A Letter From Rev. Maxie Dunnam about the UMC
Christ Church congregation,
Some 2000 years ago, on Pentecost Sunday, the Church was founded. While the Gospels may vary in some details, there's no disagreement about what happened. At Pentecost, Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into the world and share the Good News. The Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to meet their command.
It's time we focus on our church, Christ Church Memphis.
This is a time of questioning across the denomination, and there have been many significant changes within our church this year. These changes can create questions, but the question that continues to plague us: What is the future of the United Methodist denomination?
What's going on in the United Methodist Church?
You likely have heard some things and may have a base understanding of the issues. Although the presenting issue seems to be human sexuality and a Scriptural definition of marriage, there are more significant sources of division within the United Methodist Church. While those are important issues, the main source of division is the authority of Scripture.
Today, I want to address this situation personally.
Methodist By Choice
I'm 87 years old, and I'm a Methodist by choice. I was converted under the powerful preaching of a fifth-grade educated Baptist preacher. I was nurtured in the faith and inspired to answer God's call to preach by a dynamic, young Methodist preacher. Under his guidance and mentoring, I answered God's call to preach, and in 1952, when I was 17, I received my local preacher's license.
For more than 60 years, I have sought to be faithful to Christ's call, and I can confidently say that I am more Methodist Wesleyan than ever.
In 1968, the United Methodist Church was created. I have been a Methodist preacher longer than there has been a United Methodist Church. During all these years, my relationship or involvement has never been casual. Maybe sometimes to a fault.
Now, we're dealing firsthand with questions of separation and a new denomination. There's going to be a lot of change, but be assured that Christ Church will operationally and missionally continue very much as we presently are. Hopefully, with an even greater commitment to our city and concern for the world. It's because that, that I'm happy.
I've had one of the most exciting ministries anyone could have. Not only have I pastored nine different congregations, three of which I helped plant. I've also led the Upper Room's world ministry and served as president at Asbury Seminary.
Now, you may wonder why I'm sharing all that, and some of you may consider it a bit boastful. I share it because I live confessionally in relation to my ministry, and this is a part of the confession. So I have to ask myself:
What sort of churches did I plant?
What sort of churches did I plan?
What kind of leadership did I provide for those congregations that I served?
God’s Actions Continue
Acts 2 tells the story of the first church plant in history.
God came unexpectedly at Pentecost, which of course, is nothing new. God seems to make a habit of sneaking up on humanity, and appearing when no one is looking or knows what’s happening. But God was in their midst.
At Pentecost, this little band of frightened disciples, whose leader had gone off and left them confused, were unable to figure out what was next. Their only instruction was, "Stay here in Jerusalem until you receive the gift the Father had promised." Can you imagine their confusion? Then God comes along most unexpectedly.
I remind you, friends, that God's actions continue. It has not ceased, and He continues to show up today. Pentecost was a missionary event.
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
It shouldn't surprise us when the Holy Spirit comes roaring through our lives, churches, and community, because people are going to be converted. People who've never known Jesus before will come to the altar and praise Him.
How and why?
Because God is a missionary, and the Holy Spirit is the chief evangelist. I want you to hold that tightly in your mind. The Holy Spirit has the power to create joy amid sorrow and dance in the place of mourning. The Holy Spirit has the power to bring healing to our anguish and rescue lives from the jaws of death. The Holy Spirit will signal a time of awakening and revival. I believe the Holy Spirit is still active in our day, and revival is coming.
My prayer, and I believe, that the establishment of the new denomination is a sure sign of the moving of the Holy Spirit toward a global Methodist church and orthodox, evangelical Wesleyan Methodist church.
People who know my history in the United Methodist Church are sometimes surprised about my positions on some of the issues. They're surprised about my confidence that revival is coming. Some are surprised that I now believe that separation is essential and can be redemptive. For decades, I have worked as hard as any person in the denomination to preserve unity as we have struggled with the issues tearing our church apart.
So, let me share how I came through that struggle.
Revival is Coming
The bishops called a special session of the General Conference in 2019 because the denomination was on the verge of implosion. At that conference, the General Conference voted to preserve the authority of Scripture concerning divisive issues such as ordination and marriage.
However, although that went through a proper procedural vote, the conference deteriorated into a shouting match of anger and hateful accusations. I left that General Conference feeling what the Psalmist said, "Why are you cast down? Oh my soul, why are you disquieted within me?"
A few weeks after that General Conference, I visited Cuba for a mission trip. I knew that a revival was taking place there, but I was not prepared for the robust power of the Holy Spirit working in the Church in Cuba. My time there was redemptive. It was a time of spiritual and emotional healing.
While the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Cuba usually would've been at General Conference, instead, he was at home in Cuba. The Cuban government was in the process of changing the legal definition of marriage. The traditional definition of uniting one man and one woman was as it stood. However, the government was changing that to be a union between two persons. The Bishop stayed there to lead his people in opposing that. It was tremendously risky to oppose their government.
Are you getting the picture?
The Bishop of the Methodist Church opposed the Cuban government was doing what bishops and other leaders of the United Methodist Church were trying to do at the General Conference, which I had opposed.
Do you see why I believe separation is essential and revival is coming? Our God is a missionary God, who said His primary evangelist, the Holy Spirit, whose power cannot be denied. I believe the separation and a new global Methodist church are preliminary signs of that revival.
We have to ask ourselves, what role do we, Christ Church, want to play in the stirring, and sometimes confusing, reality? Do we want to be a part of the revival?
Friends, things could be tough, but it will be exciting. I'm happy when the last chapter in my ministry is being written. I'm excited about sharing in what will happen in the next few years. And I'm joyful that I will be sharing that journey with you.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Maxie Dunnam
