Why I am a United Methodist
By Rev. Mark E. Williams,
pastor, Woodland Park UMC
From the February 2004 Channels Newsletter, a publication of the Pacific Northwest Conference
Editor's Note: Mark is an elected delegate to general and jurisdictional conferences. Each month we have been hearing from our delegates; we will continue to do so. All United Methodists are invited to write similar essays of approximately 500 words.
I was baptized on Palm Sunday, 1971, at Crossroads United Methodist Church in Huntington, WV. I was less than a year old when Pastor Turley poured water upon my head and proclaimed me baptized in the name of the triune God. When he handed me back into my father's arms, I promptly reached up and ripped off the clip-on tie my father wore that day. And thus began my life lived nurtured in the loving, gracious embrace of the United Methodist Church.
My parents modeled for my three older brothers and me a faithful commitment to the church. We attended Crossroads UMC as a family every Sunday. When I was five, I attended the church pre-school and learned about colors and shapes and about how to treat each other with kindness and respect. I attended Junior Chapel when I was seven, where I learned about prayer, the sacraments, and the other parts of worship.
When my family moved to Longview, Wash., I was nine years old. We immediately began attending the Longview UMC. In Sunday school and in worship I learned about a God who is awesomely powerful, and at the same time intimately personal and compassionate. My Sunday school teachers and pastors taught me that the Christian faith compels us to work to bring greater justice and love to the world. I learned that God is in heaven, but that God is also and at the same time in our hearts, and in the world, and mindful of the suffering and injustices that happen all around us. And I learned that I am called by God to address the suffering and injustices of the world, to extend the compassion and hope of Jesus Christ, and to be part of the marvelous plan that God has of recreating what our human sinfulness has broken.
When I was fifteen years old, our Sunday school superintendent announced in worship the need for a new teacher for the pre-school class. She said that she was sure God was placing the call upon someone's heart to teach. And I heard God speak to my heart and tell me that I was that person being called. I taught the little ones Bible stories every Sunday morning for two years. And I recognized the great joy and responsibility of sharing the good news of God's love in Christ to others.
As an adult, I studied other Christian traditions and other religions. I found my faith enriched by these studies, but over and over I was reminded how deeply I am a United Methodist. Even when the church has taken positions with which I disagree, it has not changed my identity as a United Methodist that literally has been with me all of my life. I not only understand Wesley's quadrilateral; I think it. It is simply ingrained in my worldview and self-understanding. I not only know the Social Principles; I believe that it is absolutely essential for the church to engage in faithful conversation about important social issues facing the world today. To do less would be to reduce the church to an irrelevant relic. I not only endorse the representative democratic ideals that govern our church structure, I believe that the opportunity to debate, to disagree, and to vote on important matters before the church is essential to fully engage people in both the awesome joy and responsibility of being a Christian today. It is a gift and a privilege to call myself a United Methodist. I am a United Methodist because it is my heritage, my worldview, and my calling from God.
Copyright 2004 by Mark Williams. All rights reserved.
Channels is published monthly by the
Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
2112-3rd Ave, Ste 300
Seattle WA 98121-2333
The Channels Newsletter is available online at www.pnwumc.org. Email the editor at tschug@comcast.net