Nepotism and Guaranteed Appointments

Ask my family one of my favorite words to hate and they will answer, "Nepotism." I just read a blog post comment on the www.umc.org site in which someone said the United Methodist Church should not give up "guaranteed appointments" because there is too much nepotism and politics in the church. This person's contention is that having "guaranteed appointments" offers a more level playing field and cuts down on the nepotism that makes people distrust the current system of appointment-making. I must admit they speak the truth to a degree, but don't offer a solution to the situation we do have; i.e., where it is difficult to exit ineffective clergy from our ranks. Guaranteed appointments often breed mediocrity.

But what about nepotism and favoritism that results in people "flopping to the top" or getting big jumps in salary or church size because of their choice of school, family connections, or even their age? The blog commentator said in their conference, for instance, that "young is in" right now so young clergy get big bumps in terms of raises and churches, and this person also said that people get better churches because of family connections.

I think the future of the Wesleyan Movement and our denomination rests on excellence in pulpit and pew - no favoritism or nepotism allowed. No one should be able to "chummy" their way to the top. It's all about effectiveness. Look at Wesley, Asbury, Harry Hoosier and the early leaders of the denomination. They blessed the ministries of whomever was getting results; didn't matter if they were ordained, pedigreed, learned or not. Some may complain about using the corporate lingo of "metrics," but that's who we are in our distinctive ecclesiological emphasis on sanctification. From Wesley's "Large Minutes" in 1744 and ever since we have been employing measurable standards to empirically answer the Methodist question, "How goes it with your soul?"

So people should be deployed in ministry settings based on gifts, graces, and RESULTS; not who you know or whether you're a great suck-up. This is a laity problem, too, as I think about those churches where if you're not a member of such and such a family you're still an outsider and never get elected to anything; or the church where the big money person moves in and tries and does "buy" their way into a leadership position. Whew! Nepotism, sucking-up, favoritism - it's sin and corruption the likes of ex-Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich.

And it's been that way in church politics for a long time. For instance, the word "nepotism" comes from the Latin, "nepos," or "nephew." Guess how it got into our vernacular. We can attribute it to popes like Pope Sixtus IV who made six of his nephews into Cardinals and most of them at outrageously young ages. Nepotism has been rampant in the church. Instead of nepotism we should embrace the witness of the Holy Spirit in the lives we appreciate. Does this person have what it takes,and does it show up in their fruitfulness. Ah! Fruitfulness, that's the word I've been looking for. That's the word I ponder as people are thinking about ministry or lay leadership - Show me fruit or else.

My two kids that are in ministry know that they don't get preferential treatment from me. It's never been that way. Ask them what it was like for me to be their coach when they were little. I was more likely to bench them than let them play, just to avoid the appearance of partiality. They knew I loved them, and they played if they were the best person to put in the field or on the court, but they knew that foremost the decisions were about fairness and integrity. That is the crux of the whole debate about guaranteed appointments. If Bishops, DS', Boards of Ordained Ministries, whomever, etc. treated everyone alike with fairness and integrity - no favorites, no pet students - then we wouldn't have anxiety about getting rid of guaranteed appointments. We could and would trust the system.

However, I'm saddened by the fact that I still have PPRC committees say they would rather have a man than a woman, even if the woman is better, or that they would rather have a sorry white male than a gifted fruitful minority female. Give me a break! This is where I might have to mitigate all that I've said and put some sort of bigot-protection into the appointment-making process for women and minorities. But, whoa, if we believe that fruitfulness can be measured; then the proof will be manifest and shut up the naysayers, but we have to make sure that some, like women, minorities, or those with some disabling condition, at least get a chance to show what they can do. Right? Isn't that fair?

I'm willing to trust the kind of leadership that is fair to all, but I'm a semi-white male who's worked his tail off to get where I am, and I also understand and have benefited from "white privilege." But, I also understand and favor the truth that God blesses and it shows, too. So, guaranteed appointments, or not - no more nepotism, no more mediocrity. God's power is made perfect in weakness, true - but I think we need to quit honoring so much weakness that the church is going down the tubes. We are falling prey to our basest insecurities when we want to surround ourselves by "yes" people. It's time to be strong and do the right thing without regard to who our chums are, or our preconceived prejudices. Say it with me, "NO MORE NEPOTISM!" "NO MORE NEPOTISM!" "NO MORE NEPOTISM!"

"Inception"

We went to see "Inception," and it is one of those "thinkers" that keeps your mind going back to it, pondering, replaying, trying to unravel the conundrum. I'm not going to give away any of the twists and turns, and really am not sure that I can. However, the movie is a must-see if you ever think about the 21st century and the church.

The movie asks you to ponder "What's real?" In our work-a-day-world with people seeking meaning beyond just having a paycheck in this economy, I am challenged to look at the church's on-going gnosticism, it's flirtation and marriage to mind over matter; i.e., "If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Gnostics, the ultimate neo-platonists, separated mind and knowledge (gnosis) from matter. They elevated unseen thought above the seen "projections" of mind. Objects, people, the environment - None of it matters. One's mind and feelings were the ultimate filters and gauges of value.

Sounds like our culture, "Inception," and me. Why do I say,"me?" Well, I'd really like a lot of the junk I see, the gaping fear I feel about Narcie's condition, to be all a dream, a falsehood, a projection, from which I'll wake. How many of us have a reality that we really wish wasn't real? I think there's a whole bunch of us.

Worse in all this pipe-dreaming is that this kind of dualistic separation of mind (psyche) and body (soma) is rampant in the church, maybe in the Bible, the New Testament at least. Think of the last funeral you attended. We buried the body, and the soul is gone to heaven. Well, thank you, Paul, for setting up this Greco-Roman embrace of Plato that flies in the face of Hebrew thought's understanding that one cannot and could not divide mind and matter. Our human personhood is an unitary whole, therefore, EVERYTHING matters! We will not rape Mother Earth. We are partners and interconnected with everything. John Dunne's "No man is an island..." or Wesley's notion of connectionalism come to mind?

I hope so. As I have been reading Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity, I have been challenged in how much we need to shed our gnostic theological underpinnings and get back to the solid Rock, the utter realness of Jesus. I'm not talking "Jesus Seminar" neutering of Jesus as God Incarnate, but an embrace of incarnational theology and process theology that celebrates that we as "Second-Adams," like Christ, should live enmeshed in the creation fully; that we are not and cannot be bifurcated into meaningless lives separating who we are from what we do. We bear the image of God, made in that image. From the beginning we have been co-operants with God's plan to redeem everything. The more we separate mind from matter God redeems nothing.

Hear this, if you don't get it from "Inception," get it from me: Your life is real. Your pain is not a phantasm. Feelings aren't the end-all of everything - God is, and that God in Christ has entered our real lives, pains and triumphs, and cries and smiles with us. God goes with us through everything and the ending of the movie is never the ending because God continues to connect with our journey, our going on to perfection, sanctification. The Gospel of Jesus Christ redeems our total reality because we are not mere projections, we are precious participants in a holy endeavor to make all things real and right. You matter! You matter! You matter!

Friday Night At The Movies

It's weekend on the first leg of my July-August journey; I'm at Emory now teaching UM Discipline and Polity, then it's back in Columbia for District Set-up Meeting, Cabinet Retreat and through the end of August in Africa. Cindy's coming down tonight and hopefully we'll eat well and check out some movies. I eat okay when I'm by myself, but when she's around my vegetable count goes way up. She's great and keeps me straight.

We will be married 35 years this December 20 and yesterday I booked our anniversary excursion. She wants to go to New York City at Christmas, see the sights and shows. So, anyway, we're booked for a midtown hotel, and will see "In the Heights," "The Rockettes' Christmas Show," and, hopefully, "The Nutcracker," but those tickets don't go on sale until September. It will be fun. I'm looking forward to window-shopping and the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Tree. It will all be gravy after that - 3 nights in the Big Apple with the Apple of My Eye.

We learned a long time ago that we had to go on dates at least once a week, nothing too fancy, just quality time without the kiddo's, just the two of us. To all of you folks out there - keep the home fires burning by stoking the fire. It takes work and prioritizing, but there aren't any shortcuts to lasting love. I'm no specialist in things of the heart, and I've made a lot of stupid mistakes, but I've tried to learn from them. So, I'm not sure where we will go tonight. I've got some options, movie times and restaurant list nearby - Athens Pizza will suit us both, go see "Salt" or "Sorcerer's Apprentice," or something between action, comedy, and love story. Well, that's the plan. We'll see. Hope you and yours have a great weekend.

Christmas in July

Saturday, Saturday - It's about the only day that ministers get to have Sabbath. Sunday is usually chock full of sermons, Sunday school, afternoon and evening meetings, the usual. The rest of the week is packed, too. I used to try to take Fridays off, but Friday became the day to get things done so Saturday was truly a Sabbath. Sometimes it actually worked.
I have high hopes this morning. We went to the Original Pancake House and indulged. We love it and haven't been since Cindy got out of school for the summer. We both half-heartedly joked that the district parsonage has been like a motel where we just plop down for the night. Our lives have been in Rock Hill with Narcie, Mike, and the Kiddo's, plus Josh & Karen; and thank God Caleb and I had our oasis together in Omaha.

Everybody needs an oasis: Like the picture I took of the robin in the snow-tipped pine tree. Christmas in July is having Sabbath in the midst of a hot grueling summer. Part of me longs to be on top of Mt. Mitchell in the solitude and crisp cool air with the clouds swirling in from every direction. It's always 30 degrees cooler there than here in Columbia's sauna. Call it "Recovery Time," or whatever. We need it or we run out of gas and aren't worth anything to anybody.

So today I'm shooting for a perch in a snow-tipped pine: read a little, sleep a little, catch up on DVR'ed TV shows that I missed during the week, play with the kids and not worry about a thing. I made a pit stop at a local bookstore the other day and stocked up on some novels. Oh, to find the time; or, better yet, MAKE the time to read them. Well, that's my hope for today, to play with the kids, to read a good book, to be a robin in a tree with dreams of cooler weather.

To all my clergy buds, grab a Sabbath today or whenever you can. Like the little robin, chill out and feel the breeze. Come on, Nicodemus, you can't see it, but you know it when you feel it. Today is the day. Enjoy.

Memories and Calling

This picture says a lot - Great perch except for the doo under your feet. I know folks who can see a pile of manure and believe there's a pony underneath, and then there are folks who seem to attract trouble. I guess most of us are somewhere in between those that appear to have a Teflon coating and avoid trouble sticking to them, and those that seem to never ever catch a break. Reminds me of the Apostle Paul who said in Philippians that he had learned to have contentment whether well-fed or hungry. How? The answer is in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ."

Now that's the rub isn't it? At least it is for me. Doing everything through Christ is easier said than done. Basing my contentment and joy on Christ rather than circumstances, doctor's reports, or bank account balances is more than kind of hard for me. For instance, the bird picture comes from a shot I took this past January at Epworth-By-The Sea on St. Simon's Island, Ga.; beautiful spot and brings back memories. One of those memories is from 2 years ago when I was a nominee for Bishop. I, along with others, had to stand up and speak about our episcopal calling. Then last week I was at Lake Junaluska Assembly in NC where I made the same type speech and where the election was held. Two years ago today I came in second to a great guy. Second, second - beats last, but... am I spiritually up to going through that gauntlet again? There's a lot of doo and poo that abounds in the process, but that's life, c'est la vie, n'est pas?

Someone yesterday asked me if I was "running" again for Bishop. Well, it's not "running," is it? At least, not for me. It's a calling, and in the United Methodist Church, you can have a wonderful personal call, but that call has to be ratified and confirmed by an ecclesiastical call via the voters at Jurisdictional Conference. Well, the answer is "Yes." I still feel called to do the task. Everything I've been through has been a school for this calling, but I am not and will not be presumptuous about other people's clarity about that. I can die content with whatever happens, and I'd trade everything I have in life for my little girl to be well.

Next year's Annual Conference elections have a lot to say about all of this anyway. That's who gets a lot of "say" in this, and my hands are full in the meantime as a Dad to Narcie (Mike) and her future, husband to Cindy who was thankful to get her mother's estate settled today. And, of course, I'm MacMac to Enoch and Evy and will keep on encouraging Josh (Karen) and Caleb. Plus, I love being District Superintendent to the Columbia District Clergy and laity spending time with both. For going on 5 years I have been spending 3 hours with each clergyperson doing whatever they want to do and we've done everything from hiking, trips to the zoo, crawling under churches, Frisbee golf to real golf. What we've been doing is making friendships, connections beyond consultations in my office or at a Charge Conference. I have spent hours with District laity getting to know the people, teaching in Lay Speaking classes, leading United Methodist Men's retreats, and more.

To be honest, I think this kind of community-building underscores one of the most important senses of my call about being a bishop. You can't be a decent one, in my book, if you don't stay in and know the Annual Conference to which you are assigned. I don't know why over 4-8 years I couldn't do what I do now with the Columbia District clergy and laity. If a bishop takes their being on site seriously, there has to be a genuine concerted effort to connect with the clergy AND laity of an Annual Conference. It can be done!!! I'm doing it now, on a smaller scale, every year.

And this is in the midst of everything else on my plate. There's no way that being a Bishop or a District Superintendent is a part-time job. Next week I head to Emory's Candler School of Theology for my 10th year of teaching "United Methodist Discipline and Polity." Then right afterward I head to our Cabinet Retreat, then it's off to Africa for the Worldwide UMC Study Committee where we will listen to how other UM's around the world live out our polity and ponder how much do we have in common and what should be in a shared Book of Discipline and not adapted region to region. I'm not for much, if any, diocesan regional adaptation. That's one of the reasons why we're UNITED Methodists! I'll stop in Ethiopia, go to Mozambique, then through South Africa, and end up in Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire). I've had enough inoculations to last me a lifetime - wish I'd had some before I went to Manila for the Connectional Table earlier this Spring.

Anyway, in the midst of all this my email from the Columbia District will be answered, and I'll be in touch with the needs at home with my family. As a potter I know how you have to stay connected to the clay, become one with it, to create art. The emotional oneness is what makes the difference between a craftsman and an artist. I want to be an artist and feel the inner dance of this marvelous life God has given us through Jesus. You can't enjoy the perch without making fertilizer, right? Ah, but the view is great, and worth it all. The song "The Summons" from The Faith We Sing articulates the call I feel better than I can. Give it a listen.

Happy Times

Cindy's summer last year was consumed by her mother's illness and death. Today she's trying to finish the estate. A lot has happened in a realtively short period of time. I miss her Mom, but I think all this stuff with Narcie would have broken her heart with worry and ended her days with sadness. Instead Ganny died with a book in her hand, ever the librarian, looking forward not backward. I'm still amazed at how well she adapted from living in her special home to being under someone else's care. I won't forget how just a couple of weeks before her death, we went to see "Julie & Julia." Then the bone marrow biopsy and the day before they were going to tell us what it was (Acute Myleoblastic Leukemia), she was dead. Just like that. She had asked Narcie and Josh to do her eulogy and they were great in sharing their special "Ganny Memories." It would be tough for Ganny to know about Narcie. Just to think she died just a year and a half after seeing her precious Josh marry Karen. That was one of her last highwater marks exceeded perhaps only by the birth of Evy.

So, Cindy has been through a lot over the last couple of years. She is a trooper, dealing with last summer, a tough school year as usual as a guidance counselor, then just as school ended another saga began. I've had my break with the College World Series, she hasn't. She's been cheerleader, Mom, Grammie, friend, prayer-warrior, and so much more for all of us without so much as a thought for her own well-being. I sure do love her. I married my mother. She is so much like her. We joke around because I've sort of turned into her Mom which makes for an interesting visual when you think of our mothers marrying each other, but, hey, we're more complex than that, and I'm grateful.

This December 20 is our 35th wedding anniversary, and I hope we can do it up right. I'm not telling what I've got in mind but she'll love it if I can pull it off. She certainly deserves it. Both our best hopes would be fulfilled if Narcie's MRI's come back with no tumor. That would be gift enough. Nobody wants to outlive their child. I'm taking part in a funeral tomorrow for a child I baptized as an infant, who as a 19-year-old college student took his last breath on Saturday, from a summer cold turned into congestive heart failure. I cannot imagine his sweet parent's heartache, but all of this with Narcie has made me feel just a bit of it, more than I want. I guess tomorrow's sorrow has reminded me of how close we've come to the same horrible place and how grateful I am that Narcie Jo is alive and has the hope of being well.

Please pray for Wiley and DeLois Alexander and their family as they lay Karl to rest tomorrow. I never want to be in their shoes. I know that Jesus is in their hearts, but the ache that they must feel is beyond my pondering and is unfathomable. May God grant them peace. Ganny found peace and we are glad, but she was 76, not 19 like Karl, or 30 like Narcie. God please be with the families whose children are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, Haiti, the neo-natal unit down the street, everywhere.

Garden of Eden, is that where I want to go? Back to Eden sounds good, but didn't God put seraphim with blazing swords to keep Adam and Eve out? Why? If they had gotten back in they would have had access to both the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil AND the Tree of Life. Going back to Eden knowing good and evil, and eating of the Tree of Life and living forever would have been an eternal curse. God didn't want them to go back to Eden for their own good, our own good. So, we're people headed in a different direction - forward to the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21, no crying, no sadness, no good and evil - only good. Sounds good, but I'm in no hurry for any of us, not Karl, not Narcie, not Cindy. Maybe Ganny because she was ready and was wearing out. Maybe death can come as friend, but only through Jesus and not without a fight.

Throw Your Life Away: Be a Potter!

My good friend and father of a master potter, Willie Teague, blessed me this past weekend with the gift of a book with the simple inscription, "I saw this and thought of you. Peace, Willie." The book's title is The Soulwork of Clay: A Hands-on Approach to Spirituality. The author is Marjorey Zoet Bankson. It speaks to my head and heart. It is wonderful. It articulates long unexpressed feelings I have about clay and my heritage.

Many of you know about my Edgefield County, SC roots, American-Indian and clay-loving forebears. Some of you know that I love giving things away, a habit that I thought was a legacy of my parents, and they are deeply on my mind these past days. Daddy died 10 years ago this week and Mother's birthday is July 20 and has been dead 17 years. But, they're alive you see! Not just in God's embrace, but in their loving family's actions. Especially as I think of American-Indian Give-Away's, potlatches.

I never tied the two together, but it's in my brothers and my DNA to give things away. You may want to read Thom Whitewolf-Fasset's Giving Our Hearts Away to better understand the concept that the one who gives away the most is in harmony with all creation. At potlatches and give-aways at funerals, graduations, birthdays, etc. families give things away not receive them. It brings honor to be a giver. Anyway, I come from a long line of givers and maybe it's the Indian in us. Every Christmas I give each of my clergy a pottery gift that I've made. I make pots for all of the cabinet and everyone in the UM Center. Every year it's a different theme, and last year I also made jewelry for all the women by doing glass fusing and using my kiln.

But, back to clay and the kinetic dance that I feel from my fingers to my very soul. Throwing clay and shaping a vessel stirs my spirit. I'm too often a guy who seems to be living in and out of his head instead of being in touch with feelings. Well, feeling clay reconnects my mind and spirit. It grounds me and gives me joy. Marjorey Bankson puts it this way, "Now as the ecological crisis looms in many forms, I feel a new urgency for finding ways that we can rediscover how much we love the earth itself. I believe this is the path for recovering our humanity, our sense of community with each other, and communion with all living things, especially air and water. While some people go on a vision quest or a wilderness journey to reclaim this elemental sense of connection, I believe that working with clay can do the same thing at home." Amen.

It makes me think of how each of us is made in God's image and create from the dust/mud of the earth. Clay-throwing brings together earth, wind, water, and fire. It is as whole an experience of being/acting in God's image as I can imagine. The excitement as I write these words is indicative of the sheer pleasure of it, and it reminds me how much Jesus takes pleasure incarnationally in the mud of our lives. I can see him laughing as He works with us, kneading, loving, warming up the clay of our lives; opening us up to grace in the spinning of our lives; baptizing us with the Spirit's water taking the friction out of our existence; shaping us into a useful vessel; trimming away the excess we don't need; decorating us in unique ways; allowing the wind to blow on us preparing us for the fire of the kiln; glazing us with beauty to make us strong and vibrant.

Well, I thank Willie for the book and this respite in a hectic day to imagine myself back at the district parsonage at my wheel shaping a tall jug and sgrafittoing a SC palmetto on the side of a leatherhard piece. Examples of the end result of my work are seen in the photo above. The therapy, the reunion of body and spirit. It is good. It's even better to give it away!

Yo-Yo & JoJo

Okay, I'm a human yo-yo about JoJo. "JoJo" is what Cindy's Daddy called Narcie and sometimes we do it, too. In the back and front of my mind is Narcie and praying without ceasing for her, Mike, Enoch, and Evy. Hey, she's going to get back to preaching this Sunday. She's a great preacher - personal, insightful, a regular Harper Lee as in To Kill a Mockingbird. She preaches the contemporary service at St. John's UMC, Fort Mill, the same service where Mike is employed to do the music. Wow, is he great with music. I am amazed at his talent and feel for music. It shows! Narcie does the service as a part of the 10 hrs. that an Elder can spend outside her/his appointment. She gets some pay, but mostly St. John's gives a pretty large donation to the Winthrop Wesley Foundation. It all pans out, and they're okay when she's off on a Wesley trip or Campus Ministry event.

Anyway, back to the yo-yo image. You just saw it in action. I'm writing as if nothing has changed about Narcie, but if you read her latest blog about the Tumor Board's report - nothing will ever really be the same, except GOD. Those of you who have been juggling bad and worse news, plus trying to live a "normal" life have my utmost esteem. I know how you do it, though. I've seen you and heard you. Jesus is very real when you're in the crucible. Ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So at points I'm able to concentrate on whatever task is at hand, and then just below the surface or on the surface is our family's new reality. That's the way it is. We'll control what we can, and give all the rest to God. It is all beyond my reasoning and fix-it mentality. I will trust and will breathe. Hey, I just remembered the Latin motto of the state of South Carolina, Dum Spiro Spero, "While I Breathe I Hope!" Not bad for a state that surely needs hope. Look at that flag. Gamecock fans ought to know about hope in the midst of ambiguity.

Back in the Saddle & Fireworks - The Life of a DS

The fireworks have started. Maybe not as spectacular as over Lake Manawa last week, but they're real. I'm feeling back in the saddle as a District Superintendent today - juggling phone calls and drop-by visits from pastors and laity; getting ready to teach "United Methodism 101" at Laity Convocation this weekend; and preparing agendas as Cabinet Secretary for the Appointive Cabinet and Extended Cabinet. There have been back and forth emails and contacts with the conference lawyer. Oh, what fun. Mostly, yeah, being a DS is cool. You get to connect the local church with the general church and put a face and voice to people's concerns. Things range from church building decisions, to "We can't afford to pay our preacher!" and "Guess how many new members we had join last week!" Then there's the in-between stuff.

You know, the in-between stuff; ambiguous, not sure if it's good or bad, just stuff and somebody's got to do it. Par. 423.13 has become all too familiar as I begin my 5th year as a DS. It basically says I have the responsibility to decide all questions about churches in the Columbia District, subject to an appeal to the Bishop. Whew! I'm thinking right now about Rev. James Alewine, the best DS I ever had. There were other great ones, too, but he was there when I was serving in my most difficult church. He was my therapist, confidante, friend, and encourager. He has been my role model ever since, but I ain't even close, but I'm trying.

We all have to deal with well or ill-intentioned dragons and some are church members and some are clergy. We shouldn't be surprised. There's nothing original about Original Sin. So we trust the Lord and His grace as we deal with all kinds of people trying to live the Golden Rule and the adage from Kairos Prison Ministry: "Listen, Listen; Love, Love." With my new hearing aids I have no excuse to really hearing others. The proof will be in the relationships. If you listen to people, even the dragons, then Jesus is on your side.

All Curses Are Dead

What a time Caleb and I had in Omaha for the College World Series. We promised each other that we would stay as long as Carolina was still in the hunt. Well, we're home and the Gamecocks prevailed. USC has its National Championship, and the "Chicken Curse" is over! But, wait a minute - as a person of faith, hasn't the Curse been over for a long time? Yes, it has! No matter what the problem or who the opponent is - The Curse is over! I think what made this USC team special is its non-superstar journeymen (Michael Roth; et. al.) and fun approach (Nick Ebert, Scott Wingo; et. al.) to being a team. These guys enjoyed each other and it showed. They broke the Chicken Curse through their relationship with something/someone(s) bigger than themselves.

I hope that I can live into that belief this week as I reconnect with folks in the UM Center, Columbia District churches and clergy, and continue to encourage our piece of United Methodism. I'm a bit tired after all of the Omaha and back driving; and then this past weekend, staying with Narice and Mike and having a blast with Enoch and Evy. They're great, and Narcie is doing so well though our anxiety lingers. I just saw Caleb after being with him non-stop for 2 straight weeks. I've missed him and told him so. It's good to reconnect with those that you love. Caleb has been living at home these past 4 years in Columbia and just graduated from USC. It's been a saga and we've tried to maintain healthy distance in his personal life, but our 2 weeks in Omaha was absolutely wonderful. Sure, Narcie stayed on my mind, and Josh is great; but it was so good to just "be" with Caleb. It was good for our relationship.

Someone said you have to be relational to be relevant. Isn't that the truth. If one wants to make a difference in a life, a country, or a community - you have to be connected, relational. As a family we have felt that through Narcie's illness. I felt it in Omaha with Caleb and new found friends. I want to feel it in church, too, but I have to admit that's a bigger task as a District Superintendent. I think it's one of our biggest challenges for Christianity. Thanks to being a DS I think I kind of get it about those who stay home on Sundays because they're so beat up by the work week. We have to make church a relational family, not an entertainment center or a dull dirty monument to yesteryear.

Personally, you guys are winning the battle for relational Christianity when it comes to me and mine. Sure, I don't have one church or a church home, it's more like 70 of them, but after 4 years of quality time with each clergy, multiple charge conferences, UMM Retreats and Events, UMW Events, and myriad meetings of every ilk; I feel connected to the entire Columbia District; and through the Connectional Table, SC Annual Conference, and the Worldwide UMC Study Committee, I feel as close as a phone call or email to our whole denomination. I am grateful for how relevant you all are because you have chosen to be relational with my family. Thank you! Thank you!

I am very grateful for Caleb choosing to reconnect and relate to his old man for 2 solid weeks of baseball and camping in Omaha, Nebraska. And, of course, we now relate to a bigger Gamecock Nation. There's a lot of truth in the saying: There's strength in numbers, and the song that says "reach out and touch someone" is playing in my head. Here's to us on this Fourth of July weekend: E Pluribus Unum, "Out of Many, One." You have to be relational to be relevant!