About
Dan Dick is an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church serving in Extension Ministry as the Director of Connectional Ministries for the Wisconsin Annual Conference. A nationally known speaker, teacher, and author of thirteen books on spirituality, stewardship, congregational development, research, and spiritual gifts discovery, and an advocate for a more loving, inclusive church for the 21st century and beyond, Dan worked for the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tennessee for fourteen years in stewardship, congregational and conference planning, leadership development, and research.
Dan is an avid reader, with a deep passion for Biblical studies. His doctoral work was in extra-canonical writings of the ante-nicene period, and his doctor of ministry work was in stewardship education. He has a love of research and critical thinking, and he continues to study and analyze trends impacting The United Methodist Church.
Dan’s newest book is Bursting the Bubble (Abingdon Press, 2008). Subtitled, Rethinking Conventional Wisdom about Church Leadership, the book invites critical thinking and serious reflection about many myths and misconceptions currently influencing Christian churches in the United States. Bursting the Bubble is a hopeful and engaging call to rethink “church” and become the body of Christ for the world.
Dan and his wife Barbara live in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Barbara is a freelance editor and voice-over artist.
Dan,
I was at a retreat about a year ago where you told a story about a man and his care-taker sister receiving communion. “This is good”.
Do you tell that story in any of your books? I’d love to get my hands on it and use it in worship on a communion Sunday.
Thanks
Okay, here’s the story:
I served a small, rural congregation that was in a growing area. I spent a good deal of my time visiting people in the community, inviting them to join us for worship and our outreach programs. On one of my visits I met Elizabeth and her brother, Billy. Elizabeth and Billy, brother and sister, had been together for all of their 70+ years. Billy was mentally handicapped (functioning at the level of an energetic 6 year old), unable to care for himself, and Elizabeth unselfishly spent her whole life caring for Billy. The problem was, Elizabeth was morbidly embarrassed by Billy. For that reason, they rarely left the house, and rarely socialized with others. When I invited them to come to church, Elizabeth was reluctant, and told me they probably wouldn’t come. Billy, however, was very excited and promised they would be there.
I visited Elizabeth and Billy again, and Elizabeth told me that Billy pestered her constantly to come to church. She was less than pleased, and my second visit just added energy and resolve to Billy’s desire to come to church.
Nothing happened for weeks, but one Sunday morning — a communion Sunday — I looked up and saw Elizabeth and Billy sitting in the back of the sanctuary. Elizabeth was abjectly uncomfortable, while Billy was happily greeting and chatting with everyone he could. Billy sat, wonderfully behaved throughout the service — then we came to the Lord’s Supper. In our congregation, we served communion by intinction at three different stations. The congregation was invited to come forward, and Billy popped up and got in line, while Elizabeth tried to shrink into the pew. Billy received communion at one station, then ran to get in the next line. Receiving the elements a second time, Billy moved onto the third line. With a huge smile and sparkling eyes, Billy turned and shouted across the sanctuary to his sister, “Hey, Bethy, you gotta do this. This is good!” Elizabeth was mortified.
When it came time to share the prayer after receiving, I set the stage by shifting attention to what Billy said. “Too often, as we ‘celebrate’ communion we lose sight of how special, how wonderful, how magical, and how incredible this celebration truly is. We give thanks to Billy this morning for reminding us of the most important lesson of this sacrament — echoing God’s own verdict when judging creation — “this is good!” Instead of ‘Amen’ let’s conclude our thanksgiving prayer by proclaiming in unison, “this is good!”
And for year’s after, whenever we celebrated the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, in gratitude and praise, all God’s people joyously professed — “this is good!”
I really like this story. In our church, we’ve begun observing communion twice a month. Some folks complain (so I hear–the complainers never bring their concern to the clergy) that we are observing communion too often. (From what I gather from a congregant who appreciates “constant communion” yet hears the complaints, it is because some think that greater frequency makes communion “not special” and because people struggle with the body/blood imagery. We need to do some interpretation around that.) In your story, Bill is a true heir of John Wesley!
Why did you leave the GBOD??! I have pastored for over twenty years and am in my fifth year as a district superintendent. In both “lives” I have witnessed the amazing impact you (and especially your wiriting) have on the church. There is nothing else coming out of Nashville that is half as good as what you produce. We need voices like yours and can’t afford to lose you. Please reconsider?
Not my choice, Carol — they fired me. Said that the work I was doing “does not align with the mission of The United Methodist Church or the strategic direction of the General Board of Discipleship” so they cut me loose. If it were up to me, I would still be doing what I have these past 14 years — but thank you for the kind words.
This saddens me. You have helped us to allign our ministries to the mission of the United Methodist Church. You have made us think. Thanks for ministering through this blog. This weekend I talked about you with a Presbyterian USA pastor who read one of your books via a recommendation and will be using it in her leadership training classes.
I have commented to one of your posts before. I am a student at Candler School of Theology. One of my passions is trying to “crack the case” on how the church can reach out to younger people today. I think the church is viewed widely as an out of touch organization of person’s parents-though those parents began the pattern of looking beyond the church for answers long ago.
I am trying, somewhere among my studies, to build a research project on various ways the church can reach out to young people (18-35 years old) and, hopefully, become more inclusive and less polarized in the process. Do you have any suggestions? Do you have any contacts who can help? I actually think you would be a good contact if you have the time to occasionally dialogue with me and help give me some feedback on my direction.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. Feel free to contact me via my e-mail address also. Thank you for your work and your willingness to call into question where the church is failing at its missional work in the world (bgosden@yahoo.com)
Ben, there is SO much out there that it is hard to sift through it all. Most of the research confirms our suspicions and fears — the 18-35 crowd is disaffected, disappointed, and disturbed by traditional, mainline Protestant religion, and they are growing disenchanted with the post-modern, mega-church alternatives. Here is my current view in a nutshell. I will contact you directly soon to have a conversation about your questions.
We are living in a time of three driving, semi-compatible paradigms: the “institutional preservation paradigm” (how do we get more people to come to us so we can survive?), the “spiritual enlightenment paradigm” (spiritual exploration in an open space, networked, global world that is more about “meaning” than “truth”), and the “global enlightenment paradigm” (where the gravitational center of Christianity is moving out of the northern and western hemispheres to the global south, India and China). The first paradigm is inwardly focused and asks the question, “How do we get new people to come and join us?” The second paradigm is outwardly focused and asks the question, “How do we connect with and join an evolving Christian community in the larger culture?” The third paradigm is globally and future-focused and asks, “What is our role in a epoch-shifting transformation where ours will be the minority, less-influential side of the Christian church?” I don’t see The United Methodist Church wrestling with either of the two latter questions (unless you count the fear-based, narrow-minded, short-sighted, reactionary move to create ‘regional’ conferences). A growing segment of authentic, committed Christian disciples is emerging outside the traditional church. Our thinking should not be about how to get them to “join the church,” but about ways we can form healthy relationships and partnerships that will be both mutually beneficial as well as make a bigger impact on our communities and world. Anything we can do to eliminate the false “us/them” dichotomy between Christians inside the church and Christians outside the church will work to our advantage in the long run.
Ben, UM Communications has done quite a bit of market research with people 18-35 who do not go to church. It backs up the new Rethink Church project, aimed toward helping churches reach that cohort. You might be able to get more info at rethinkchurch@umcom.org.
I look forward to a direct contact with you. I am curious as to how you see we as the UMC seek to move to solve these paradigms we are facing. Look forward to hearing from you soon.