Asking the Right Questions (6 of them)

As a pastor, I often get asked the question: "So how do I know what God wants me to do?" And the answer I give is pretty much the standard issue one: pray + read your Bible + listen to the wisdom of the people God gave you + use your own common sense. But there's another step in there which has to happen before you can even begin the hard work of discernment.

You have to ask the right questions.

Let's think about it this way: if you are thinking about transportation, and you want to know the answer to the question "Does God want me to buy this Lexus or that Hummer?" then chances are you aren't going to be hearing God speak clearly because you haven't asked the right question. You've already narrowed the parameters so much that the Holy Spirit got marginalized. You haven't asked "Does God want me to get a car," or "Do I need to consider alternative transportation," you haven't asked the hard questions about how to spend the money you may or may not have, and you haven't asked any justice or righteousness questions (environment, workers' issues, etc.). Too often, the task of discernment is either too frustrating or too easy because we don't ask the right kinds of questions.

We've been engaged in a prayer journey over the past 38 1/2 days, and that will end this week. To immediately assume that because we spent 40 days praying, reading our Bibles, talking amongst ourselves, and using our common sense we are ready to fix the broken things in our churches would be presumptuous. These are the kinds of conversations I had with my best friends in seminary, and are still somewhat amusing, but don't take into account the real world in which we must do our ministry.

"40 Days of Prayer for the United Methodist Church" has been a convicting, heartening, difficult, joyous time. But before we begin the hard work of semper reformanda, we must ensure our premises and our questions are sound, and that they rest upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, else the building will--sooner or later--come crashing down around our heads.

So, you're invited to help discern what the right questions might be. Join us in asking "6 Questions for the United Methodist Church"--or 6qUMC--today. You can find more information at http://www.umcyoungclergy.com/6qumc and we hope that you will help renew the church from the margins.

Invite two friends to join you as you listen and converse. We're ready to begin asking the right questions.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

Matthew 18:20

2009 Annual Conferences

Here are the dates for the 2009 Annual Conferences in the US, arranged by starting date:

Red Bird Missionary, May 1-2, Big Creek, Ky.

Detroit, May 14-17, Adrian, Mich.

Kansas West, May 20-22, Salina, Kan.

Texas, May 24-27, The Woodlands, Texas

Oklahoma, May 25-28, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Minnesota, May 27-29, Saint Cloud, Minn.

Greater New Jersey, May 28-30, King of Prussia, Pa.
North Central New York, May 28-30, Liverpool, N.Y.

Memphis, May 31-June 2, Jackson, Tenn.
South Carolina, May 31-June 3, Florence, S.C.

Dakotas, June 3-6, Rapid City, S.D.
Illinois Great Rivers, June 3-6, Peoria, Ill.
Kansas East, June 3-6, Baldwin City, Kan.
Kentucky, June 3-6, Covington, Ky.
New Mexico, June 3-6, Odessa, Texas
Southwest Texas, June 3-6, Corpus Christi, Texas

Baltimore-Washington, June 4-6, Baltimore Md.
Central Pennsylvania, June 4-6, Grantham, Penn.
Iowa, June 4-7, Ames, Iowa
Oklahoma Indian Missionary, June 4-7, Anadarko, Okla.
North Alabama, June 4-6, Trussville, Ala.
West Michigan, June 4-7, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Wyoming, June 4-6 Scranton, Pa.

Alaska Missionary, June 5-7, Anchorage, Alaska
Missouri, June 5-8 Springfield, Mo.

Alabama-West Florida, June 7-10, Montgomery, Ala.
Central Texas, June 7-10, Southlake, Texas
Louisiana, June 7-10, Kenner, La.
North Texas, June 7-9, Plano, Texas
Northern Illinois, June 7-9, Saint Charles, Ill.
South Georgia, June 7-10, Columbus, Ga.

West Ohio, June 8-11, Lakeside, Ohio

Nebraska, June 10-13, Lincoln, Neb.
North Carolina, June 10-13, Greenville, N.C.
Troy, June 10-13, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
New York, June 10-13, Hempstead, N.Y.
Northwest Texas, June 10-13, Midland, Texas

Florida, June 11-13, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Mississippi, June 11-14, Jackson, Miss.
Oregon-Idaho, June 11-14, Salem, Ore.
Peninsula-Delaware, June 11-13, Princess Anne, Md.
Rio Grande, June 11-13, San Antonio, Texas
West Virginia, June 11-14, Buckhannon, W.Va.
Western North Carolina, June 11-14, Lake Junaluska, N.C.

Western Pennsylvania, June 11-14, Grove City, Pa.
Yellowstone, June 11-13, Billings, Mont.

Arkansas, June 14-17, Rogers, Ark.
Holston, June 14-17, Lake Junaluska, N.C.
Tennessee, June 14-16, Brentwood, Tenn.
Virginia, June 14-17, Norfolk, Va.
Wisconsin, June 14-17, Appleton, Wis.

East Ohio, June 15-18, Lakeside, Ohio
Eastern Pennsylvania, June 16-18, Oaks, Pa.

North Georgia, June 16-18, Athens, Ga.

California-Nevada, June 17-20, Sacramento, Calif.
California-Pacific, June 17-20, Redlands, Calif.
Rocky Mountain, June 17-20, Grand Junction, Colo.

New England, June 18-20, Wenham, Mass.
Pacific Northwest, June 18-21, Tacoma, Wash.

Western New York, June 19-21, Buffalo, N.Y.

Desert Southwest, June 25-28, Glendale, Ariz.
Indiana, June 25-28, Muncie, Ind.

How Shall We Pray?

It isn't as if we have a choice. Prayer is like breathing, or communicating with our fellow human beings. We do it, whether we want to or not. I doubt it will even cease after we take our last breath.

The question, then, is "How shall we pray?"

What will our prayers be like?

For what do we pray?

Far too often, the prayers uttered on our lips throughout our week (and even spoken by pastors on a Sunday) are selfish. They focus on what we think we want, how we want it, when it would be best for us. They are prayers focused inwardly on our community, and rarely take into account where the Spirit is at work outside of the 4 walls of our congregation.

I think these 40 days of prayer for the United Methodist Church are different from such self-serving prayers. Yes, it's prayer for who we are as a people; but it is with the knowledge that we need God's wisdom, not our own. It's not prayer for a specific thing so much as for a way of looking at things, at ourselves, at our world. Of course, they aren't perfect prayers. But they are rooted deeply in our experience and (poor) practice at being the people of God.

Over these next 40 days, let's work together as a people--not to advance a particular political agenda, nor to put certain people in power, nor to marginalize a group--but to bend all of our collective will towards the discernment of where God is calling us. Invite your congregation to join in--I wrote about it in my church newsletter for this week. Share it with folks in your Annual Conference. Invite Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and blog readers. Spread the word that God is not finished with us yet!

40 Days of Prayer

I've been involved with conversations about what it means to be a young person called to ministry in the United Methodist Church for quite a while now...it's become something of a career in and of itself! But I got hooked into the conversation that's going on across our globe about a year ago at the Church's quadrennial General Conference.

That discussion has become something much larger--not just what the place of young adults in ministry and church, but what kind of church are we becoming. Who are we called to be, as Methodists, as Christians? And the quick answer is...we're not sure. We know that what has worked in the past doesn't work now; yet the gospel remains the same. We don't all agree, operate from the same perspectives, or have set starting points.

We do have something that is bigger than all of our differences and individual viewpoints: the One in whom we live and move and have our being. So a grassroots, social-media-enabled movement began to root whatever it is that we are in the process of becoming in prayer. Ben Simpson got the ball rolling, and it's being supported by UMCyoungclergy. You're welcome to read more about it today from these sources and the other folks who are blogging about it today. I'm writing one of the 40 days, and there are many more who have committed to the hard work of praying what we're setting down. This pilgrimage of prayer occurs during the yearly season in which Annual Conference sessions are held.

So I invite you: Pray with us. Pray that in the "dark night of the soul" which we often find ourselves in that our faith will be strengthened. Pray for God to continue to illuminate the path we are on. Pray for the renewal of the church. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen +