At about the same time that I accepted the appointment to this new ministry here in the Detroit Conference it was announced that the conference budget would be cut by 30%.  While it made for many challenges before I arrived, I decided to see it as an opportunity to take a fresh look at what we value most in our effort to fulfill God’s call.  We are not done yet in our job of pruning, but we are well on our way.  Pruning does not mean using less resources necessarily; it means using them more intentionally, wisely and strategically for our end purpose.  At the same time I was introduced to the annual conference you voted on a streamlined organizational structure in order to step back and look at the larger picture.  It does not need to be, nor does it appear to me to be, a simple shifting of the chairs on the deck.  It is a pruning job, and a calling forth of a gardening crew.

Last week my blog referred to the metaphor of putting new wine into new wineskins, making room for innovative transformation when compelled by a clear sense of God’s purpose.  But what if some of our churches have run out of wine to offer their guests?  Are we prepared for new growth and expanding potential?  If we have used up our resources without clear focus we may get caught short.

At the beginning of this chapter in the Gospel of Luke Jesus begins calling his disciples.  It is a call to a new way of life, a new way of living, a new way of thinking and doing.  A disciple is transformed and becomes a part of transforming community.  It is a chapter that reveals that discipleship breaks some social norms and established religious patterns.  However, the shedding of the old is not without purpose—it is to bring forth new life and healing, not simply to create anarchy.  It is to reach out intentionally to those not yet connected, rather than a random abandonment of the established order.  It is to provide forgiveness and new beginnings even if obstacles have to be removed in order for selfless caring to triumph.  New life is not without discomfort or difficulty, nor is old life and existence all bad.

“Stop Selling What You Have.  Start Selling What They Need!” is what the IBM ad proclaimed in the Newark International Airport.  I was sitting at a restaurant table on my way to a General Commission on Religion and Race meeting a couple of years ago; the ad was directly in front of me.  It seemed to be speaking not just to business but also to the Church—local and connectional.

The ministry I now have the privilege of sharing with you gifts me with a fair amount of time on the highways, city streets and back roads of the Detroit Conference.   While I like to spend much of that time in quiet reflection, praying for you and this ministry or simply riding with God, I do listen a great deal to National Public Radio in order to keep aware that the rest of the world keeps moving along even in the midst of “Budget Season”! 

This is that nostalgic time of year when we polish off images of “making room at the inn”, telling ourselves and our churches that we will strive to be more open when Jesus comes our way.  We strive to be “hospitable” to strangers that come to our churches as well as tolerant of those “strange” relatives that come to our homes.  However, is it possible that we are confusing hospitality with tolerable politeness?

 What difference does it make when we expand the focus in our ministries from simply “faithfulness” to also intentional “fruitfulness”?

There is no question that many of our local churches are in difficult waters, yet some continue to find ways to thrive in the midst of the challenges.  They exhibit the generative capacity of God With Us, adapting as necessary to the changing waters, rather than simply dropping anchor to ride out the storm.

What if we trust that God is with us in this journey of faith and community transformation?  Would it give us the courage to makes changes and even make mistakes?

What if you and your church offered vocabularies of hope in difficult times?  How might it change life?

I have always assumed, and have strived to live out, that when adversity presents itself in our particular life situations, then it is time to face it with clarity and creativity.  It calls upon us to engage our faith in God’s initiative, and then our best selves and our best partnerships to bring forth life.