Methodist to the Core April 29, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Christian discipleship, Mission of the Church, The United Methodist Church.Tags: Christian discipleship, Church membership, Mission & Purpose, The United Methodist Church
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During the 1990s and early 2000s, the General Board of Discipleship championed an effort to get The United Methodist Church to focus on ¶122 of the Book of Discipline — “The Process for Carrying Out Our Mission”or, the core process of our church. (This has also been called “Our Primary Task.”) Known variously as Quest for Quality, Quest, and FaithQuest, these efforts helped the denomination better understand the then mission of the church “making disciples of Jesus Christ.” In the era of the expanded mission statement (…for the transformation of the world) it is well to return to ¶122 and see how well we’re doing. Here’s the passage in its entirety:
¶ 122. The Process for Carrying Out Our Mission—We make disciples as we:
—proclaim the gospel, seek, welcome and gather persons into the body of Christ;
—lead persons to commit their lives to God through baptism by water and the spirit and profession of faith in Jesus Christ;
—nurture persons in Christian living through worship, the sacraments, spiritual disciplines, and other means of grace, such as Wesley’s Christian conferencing;
—send persons into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being and becoming a compassionate, caring presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel; and
—continue the mission of seeking, welcoming and gathering persons into the community of the body of Christ.
Turning One April 29, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Personal Reflection.Tags: grace, new beginnings
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Today is my birthday. One year ago I celebrated the half-century milestone, and at the time, things were looking fantastic. If 50 is the new 40, then life begins at the big five-oh, and for me it certainly started off that way. My 
book Vital Signs was doing great, and I was receiving very positive feedback from churches and conferences around the United States as well as from England, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. I was launching sixnew research efforts with an incredibly capable team of volunteers nation-wide, and I was being invited by other boards and agencies to share my research with them. My GBOD blog was gaining a follower-ship, and was receiving widespread praise. I was awaiting the release of my first book with Abingdon Press, 
Bursting the Bubble, and I had upcoming articles in Lectionary Homiletics, Circuit Rider, and Clergy Journal. The General Board of Discipleship was restructuring, and it looked as though my research office would begin serving Path One and the Division on Ministry to Young People as well as Discipleship Ministries. In the spring I received wonderful praise from all levels of the church for my work:
- from a seminary professor — “Vital Signs is the best book on The United Methodist Church in over a decade. I am making it required reading of all my students.”
- from a retired bishop — “It gladdens my heart to see the work you are doing for the denomination. You are doing some of the most important work anywhere in the church.”
- from a current bishop — “What you are writing is more than valuable. You are one of the few truly prophetic voices in our church today.”
