Table of Contents
- Letter from the President
- Being and Becoming a Mission-Centered Church
- Resources
- Upcoming Events
- About eCalling for Graduates
From the President
Dear friend,
Begin with the end in mind. This is great advice for both sculptors and leaders. At Wesley, we encourage people to answer their call to ministry, but what is the goal of ministry? What is the end of seminary education? At Wesley, we have in mind "mission-centered churches." Wesley's newest teacher and scholar, Dr. Sathi Clarke, is Professor of Theology, Culture and Mission. Sathi is a sixth-generation pastor and first-rank theologian. I'm impressed with the depth of Sathi's faith and the wisdom he brings to complex subjects. In this issue of eCalling for Graduates, he shares some of his thoughts on what "mission-centered" means. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did.
Wishing you a blessed Easter,
David McAllister-Wilson
Being and Becoming a Mission-Centered Church
By Wesley's Professor of Theology, Culture and Mission, Sathianathan Clarke
Let me offer two thoughts on what it means to be a mission-centered Church and two thoughts on how a congregation can become such a thing.
My first thought is that the Church is both a product and in process. It is the result - the product - of the mission of a loving God, who in Jesus Christ embraces and liberates humanity from itself and for the glory of God. The Church is also in process. It is in a state of becoming broken and scattered like Jesus Christ to re-shape and transform humanity for the sake of God's mission to all creation. Think of Jesus' metaphor about salt: "You are the salt of the earth." (Mt. 5: 13). On one hand, the Church is a crystallization of those who have tasted the effects of God's mission through Jesus Christ in the world even as it is a dispenser of the relish of God's love for the world. The Church is gathered up by God through a process of refinement for the glory of God and is then scattered again by God through another process of dissolution for the life of the world.
My second thought is that the Church's life can be found only in losing itself within the mission of God for the world. The mission of God as manifested in Jesus Christ is directed to the least and the lost in the world. The site of God's mission is not the hub of safety but the margins of erasure. Jesus comes to bring close at hand the workings of God for the fragmented and the dispossessed of the world rather than for the secure and the self-assured well being of the Church. "When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, 'Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?' When Jesus heard this, he said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.' (Mark 2: 16-17)." The vocation of the Church is to find its own joyful and faithful life in this continued love-funded, self-giving, lost-seeking mission of God for the sake of embracing and freeing the least and lost of the world. In other words, the Church's mission is merely an expression of the desire and decision to fit into the ongoing mission of God to the World. Stephen B. Bevan and Roger P. Schroeder make this point remarkably well. "One of the most important things Christians need to know about the Church is that the Church is not of ultimate importance. . .the point of the Church is not the Church itself. . .the point of the Church is rather to point beyond itself, to be a community that preaches, serves, and witnesses to the reign of God."
How then, can the Church become what it is called to be? Let me suggest two changes congregations can make in the way they think about themselves. First, congregations can move away from thinking of themselves bureaucratically as organizations of Christianity to reclaiming their vocation dynamically as organisms of the Kingdom of God in Christ. Religious organizations are bound by their own mission statements for self-preservation. Christian organisms are alive because of the life-force that animates and frees them for life-preservation. The former lives by the principle of self-expansion to further the mission of a religious institution while the latter lives by the model of self-expending (Jesus Christ) to accomplish the mission of God for all of creation. Our liturgy, fellowship, leadership style, budget, programs and proclamation ought to be reviewed with an eye toward this question: Does my church exist as an organization of Christian religion or as an organism of the kingdom of God that in Christ claimed a foothold in the world?
Second, congregations can reconsider their mandate. Instead of being caught up with the command of commission, they can begin to think of becoming participants in the invitation to co-mission. The Great Commission is sometimes expressed as 'the burden of evangelism.' But another way to think about it is as the privilege of co-mission, stemming from recognition that God is always and already at work in the world for the sake of love and life. Our task is to locate this activity and become co-workers with Christ. The feature of self-emptying becomes a mark of the Church as it joins Christ in the blessed journey of God's mission. Of course, in both activities the Church's mission is co-mission with God. The question then can be put as follows: are we as mission-centered Churches discerning how God operates in the world around our community so as to offer ourselves as joyous and committed co-mission peoples?
Resources
Books:
Dalits and Christianity: Subaltern Religion and Liberation Theology in India by Sathi Clarke
Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly: A Biblical Model of Church Leadership by Lewis Parks and Bruce Birch
Lectures:
On Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 to 9 a.m., Dr. Sathi Clarke will lead the Community Builder presentation Passionately Christian and Compassionately Interfaith: Finding Space in God for Acceptance. Held in Elderdice Hall on Wesley's campus, this lecture will address the opportunities available to claim our unique relationship with Jesus Christ and to make respectful room for people from other faiths. To RSVP, call (202) 885-8636.
On Wednesday, April 19, at 5:30 p.m., Wesley's Dean, Dr. Bruce Birch, will present Locusts and Dreams: Harnessing the Power of the Spirit to Make a Difference. Sponsored by Sojourners and Call to Renewal, this lecture will be held at 3333 14th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. For more information, call (202) 328-8842.
This is only a brief list of resources on the mission-centered church.
Upcoming Events
Community Builder Breakfast Presentation - Wednesday, April 19
Join us on April 19, 7:30 to 9 a.m., for the Community Builder presentation Passionately Christian and Compassionately Interfaith: Finding Space in God for Acceptance by Dr. Sathi Clarke. This lecture will address the opportunities available to claim our unique relationship with Jesus Christ and to make respectful room for people from other faiths. To RSVP, call (202) 885-8636.
Wesley Ministry Network Releases New Course - May
Wesley Ministry Network's new video series, "Serious Answers to Hard Questions" hosted by Bishop Kenneth Carder will be available in May. In this series, leading theologians address ten issues that are obstacles to faith for many both in and outside of the church. Among other things, the lessons will address how Christians should relate to people of other faiths and answer questions about The Da Vinci Code. For more information, visit www.WesleyMinistryNetwork.com
Weekly Worship Service - Tuesdays
During the academic year, Wesley Theological Seminary holds a weekly worship service on campus in Oxnam Memorial Chapel on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. We warmly invite you to attend and worship with us. Upcoming services include:
Emerging worship on April 18 led by Brian McLaren, author, speaker and Christian activist. McLaren helped to form Cedar Ridge Community Church, an innovative, nondenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region (www.crcc.org).
Open House for the Lewis Center for Church Leadership - Wednesday, April 19
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership invites the friends and members of the Wesley community to an open house on Wednesday, April 19, from 3 to 4 p.m. in Room 104 in the Kresge Building. The Lewis Center is celebrating the completion of two pieces of fabric art for the Center by Wesley student Sally Dolch. For more information, call (202) 885-8757 or email jearnold@wesleyseminary.edu.
Grad News and Notes
For and About Wesley Alums
Please send information you'd like to share with other Wesley alums to Ann Keeler, director of graduate relations, at Graduates@wesleyseminary.edu.
Recent Deaths
Thomas H. Dahl, M.Div. '64, age 66, died March 28 after being injured from a fall off a ladder while leading the Alaskan Missionary Conference volunteer team working in Moss Point, Miss. After graduation from Wesley, Dahl left the Minnesota Annual Conference for Alaska where he was a missionary pastor. He later worked in urban renewal and decided to attend law school in California. He returned to practice in Juneau in 1977 with an emphasis on administrative law. For many years he was the chancellor of the Alaska Missionary Conference, handling a landmark case that resulted in the upholding of the property trust clause of the UMC. He returned to active clergy status in 2000.
Rev. Harold A. Milstead, D.Min. '76, age 92, died March 23 at his home in Shepherdstown, W.Va. He served 10 churches in the Baltimore-Washington conference of The United Methodist Church, in addition to serving as conference statistician for many years.
Celebrations
Ann Farris, M.A. '02 was recently spotted at the Noel Paul Stookey concert at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church and reports the following: Because of my husband's work, we're now in Centreville, Va. I'm currently working for Wesley Housing Dev. Corp. (www.wesleyhousing.org) and was recently commissioned a deaconess in the United Methodist Church. I am developing an arts empowerment ministry (www.anartsawakening.com) and currently attending Centreville UMC.
Shenandoah Gale, M.T.S. '05 was named to serve as the Coordinator for Anti-racism Education and Training for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Located within the Office of the Presiding Bishop, this position is a strategy for the 98 percent white denomination to more fully become community. She began work at the Chicago church-wide office on April 3rd.
Dr. Richard Gentzler, M.Div. '76, Director of the Center on Aging & Older Adult Ministries for the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., recently produced the video, New Beginnings: The Gifts of Aging. The 20-minute video shows creative ministries involving older adults who in their later years are actively engaged in Christian discipleship and in service to others. The video received the Crystal Award of Excellence in the Religious Inspiration Category. Dr. Gentzler is an adjunct faculty member at Wesley Theological Seminary teaching courses on Planning Comprehensive Ministries with Older Adults and A Theological Perspective of Aging. Feel free to contact him at rgentzler@gbod.org or visit www.aging-umc.org.
Kali Kucera, M.Div. '98 has been named Director of Worship Arts at Urban Grace, an intentionally ecumenical church in the city center of Tacoma, Wash. Urban Grace's primary affiliations are The Presbyterian Church (USA), The Episcopal Church (USA), and The American Baptist Church.
Dr. Wayne Leaver, M.Div. '73 and D.Min. '74 served as co-chair of the 26th Annual National Conference of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, held in Tampa, Fla., March 28-April 1, 2006. For more information, visit http://adec.org. Additionally, Dr. Leaver will present at the 26th International Congress on Applied Psychology July 16-21, 2006 in Athens, Greece on the topic "The Controlling and the Competitive Individuals: Coping with Grief and Loss.”
Lee Porter, M.T.S. '97 had quilts about Nicaragua featured in the March issue of Sojourners.
Rev. Henry C. Thompson, III, M.Div. '72 will retire from the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church after 37 years of service.
Previously Reported in Celebrations
Rev. John Cushwa, M.Div. '05 has been called to be the pastor at Falling Waters Presbyterian Church in Hedgesville, West Virginia. He began his work there March 6. His ordination and installation will be at the Falling Waters Church on May 21 at 4 p.m.
Rev. Abi Foerster, M.Div. '98 and husband Lacy Lusk celebrate the adoption of their daughter, Sophia Elizabeth Lusk, born Dec. 20, 2005, and welcomed into their home two days later.
Rev. Kasey Jones, M.Div. '04 was named Sr. Pastor of National Baptist Memorial Church located in the heart of Adams Morgan on the corner on Columbia Road between 15th and 16th Streets, N.W. in Washington, D.C. She began her work there on March 20. Her installation service will be held on Sunday, May 21.
ATLASerials for Wesley Graduates
Wesley Seminary's library is pleased to announce that we are now able to provide our Alums with online access to full-text versions of online theological journals. For information on how to access these, free of charge to Wesley graduates, please contact Howertine Farrell Duncan at (202) 885-8696 or hduncan@wesleyseminary.edu.
Attention M.T.S. Graduates
M.T.S. graduates, save the date of Wednesday evening, April 26, 2006 for our bi-annual M.T.S. gathering for current students and graduates. This year we will focus on supplying a network for current M.T.S. students for mentoring and advice for future ministry. Contact Ann Keeler, director of graduate relations, at Graduates@wesleyseminary.edu for more information.
Wesley Journal Available Online
The Wesley Journal, the weekly campus newsletter published by Student Council, is now available online. The Journal's current editor, Katie Olliff, hopes that having an online version will help the Wesley community feel more connected to what's happening on campus. To read the current and archived issues online, visit the student portal of Wesley's webpage, found in the resources list at www.wesleyseminary.edu.
Wesley Staff Bazaar Raises $2,375!
The annual Bazaar raised the third highest amount of money to date for student book scholarships. This is the 14th year that Wesley's staff has organized the event to benefit students who need assistance with buying books.
