I took a few days away off from blogging after finishing the book. Now I am in Syracuse for the Methodist Church Annual Conference. This is always a fascinating time each year. Clergy and lay people from all over the state come together for a few days to be about the business of the church. What exactly does that mean? Usually it means people debating points, lines of difference being drawn, and in the end much proof it is easy to miss the point of this thing called the body of Christ. Often my response to Annual Conference is one of disappointment and disillusionment. It remains to be seen what will come of this year.
This all leads me to the ponder point for today. Why are we, the church, so comfortable with status quo. Now there are plenty of standard answers about politics, power and control. Beyond that there is something far more insidious, fear. For some the fear is of stepping out, for others the fear is breaking molds. The reality is, unless we get past the fear issue, the church is not going to pull out of the nose dive. I want to be clear, the body of Christ the church universal will survive, not even the gates of hell can stop it. I only wonder about this thing called the United Methodist Church. It is time for change, and it begins with individuals refusing to be ruled by fear, and being lead by faith.
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