Many young clergy in the United Methodist Church are taking action to renew the denomination. Part of that action is their 40 days of prayer campaign to coincide with the annual conferences. Another aspect of that action has been to host booths at annual conferences asking attendees to dream about the future of the denomination.
Although I haven’t visited one of their booths, I would like to add my thoughts to the discussion.
- Keep faith centered on Jesus
- Keep church centered on Jesus
- Don’t compromise on 1 or 2
- Teach us
- Who God is
- What God’s word says
- What God expects of me
- How to apply God’s word to my life
- Importance of tithing
- Importance of small group participation
- Ways to pray — providing examples
- Importance of daily scripture reading and reflection
- Touch our hearts
- show us the need for mission
- show us the results of our missions
- Do it all again – every year – because we tend to forget
- Lose environment of competition
- size of church doesn’t matter — all have strong / weak points and jealousy hinders sharing of ideas
- Continue developing your network of clergy – it’s open, sharing and supportive of each other
- Find joy wherever you are
- realize that God has placed you in a position to do his work in that geographical area
- be willing to do your best for as long as God wants you there
- remember the grass is not greener elsewhere
- Find a faith partner to encourage each other in faith and share challenges
- Be open to teaching of others – both inside and outside of the denomination — look for ways to apply to own situation
Marcia – These are fantastic. Not just for young clergy, but for leaders across the church. Thank you for offering your wisdom in ways that are helpful and practical.
[...] I appreciate the wisdom at Notes for Young Clergy [...]