The Grand Ole Opry

   There in the center of the stage is a circle of hardwood, stained a lighter color than the rest of the floor, on which the performer stands and entertains.  It is a section of the floor of the Ryman Auditorium, where the Opry called home for 31 years, that was moved to the new home back in 1974 in order to expand and allow for more people to enjoy this national treasure.  It is one of the ways the leadership of the Opry House sought to keep traditions while keeping up with the times.

   Julie and I attended the Grand Ole Opry for their Friday show this past weekend, and were treated to amazing performances and timeless acts.  The show is still essentially a radio program, like its first days 85 years ago. We sat in pews, like every audience has since 1943 when it moved to a coverted worship center. We saw country stars like Vince Gill and Terri Clark and the legend Little Jimmy Dickens.  He joined the Opry in 1948 and turned 90 a couple of months ago!  

   Apart from the great music, the thing I found most interesting was how the Opry's love of tradition has not prevented innovation from adding to the experience.  There are lots of examples:

• Three large projection screens are found prominently on stage
• HD lighting along the back wall to enhance video-taping and the TV broadcasts
• State of the art audio-visual equipment so the sound is always first-class
• Every radio commercial ended the same way - pointing people to the website of whichever sponsor was hosting that half hour.

   The timeless value of the Grand Ole Opry is not that things have stayed exactly the same for 85 years - it is that for 85 years they have kept the vision of entertaining audiences and selling radio commercials in exactly the center of what they do.  They will add and take away whatever is not working to keep that vision from dying which has meant that the Opry remains as alive as ever throughout the massive changes in society and our world.

   These are the very things I was thinking about sitting in that hallowed hall in Nashville on Friday night.  In truth, I could not get my mind off the church and God's great desires for it.  You see, I believe we are also called to cling tightly to what is most important, while adding and subtracting the other parts that are intended only to enhance and not detract. What is most important?  We are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

   Grace and Peace to you, Scott

Life is a Test

   Most of the persons submitting their paperwork last month, if asked, would admit that they spent seven or more months working on it.  Last week, it took the printer in my office about three hours to get through printing all of these same pages.  It will take me the equivalent of a few days to read all of it.  Along the way I will be making comments and writing some questions in the margins.  What is it that so has consumed so much time, you ask?  Theology.

   Not from the pen of any famous author, nor available in the local bookstores.  Instead, I've started poring over the answers to theology and doctrine questions posed to the candidates that are scheduled to appear before our South Georgia Conference Board of Ordained Ministry next month in Macon. These are persons seeking to be admitted as ministers within our church.

   The questions are deep and broad; it takes 35-50 pages to answer them completely. They cover essential terminology (repentance, Kingdom of God, resurrection, eternal life, etc.) and expansive ideas (what is the mission of the church, what role do pastors play, what can be said of humanity's need for divine grace, etc.). They also ask specific questions about the candidates personal life, their call to ministry, their ambitions, their strengths and weaknesses, and their willingness to submit to the highest ideals that are truly asked of every person called 'pastor' by any church.  In addition to the questions, they also submit sermons, bible studies, and go through a battery of various checks and histories as a part of the larger scope of the Board's work in examining them.

   It was not many years ago that I was going through it myself, as I sought to be affirmed and set apart by the church for the ministry of leading the church, and serving God's Kingdom purposes. But to now sit on the other side and read through answers that show evidence of deep reflection and conviction is humbling, to say the least. These women and men will serve churches across our conference, and serve God around the world. They will be asked questions and put into positions of great responsibility, and a solid theology of God's grace and Jesus' salvation will sometimes be to only thing of which they can be sure.

   The same is true for us. We are tested. We are asked about what we believe and upon what foundation are our values built.  However, only rarely do the questions asked of us appear on paper. Instead, we find our lives examined by the world that wonders, 'Do we live out what we believe?' 

   Grace and Peace to you, Scott

The Critical Connection

   How you start a thing depends a lot on how you want it to end.  Or, what direction you want it to go.  How you start is critical.  I have seen that again in these first days of our 30 Day Gospel Challenge.

   I have, for years, been very interested in how Mark's Gospel gets started.  It is different than the others - Matthew with a genealogy, wise men, an evil King and Luke with the angels, mothers and babies.  Mark, though, starts with John the Baptist preaching repentance to crowds who have traveled out into the wilderness seeking something significant.  No Christmas story here.  Instead, the story starts with crowds of tired, restless, men and women searching for something they have not yet found.  What are they looking for?  What would bring them out there, en masse?
   What brings any of us out of our comfort zone?   What moves us out from where we are?  I believe one powerful motivator is the need for connection.  I believe connection with others is the critical piece.  We all want to feel connected.  I believe those crowds going out to see John the Baptist wanted to be connected to something larger than themselves.  John's emergence was about the larger story of God's redemption of the world.
   I believe what we do every Sunday is like this.  I believe everyone of us gathers for worship wanting to find a connection with the larger story of God's redemption of the world.  I mean that.  I believe that is what Sundays are about at Epworth. 
   I also believe that guests who joins us are looking for the same thing: connection. 
   We introduced something new this past Sunday that is geared directly to this reality.  Connection Cards that replace pew pads are intended to be a more effective way of connecting our church with our own members and the guests who gather with us.  I know it is different - so was color television, once.  I also know it works, based on the experience of other United Methodist Churches that use them.  One of them wrote this:

"What a wonderful opportunity to connect people with other people, new ministries, service opportunities as well as learn what’s on people’s minds!  They provide a wonderful way to share prayer concerns of our congregation with our prayer chain.  We keep addresses, emails, phone numbers updated through this media....  By having our regular attendees continue to complete their cards each Sunday, it serves as an encouragement to guests to complete one.  Therefore, we have the names of our guests along with their contact information."

   I love this church.  I believe our future is as bright as ever.  And I believe it is brighter every time we welcome a guest through our doors, helping them connect with the amazing, redeeming God of the universe.

   Grace and Peace, Scott

The Souper Bowl is Huge

"Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful 

of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat." 

   That prayer was offered by Brad Smith, at the time a seminary intern serving at a local Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC.  He was praying to start a meal, but a movement was birthed, as well.  Brad and others had an idea, 'Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people come together for football and fun, to also unify the nation for a higher good: collecting dollars and canned food for the needy?' Youth could collect donations at their schools and churches in soup pots, and then send every dollar DIRECTLY to a local charity of THEIR choice.

   In 1990, just one year later, twenty-two local churches participated, reporting their results so a total could be determined, and then sending all $5,700 they had raised to area non-profits.  Since then, ordinary young people have generated an extraordinary $70 million for soup kitchens, food banks and other charities in communities across the country. In addition, hundreds of thousands of youth have experienced for themselves the joy and satisfaction of giving and serving, inspiring people of all ages to follow their generous example.  Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush serve as National Advocates, along with owners of 6 NFL teams.  And to think it all started in youth one night!  You can read more at souperbowl.org.

   Sam Matthews, the senior pastor I served under in Fayetteville, used to say the best ideas for ministry come from the pews and not the pulpit.  He was right, and this is a classic example.  We have a chance this weekend to continue the great story started just a few years ago.

   Our youth will be standing at the exits of our worship services this Sunday with Soup Pots, ready to accept donations to go directly to Open Door Community House, one of our key partners in serving our neighbors in Columbus.  Consider giving $1, or more, to a great cause.  This is one of the ways we are living lives of significance out in the world.

   Grace and Peace to you, Scott