My Column

This appeared in this week's edition of The Good News our newsletter at Grace. If you get the newsletter and read it, you can skip this post...

To my brothers and sisters in Christ at Grace,

It is hard to believe that it was about three years ago that Alisha and I learned that we would be moving to Corpus Christi and beginning a new chapter of ministry at Grace. I still remember the series of events and decisions that led us here. I had been an associate pastor at Oak Hill UMC in Austin, serving with Rev. Barbara Ruth and Rev. John Wright. Barbara was selected to become District Superintendent of the Corpus Christi District. A couple of months later, I learned that John had been appointed as Senior Pastor of Grace. Because I had finished seminary and was to be commissioned that year at Annual Conference, I informed my District Superintendent that I was ready to leave Oak Hill and accept an appointment as a solo pastor of a small congregation. Somewhere along the way, I learned that there might be an associate pastor opening at Grace as well. Having worked with Pastor John for a number of years, I was excited about the possibility of continuing my working relationship with him and taking our experience together into a new context. After much thought and prayer, I informed the cabinet that I would be open to the idea of taking another appointment as an associate. I was eventually appointed to Grace.

Some of my colleagues expressed disappointment that I did not take “my own church.” There is an underlying assumption among clergy and laity that the ultimate goal of someone called to be an Elder in the church is to become the pastor in charge. However, I believe that the ultimate goal of an Elder or any baptized Christian is to be obedient and faithful to God, wherever that may be.

During my time here at Grace, people have continued to ask and speculate about me taking “my own church.” Knowing that I am to be ordained in June, some people assumed that the cabinet would reassign me in June as a solo pastor. Some may be startled to hear that, while I will be moving, it will not be to an appointment as a solo pastor, but rather to another associate pastor position.

During my three years at Grace, while Pastor John handled the administrative and big-picture aspects of the church, I was able to focus my energy on one basic question: how is it that we “make” fully committed disciples of Jesus Christ? Those of you who have worked with me closely on programming teams at the church have been on the front lines of my research and testing of ideas and strategies for helping people move from membership to discipleship. Through the incredibly hard work of the lay leadership of Grace, the thinking, praying and planning has born much fruit with the addition of a number of programs designed to help people grow in faith, knowledge and fellowship.

I truly believe that a systematic (or methodical) approach to helping people grow in grace and discipleship is at the heart of what is needed for a true renewal to begin within the United Methodist Church. It is no coincidence that the Methodist Movement was born out of an effort to help people take a structured approach to their own spiritual development.

During my work at Grace, I learned that the new Directing Pastor of University United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Charles Anderson, was implementing a church-wide map of discipleship. I asked Charles to help me on a project entitled, “Growing in Grace – Wesleyan Sanctification and Discipleship Systems.” I learned during our time working on that project that Charles and I share a common vision about how the church can truly be in the business of following the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” When I learned the University had an opening for a Discipleship Pastor, a position designed to focus on discipleship systems, I expressed to my District Superintendent, Barbara Ruth, that I would like the cabinet to consider appointing me there. The details were worked out and the Bishop has announced his intention to appoint me as an associate pastor to University UMC in San Antonio this June. I am extremely excited about his appointment. I will part of a team of six full-time pastors, (not counting retired pastors and other clergy staff members) part of an exciting group of focused, ministry specific leaders at a church of 5700 people. While bigger is not necessarily better, the sheer scale of the ministries at University will give me the tools and resources to continue my work of creating discipleship systems. I pray that my time there will be fruitful not only for University but for the United Methodist Connection as a whole.

I often hear talk at United Methodist Churches of the Bishop and the Cabinet, “snatching away” pastors from churches. This is not the case here. As much as I have loved my time here at Grace and as much as I have learned from Pastor John and all the people I have worked with here, I believe it is time to take what I have learned here and put it to work in a new place.

Change can be hard. Alisha and I will soon be packing and leaving behind the friends we have made here. This will be the first time in my ministry that I will not be working with John or Barbara. But Alisha and I both firmly believe that change can be powerfully good. It forces us to grow and to face new possibilities. It is my prayer that change will be powerfully good at Grace as well. You will get a new associate with new energy, new ideas and another perspective. It is my prayer that you will embrace your new associate and use this opportunity to continue the amazing steps forward that the church has already taken. God is doing amazing things and Grace and I believe God will continue to bless this congregation as it reaches out to spread the Gospel to this community.

And don’t forget, I will still be here until June. We still have lots of work to do together!

peace,

will