. I don’t know everything about the United Methodist Conference either. And if I come off as judgmental of GP it reflects poorly on the UM Church and my own church that I represent. And if I come off as judgmental of the UM Church, it is as if I don’t appreciate the great things they have done, are doing, and will do for the Kingdom. All I know is GracePoint Community church is in my prayers, I have a lot of respect for most of their staff. The United Methodist Conference is also in my prayers.
So my new resolution for Lent, pray each day for both ministries. Pray this is isn’t an argument but only a transition. Pray for success of both ministries. Both sides are striving for the same goal. They serve the same God. And as long as they both serve God and not themselves, everyone will be blessed.
5 responses so far ↓
Kristy Jackson // March 5, 2009 at 12:31 am |
Jim, You are being very Christ like in your actions, thoughts and words. Awesome! I know God appreciates what you are doing by praying for each. Thanks for posting this. I didn’t know about all of it.
Melisa // March 5, 2009 at 1:32 am |
Well said and a good reminder we serve the same God.
Thank-you.
t. jackson // March 5, 2009 at 4:24 am |
word, little brother.
Ron // March 12, 2009 at 4:46 pm |
You should know that twice last summer Bryson Butts at GracePoint UMC was offered specific sites and financial support to add multiple sites by the conference. Both times Bryson turned them down, the second specifically saying they wanted to focus on building their building. (This five year old church start is still meeting in a school and was working with an architect on plans for their first building site.) So for the leadership of the church to say now, that the UMC was holding them back from growing and adding sites is simply not factual.
It appears this is being used as the public excuse for their actions to leave the congregation as we are left to speculate on the real reasons.
It is interesting that they had a five year waiver from paying their denominational support that were due for the first time in Feb 2009. They announced their departure on March 1 with all indications that months of planning had gone into that announcement.
Maybe the real reasons had more to do with finances, wanting to avoid accountability, ego, etc? We will never know for sure since Bryson is doing more spinning than explaining right now.
Your instinct to pray for both ministries is on target. The initial indications are that about 90% of the average worship attendance when with the new Community Church and 10% stayed with the UMC. Both are in difficult transitions and need our prayers.
Sam // March 31, 2009 at 9:49 am |
Jim,
One of the disappointments here is that Bryson did not honor, value or trust his ordination. One of the things that have kept the UMC going is that it is built upon the hard work, faithfulness and commitment of the body of the Elders. Those ordained to “service, word, sacrament and order” have responsibilities beyond their immediate placements whether it is as a congregational leader, educator, chaplain, or conference official.
In the three years, I was appointed to a local church in Wichita, I never saw Bryson at a District Clergy meeting. If he was having problems and misgivings about his situation, it is ultimately to the body of the Elders to which he should have turned.
I can imagine turning my back on the vows I took before God to service within the context of the United Methodist Church in faithful obedience to the Bishop only if some extreme crisis of conscience was at stake. Institutional wrangling over the details of placement of a new campus would never trump my vow made on my knees before God.
But, maybe I’m just old fashioned.