Random Thoughts and Ramblings

Month: August 2022

  • Online Ministry is Ministry

    The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major shift in the ways churches conducted their ministries. Congregations that had been doing some form of online ministry (such as any congregation I’ve been appointed to – every single one has been engaged online in some form or another) suddenly had to increase their activity out of necessity. Likewise, churches that had never done online outreach were left scrambling because their physical doors were shut. The biggest misconception was that the churches were closed during the pandemic. The churches were never closed, they simply changed locations from a physical one to one in the digital realm. These ministries – even ones done with the pastor’s smartphone from their living room – had tremendous impact because, not only did the people of the church remain plugged in, new people were reached and were offered Jesus in ways that were barely thought of previously. Since that time, many congregations have even increased their online ministries with the realization that online ministry is no longer optional, it is essential.

    Online ministry is ministry.

    Since physical doors have reopened and people began returning to their pews, many congregations have, unfortunately, scaled back or even eliminated their online presences. I believe this is a major mistake and is actually antithetical to the Great Commission. The crux of Jesus’ message was for the church to go to where people are and make them disciples. Reality is, people are found online and that’s where the harvest is ripest. So, imagine my dismay when a church from my own annual conference shared this on their Facebook page last night:

    I want to be clear that I do not share this to shame them, but to illustrate that congregations really are taking this stance. This is often in a misguided attempt to “get people back in church.” Many laity I’ve talked to about online ministry have the notion that streaming and other forms of online ministry are keeping people away from church, as in the physical location, and that people who worship digitally are not “really in church.” This is a myth. They miss out on the fact that online ministry and streaming (streaming is but one aspect of online ministry) are connecting people to churches like never before and in ways that have been impossible for the church to do previously. They also miss out on who is engaging (no, it’s not just “kids”).

    If a church is not engaging with people online, then it is being ineffective. This is 2022 and we must stop fighting technology – and reality – and instead embrace the fact that we have an amazing tool that allows us to spread the gospel to more people than our buildings can even hold. The reality is that online ministry today is not optional, it is essential. I have all sorts of data and studies that I could quote on why online ministry is vital but, instead, I’d like to present some things that I have witnessed personally as I have led my churches to engage online.

    Homebound People Engage!

    Assumptions are often made that only young people are interested in streaming the worship service but I’ve found this to be far from the truth. What is true now and has been true for the entire time that I’ve been live streaming is that our homebound parishioners are the largest group of people who tune in. I hear from homebound parishioners nearly weekly and they are so grateful for being able to remain plugged in to what their church is doing and they enjoy getting to sing along, hear the prayers, and the sermons every week from wherever they are. When I was a youth, I can remember making recordings of the sermon at my church and making copies of the tapes(!) to send to our homebound people. Now, streaming enables these dear saints to simply log in and hit play without having to wait for a disc. Facebook groups can also enable them to share in prayer requests, congregational happenings, etc. Obviously, this does not replace face time with the pastor and friends from church visiting, but streaming and other forms of online ministry do enable one to be more fully plugged in.

    Online Attendance is Attendance. Online Giving is Giving.

    In spite of my own use of the terms, I wish we would get away from adding the qualifier “online” when we talk about those who worship and give digitally. The fact is, these spaces are just as valid and real as the brick and mortar buildings where we worship. There are a variety of reasons one would choose to worship online. Sickness is a major contributor, with many people having conditions that will not allow them to be in many public spaces due to the risk of exposure of COVID and other illnesses that could actually kill them. Perhaps it’s a family on vacation, traveling on Sunday who choose to listen to the audio portion of the service while they drive to or from their vacation destination. The reasons why do not really matter; what does matter is that they are still hearing the gospel and are still singing the hymns, praying the prayers, saying the liturgy. God still honors this and receives it. as a blessing to himself from those who are striving to grow closer to him. Remember this too: Assuming you have an online giving portal available for your church (and if you don’t, you’re truly missing a major opportunity), they are still giving their offering even if they aren’t putting a physical check or cash into a plate. The faithful are still being faithful. I even have someone who, to my knowledge, has never had. a connection to one of my churches but who faithfully watches the live stream and even contributes monthly through our online giving site. This is God at work!

    Here’s more food for thought: Before I began writing this article, I looked up the stats for the videos of last Sunday’s worship services at my two churches. By best estimates, an extra 10 people joined one of my churches for worship and an extra 20 joined the other last Sunday. People are being reached for Jesus who may not otherwise have been! And why? Because we live stream our services.

    Online Often Leads to Analog

    Studies show that when people are seeking a new church, one of the first places they turn to is Google and Facebook. People will preview a church and its ministries through the websites and social media pages before stepping foot into a building. They will typically watch a recording of a service to get a feel for how the church worships so that they know what to expect. In every congregation that I have served and where we have streamed, nearly all of the people who have visited in-person have told me they first found us online and watched playbacks of the worship services before deciding to come for a visit. In almost every case, these folks became some of the most involved parishioners I ever had. Recently, I had a family begin attending physically because of our online ministries. The wife had previously been connected with the church, been away, and came back when she found the church’s Facebook page. Yes, some people will choose to only participate online (the reasons why are varied), but most often worshipping online leads to occupying a seat in the physical sanctuary. Any church not streaming and engaging online is missing opportunities to invite people to worship who they likely would not have the opportunity to find otherwise.

    Let’s Bring It Home!

    I want to be clear that, not once, have I ever advocated for the physical church to be replaced with a digital one. I do not believe that churches should go fully online and stay there. With that said, we need to rethink what church is and what participation actually means. To be frank, what most church call “outreach” is ineffective and only serves the congregation that’s already there. Outreach in 2022 must include digital outreach and ministry in order to meet people where they are today. Church is not becoming a mixture of physical and virtual spaces, church has already become that. The church must embrace online ministry instead of fighting it. History has proven time and again that when the church resists new ways of ministry, the end is not good.

    The church must go to where the people are. In the days of Jesus and John Wesley, the people were in the town squares and the fields. In our day, the people are online. Let’s do as Jesus instructed: “Go.”

  • Yes, There is False Information Being Spread About the UMC. Here’s Proof:

    In my last post, one of the things I harped on was the spread of misleading and false information about the UMC being conducted by people connected with the Global Methodist Church/Wesleyan Covenant Association. Below is a prime example of what I’m talking about:

    This is petty and ridiculous. While I do not know exactly who created this tissue of lies (I’m trying to find out – and I fully intend to find out), I do speculate it was someone connected with WCA and/or GMC. The fact that GMC is doing absolutely nothing to refute or to discourage this kind of mudslinging is pretty telling. But let’s talk about a few of these points they allege about a “post-separation” UMC:

    • No, the UMC will not become pluralistic. As I have already stated in my previous writing (see link above), the Articles of Religion affirm faith in Jesus Christ as the sole means of salvation. Because of the Restrictive Rules, these can not be amended. It’s not happening. Period. But let’s say it did happen: I would be one of the first out the door.
    • There’s no guarantee that annual conference boundaries will change, but at some point perhaps they will. There’s no way to know for sure at this time if, or how, that will happened (that will ultimately be up to General Conference/Jurisdictional Conferences).
    • As for international membership, I speculate that a lot of the African central conferences are going to opt to remain in the UMC for various reasons. As has already been demonstrated in places such as Nigeria, the GMC has very limited support within some of the conferences on the African continent.
    • The Trust Clause claim is also false. Let me be very clear: Annual conferences DO NOT own or control the banking accounts of congregations. They never have and never will. Period. This is patently false and intentionally misleading to cause fear. The only time the Trust Clause even is a factor is in the event a congregation chooses to close or disaffiliate, otherwise it has no bearing on the day-to-day operations of a congergation.
    • Whether or not LGBTQ clergy will be allowed to be ordained or licensed for ministry, or whether or not LGBTQ marriage rites/weddings will be allowed will be up to the General Conference. Frankly, given the trend of conservative representation from the central conferences only expected to increase (with the prediction being over 50% by 2028), I find it hard to believe that our stance is honestly likely to change.
    • The UMC’s position on abortion can be best summed up as being against abortion except in rare circumstances but that abortion should be legal and rare. For more, see our social principals. You will note that it’s very pro-life and not what many people seem to believe it is. One thing you will see very plainly is that the UMC DOES NOT endorse abortion as a means of birth control. Never have, and I doubt ever will.
    • The primary church focus is “social justice?” Really? (eye roll emoji goes here).

    I’m sick and tired of having to explain these falsehoods to both parishioners and others who, when they find out that I’m a pastor in the UMC, they make all sorts of assumptions and repeat the junk that floats around online. Frankly, me and my colleagues should not have to invest so much time and energy into dispelling these falsehoods.

    Once again, I call on the Transitional Leadership Board within the Global Methodist Church to do everything they can to stop this kind of fear mongering and misinformation being distribubuted by people clearly affiliated with their denomination. If they choose not to, they are complicit and I will only assume they endorse these tactics.

  • A Letter to the Global Methodist Church

    Photo by Thijs van der Weide on Pexels.com

    Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

    I greet you in the strong name of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One who was, is, and is to come. The One who lived and died and rose again so that we may share in His victory over sin and death.

    This letter is one that I hoped to not have to write but it’s become evident that someone needs to say these words to you. If no one else will, I will. The reason is simple: I love you all.

    Seriously, I do. Do not agree with your choice to leave the United Methodist Church and to encourage others to follow you, but I also support you all in going in the way which you believe you are led to go. May you all continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ, may the love of Christ and the hope of resurrection be proclaimed, and may you and your congregations grow in grace, love, and in truth. My sincere hope is that we can all continue to be co-laborers for Jesus at the end of the day.

    With that said (and know that this next statement does not apply to all of you): I do not agree with your tactics, the lies many of you are spreading, and the fear that is being sown. Your attempts at spiritual and other manipulation are sickening and. it pains me to know that many of you willingly and, perhaps, gleefully participate in these games. Lying is a sin and I urge you all to repent. Even if you believe that you’re building God’s kingdom, the end does not justify the means. Based on what I have seen and heard, here are some areas where I believe the GMC needs to come clean.

    Admit that this was the plan from the start.

    You can’t kid a kidder and you can’t con a con artist.

    I told many friends of mine that, when the Wesleyan Covenant Association launched, a new denomination was also on its way. I was told repeatedly by WCA insiders that a new church was not in the works and that they had no such ambitions. One even told me – and yes this is a direct quote because I will never forget it – “We will stay. in the United Methodist Church until Jesus comes back.” (the person who said this to me is no longer involved in WCA/GMC because they realized they were being lied to) Well, here now we have the GMC, launched by people also involved with WCA. New denominations don’t just happen overnight, they take years of discernment and planning to launch. Just be honest and admit that this was the plan from the beginning of WCA. That much became clear to me quickly.

    Stop the misinformation campaign

    One of the main problems with politics today is that there is so much misinformation put out by campaigns, parties, and outside players, that it’s difficult to tell the truth from the lies. The biggest misfortune is that church folks seem to be keen on not only believing the political lies but also employing the tactics used on them. Especially the clergy, you all know that the United Methodist Church is not going to change to a doctrine that denies the divinity of Jesus, denies the trinity or any of the other fear-inducing claims some of you are making. Yes, there certainly are individual people within the UMC who hold such beliefs, but they are few and far between. It’s not uncommon for someone to make such a claim and when asked to name someone who said any of these things, they suddenly claim to feel attacked or otherwise can’t name anyone. Even if there was a movement within the UMC to change our articles of religion and confessions of faith, it’s next to impossible to do so because of the Restrictive Rules (again, this is something that should be common knowledge). This tells me that either people are intentionally misrepresenting the truth or that outsiders with no knowledge of UMC polity are being allowed to spread such rumors to benefit the GMC. Either way, it’s dishonest, disgusting, and sinful.

    The doctrine issue is only one aspect subject to rumors and fear mongoring. Spreading rumors that churches are not being allowed to leave is dishonest as well. A pastor stood up during my annual conference’s gathering and claimed that there was an annual conference in Texas (I don’t believe he said which) that was not allowing churches to disaffiliate if they wished to do so. I know for a fact that this is not true as I have colleagues in Texas – in two different annual conferences – who are actually part of disaffiliation teams that their conferences send to assist churches that wish to leave. There may be pockets of resistance, sure, but it’s not widespread and is most certainly not the conspiracy that a lot of you are making it out to be. The claim that pastors are being told not to talk about disaffiliation if asked is also almost entirely not true (again, I’m not naive enough to believe that it doesn’t happen but such “intimidation” is not widespread). At the request of our general conference delegation, there will be gatherings throughout the state to discuss specifics related to disaffiliation, largely to dispel the rumors and fear mongering going around. Frankly, this should not be necessary but since GMC is not doing anything to discourage such fear mongering, it is.

    Having worked in radio broadcasting and gaining extensive marketing experience as a result, I can spot a campaign when I see one. When different people are saying similar things and changing to a different topic at the same time, it’s intentional and straight out of a marketing playbook. GMC needs to stop this foolishness. I emphasize once again: Lying is a sin.

    Stop claiming that those who remain in the UMC are unfaithful

    More than once, me and colleagues who have expressed that we desire to remain in the UMC have been told that our souls are on the line. I’ve been called a false prophet, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and told that I’m leading my people straight to hell more times than I can count. Laity also have been told similar things. There are people truly telling others that, should they remain in the UMC, they are at risk of losing their salvation (I can’t help but notice that many of these comments come from anonymous trolls on various social platforms). This kind of spiritual manipulation is sickening and unloving. GMC needs to denounce this kind of behavior and actively work to stop it.

    The bottom line: Show love.

    Why is an organization that claims to be more faithful to the teachings of Jesus participating in such activities or allowing them to happen in their name? You’re either with Christ or against Him. You’re either trying to build His kingdom or one of your own making. If GMC is truly about Jesus and nothing more, they will see that truth wins out. To do otherwise is to be complicit in sin. My hope and prayer is that love and charity are shown. Brothers and sisters, stand for truth. Don’t stand for fear and manipulation. Any gains made through such means are ill-gotten and, well, scripture has plenty to say about that too.

    In Christ,

    Rev. Jonathan Tullos
    Elder in Full Connection, Mississippi Annual Conference of the UMC