Below is the email I sent to each bishop, active and retired, around the world. I addressed each personally, using first names for the few that know me from face-to-face contacts over the years.
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Dear Bishop Sano,
Two thoughts on the meaning of incarnating God's love in the midst of the climate crisis and our declining membership:
One, what if we divided up our districts as United Methodists and established parish lines out to the next UM church in all directions. We would not use those lines as restrictive to define our pastoral "kingdoms" but as defining for whom we were responsible. I'm not sure who are the unnoticed in your area, but in the United States we have at least one group: those who might be a potential mass shooter.
In all of the hundreds of cases of the past two decades in the US, especially since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, no mass murderer or his family has been reported to have a pastor or church involved in their lives.
I do not think that John Wesley had that in mind when he admonished his preachers to visit from house to house. But I would not be surprised if he was concerned that unstable or otherwise vulnerable people were going unnoticed and therefore unserved by church.
The Jehovah's Witnesses who actually do visit house to house do not go beyond trying to encourage people to join their association. I know. I've mentioned to them when they visit me that they are doing a unique thing and could be bearers of lists of resources counties and communities offer. They turn glassy-eyed when I ask them about that.
So, my fellow UM pastors, what do you think? Can we carry on a "red flag" ministry that just might save a ton of lives? Whether or not we can get an assault weapons ban, maybe we can stop a mass shooting before it happens by paying attention to these unnoticed folks.
Two, to get a glimpse of what incarnating God's love looks like, let me share a little story. A young mother and her 6-year-old son were out shopping and stopped to get something to eat. The waitress took the mother's order of a shrimp salad and iced tea and turned to the little boy. "He'll have a hamburger and a glass of milk," the mother said. The waitress did not turn away from the boy. "Sir, what will you have?" The mother started to repeat what she'd ordered for him but the waitress gently raised her hand, looking at the boy. The boy glanced at his mother, saw her pause, and he turned back to the waitress. "May I have a toasted cheese sandwich and chocolate milk?" The waitress smiled, nodded her head, glanced at the mother to be sure the order was okay with her, turned and went to get their lunch. The boy turned back to his mother and said, "She thinks I'm real!"
In my years of ministry, when someone made me feel real, I caught a glimpse of God's paying attention to me, a glimpse of God's love.
Who are the unnoticed where you are? If you can't think of any, as a starting point look at with whom Jesus spent his time. Once we have established who we need to serve, then we have to find the strategies, means, and support systems to help us reach out in God's name, especially among the unnoticed.
In the covenant of the clergy,
Jerry
Rev. Jerry Eckert, retired, Wisconsin Annual Conference
PS Have you read the book LEADERSHIP THE WESLEYAN WAY by Aaron Perry and Bryan Easley? An African colleague identified it as a book he keeps on his desk.
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