Month: June 2024

As a lifelong Methodist, I feel an obligation to let you know that the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church will hold its annual gathering at the Hampton Roads Convention Center starting June 20.

We are a fairly tame group. Occasionally, we get riled up. If I were you, I wouldn’t fret too much. Navigating a large religious organization is like attempting to turn a battleship in the Norfolk harbor—slug pace.

Since attendance and interest in churches is down across America, you might have missed an overdue tsunami shift in the United Methodist Church. At the church’s General Conference held in May in Charlotte, North Carolina, delegates finally voted to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy and now allows clergy to perform same-sex weddings.

In my opinion, this new policy was long overdue. The fifty years of skirmishes within the denomination over this matter significantly divided Methodists causing some to disaffiliate from the church.

As pleased as I am with this decision, and as good as it feels to those who fought the battle, we Methodist still have lots of work to do to turn our battleship.

An article in Christian Century by longtime Methodist leader, Will Willimon, should be required reading for Methodists. In this article, Willimon acknowledges “some good steps” were taken in Charlotte. However, he also states: “but we are too afraid to name certain truths.”

Willimon doesn’t hold back in naming those truths. His points are grounded in how the church loss members related to its LGBTQ stance, the challenges church leaders face in managing this oversized, wobbly body, grim financial realities, massive church attendance decline, and the graying of the denomination.

Despite our efforts, I sense Willimon’s points at my Methodist church where I am a member and an employee.

This year, I will not be attending the conference in Hampton. But I hope that our Virginia Bishop, Sue Haupert-Johnson, her team, and delegates will move us beyond treading water.

While we tread to keep from sinking, I have the following questions:

How is the consolidation of districts in the Virginia conference working? Has this budget shaving move helped?

How many churches in the conference are hanging by their financial fingernails?

If financial instability leads to more church closings, how might these buildings or land holdings be converted into affordable housing across Virginia?

How can the Bishop and her team help local pastors and their congregations address our aging and lack of diversity?

Can Methodist churches in our communities provide leadership to help us address our division and political polarization? Can these church leaders help us to become better listeners and neighbors?

Prior to my church work, I spent 31 years in Virginia’s public schools. Those experiences make me wonder if congregations might benefit from a thorough “self-study/accreditation” process.

This would be similar to the format utilized by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. I sense congregations who are willing to ask tough internal questions about finances, programming, data, outreach, human resources, and facilities will be shocked at what they learn about their church operations.

Personally, I believe Methodist churches in Virginia have an opportunity in front of them. At this critical point in forming the church’s future, I hope conference leaders and congregations keep this quote from Thomas Edison pasted to their foreheads: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

During their three days in Hampton, it is my hope that Methodist leaders and delegates will not fear the work ahead of us and miss an opportunity.

In his article, Will Willimon reminds Methodists that “hope is not a strategy.” He is correct.

To turn our worn Methodist battleship, we will need to work together, with a sense of urgency.

The denomination can’t withstand another fifty years of treading water.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 14, our office administrator, Paula Cadden, handed off a phone call to our associate pastor, Daniel Guenther.

The mother on the phone was calling in desperation. She was behind $2,400 in rent. Her landlord had a court date set for Thursday, May 16. Anxiety, stress, and tears rang in Daniel’s ears as he listened intently to the urgency of the mother’s pre-eviction pleadings.

Daniel made one promise. He would have an answer for the mother by midday on Wednesday.

After Pub Theology on Tuesday evening, Daniel and I talked a bit further about the mother’s situation. Interestingly, our guest at Pub Theology, Richmond radio personality, Mike King, made a point about countering the predictable “no” that we often use as a response to a question with an unexpected “yes.”

On my way home, I stopped by Trinity to secure the building. Before leaving, I sent an email to our church treasurer asking how we might fund the mother’s request. I also emailed two members who have expertise in law and housing.

On Wednesday morning, Daniel, our senior pastor, Brian Siegle, and our kids director, Jen Williams, dove deeper into the mother’s needs. In looking at documentation provided by the mother and the landlord, we had a number of questions. So, we reached back out to the landlord for some clarity. While his answers helped us, we continued to wrestle with our own internal debates.

We talked, thought more, considered our options, and gradually formulated a plan. The plan positioned the church to cover a portion of the debt. We also included a referral to a local nonprofit, ACTS, where the mother would receive counseling on how to more carefully manage her income. Perhaps, more importantly, the landlord approved of our plan, and canceled the court date.

Daniel followed up with the mother, and while she was temporarily relieved, the tough work of making this plan work was still in front of her.

I think our staff felt good about the potential of this plan to make a difference for the mother. And while I believe we learned from the situation, maybe the most important question is— what did we learn to help us prepare for the next person who makes a similar request?

This week, one of the devotion writers from the Upper Room cited this scripture from John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Sometimes, I think the greatest challenges we face in this world is overcoming ourselves.

As I was driving out to Pub Theology on Tuesday afternoon, I heard a story on National Public Radio about the primary in Maryland for a seat in the U. S. Senate. David Trone, a Maryland Congressman, and founder of Total Wine and More, has spent $40 million of his own money to attempt to win the nomination for the senate seat.

On that same Tuesday evening, Trone lost the primary election—$40 million dollars gone.

I thought about our mother who was behind in her rent. I wondered—how many mothers in arrears across America could Congressman David Trone helped with the $40 million he spent on a failed bid for a Senate seat?

Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that our hearts are going to experience trouble in our walk through life.

But how much of that trouble comes from our inability to overcome ourselves?

What does it say about a society where we spend billions on our political campaigns, but continue to be unable to solve our longstanding problems related to mental and physical health, housing, safety, food instability, unemployment, and equity?

Out on Battleground Avenue North in Greensboro, North Carolina, the words “God Can” appear on the outside wall of the sanctuary at Charity Baptist Church.

When we visit our oldest daughter and her family in nearby Summerfield, those words always catch my attention as I drive by while running an errand.

Honestly, there are days in my life when I wonder if “God Can” anymore?

Have we given up on him?

Has God given up on us?

And then a day like Tuesday, May 14 will arrive.

Days like that are an opportunity for a staff to be guided and nudged by God.
God’s nudging led a staff to counter the troubles the mother was facing. Essentially, God led us to respond with the unexpected “yes.”

For those few hours of teamwork, I learned that God Can help us to overcome ourselves.

Time does fly.

I can’t believe it has been one year since the passing of my wife’s mother.

Early on the morning of June 1, 2023 in West Hartford, Connecticut, Liz checked out.

She told that demon cancer where to go.

Liz had too much dignity and grace to really give that evil intruder a good cussing out.

Her family knew this day was coming.

The last few days before June 1 had been tough.

Knowing that you are losing a loved one wears a family down. Her living children experienced this as did the grandchildren who were able to make final visits.

In that year, much has happened.

This old world has become more troubled.

Despite the restless world, in July, thirty plus family members gathered in Falmouth on Cape Cod in Massachusetts to celebrate Liz and her husband, Ken.

Liz and Ken were responsible for introducing us to the Cape. I don’t think the memories created there will ever leave us.

On a beautiful Cape morning, we gathered in Patuisset on a favorite beach to share our love of Liz. Some of her ashes were scattered into the tranquil brine with Bassetts Island as a backdrop.

Then in September, the family had a beautiful celebration of Liz’s life at St. James Episcopal Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

And as dismal as the world can be some days, there was a special arrival in February. Another great grandchild arrived in San Fransisco. Liz would have loved Ashley and Rob’s new daughter, Bridgette.

I can see Liz carefully studying Bridgette’s beauty. I can hear her sharing Bridgette’s arrival with her friends. I’m sure Liz did this humble bragging in the wild blue yonder with her angel friends too.

With patient perseverance, Betsy, Abby, and Ken have worked to meet the requirements of Connecticut laws, bankers, and lawyers to officially close out the paperwork of Liz’s life.

Earlier in May, Abby flew from California to Richmond for the purpose to sort out framed pictures, photographs, and other family artifacts. One morning, Abby, Betsy, and Ken gathered at our kitchen table sorting through stacks of the snapshots of life.

We’ve continued to live out our lives.

We keep in touch, and I suspect, we all have our Liz moments.

We’ve missed her elegant touch, family stories, and her robust, contagious laugh that always turned to tears at the dinner table for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

On a desk in our kitchen is a digital picture frame.

Some days, Liz will appear in the magic of that technology.

Her smiling face is present. She is surrounded by the family who loved and respected her.

I stumbled upon this quote from James Gates Percival: “There are moments in life that we never forget, which brighten and brighten as time steals away.”

Elizabeth Crosby Cloud was more than a moment in our lives. But our memories of her will only continue to ‘brighten and brighten as time steals away.’