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Words for the laity: Prayers, Presence,Gifts, Service and…Witness?
by Lyn Powell

Yes, the rumors are true—the 2008 General Conference voted an addition to our membership vows as they are found in ¶217.6 of The Book of Discipline and in the United Methodist Hymnal under Baptismal Covenant. Effective January 1, 2009, the incoming member shall now be asked if he/she will “…faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness?”

Witness? Who submitted the petition to add “witness” to the vows? I am happy to share with you that it came from the Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders at their 2006 spring meeting in Minneapolis. Forty of the fifty conference lay leaders were in the room when we experienced an epiphany of sorts—first acknowledging the decline of the UM Church in the U.S., then naming the role of the laity in the decline and finally covenanting to do something about it as lay leaders of our conferences.

In that meeting, we agreed that the biggest shift in the profile of the laity over the last sixty years came with our disengagement from appropriate, effective witness in the community. Our early faith communities built strong churches by understanding that every baptized member is a minister. Every baptized member is charged with the responsibility of sharing the joy found in the household of faith with persons outside the faith. Unfortunately, as the denomination matured the laity gradually withdrew from thinking of themselves as ministers of witness, unfairly giving that responsibility to one individual, the pastor. As the witness efforts of whole congregations declined, so began the decline of the denomination.

Of course, witness in today’s community will have a different look from that of times past. Our association hopes that with the addition of “witness” to the membership vows, our congregations will begin to examine what effective witness might look like in their own communities.

What efforts would be winsome to their friends, relatives, and even to strangers, and just as importantly what efforts would be counterproductive, even if they “feel good” to us insiders? Our Association is convinced that as our congregations identify, teach, and practice modern effective witness, future generations may identify this addition to the Baptismal Covenant as one of the most significant actions of the 2008 General Conference.

One additional note: As our Organization presented the “witness” legislation to the General Board of Discipleship to pass on to the General Conference, a board member suggested a second change to the Baptismal Covenant, which we supported and subsequently was passed. The current vows ask the incoming member “…will you be loyal to the United Methodist Church…”

From now on, the incoming member shall be asked “…will you be loyal to Christ through the United Methodist Church…” During the affirmation of this addition, all of us agreed that our first loyalty is to Christ, and that living out that loyalty through the United Methodist Church is a great joy and unparalleled privilege.

Do I hear an Amen?

Lyn Powell is the immediate past conference lay leader of North Georgia. She delivered the 2008 Laity Address, “Disciples Transforming the World,” at last year’s General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. This article first appeared in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, the newspaper of the North and South Georgia Conferences, and is reprinted here with permission.

 

Real life ’slumdogs‘ do find angels

Slumdog Millionaire opened up a hole in my heart.

The movie, about children growing up in the slums of India, made me remember the little faces I have seen up close and in “real life.”

I left the theater wondering how I could live my everyday comfortable life knowing such misery exists in the world. What kind of person am I that I can forget about that even for a short while?

I have not been to India, but I have been to the Philippines. In 2007, I was with a group from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries making a tour of ministries in Manila. We visited centers that provide residential and daily shelter for street children, a cemetery where many of the poor make their homes among the tombs, and Smokey Mountain, a garbage dump where people live on piles of trash.

I have walked in the filth of Smokey Mountain, breathed in the horrible smell, and seen the thick, ugly curtain of flies hanging over everything. I have witnessed children running and playing in the garbage heap, where they spend every long, boring day. I have seen a beautiful little girl ripping open a bag of what other people deemed worthless waste, looking for something to sell or eat. I have looked into those lost eyes.

After seeing the movie, all I could feel was the pain, and I beat myself up all night. The next morning I woke up and remembered the hope that also lives in those places.

The movie is about a boy born in the slums of Mumbai, India, who becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” He is arrested and accused of cheating because the show’s star thinks no “slumdog” would know what he knows. While he is being interrogated, he re-lives events from his life that explain how he knows the right answers.

Winning a million dollars—or 48,732,944 India Rupees or 60,152,884 Philippine Pesos—on a television game show is extremely unlikely for a child born into such poverty.

But God has put other people in those dark places who do offer a different path for the children.

I met Sun Sook Kim, a United Methodist missionary who wasn’t living a comfortable, unburdened life. For 20 years, she had walked into the dirty, stinking world of the residents of Smokey Mountain, and pointed the way to a better life through Smokey Mountain United Methodist Church and Shalom Kindergarten. No gentle church lady, she would not let the rest of the world forget about the people she loved so deeply.

There are many others like Kim all over the world, and I thank God for them because God has truly put them in those places.

Today I am feeling just a little better about myself. I am not out there doing the hard work, but I can write about those who are. I can pray. And I can send money and know it will get into the hands of those who need it.

As a United Methodist, I have a wonderful resource in the United Methodist Committee on Relief and other agencies of the church that care for the lost, the least and the marginalized. I can contribute to the denomination’s Advance program, knowing 100 percent of what I send goes to the ministries I want to support. There are many other churches and organizations also working in hard places, and every dollar truly does help.

Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including best motion picture of the year, and is playing in many theaters now. Go see it. I hope it rips a hole in your heart too.

By Kathy L. Gilbert, a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tennessee.



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