Sometimes people ask why we don’t have the words “United Methodist” in the name of our new faith community. To be honest the name we are using is a place holder. It’s something simple and direct to let people know what we are about, and really Jeff and I couldn’t agree on anything else. We took that as a sign that we needed input from the people who would make up the community to really create the right name. I’m not sure who we are going to become, (my vote for Daystar United Methodist Gathering was laughed out of contention) but I know that no matter what we are called we will never stop being grounded in the United Methodist Church.
Part of that is because the leadership of this community is United Methodist clergy. And although neither one of us is a cradle Methodist we both came to the church early on, I as a pastor’s kid and Jeff as the organist’s kid. Throughout our lives we have been fortunate to be actively involved in United Methodist Churches in Oregon, Illinois, Arizona, Washington, and Idaho. We have friends throughout the world who we met at United Methodist trainings or in seminary. We are fortunate to know incredible people who have done amazing, transformational ministry over the years. The gifts that they have shared in the work of God have been important and beautiful.
This is not to say that there aren’t some serious drawbacks to the United Methodist Church. Right now our global organization is going through the pains of dealing with our rapidly changing world and culture. We wrestle with one another about hot button issues and prattle on about our decline at every possibly opportunity. It can be difficult not to be discouraged by this or depressed at our perceived failings. It would be tempting to decide that we here in Sellwood don’t want to use the label of United Methodist because we don’t want to be associated with the unappealing parts of our large scale community. However this sort of rejection of something just because parts of it are hard or gross is a denial of the very work and examination we long to be about. Whatever our name becomes we will chose it because we are moving towards something that makes sense for this community, not because we are trying to hide part of who we are.
The theological underpinnings of the United Methodist Church are exactly who we at the Sellwood Faith Community are striving to be. We want to be people who value connection with all sorts of folks, who think that the way we live our lives matters, and who know that we can partner with God to make this world more whole through our love and service. No matter what the future holds for our new start or for the global structure of the church what we are doing can never be separated from the place and people we come from. Our name may or may not reflect all of that, but our hearts and practice always will.
-Eilidh
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| This painting of the United Methodist logo hangs in our dinning room, where we gather each week for dinner as a community. |
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