Why I am a United Methodist: Connectionalism

2014 North Carolina Annual Conference
delegates meeting at the Greenville Convention Center

There are a lot of reasons why I am a United Methodist. One is that I was born into the denomination: baptized as an infant, and confirmed as a young adult. So of course I resonate with the tradition that formed me spiritually as a young person. These childhood events constantly remind me that God's grace was working in my life well before I had the ability to make any kind of choice about where I should attend church.

But one of the main reasons that I am still a United Methodist, 26 years after becoming a member, is an odd 18th century word that is still used in Methodist traditions: Connectionalism. This week I have been attending the Annual Conference for the North Carolina Conference. Yes, I wrote the word "conference" twice in that sentence. One of the defining features of the United Methodist Church is that the annual meeting of our churches, represented by equal delegate numbers of laity and clergy, is our most fundamental organizing structure. The Annual Conference is when we define our mission for the upcoming year, celebrate what happened since our last meeting, and do the necessary business to prepare us for what God is calling us to. The Conference -- that is, the meeting -- is so important to our church life that it defines our very group identity.

It is while conferencing that United Methodist congregations connect with each other. We are reminded that in the UMC there are not singular churches, operating independently and left on their own. It's not perfect; there are certainly advantages to being a solitary congregation that makes its own decisions and hires its own pastors. (This is known as the Congregational model). But one thing I love about the UMC is that all its churches are connected through its governance systems -- from top to bottom. The bishops oversee all the appointments of our pastors, meaning that congregations need not exert time and money searching for their own leaders. The financial gifts of our churches are pooled and distributed in a coordinated fashion -- from mission and evangelism to disaster relief efforts.

Last year when I attended my first Annual Conference I only knew a few people. This year, after serving as a pastor for a full year, I recognize many more faces. Some people I know from Duke Divinity School. Others I have met at pastor meetings that are held throughout the year. Some delegates are even my neighbors from Oxford who attend another UMC nearby. As I have grown in my pastoral skills this year, I have also become more connected to my brothers and sisters in Christ. These two developments go hand in hand -- it is from others that I learn how to be a better shepherd.

Bishop Will Willimon wrote a book titled Why I Am a United Methodist. Chapter 7 of the book is "Because Religion Is Not a Private Affair." I'm still a United Methodist because the entire structure of the denomination reminds us that we were created to be connected -- joined in covenant to God, and joined in mission with one another. As Trinity Sunday approaches tomorrow, we are reminded that God is also joined together -- three persons in one. God is about bringing together what others would divide. Division is not the work of God. I hope and pray that our United Methodist Church does indeed remain united and connected in its disparate parts long into the lives of my children and grandchildren.

Bishop Hope Morgan Ward presiding over Holy Communion
at the 2014 Annual Conference