Bishop Grant Hagiya addressing the General Conference during the Plenary Celebration and Challenge of the Mission and Ministry of The United Methodist Church on Sunday, April 29, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Patrick Scriven.
As many of you know, I believe that our massive structure of The United Methodist Church must be changed to reflect a streamlined and nimble state of being. General Conference is one example of that very structure that must be changed. Unfortunately, our United Methodist culture is very resistant to such changes, and it is reflected in how we do General Conference.
On Sunday evening we had the chance to celebrate the missions of our church, and I believe this is when we are at our very best. Missions must drive the church, and structure must be in place to carry out and undergird such missions.
There was a celebration of the many missions of our church, and all of them are worthy of reporting, but the sheer number of presentations on the program took away from our ability to celebrate. It was like one’s first sermon, where you have so much to talk about, a 15-minute slot turns into 45 minutes!
Instead of cramming missions into one short evening, should not missions be highlighted every day we are here at General Conference? Instead, structure dominates our attention, and everything revolves around that discussion. It makes for a dreadfully boring agenda, but we are also focusing on the wrong thing. To truly energize and enliven our church we must focus on our mission, not our structure.
We cannot ignore our structure, but if we are to turn around our church into a vital and thriving denomination, then it must be mission that is our central focus. Mission forms the heart and soul of the Gospel mandate, and it is why we are in existence as a church.
This formula holds for all levels of our church, especially at the local church level. What about your church? Is mission driving your church rather than structure?
Be the Hope,
Bishop Grant Hagiya
