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 Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Saturday, July 2, 2011
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.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thailand Mission Devotion
"Good News in Thailand"
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The new United Methodist congregation in Chiang Rai province is in an Akha Tribe village set in the hills of the far north of Thailand, near the border of Burma. There is not a flat piece of land to be found, with huts and small homes clinging to the hillsides.
The Akha village has many seniors and many children, but not many of the middle generations, who must live in the city to work. They are very hard workers; farming in the hills is difficult work. I saw many of the seniors there carrying heavy loads on their backs as they trudged up the steep hills to their homes in the late afternoon.
The older women wear their traditional hat with coins attached as well as traditional Akha clothing. But the older men and the younger generations no longer wear Akha clothing, and instead blend in with Thai culture.
Eating Akha traditional food was an exotic experience. I saw the mother of Pastor Guy going to a tree next to her house. She began scraping the bark from the tree. When I asked what she would do with the bark, everyone told me we would be eating it. Later, one of the dishes, called “Lahp”, was a mixture of bark and meat. It was actually quite good. They don’t use many sauces in their food like Thai people do. Instead they rely on strong natural flavors. One vegetable dish was quite bitter, but was delicious when eaten in combination with other foods.
One thing that interested me was an archway at the side of the road. Pastor Guy said this was the “ghost gate” (see the picture with this article). It was believed by the Akha people who are not Christian that evil spirits would be tricked into going into the Ghost gate, rather than using the road into the village. The Akha people put much effort into protecting themselves from evil spirits. The Akha who are Christian are freed from this fear, because they know Christ is more powerful than any other spirit.
A report from the United Methodist work we sponsor in Thailand as Pastor Guy establishes a church with the Akha.
Prayer Request
Pray for the Good News that is shared in Thailand, for the missionaries and ministers, and for the pastor and church Trinity on the Hill supports.
Trinity Outreach Celebration
February 2-6, 2011
The Trinity Outreach Celebration is held each year to celebrate the giving and service of the church during the previous year in mission and to hear the challenges and opportunities of the coming year in outreach. During TOC 2011 you will hear inspiring messages, uplifting music, mission updates and reports and receive information on ways you may become more active in outreach in 2011.
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The new United Methodist congregation in Chiang Rai province is in an Akha Tribe village set in the hills of the far north of Thailand, near the border of Burma. There is not a flat piece of land to be found, with huts and small homes clinging to the hillsides.
The Akha village has many seniors and many children, but not many of the middle generations, who must live in the city to work. They are very hard workers; farming in the hills is difficult work. I saw many of the seniors there carrying heavy loads on their backs as they trudged up the steep hills to their homes in the late afternoon.
The older women wear their traditional hat with coins attached as well as traditional Akha clothing. But the older men and the younger generations no longer wear Akha clothing, and instead blend in with Thai culture.
Eating Akha traditional food was an exotic experience. I saw the mother of Pastor Guy going to a tree next to her house. She began scraping the bark from the tree. When I asked what she would do with the bark, everyone told me we would be eating it. Later, one of the dishes, called “Lahp”, was a mixture of bark and meat. It was actually quite good. They don’t use many sauces in their food like Thai people do. Instead they rely on strong natural flavors. One vegetable dish was quite bitter, but was delicious when eaten in combination with other foods.
One thing that interested me was an archway at the side of the road. Pastor Guy said this was the “ghost gate” (see the picture with this article). It was believed by the Akha people who are not Christian that evil spirits would be tricked into going into the Ghost gate, rather than using the road into the village. The Akha people put much effort into protecting themselves from evil spirits. The Akha who are Christian are freed from this fear, because they know Christ is more powerful than any other spirit.
A report from the United Methodist work we sponsor in Thailand as Pastor Guy establishes a church with the Akha.
Prayer Request
Pray for the Good News that is shared in Thailand, for the missionaries and ministers, and for the pastor and church Trinity on the Hill supports.
Trinity Outreach Celebration
February 2-6, 2011
The Trinity Outreach Celebration is held each year to celebrate the giving and service of the church during the previous year in mission and to hear the challenges and opportunities of the coming year in outreach. During TOC 2011 you will hear inspiring messages, uplifting music, mission updates and reports and receive information on ways you may become more active in outreach in 2011.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Methodists in Thailand
My church supports a student pastor in the northern area of Thailand from the Akha hill tribe. Pastor Nimmit is in place due to the good efforts of Revs. Mike and Sherri Morrissey. The Morrisseys are elders from the Kentucky conference. Read more about the type of approach they take into mission work at Respect
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