CONNECTED!
As United Methodists we are a connectional church. We’re all connected! Each church in the cluster, district, annual conference, jurisdiction and general conference are all connected. If we take this thought further, we are connected through our belief in Jesus Christ to all Christians. We are in communion, in community, with all Christians through our common belief. We are, in fact, unified in our beliefs in Jesus Christ. While we may not be uniform in our practices, we are unified in our faith.
There are a multitude of advantages to being connected. There are simple examples like when I run out of Special Sunday envelopes and I can call one of my nearby colleagues in East Hartford or in Rockville and receive their overflow of envelopes; and there are connections on a larger scale, as with denominational organizations like UMCOR, which we support regularly and through which we respond to emergencies around the corner or around the world. There are organizations like United Methodist Women, which meet every quadrennial – over 10,000 from all over the world, and there is the World Methodist Conference which meets every five years drawing together Methodists from around the world to discuss issues in common.
Of course there is our General Conference which meet every quadrennial to enact church law, and the Jurisdictional Conferences that elect and consecrate bishops. As a result of our connection, we support each other – we both give and receive support as with Equitable Compensation, Campus Ministries and Vital Ministries.
When I think of the United Methodist Church, how it is organized and how it is meant to function, I think that we have evolved into a potentially efficient organization. And organization, institution or efficiency do not have to be 'bad' words. My prayer is that we will continue working towards the twin goals of efficiency – using our resources wisely, and effectiveness in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
That‘s where we come in as individuals. As we utilize the structure as is and work to improve the connection, we join our efforts with the efforts of millions of others to become a powerful force for the transformation of a world where there is peace and happiness, love and justice.
As a connected body, we join together to accomplish the goal that Jesus himself gave – to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, all people. So as we join together and work together and pray together and stay connected, we can accomplish even greater things for Christ, because we are connected.
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Laurel