Letters from Leaders
Preparing for General Conference
April 23, 2024
“Regionalization” by Pastor Doug Robinson-Johnson
This week we celebrate news that Rev. Dr. Rachel Livingston is being recommended to the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference when it meets in Baltimore on Wednesday, May 29 through Friday, May 31st. We are not certain whether Pastor Rachel would be ordained a Full Elder on Thursday or on Friday, but we do know that members of her church are invited to attend that service to stand in witness as she receives the charge and a representative stole. Will you join us in Baltimore?
Large as the United Methodist Church may be globally, its ministry is always contextual and regional. A church like our local congregation inspires a person to claim a call beyond baptism to representative ministry as a Certified Lay Minister, or an Elder or Deacon. The fruitfulness of each minister is evaluated by district and then regional committees. The Annual Conference brings all of these ministry candidates together with lay and clergy representatives of all United Methodist churches for recognition at general assembly sessions and then consecration at an inspiring commissioing and ordination worship service. Every local church and mentor shaping Pastor Rachel’s journey stands in witness of her fruitfulness and in gratitude for the ways the Spirit will magnify her gifts wherever she is appointed in the years to come.
As we may read in this month’s NUMC newsletter the Messenger HERE, this is a General Conference year for United Methodists. Among the many resolutions coming before this global body is a desire for regionalization. Regionalization would put the U.S. and (international) central conferences on equal footing
in church decision-making. Each region would have the authority to adapt the Book of Discipline to its own context. Regionalization is
an especially critical issue for reconciling congregations such as National UMC, because if regionalization is adopted, it is more likely that the
U.S. region could remove the anti-LGBTQ language in the current Book of Discipline. In our Washington DC context, LGBTQ+ affirming Christianity is a responsive, faithful Christianity which honors our neighbors and neighborhoods. Conservative factions in Methodism disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church into the Global Methodist Church are encouraging conservatives still voting from within the UMC to oppose regionalization. One of the chief architects of conservative disaffiliations, Rev. Tom Lambrecht disingenuously argues, “Following the regionalization approach runs the risk of beginning to undo the connection that binds all United Methodists together.” (Read “Good News” article here.) But choosing not to acknowledge contextual differences denies the basic unit of Methodism, the local church. Local churches and mentors know the journey and fruitfulness of pastors such as the Rev. Dr. Rachel Livingston and others coming before their regional conferences this year, and their standing witness at these conferences reminds us that the connection that binds us together requires connection to local regions and the needs most pressing within them.
Bishop's 2024 New Year Message
Posted by on Jan 02, 2024
Forging A New Path
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” -- Philippians 2: 3-4
Have you ever been listening to a song you’ve heard a thousand times before and it just hits you differently? You can hum the melody from beginning to end and you know the lyrics by heart, but this time it just hits you differently. That happened to me a few days after Christmas. I was walking through the grocery store, singing along with a tune and the song gripped me in a different way. The song was The Living Years by Mike + The Mechanics. I couldn’t get the song out of my head and I didn’t understand why it was speaking to me so poignantly. I finally sat down and listened to it in the quiet of my home without distraction. As I listened to these words, I felt convicted about the coming year:
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It’s the bitterness that lasts
This song was released when I was attending law school in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1988. It is part of the soundtrack of my life. But as I heard it a few days ago, it spoke to me about our future and what we risk if we aren’t willing to see beyond our tightly held beliefs, beyond our well-crafted opinions. It is the bitterness that lasts. The words themselves are often forgotten. The nuances blow away like leaves in the wind. But the bitterness that was created remains and hardens hearts. It fosters an acrimony that is almost impenetrable. It is at this moment that we no longer care what happens to another, whether they stay or go, whether they prosper or suffer, whether they are included or cast aside. When all else is gone, it’s the bitterness that lasts. Bitterness is a price we cannot afford to pay.
As a church, we have not just embarked upon a new year. We have closed the door on a very painful chapter of our United Methodist lives. Therefore, we have an opportunity to learn the lessons of the past and begin a new future together -- a future that brims with newness and hope and possibility. We are not obliged to repeat our past mistakes, but we must be mindful of them and refuse to repeat those corrosive behaviors. We must learn a new way of living together as the Beloved Community.
The chorus of The Living Years includes the line, “You can listen as well as you hear.” The definition of listening is “to hear something with thoughtful attention.” Listening is an active process that requires an intentional choice. We can hear sounds without actually listening to them. We can claim to be in a conversation without really listening to what is being said. When that happens, we are really engaged in a monologue rather than a conversation or dialogue. We are simply rehearsing our perspective without opening ourselves to what others are sharing, or the reasoning that supports their belief. But this year can be different. We can choose to listen as well as we hear
We have significant decisions to make in the coming days. How will we design and structure the annual conferences for even more effective disciple-making? How will the General Conference define the trajectory of our denomination, both in theology and structure? How will we collaborate as a jurisdiction to engage in deeper mission and ministry? Will we elect new bishops and how will all of the bishops be deployed? How will we bring revival to our congregations? These are herculean decisions that will affect our future for generations. Generations. This requires discernment beyond our desires and preferences. This requires a selfless surrender to something larger than ourselves. It will require being open to the Spirit, but also being open to one another.
After visiting the Methodist societies in Newcastle, it is reported that John Wesley believed those gathered lacked something extremely important for their future. He discerned they lacked the discipline needed to grow in holiness of heart and life with one another. He advised that along with gathering to pray and receive a word of exhortation, they also had to watch over one another in love. I contend it is impossible to watch over one another in love without the willingness to listen to one another.
Another line in the song reminds us that “we all talk a different language talking in defense.” There is a tendency to guard or defend the past, including our previously held beliefs and the decisions attendant to them. Somehow, we believe that to make a different decision or have a change of mind casts aspersions upon our former selves. Yet, our Wesleyan heritage calls us to continued study, growth, discernment and evolution. We are not prisoners to the past and change does not condemn. We are all going on to perfection.
The song The Living Years is ultimately about living with the regret of not learning how to be in relationship with a loved one when we don’t see eye to eye. How do we transcend and love one another beyond our differences? The irony is that the writers had both recently lost their fathers, and only through those deaths did they realize they had more in common with them than they previously believed. Beloved, there will be differences of opinion as we discuss the many matters before us. We will disagree on various and sundry points. But those disagreements do not have to divide us. We can choose to listen and understand. We can choose to privilege the needs of others beyond our own. We can choose to respect the Imago Dei in all and know that God loves them just as God loves us and find a way to discern together. We can understand that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we have far more in common than we understand. We can choose to listen as well as we hear. May it be so.
Happy New Year! Happy Living Year!
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling
Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences
The United Methodist Church
From the Senior Pastor’s Office
Grace and Peace to you!
I’ll be attending two important meetings tonight and I invite interested members and friends of National United Methodist Church to consider joining us via Zoom. All church meetings with the exception of Staff-Parish Relations Committee are open meetings.
5:30 pm EST Board of Trustees
7:00 pm EST Finance Committee
Click on separate links to join either meeting.
We are in the season of developing a National UMC ministry budget for 2024 based first and foremost on the presumption that God is faithful to help us make God’s love obvious. Here are a few of the ways we have been assessing the fruitfulness of our ministry:
Over the summer and early autumn, ministry teams in Worship, Education, and Outreach evaluated the effectiveness of our approaches, making adjustments that will be reflected in the 2024 budget.
In September and October, the Staff Parish Relations Committee surveyed the congregation for input on how best to leverage the skills of clergy here to meet the needs of our community, and around 40 participants responded with clear direction for our three clergy in their specific roles.
A St. Luke’s Mission Center Task Force has begun exploring a variety of new uses to maximize that space and our resources that support it.
The Board of Trustees has been gathering data on new 2024 initiatives like expanded tree plantings across all campuses and better sound and light for worship spaces, and that information will be reflected in our budget priorities.
An Economic Sustainability Task Force has set a framework for evaluating the largest facets of our budget—personnel and physical plant—to help us achieve a model of ministry that our community truly values and our membership and volunteers can sustain.
The staff of NUMC meets weekly to reflect on where we experience God at work in our community and adapt quickly to meet God there. For example, our Finance Coordinator Pam Murdoch received an online contribution from a person on the West Coast who attends both Metropolitan Memorial and Wesley Campus livestream services, and that participant had a question for a pastor about a sermon topic. The pastor called and learned of very particular pastoral care needs this person was experiencing which we are well-equipped to address. And we thanked God for the Spirit which led her to us!
Tonight’s meeting of the Finance Committee will reveal where we are financially. With gratitude to the 50 families and individuals who have returned “How Great Thou Art” Commitment 2024 Cards (and with the hope that those receiving these packets in the mail will respond generously), we will reflect on the income and expenses anticipated in 2024. The Finance Committee will receive feedback through the meeting and in the weeks through the holidays with the expectation of resourcing a 2024 Town Hall (tentatively planned for January 20th in the afternoon). The final budget will appear before January 29th Church Council followed by a Sunday, February 4th (tentative) Charge Conference.
If you cannot attend meetings this evening, please consider joining our leaders in prayer as we all answer God’s call to renew our strength and determination to follow Jesus Christ with greater clarity and commitment.
Your Brother In Christ,
Pastor Doug
Letter from Pastor of Congregational Care
Grace to you and peace to the members and friends at National United Methodist Church. It is our mission to Make the Love of God Obvious for all those who encounter our ministries, as well as for all of those in our congregations as well.
Our clergy and congregational care team want to know about the best ways that we can share God’s love and care for you.
Here is one of the ways you can partner with us in this ministry. Each week as you fill out the prayer forms with your prayer requests, the clergy gather them together and pray over them immediately. If someone requests a follow-up from the pastor on that form we respond to those immediately. We also make sure to lift up concerns on our daily prayer calls at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m, if permission is given to do so.
It is an honor and privilege to serve with you in this way. We have heard the stories of lives being transformed and things made brand new. In our calling as pastors, we share the gift of helping all ages to walk through this journey of life in both the joy and the pain. With love, we give ourselves to care in ways we trust that God’s love shines through to you.
Congregational Care has allowed me to see firsthand the ways that God is at work in the lives of people when we cry with people in their hospital rooms or front porches, listen to their stories, walk them through life’s journey, and pray with people. I can remember responding to a call on the church emergency line in the middle of the night (see the phone number below). All they wanted was a listening ear and reassurance that God was with them in all that they were dealing with. It was a humbling and gratifying experience that I would not trade for the world. It was in this moment that I was able to see God’s grace at work, reaching out to someone to help them know they were cared for and cherished by God specifically. This is the gift of carrying out ministry, walking alongside people on their life’s journey.
Sometimes people feel overlooked by clergy folk, and we truly regret that. We work in many ways behind the scenes and it may not be obvious that folks are receiving care. But maybe we missed a need of yours. We ask your forgiveness and also your help directing others to reach out directly when they or a loved one needs tenderness from a pastor. We want to make sure that we are being faithful to God’s call to provide comfort.
If you or someone you know has an upcoming surgery or has been hospitalized, please call the church office at 202-363-4900 and request to speak with Rev. Dr. Livingston. Please tell us the name and hospital they are located in. You can also shoot us an email at rlivingston@nationalchurch.org or communications@nationalchurch.org to update us on any pastoral care concerns.
If you are in crisis or have an emergency, you can reach out to us 24/7 at 202-510-8555. Please be patient and listen to the prompt, while one of our clergy prepares to respond to your call. You can call or text this number.
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dr. Rachel B. Livingston
The Story Continues
The story of God's work in the world doesn't end with the Bible -
it is continued through the Church and through our lives.
Below are videos shared in worship about some of the many ways we are continuing God’s story today.