The Trust Clause

We have had a situation unfolding here in the Frederick area for over a year now. In fact, I think it was about this time last year...maybe even longer ago...that I first learned of it.

Sunnyside UMC, a small African-American congregation on Mountville Rd between Adamstown and Jefferson (at the top of the hill) essentially decided they no longer wanted to me United Methodist. Now, you have to understand that it takes a lot of cajoling by SOMEONE for a church to get to that point. A lot of churches get ticked off at some point. Most never imagine taking such a step.

Until recently, the district superintendent (TR Chattin, who has had far more grace with the people there than I may have mustered given some of what they've done), working with the bishop and conference officials, were dealing through the appropriate channels and the congregation. In fact, she tried very hard to talk with the congregation...time and again, but their rudeness in at times not even responding to her approaches is itself a stain upon Sunnyside's entire argument. They did not make a good faith effort early on to address concerns. By the time the conference was aware of what was happening, Sunnyside refused to earnestly discuss the matter.

What has complicated Sunnyside's attitude is the United Methodist Church's well-established (and impressive legal standing) trust clause. The trust clause dates all the way back to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. ALL CHURCHES within the Methodist system have this clause written into their founding documents or implied through other avenues. Essentially, all local church property is held in trust for the denomination.

There are many reasons for the trust clause, including maintaining the unity of the church. The trust clause also guarantees the original intentions of the founders of a local church are maintained. In the case of Sunnyside, while some churches' trust clause is implied, it is my understanding that their is EXPRESSLY stated in their founding documents. Their ancestors PURPOSEFULLY chose to be part of this system. It is not the conference, but rather those seeking division, who are failing to honor the founders of that congregation.

The trust cause has also been important during times when the church needed to speak up for social justice. During the height of the Civil Rights Movements and the desegregation of the Methodist church, the trust clause was a powerful tool to prevent racism from sweeping away church property.

I could go on and on about the trust clause, and if you want to talk with me more about it, I invite you to contact me. But all this said and beyond, the fact of the matter is that the trust clause is not only well established by legal precedent but also expressly written into Maryland's law code by my understanding. There is no legal question here. None. Whatsoever. That the bishop and conference leadership have continued to try to be in discussion with the congregation is an act of grace which has not been reciprocated by these brothers and sisters who will, inevitably, put a lot of money into a court battle they will lose. And all this when they could stop the whole thing by taking a step back. The conference has already shown a willingness to appoint a well-experienced, loving pastor to this troubled situation (to which the congregation responded by changing their worship service time and trying to lock this pastor out).

Of late, some Maryland legislators, in a show of sympathy for this congregation (sympathy which is understandable but displays a lack of knowledge of the entire situation) have drafted a bill which would create a special exemption of Maryland law for this congregation. Such a special exemption is necessary because there is NO QUESTION what the law actually is.

This effort poses so many problems it's mind boggling. Separation of church and state (the state doesn't want to church to guide it's policies and needn't feel entitled to rule the churches' own policies). Separation of powers (the legislative branch trying an end run around well-established legal precedent, and at any rate trying to get around a legal decision on a legal matter).

The Frederick media have at times portrayed this as a David and Goliath thing. Of course they relish this opportunity to stick it to the big church and yell and scream for the little guy. But you know what? Sometimes the little guy is actually wrong. Sometimes the larger entity is in the right. Some legislators may not like the trust clause, but that is our church's rules. And the courts have and will uphold them.

I could go on about the dangers to the UMC if the trust clause is negated in this case. Frederick state reps don't care about our denomination or the challenges we face and they don't understand the stakes. The stakes are high. They always have been. Which is why the denominational leadership treads lightly. But the truth is the trust clause will be legally upheld. If it (against wisdom and all legal and political guidance) should pass the MD legislature, it will be over turned in court. The people of Sunnyside will have spent even more money, MD will look foolish in the eye of jurisprudence, and we will have all gotten worked up over something that we already know how it's going to turn out.

That said, I hope we don't go that far. For the sake of everyone, let's stop spending money of this and start trying to make disciples of Jesus Christ instead. This whole thing makes us look silly. Below is an e-mail sent today. If you have opportunity to call your MD reps and ask them to uphold not only UMC church law but also the separation of church and state as well as the (constitutional) separation of powers, please do so.

Brothers and sisters in Christ:

I join you and your congregation in celebrating the power of the resurrection and the joy of this Easter season. I am writing to seek your support on an important and timely matter.

As you are aware, the congregation of Sunnyside UMC in Buckeystown, has expressed its intention to leave the denomination and to take the church property with it. This action is a violation of church and state laws. To get itself exempted from the Trust Clause, the church sought the assistance of a handful of area state legislators. House Bill 1554 and Senate Bill 1091 are the result.

Unfortunately, the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee passed an amended bill yesterday that removes the entire section relating to United Methodists out of the state law. This will have a substantial impact - not only in our dealings with Sunnyside UMC but also potentially on the entire United Methodist Church. The bill goes to the full senate today for a first read and a vote will possibly take place Thursday. The House of Delegates Economic Matters Committee has not done anything with the bill yet.

I urge to you contact your state legislators today – particularly those who represent Frederick County, members of the Economics Matters Committee and members of the Judicial Proceedings Committee and voice your opposition to House Bill 1554 and the amended Senate Bill 1091. The legislative session ends April 12. Your action on this matter is of utmost importance. Attached is the contact information for all Senate and Delegate committee members considering the bill, as well as all Frederick County delegates and Senators.

Last week, I, and other conference leaders, testified before legislative hearings against these bills. I am now asking you to add your voice. As the leader of a vital United Methodist congregation, you know the importance of our connectional system. Both church law and the state constitution uphold the conference’s concerns about legislators granting an exemption to Sunnyside, or to the churches of Frederick County, (as a Senate amendment to the bill suggests) so that they might stand separate, functioning outside of our denominational rules.

Please be assured we are working very hard to find a grace-filled resolution to this issue. We need the voices of you and your congregations to be heard today.


Keep the Faith,

Bishop John R. Schol
Rev. Terri Rae Chattin
Rev. William T. Chaney, Jr.

White Crosses

I think a while ago, after attending an Edwin McCain concert, I posted the lyrics to a song I first heard there called "White Crosses." The song talks about the experience of Mexican immigrants, and like many of McCain's songs, the lyrics, I think, are just beautiful.

Today, many are gathering in DC for a rally in favor of immigration reform. Many United Methodists will be there. So since I cannot attend today, here is a version of the song "White Crosses." I couldn't find a good version of McCain singing it, so this is someone else, but it is the same song.

May we never forget that we are all immigrants to this wonderful country we get to call home. And as Christians, may our first allegiance always be to God and seeing the face of God in all people.

White Crosses Video

Back to Egypt

Many of us at Calvary UMC have been following the American Bible Society's Daily Bible reading program this year. If you haven't, it's super easy--either visit the ABS' site and download the reading plan, or visit Calvary's homepage (www.calvaryumc.org) and sign up to receive daily e-mails with the readings.

Today's reading comes from Nehemiah, and is a continuation of the previous day's reading describing the people of Israel, having returned to Jerusalem (some had never left) and recounting the story of God's faithfulness to the people through many circumstances, including the people's unfaithfulness.

One of my favorite parts is Nehemiah 9:16-17:

16  "But they and our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments;  17  they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them; but they stiffened their necks and determined to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.   

Keith Green has a song entitled, "So You Want to Go Back to Egypt" which is kind of a funny song (full of sound effects, etc.), but which has long struck me as properly mocking and critical of each of our tendencies to want to "go back to Egypt." I mean, think about what this meant for the people of Israel--we know some of their misery from the Biblical narrative: slavery, suffering poverty, being ruled over--so much so that the ruler (Pharoah) could order that male children be killed upon birth and expect that order to be carried out. This was a horrible life, devoid of hope for the future, and yet God had miraculously brought them out.

And yet, faced with the vast uncertainly and changes brought from their wandering in the desert, the people of Israel had times when they cried out to God to back to Egypt. Okay, maybe it wasn't always crying out to God (sometimes it was God they were upset at!). God, fortunately, knew better, and didn't let them regress. God kept them focused forward, and moving into the promised future--a land flowing with milk and honey. There were bumps along the way, sometimes HUGE ones, but nonetheless, God didn't send them back to Egypt, even though if I were God, I maybe would have just to shut them up.

I think we have the same experience at times. God brings us forward into something new, something, perhaps, we've always wanted, and when we face the difficulty and challenge that always comes with any big, new, great thing, we start thinking that what we had before is looking pretty good now. This happens in many ways--going to high school after middle school, starting our first job and being responsible only to ourselves, getting married, having kids, taking on a new role at church or in the community. Or tackling a new opportunity.

I have to admit that if you asked me this time last year, when I'd first heard I was going to be appointed as the associate pastor at Calvary, if we would be undertaking many of the things we are, I'd have balked. It's not just a matter of a long to do list (that's life, certainly life as a pastor, and you have to make your piece with that). Rather, we've got some MAJOR stuff underway. A new worship service. A new relationship with Centennial Memorial UMC. Rethinking how our program ministries cooperate. Figuring out how we live out our new vision. Fine tuning how we do what we do. On and on. It may indeed be the promised future (and I truly believe it is), but sometimes the challenge and uncertainty of it seems to loom large.

BUT...as the people of Israel always would remember as they recited God's history with them, GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE FAITHFUL. And often, the most incredible things God does come by the work of imperfect people (good news for me and you) and often after some hard work.

Gospel duo Mary Mary have a song that I love called "Can't Give Up Now," that includes the line, "I just can't give up now. Come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy, but I don't believe he's brought me this far to leave me."



May God continue to draw us into the promised future, giving us strength, energy and excitement for the journey. God has been with us, had done unimaginable things, and God will continue to do great things...if we're fortunate, IN and THROUGH each of us. And may we never go back to Egypt.

Memories

Today, one of the things on my to-do list was to track down some suggestions of book on Revelation for one of our adult classes who is preparing to study it. I love Revelation. Like, seriously love it. Not the crazy interpretations of Revelation, but the actual, scholarly, textural interpretations of it. My love if Revelation is due entirely to my seminary Greek professor, Love Seacrest, who had us spend our entire second semester of Greek translating Revelation. And let me tell you, translating a book from the Greek makes you see it in a whole new light.

You see, the problem with many interpretations of Revelation is that they assume Revelation has a purpose/intent that it clearly does not. And if you start of track, you surely aren't going to stumble back ON track in a book as confusing at Revelation.

At any rate, this search led me deep into my computer archives (having not studied Revelation much lately, I'd forgotten what books I'd used then) to find my Revelation term paper. Now, I still think it's brilliant. As I remember, my professor wasn't quite as impressed, although I think I did reasonably well. And I think I was pretty proud of myself for incorporating a diagram into a seminary term paper too!

So...I thought I'd post this paper and another (one of my seminary favorites, John Wesley's Ecclesiology Today) here in case you ever get REALLY bored. You can see them by following the links to Google Docs below. But be warned--they're OLD work of mine, and I think I must have spoken (at least written) differently in seminary...lots moe big words than I think I do now. But at any rate...

A second year paper on Revelation 13:5-8

A third year paper on John Wesley's Eccelsiology for the United Methodist Church today (still one of my favs from seminary days)

Neither paper reflect edits (both minor and some major) that were suggested by professors and, in the case of the ecclesiology paper, subsequent readers. So I apologize in advance for any mistakes or misstatements.

Next Four Lent Art Pieces

A number of weeks ago, I posted pics of our first four Lent art sermon series pieces. Here are the next four. Two more will follow to complete the series. Join us in worship each Sunday to see how Ken works each piece into his "Props of the Passion" sermons.

 LENT 4: Crown of Thorns, pencil by Christy Mossburg

LENT 5: Dice, photo by Ralph Lopez

PALM SUNDAY: Stained Glass by Ed and Susan

HOLY THURSDAY: Bread and Cup, photo by Ralph Lopez

Rain

As I sit here in my office typing, the rain is falling heavy outside the window...and forecasts call for it to continue till tomorrow at least! It's one of those Fridays that makes us all want to just stay in bed and start the weekend early!

For me, living on the Potomac (fortunately on high ground) has made me more in tune to the effect of rain on out waterways. And being on a well has made me think about the water table (which heretofore I'd hear about in school but seemed like some ethereal water deposit).

As I drove into work this morning, I glanced at the river which has already been a bit high from the melting snow, and wondered what the next couple of days would do to it. The canal and towpath has already suffered from the high waters of the season, and more flooding may prove disastrous (you'd be surprised how expensive it is for them to repair a breach--it has to be done a certain way).

I also noticed other effects of the rain mixed with the already-soaked ground. Trees whose roots have just barely held their ground have given way and power lines along our road sit perilously close to teetering trees. Rocks has washed onto road ways, and for us this is particularly concerning because portions of our road pass under rocky outcroppings...and you know what gravity does to falling items. The ground around us is largely rocky, and so in most areas, the soil is only enough to give a solid (sometimes meager) covering to the rock. Indeed, the compound at camp has such shallow soil that the tent company we used for the reception brought a jack hammer just in case they had to drill into rock to set the stakes. BUT once you get a good anchor into rock, your foundation isn't going anywhere. Indeed, some of the older buildings around, actually, have incorporated the giant rocks into their foundations. The trees that fall easily are the ones who roots go only into the shallow soil on top of the rocks. But sometimes, if you look closely, you will realized that there are some trees whose roots stand the test of time, wind, and rain--they are the trees whose roots are intertwined with the rock.

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus tells a story of being on different types of ground:

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!"

At our Wednesday Lenten study this week, we finished our study of the second of three rules of John Wesley: DO GOOD. We talked about the difference between talking about doing good and actually DOING it. And how our actions always have and always will be our most powerful testimony about God. So I like that Jesus opens this parable saying that those whose house is on rock are those who hear AND DO what he teaches.

So as the rain falls today and throughout the coming weekend, let it be for us a reminder of the importance of building our lives on the solid foundation of hearing and obeying God's call on our lives and God's direction in all our choices. After all, this IS a time of spring, new live and renewal. The rains will come, so we ought to be prepared that we might not only endure but thrive.

New Things

I swear I don't know where time goes. For example, how is it possible it's MARCH already?!

It's been a wild ride in the weeks since returning from vacation. We have so much underway and so much coming up. I've been researching ideas for mailings (Evangelism plans to send postcards to new area residents), working on options for creating short videos for our website (I'm so excited to get this underway), working on a myriad of details for Koinonia, the new service we're starting, working with Ken to develop several sermon series for the rest of the year, and attending to the long list of other tasks that cross my desk.

In the midst of all of this, it seems spring is indeed approaching, and I was so excited to wake to SUNSHINE this morning! The snow is melting, and for all the frustration that the past weeks have caused, we are all (perhaps now even more so) eagerly anticipating warmer temps, the smell of new growth that accompanies spring, and the return of GREEN to the world.

This is not only a time of spring for the world around us, but at Calvary I think we are entering spring as well. Websters defines spring as "a time or season of growth or development". Indeed, that is what we are entering.

Calvary has weather both winter and spring times in its history. We have struggled over decisions, practices and direction. We certainly have more to work out as we gather around our vision, but we have come a great distance in the past year. Can't you feel the coming of spring?!

Now if we are figuratively entering spring even as the world around us enters the season of spring, we have to take the good with the bad. Spring may not be a time of snow (and I know you are all done with snow!) but it is a time of rain. But the great thing about spring rain is that it is nourishing and important for the flowering of all the GREEN and growth of spring. So we can expect some showers. Maybe even a lot more rain that we might like, but we must always remember that rain is necessary for healthy growth. In fact, experts tell us that in places prone to flooding (let's be honest, sometimes we get flooded, figuratively, don't we?!) the flooding is nature's way of replenishing the nutrients in the soil.

Spring is also a time of new life amongst creatures. Babies are born to all sorts of animals, and with that comes the necessary adjustment in each natural community. As we enter spring we can expect (God willing) that our community will receive new persons. We will need to adjust and make room for every to find their place. This may not always be easy, but it is always worthwhile. Recently Ken and I were talking about how many bulletins we're ordering for this Lent art sermon series we're doing (printed them in color means ordering off site). We seem to be nearly running out, and we're running 350. What a wonderful problem to have!

Finally, spring is a time when the world changes. We find flowers growing perhaps in the same place as last year, perhaps new places. Spring is an exciting time as we discover what God has been doing in those dormant months of winter. And often, it's the unexpected blooming that brings the biggest smiles to our faces. So to in the church. As we enter spring, we will see things blooming in expected and unexpected places. Perhaps our aim should be recognizing and celebrating all the blooming, and considering how to take that which blooms and cultivate it (which often involves pruning) and pulling up that which no longer blooms so that the new growth can blossom.

So let the sun shine, the temps warm and the flowers bloom. On to spring!