Many of you know that I attend worship at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, whose central campus is located in Leawood, Kansas. My wife is campus pastor at Resurrection West, located in Olathe, Kansas. Resurrection is a large church, and is significant within United Methodism in great part thanks to the work and ministry of God through our Senior Pastor, Adam Hamilton. Pastor Adam is not only significant within Methodism, his voice is influential throughout American Christianity. God has done a fantastic work through him and through people in Johnson County (and other counties nearby) over the last two decades, and his leadership has been vitally important during that time.
Each week Pastor Adam sends an email alerting the congregation to important events in the life of the body, what is taking place in his life, and what will take place in weekend worship. The email drops in my inbox each Friday. I take time to read the email, as I’m sure many others do.
Being the summer months, this is the season wherein new pastors are appointed to new contexts. Resurrection is no exception. Each summer we learn who has been appointed to new places, and bless them as they go forth in ministry. We also learn the names of those we will welcome for the coming year, and rejoice that the Bishop has sent us able servants to minister and lead us forward. Those called are sent by those given authority within the Church. There is beautiful theology in that idea.
Here is an excerpt from Pastor Adam’s email, wherein he welcomes three new pastors to our full time staff:
2. Meet Our New Pastors
This weekend we will be introducing you to three new clergy on our team. Michael Maroon has been serving in congregational care for the last 18 months part-time as he was finishing seminary. He’s been a terrific part of our team and we’re excited that the bishop has appointed him to serve full-time as the Congregational Care Pastor for those with last names J – L and as the Pastor of Prayer Ministries. (Russell Brown has been serving this pastorate and he will now focus full-time on our support ministries including Celebrate Recovery and our Reset Ministries for those affected by the economic crisis). Before coming to us Michael served for two years as a youth pastor. Prior to going to seminary Michael worked in the financial sector at MetLife and Edward Jones. He is a graduate of Saint Paul School of Theology and of the University of Kansas. He married his wife Becca in 2005. Michael was attending Church of the Resurrection before he went to seminary and actually heard his call to ministry as a part of our congregation.Wendy Lyons Chrostek will serve as the Congregational Care Pastor for persons whose last names begin with D – I. She grew up in Louisiana on a farm. She went to college at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi where she majored in Biology and was a pre-med student. It was during her senior year that she heard God’s call to ministry. She attended Duke Divinity School where she met her husband Scott (who is also a pastor joining our team – see below). They met while camping out for Duke basketball tickets. Wendy and Scott have spent the last three years since graduating from seminary in the Detroit Annual Conference where Wendy served as Associate Pastor at Central UMC in Waterford, Michigan where she gave leadership to young adults, justice ministries and pastoral care. Wendy is very familiar with our church, having been here twice for our Leadership Institute.
Scott Chrostek joins our team as the new Campus Pastor for Resurrection Downtown – our new campus launching this fall at 9th and Grand at Grand Avenue Temple. Scott is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in economics. Prior to hearing the call to ministry he worked at MassMutual Financial Group while volunteering with the youth group at his local church. It was there he heard a call to full time ministry. Scott attended Duke Divinity School where he met and then married his wife Wendy. Scott has served for the last three years as an associate pastor at Brighton First UMC in Michigan where he had responsibility for youth, missions, worship, finance and long range planning. Scott has dreamt for years of launching a church in a downtown area and is excited to be tapped to lead Resurrection Downtown. He and Wendy live in the Western Auto Building downtown.
I’m excited about our three new pastors. But as I read these introductions, I was reminded of one concern that I have had for some time concerning Pastor Adam’s rhetoric in introducing new leaders into our local church context. As the credentials for each person are listed to the congregation, no mention is made of the most significant context for spiritual formation in the life of each of these persons. Read it again. It isn’t there. Positions of authority, undergraduate and seminary education, geographical origins, academic honors, and other professional experience is listed, as well as interesting biographical details. But the Church is neglected.
Granted, it may be the case that for Michael, Scott, and Wendy, there is not a single local church that has made a formative impact on their life in Christ. But somehow I doubt this is the case. Rather, this detail is omitted because it is not seen to be significant. The names of these places would not serve to bolster the credentials of these persons, so we do not spare the few words it might take to name them.
The first 18 years of my life were formed within the context of a single local church. That is where my education in the Christian life began, and no doubt it is where many of my most significant lessons were learned. I would like to know: What bodies of Christian people most significantly formed Michael, Wendy, and Scott as they grew up?
Over the past several years, I have listened to Pastor Adam introduce new pastors to the congregation, and many times the impression is given that we must “send off” our leaders to “some other place” to be “educated” and “formed” for leadership in the church. The bachelor’s degree and seminary requirements for the ordination as elder is given far more weight than any other factor in our recognition that our leaders are fit to be given the mantle of authority. All too often this leaves the impression that the local church is only minimally important. It is often noted if the person is “one of ours,” but if someone has come from outside our context, more emphasis is placed on their business and/or professional experience or their academic credentials. If the local church is the center of our ministry and our greatest hope for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to the world, this rhetoric will have to change, even if that means naming small, and, in the eyes of the world, “insignificant” bodies of Christians who have created the contexts where our leaders can hear God’s call first to follow Christ, and then to lead his people.
I can tell you from personal experience that when I share with other Methodists that I am part of Church of the Resurrection, this means something. The same can be said for any other congregation of any other size. By naming those places from where we come, we strengthen connection, honor the lives and witness of others, and more truthfully tell the story of where we are from and how we are formed.
Spiritual formation occurs in the midst of God’s people. Stated differently, the Church matters. Let’s not forget it.
This is interesting, Ben. As I read the introductions to the new pastors, I didn’t notice anything out of place until you mention it. Now, I don’t know the three new pastors or Adam who wrote their intro, but I have thought about the way I ‘introduce’ myself to new churches and for me my three years at Duke stands out in my mind. Of course, that’s my most recent significant event and place in my life, but it was also where I think I grew the most the most quickly (does that make sense?).
I often not only forget the local church’s impact but also that of my family. It’s not until I draw out the story that they get included. I think the impact with them is drawn out and less noticeable.
I am not defending me (or the others, if they have done the same). I am more thinking outloud. I will typically find that when I am working through something the formation (or in certain places, the lack of) of my local church and family comes into play more than I realise.
Will, thanks for the comment. In recent years I have found that when my story is told well I cannot help but spend a great deal of time talking about the experiences I had in the local church growing up. I do not necessarily talk about great spiritual insights or esoteric experiences. It seems to be simple tales of eating fellowship meals, camping on the lakeside, being present with peers and mentors, or exposure to lives I found compelling. For years I shortchanged these experiences in the telling of my own story. I thought that spiritual formation amounted to being able to pontificate on various points of theology, rather than being able to live life as a truthful witness to the gospel. I think that the skills I have used to make my marriage successful thus far were learned in the local church, as well as how to serve, how to love, how to minister, how to pray, and on and on. Seminary and college may have given me some advanced skills, but my foundation was set in place by saints whose names are largely unknown as individuals, but are corporately know as Green Acres Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Crawford, Prestonwood Baptist Church, and First Baptist Church of Allen. Since moving to Kansas City, I have been formed by FirstLight United Methodist FC and Church of the Resurrection, as well as the people at Jacob’s Well.
As a result, I take the local church very seriously and what we do there as a matter of immense importance. It should be just as important to know that you are from the Langho, Mellor, and Wilpshire Methodist Churches as it is for me to know you were formed by the faculty at Duke Divinity School. It may not mean as much to power brokers, but it means something to me.