Imagine if your United Methodist pastor, who had been serving your church, resigned his/her position, but stayed in the area. Then imagine if half your church left to follow the previous pastor in a new ministry AND somehow received endorsement by the bishop even though all ties of the church and clergy had been severed with the UMC. Doesn't make sense, does it?
A couple of years ago I met Revs. Mike and Sherri Morrissey who are elders in the Kentucky United Methodist Church. They were serving as General Board of Global Ministries missionaries (the sending agency for the UMC) in Thailand. I met them in the late summer of 2009, and by the fall had them sharing the exciting opportunity with my international mission team of ways our church could support new United Methodist congregations in Thailand.
In April 2000, while exchanging e-mails in hopes of an upcoming visit to our sister church in preparation for them to receive a work team from my congregation, I found out that the Morrisseys were finishing up their time as GBGM missionaries. They said they'd remain in the country and begin work on the Thailand Methodist Mission. This was effective in June 2010. But as I soon found out TMM had no relation to UMC work in the region, and had no connection to Methodism other than the fact that two ordained, full connection United Methodist clergy were starting a new ministry.
I have tried to work through conversations and e-mails with GBGM and others to make sense of this. You can imagine the challenges with a church mission committee trying to "get the picture!" How do we work through GBGM and a connectional mission approach when a US bishop and annual conference seem to be facilitating ministry outside of United Methodism and the established structures? While missions is often a messy business this was becoming more complicated than most situations I've encountered over 15 years of international experience.
Through the first half of 2011 my international mission committee and I learned much more about the United Methodist work in Thailand. It turns out that some of the churches "split off" and are no longer associated with the United Methodist mission. Apparently the new Thai churches weren't very United Methodist! This is offensive to me as my church, and others, have lost funds we have invested in those churches and clergy thinking that certain typical United Methodist protocols would be in place to protect UM assets. It turns out that, once again, international missions is risky business.
Now I realize there is plenty of work in the Kingdom, and we don't all need to belong to "my" denomination, but this just isn't the way to do business.
I've just returned from 9 days of medical missions in Togo, west Africa, and in catching up on the United Methodist annual conferences news round-up was saddened to see an added layer to the story. I had posted an earlier blog, and reached out to GBGM hoping the Kentucky UMC would be dissuaded from taking up a mission offering at their annual conference in partial support of the Morrisseys. I would have been happy for all the proceeds to go to the good work in Venezuela to a seminary that trains Methodist clergy and is working in partnership with that conference! Sadly I see that $82,000 is going to the Venezuela Methodist church planters AND to start a new church in Thailand ( KY UMC Annual Conference Report ).
So many questions... Why is the KY UMC and bishop actively supporting efforts in direct opposition to United Methodist ministry? If a full connection clergy is serving in some other location in the world beyond their annual conference, and the supervision and accountability of bishop, district superintendent, and conference Board of Ordained Ministry, shouldn't they fall under some similar shared structure of the umbrella of United Methodism? Why can't we all get on the "same page" on this and act as a connectional church? Is the distrust of GBGM that deep or is this merely entrepreneurial missions gone haywire? Where is the "check and balance" in the larger UMC if there is no supervision and if no one in KY UMC is going to do anything about it?
If this were occurring in a US annual conference you know a District Superintendent and Bishop would be all over it! It all seems contrary to our United Methodist ways of holiness, of ministry, and of mission. Perhaps General Conference 2012 should take up such matters as a case study of how NOT to be in global mission and ministry. Also, can we change our ways so that bishops aren't bishops for life?! They sure seem to lose their edge after a few years, and similar to Methodism in other parts of the world, likely need to rotate back into the everyday realities of life and ministry in the local connection.
On second thought, maybe this isn't so bad. Perhaps I'll get the North GA UMC to back me up as I start a new Methodist church in Louisville KY. I've always loved that town and have a lot of friends there!
Rev. CherLue Vang, GBGM Thailand Missionary
Gary & Cindy Moon, GBGM Thailand Missionaries at orphanage
UM clergy/missionaries establishing churches outside UMC auspices
Showing posts with label GBGM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GBGM. Show all posts
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Methodists in Mission & Some Questions
The General Board of Global Ministries General Secretary, Thomas Kemper, offers an interesting spring report to GBGM. He makes note of doctoral research out of The School of Theology at Boston University which will soon be released in The Methodist Review. Professor Dana Robert and PhD candidate David Scott have done a comparative study of Methodism and sister denominations in various countries. Sadly the word "anemic" pops up and a number of questions and conclusions are developed. See the link below for the full report from Kemper, and ponder the section of his report that includes the Robert/Scott material. I've copied this section as it offers some strong observations and questions for GBGM and the UMC.
"In looking at their statistical data, Robert and Scott reflect on ecclesiological, structural,sociological, cultural, and theological reasons for the anemia; they raise several 'tough' but highly relevant questions for United Methodism and this agency. I want to cite just four of these questions, making minimal comments. You as mission board directors will get the points. Remember that these questions are in relation to comparative growth rates alongside sister denominations in various broadly scattered countries:
Do 'bureaucratic, unwieldy, outdated structures' hinder the 'type of flexibility and indigenous initiatives necessary for strong growth?' I simply note that at Global
Ministries we observe greater growth in Mission Initiatives where the forms of
mission are most closely aligned with indigenous social and cultural structures.
What about the efficacy of 'one size fits all' theories and practices 'in which
North American middle-class culture is a normative value imposed on United
Methodism outside the US?' I ask: Do we need to look again at the vitality of
mission-founded, now-autonomous Methodist churches that have modified
American and European norms? I am thinking especially of Latin America.
Has a culture of dependency created 'over-reliance on American resources' by
some parts of the church and 'neo-colonial attitudes on the parts of others?' May
I point here to the impressive struggle of our congregations and annual
conferences in Eurasia to achieve both spiritual and organizational maturity,
including an increasing degree of financial self-sufficiency? In his leadership in
this pilgrimage, Bishop Hans Växby is a missionary pioneer and prophet.
'Could it be possible that the efforts of leadership elites to create a so-called
'global' United Methodism are wasting energy and resources that could be better
spent in paying more attention to local needs, lay mobilization and regional
partnerships?' This is a question with which we as a denomination have
struggled for years and will again in Tampa.
In summing up their questions, Robert and Scott asked whether it might be that the
United Methodist culture is inadequate for the challenges of the 21st century. They
wonder, 'Have we made a decision as a denomination to sacrifice church growth in
order to maintain other important commitments? Or is it the case that holistic ministry (including numerical growth) gushes from a deep well of confident faith that United Methodists lack, relative to the stronger theological or liturgical identities of sister denominations?'"
GBGM Spring 2011 Report
"In looking at their statistical data, Robert and Scott reflect on ecclesiological, structural,sociological, cultural, and theological reasons for the anemia; they raise several 'tough' but highly relevant questions for United Methodism and this agency. I want to cite just four of these questions, making minimal comments. You as mission board directors will get the points. Remember that these questions are in relation to comparative growth rates alongside sister denominations in various broadly scattered countries:
Do 'bureaucratic, unwieldy, outdated structures' hinder the 'type of flexibility and indigenous initiatives necessary for strong growth?' I simply note that at Global
Ministries we observe greater growth in Mission Initiatives where the forms of
mission are most closely aligned with indigenous social and cultural structures.
What about the efficacy of 'one size fits all' theories and practices 'in which
North American middle-class culture is a normative value imposed on United
Methodism outside the US?' I ask: Do we need to look again at the vitality of
mission-founded, now-autonomous Methodist churches that have modified
American and European norms? I am thinking especially of Latin America.
Has a culture of dependency created 'over-reliance on American resources' by
some parts of the church and 'neo-colonial attitudes on the parts of others?' May
I point here to the impressive struggle of our congregations and annual
conferences in Eurasia to achieve both spiritual and organizational maturity,
including an increasing degree of financial self-sufficiency? In his leadership in
this pilgrimage, Bishop Hans Växby is a missionary pioneer and prophet.
'Could it be possible that the efforts of leadership elites to create a so-called
'global' United Methodism are wasting energy and resources that could be better
spent in paying more attention to local needs, lay mobilization and regional
partnerships?' This is a question with which we as a denomination have
struggled for years and will again in Tampa.
In summing up their questions, Robert and Scott asked whether it might be that the
United Methodist culture is inadequate for the challenges of the 21st century. They
wonder, 'Have we made a decision as a denomination to sacrifice church growth in
order to maintain other important commitments? Or is it the case that holistic ministry (including numerical growth) gushes from a deep well of confident faith that United Methodists lack, relative to the stronger theological or liturgical identities of sister denominations?'"
GBGM Spring 2011 Report
Thursday, February 17, 2011
What is the KY UMC doing in Thailand?
Help me with my United Methodist understanding as what started in our interest to help plant a church seems to have gotten complicated.
My church started supporting a student pastor and new church development of a Thailand United Methodist congregation among the Akha people a couple of years ago. Our primary contact was through Mike & Sherri Morrissey, General Board of Global Ministries missionaries in Thailand & United Methodist elders in the Kentucky conference. After a meeting with them late summer 2009 I encouraged our international mission team in support of the effort & by November we were in partnership. We were to be in financial and prayer support for 5 years, starting at $300 a month, and eventually weening down to $100, and then concluding the support with expectation the church would stand on it's own feet. Further, we would send a mission team during that time period to assist the congregation in their move toward financial and ministry independence. It was an exciting model that we embraced.
During an email exchange with the Morrisseys in early April 2010 the mission couple responded to my request for details of the work and to begin planning for a team for our church to visit. Item #4 in that email states "Finally, as of June 1, 2010, Sherri and I will complete our contracts with GBGM and will begin our ministry in Thailand serving under the newly formed Thailand Methodist Mission (TMM). As TMM missionaries, we will be working in partnership with GBGM to provide credentialing training to UM Pastors in Thailand (Course of Study, Advance Course of Study, and Local Pastors School) as well initiating the Pioneering Pastors Project, which will train and resource pastors to plant churches in sub-districts which are unreached."
Of course, since we had funding and were involved and anticipating "next steps" I checked this sudden change of plans with GBGM. I've found my contacts at GBGM very helpful in trying to understand what was happening half way around the world. From their perspective the Morrisseys were leaving GBGM and none of their previous work would "transfer" elsewhere. In the time since then that has proven to be the case as the Morrisseys ministry efforts have shifted.
"The board is neither a part nor aware of a plan to subsume our work in a 'Thailand Methodist Church.' Thailand is part of the United Methodist Southeast Asia Mission, which relates to Global Ministries under Par. 590 of the 2008 Book of Discipline. The Southeast Asia Mission also includes Laos and Vietnam... Other missionaries will be assigned by the board to continue the church development work in which the Morrissey's were engaged."
Get the picture?
In September 2010 my congregation and I hosted the new Thailand GBGM missionaries for a day. Maybe you read the article on this missionary couple as GBGM introduced them in June. They have an incredible story, and are adding to that with their mission service at this stage in their lives.
KY UMC Mission OfferingVangs They have now been in Thailand since late fall 2010.
But the issue just won't go away and I was surprised today to find an annual conference seeking funds for the Morrisseys!
Enter the Kentucky UMC and their mission offering to be received at annual conference. Recall that the Morrisseys are elders in full connection in that conference. And note that they are serving in the Thailand Methodist Mission which has no standing through any UMC entity other than the fact that 2 ordained elders are serving there. See Thailand Methodist Mission regarding what they show of their work. The Morrisseys will receive half of the KY UMC mission offering with a goal set at $120,000! The contrast could not be sharper though as the other group set to share the offering is church planting in the Venezuela United Methodist Church.
I can only hope that Bishop Davis and the KY UMC leadership relied on the fact they were working with elders from that conference and did not know the "rest of the story" about the TMM and the UMC work in Thailand.
My church started supporting a student pastor and new church development of a Thailand United Methodist congregation among the Akha people a couple of years ago. Our primary contact was through Mike & Sherri Morrissey, General Board of Global Ministries missionaries in Thailand & United Methodist elders in the Kentucky conference. After a meeting with them late summer 2009 I encouraged our international mission team in support of the effort & by November we were in partnership. We were to be in financial and prayer support for 5 years, starting at $300 a month, and eventually weening down to $100, and then concluding the support with expectation the church would stand on it's own feet. Further, we would send a mission team during that time period to assist the congregation in their move toward financial and ministry independence. It was an exciting model that we embraced.
During an email exchange with the Morrisseys in early April 2010 the mission couple responded to my request for details of the work and to begin planning for a team for our church to visit. Item #4 in that email states "Finally, as of June 1, 2010, Sherri and I will complete our contracts with GBGM and will begin our ministry in Thailand serving under the newly formed Thailand Methodist Mission (TMM). As TMM missionaries, we will be working in partnership with GBGM to provide credentialing training to UM Pastors in Thailand (Course of Study, Advance Course of Study, and Local Pastors School) as well initiating the Pioneering Pastors Project, which will train and resource pastors to plant churches in sub-districts which are unreached."
Of course, since we had funding and were involved and anticipating "next steps" I checked this sudden change of plans with GBGM. I've found my contacts at GBGM very helpful in trying to understand what was happening half way around the world. From their perspective the Morrisseys were leaving GBGM and none of their previous work would "transfer" elsewhere. In the time since then that has proven to be the case as the Morrisseys ministry efforts have shifted.
"The board is neither a part nor aware of a plan to subsume our work in a 'Thailand Methodist Church.' Thailand is part of the United Methodist Southeast Asia Mission, which relates to Global Ministries under Par. 590 of the 2008 Book of Discipline. The Southeast Asia Mission also includes Laos and Vietnam... Other missionaries will be assigned by the board to continue the church development work in which the Morrissey's were engaged."
Get the picture?
In September 2010 my congregation and I hosted the new Thailand GBGM missionaries for a day. Maybe you read the article on this missionary couple as GBGM introduced them in June. They have an incredible story, and are adding to that with their mission service at this stage in their lives.
KY UMC Mission OfferingVangs They have now been in Thailand since late fall 2010.
But the issue just won't go away and I was surprised today to find an annual conference seeking funds for the Morrisseys!
Enter the Kentucky UMC and their mission offering to be received at annual conference. Recall that the Morrisseys are elders in full connection in that conference. And note that they are serving in the Thailand Methodist Mission which has no standing through any UMC entity other than the fact that 2 ordained elders are serving there. See Thailand Methodist Mission regarding what they show of their work. The Morrisseys will receive half of the KY UMC mission offering with a goal set at $120,000! The contrast could not be sharper though as the other group set to share the offering is church planting in the Venezuela United Methodist Church.
I can only hope that Bishop Davis and the KY UMC leadership relied on the fact they were working with elders from that conference and did not know the "rest of the story" about the TMM and the UMC work in Thailand.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Connecting Congregations & GBGM In Mission Together
I've learned many lessons over the years by working with churches and Christians in international settings. We tend to call these "mission teams" in the U.S. and got to foreign destinations to assist and encourage the local church. Often we supply "people power" and offer medical teams, construction, children's ministries or other resources which help advance the work of the local congregation. Of course, the financial boost is typically a significant element of the work. Usually for me the experiences and the relationships work their way into my soul and have profound effect in the short term, and ongoing effects upon me for the long term.
http://www.worldmethodist.org/connectingcongregations.htm shows the World Methodist work through Connecting Congregations. This program offers churches in a number of countries throughout the world which need outside support. My first experience with this was in the late '90's as Trinity on the Hill UMC supported a Roma (Gypsy) Methodist congregation on the eastern side of Slovakia. After one of our medical missions in Romania a few of us spent a few extra days and traveled to the Slovak church and had an incredible time in this land of castles.
A similar effort is offered through the UMC General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) called In Mission Together. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/connections/partnerships/inmissiontogether/partner/ A number of partnership projects, are underway in Cambodia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Laos, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Vietnam. The commitment as a partner congregation includes annual financial support and may also include sending a team to visit and make friends, opportunities to learn about the culture of your partner church, and working together on a mission project.
Such long term relationships with churches around the globe will change the world!
http://www.worldmethodist.org/connectingcongregations.htm shows the World Methodist work through Connecting Congregations. This program offers churches in a number of countries throughout the world which need outside support. My first experience with this was in the late '90's as Trinity on the Hill UMC supported a Roma (Gypsy) Methodist congregation on the eastern side of Slovakia. After one of our medical missions in Romania a few of us spent a few extra days and traveled to the Slovak church and had an incredible time in this land of castles.
A similar effort is offered through the UMC General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) called In Mission Together. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/connections/partnerships/inmissiontogether/partner/ A number of partnership projects, are underway in Cambodia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Laos, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Vietnam. The commitment as a partner congregation includes annual financial support and may also include sending a team to visit and make friends, opportunities to learn about the culture of your partner church, and working together on a mission project.
Such long term relationships with churches around the globe will change the world!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Some "How To on Mission" Articles
If you don't know about the GBGM "New World Outlook" magazine you may want to give a peek at http://gbgm-umc.org/nwo/nwo-new/archived_nwo.cfm?issue=135. This issue offers some "how to" advice. It's most specifically for United Methodist churches though others may find some helpful hints as well. I also found some of the theology helpful as too often that's a missing element with mission activity & action. One critique I have with this issue is that it's a little heavy on selling the various GBGM agency initiatives. I wish they would have spent a little more time on the action of mission in a local congregation. Yet, as you read through this you can piece that together. Certainly an article or two ought to inspire the Christian or the Church to greater witness for Christ in meeting the needs of the world through mission activities.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
French Language Hymnal for Misson & Ministry
As many of us know there are VERY exciting movements of God taking place throughout the world. Africa is one continent which is experiencing a proclamation and response to Good News which isn't measured in hundreds, but in thousands and even millions! Of course, there is a power to music which is a perfect vehicle for sharing the love of God in Christ, for aiding worship in our own language, and for shaping our theology which is expressed in our lives and in our actions.
Yet so much of the curriculum and approach of the Church has tended to be geared toward western or U.S. practice, language, and situation. I'd been searching for a couple of months pondering how we might find the tools to advance some of our humanitarian efforts in Togo. With United Methodist work in Cameroon, and now with Cote d'Ivoire Methodists joining United Methodism, there has been more need for French language resources including the need for a hymnal.
Enter the General Board of Global Ministries Global Praise Division and the Rev. John Thornburg. Their joint efforts in Africa are producing a bilingual hymnal with an African beat and a Wesleyan heart to be published in 2009. This product should have dramatic impact in the partnership, the future of a worldwide Methodism and new approach to ministry, and to the worship and theology in locations all across the continent.
To learn more about this exciting ministry or the available resources go to http://www.congregationalsinging.com/
Yet so much of the curriculum and approach of the Church has tended to be geared toward western or U.S. practice, language, and situation. I'd been searching for a couple of months pondering how we might find the tools to advance some of our humanitarian efforts in Togo. With United Methodist work in Cameroon, and now with Cote d'Ivoire Methodists joining United Methodism, there has been more need for French language resources including the need for a hymnal.
Enter the General Board of Global Ministries Global Praise Division and the Rev. John Thornburg. Their joint efforts in Africa are producing a bilingual hymnal with an African beat and a Wesleyan heart to be published in 2009. This product should have dramatic impact in the partnership, the future of a worldwide Methodism and new approach to ministry, and to the worship and theology in locations all across the continent.
To learn more about this exciting ministry or the available resources go to http://www.congregationalsinging.com/
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