Many are worried today about the divisions they fear will tear the church apart. Conflicts over homosexuality, abortion, and doctrine seem to threaten the unity of The United Methodist Church.
These are truly serious issues and deserve attention and debate. But in local churches, conflict rages on another level.
If you want to get an argument going in church, don't ask about the deity of Christ or the truth of Holy Scripture. Ask whether the American flag should be displayed at the front of the sanctuary.
If you want to tweak someone enough to inspire a threat of physical retaliation, suggest a change in the furniture in the parsonage.
And if you want to enjoy the full blast of someone's outrage and righteous indignation, try to get rid of the children's sermon.
Probably you can match these teacup tempests with your own, so compare your experiences with this additional list of issues.
One could go on. Notice there is no mention above of such issues as how long the Sunday service is, whether it's sexist for the pastor to hug someone, or whether a church member should be charged for a wedding. These are such sensitive issues that a sensitive writer would never raise them.
This obsession with detail is built into religion. It may make us suspect that religion, like Emerson's foolish consistency, is "the hobgoblin of little minds." But consider this: while an obsession with trivial details can make us yawp at the eccentricities of others, an attention to significant details is often what we ourselves most cherish.
For example, consider the St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas. This predominantly African American congregation has a number of White members. But these White members are not the passive survivors of a former congregation that gradually dwindled away and was replaced. Rather, the White members were actively drawn in by the charisma of the pastor, Tyrone Gordon, and the church's lively worship and outreach program. To see a White family joining enthusiastically in an African American hymn is a significant detail that reverberates powerfully.
At St. John's United Methodist Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Communion is held without ushers. The congregation seems to handle this very well. This church also asks those who are about to be served to stand behind others kneeling at the altar rail and to place their hands on the kneelers' shoulders in blessing. This seems to bond people in a mystical way.
At Christ United Methodist Church in Elkhart, Indiana, there are two services held simultaneously on Sunday morning. One is a traditional service; the other uses popular music. Having both gives worshipers a choice.
At Benton Chapel on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, Chaplain Beverly Asbury used to announce, as the offering plate was being passed, that a person in need should take money out.
Reeves Memorial United Methodist Church in Orlando, Florida, has a "cyber Bible study" for people who want to study the Bible over the World Wide Web.
All these are Christian congregations; all are different; all have their peculiarities and preferences. We can be grateful that all the efforts to homogenize our churches have failed. Our churches will never all be uniform. Their unexpected variety makes us respect and love them all the more.
Text and photographs copyright 1999 by New World Outlook: The Mission Magazine of The United Methodist Church. Used by Permission. Visit New World Outlook Online at http://gbgm-umc.org/nwo/.
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