Noteworthy

When a person officially joins with a congregation, he or she makes a commitment to participate in the ministries, financial support, and decision-making of the church. Therefore, the church not only counts members, it counts on them to be a formal part of the body of Christ and to accept and exercise their responsibilities in that role. People who join a United Methodist Church commit to "uphold the church by their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service and their witness." Honoring this membership commitment through a lifetime builds a strong community of believers who are disciples of Jesus Christ. Here is a brief description of each vow and a checklist of suggestions to fulfill the vow.

Prayers
Prayer is conversation with God. Your relationship with God grows the same way that significant human relationships grow. You have to give time and attention to special relationships. As your faith develops and grows, you spend more and more time with God.

• Set aside some time each day to talk with God. There are many daily devotionals, Bible reading guides, books of meditations, forms of prayer to help you. Ask your pastor or other church member for suggestions.
• Learn and try new ways to pray.
• Increase the time you talk with God each day. The Apostle Paul urges prayer "without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Presence
A commitment to presence means we pay attention to the time and to the place we are at the present moment. This is actually a hard practice because people tend to be thinking about the past or future. Yet our Christian commitment is to pay attention to the present moment, looking and listening for God's guidance. When we promise "presence" to the congregation, we commit to be engaged to the place and people who compose both the congregation and the community the congregation serves.

• Attend worship weekly where you are.
• Build deeper relationships with people in the congregation and the community through regular participation in a small group, fellowship opportunities, and service projects.
• Pay full attention to your location and to the people you are with at church, at work or school, and at home.

Gifts
This commitment encourages us to use our spiritual gifts, our natural abilities, our material assets, our training and experience to uphold God's church. We have opportunities each day to discover and develop gifts, then a responsibility through this vow to full stewardship of our time, abilities, and finances.

• Maximize opportunities through church, work, school, and relationships to discover and develop your natural and spiritual gifts, and to expand your experience. This is referred to in the Bible as growing in wisdom.
• Practice recycling and wise stewardship of the earth's resources.
• Manage your material assets wisely. Learn about and practice financial management and biblical giving of money and resources. John Wesley would say earn all you can and give all you can.

Service
The commitment to service reminds us that Jesus' life was an example of living as a servant and his words instructed his disciples to do the same.

• Participate in church service and mission projects. When you recognize an unmet need, work with others to try to meet the need.
• Volunteer regularly to serve the church community through office work, teaching, building clean-up, Sunday morning service, and other ways.
• Volunteer regularly for community service, such as school tutoring, clean-up and recycling, disaster recovery, and other ways.

Witness
A promise to witness reminds us that other people see and hear us all the time. Our living, our words, our actions and commitments are a witness to our priorities. Upholding God's church with our witness is a vow to let our life speak, 24/7.

• Live with integrity so that your words and actions honor God, honor yourself, and honor others.
• Greet and speak warmly to others, especially visitors in your church, co-workers and people with whom you live, do business and interact every day.
• Learn how to share your faith naturally and comfortably; invite people to attend church events with you.

In 2000, I agreed to teach a study of Corinthians for a School of Christian Mission. When I agreed to teach Corinthians, I assumed it might be a study about love or spiritual gifts. First Corinthians 13 is the love chapter we often hear quoted at weddings. As I read the study materials, I discovered what you already know if you participated in the United Methodist Women's Bible Study: the study is about conflict in the church!

What a contentious place Corinth was! Paul spent a year and a half as leader at Corinth. The church at Corinth was composed of several small groups meeting in homes. Under Paul's guidance, the house churches had become a community of believers united in Christ. When Paul had gone on his way to other towns and churches, cliques formed in Corinth, people began to criticize one another, and worship turned from God. Paul received letters from Corinth asking for help. The conflict was heating up by the time Paul heard about it.

People of faith have strong opinions about interpretations of a Bible passage, financial plans, the order and style of worship, political or social positions. Even today, people gather in small groups where their passion for life, faith, and the church can lead to contention! Remember the last time someone left a church meeting angry? Did you feel the discomfort that strong emotion generates? Leading a small group through strong emotions is a challenge for leaders.

Leaders must understand the nature of conflict and develop the ability to lower anxiety so that participants can engage in conversation. Remember that conflict is a normal part of life as we build relationships with others and share the same homes, workplaces, and churches. Recognize that conflict is simply two different ideas in the same place at the same time. However, when sharp words are spoken and scowls crease our brows, everyone feels uncomfortable. We don't want to feel uncomfortable. We don't want to be hurt or to hurt anyone else.

Notice how Paul deals with the bad feelings and hard issues in the opening sentences of his letters to the Corinthians. The first thing he does is direct attention to God. Paul greets people in God's name and reminds them that each one is precious in God's sight. Paul reminded the Corinthians, and he reminds us, that the church is God's!

Next, Paul directly addresses the hard issues with all the parties present. We can imagine that Paul's letter was read aloud to the assembled group. In a firm yet loving way, Paul reminds the whole group together of the values they share, the faith in Jesus they share, and the life to which God calls Christians. Paul brings theological perspective to the situation. He reminds the people of God's love for them and of his own hope for their life in Christ. Then Paul allows individuals and the group to decide their future.

The exchange between Paul and the Corinthians can be instructive for small group leaders today. First, Paul set the groundwork during his time of physical presence in Corinth. Today, leaders begin with groups by establishing "ground rules." Paul focused on God's love and the hope of transformed communities. Leaders today can attend to their own faith growth and include spiritual practices in all group meetings. Paul responded to the specific concerns raised by the Corinthians. Today, leaders can sharpen their listening skills and help groups stay in relationship when different opinions are expressed. Paul concludes both letters to the Corinthians with words of encouragement. Today, leaders conclude meetings by summarizing the main points of agreement, naming issues still to be resolved, and sending people forth with a blessing.

Conflict is normal!

• Develop ground rules.
• Keep your eyes on God.
• Clarify the issue(s).
• Use listening skills.
• Stay in relationship.
• Celebrate common ground.

Resources for Leaders

The JustPeace Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation has examples of relational covenants, a newsletter, and training events. Visit www.JUSTPEACEumc.org or call 847-425-6526.

Lombard Mennonite Peace Center has resources, newsletters, and training events. Visit www.LMPeaceCenter.org or call 630-672-0507.

This article appeared in the May 2003 issue of Links newsletter.

There’s a lot in print these days about teams and teamwork. Much of it is good and instructive. After all, two heads (or more) are almost always better than one. It seems, however, that we want to call all sorts of small groupings of people ‘teams’. I have some very definite ideas about what a team is — and is not. Let me explain.

To me, one of the all-time greatest, best-known examples of a team is the 1995-98 Chicago Bulls NBA basketball team — 12 very good basketball players, several coaches, trainers, and others, handpicked for their special abilities. Several of the players were world-class and one, Michael Jordan, was arguably the best player of all time. They had a mission that was straightforward and easily understood: to play good, competitive basketball. Their vision was clear, focused, and shared by each member of the team: Be the NBA champions.

The Bulls were a learning organization. They practiced intensely, continuously honing their skills. They learned the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, right down to the personality quirks of all the other players in the NBA. They explored every avenue for gaining a competitive edge. Most of all, while they were not necessarily great friends off the court, they knew one another very well on the court. They knew how their teammates thought. They knew their own special abilities and their limits. There were rules — some tacit, some spoken — that governed their conduct among themselves. Finally, in their milieu, the basketball court, they trusted one another implicitly.

Regardless of the setting — whether in sports, business, or the church — real teams achieve highly synergistic results. Teams have a job to do — a mission clearly understood by all members. They also have a sense of where they’re going — they have goals or visions that are clear and specific. Some very successful companies have utilized teams for a wide variety of reasons, such as solving problems, developing systems, or developing new products. For example, Walt Disney is a company well known for highly motivated, creative teams of artists. Frequently, however, teams come into being for a single purpose and with a very short expected lifetime.

Teams are made up of people who can make a contribution to a specific task. Membership selection for a team should generally be done with some care, though groups just thrown together, where the mission is understood and the vision is clear, seem to gel into teams. If there is to be full participation, there must be rules of conduct, some codes, likely implicit, that help maintain civility. Consensus, rather than parliamentary means, is used as a decision-making tool since the ideas and other contributions of members are valued and since voting creates losers. If there are members who are overbearing for any reason, then rules for consensus and conduct are necessary. When a team is assembled, selection of the leader is important. He or she needs to have an understanding of how teams work. When no leader is named, if the group is to function as a team, a leader will emerge.

I had a delightful experience with a team in a congregation to which I used to belong. We had gone through a long search for an organ and had decided on a top-of-the-line electronic model. The Church Council had approved the purchase, then appointed a team to see to the purchase, installation, and financing of the instrument. The team consisted of the pastor, council chair, a trustee, the treasurer, the chair of the search committee, and the lay leader, each of whom had something to contribute to the effort and each of whom shared the clear vision of a new organ, in place. The group selected its own leaders —one as liaison with the organ dealer and one as fundraiser. The team began work the first week in January and soon decided on the goals of having the organ installed and working out the means for paying for it by Easter. Very ambitious! But, there was a cloud on the horizon: A significant number of members was strenuously opposed to the purchase of an organ and quite vocal in its opposition.

From the outset, the team was totally committed to the job. It met once or twice a week, decided what needed to be done for the next meeting, made assignments, and members went on their way. At the next meeting all assignments would be done and members would be ready for the next step. With everyone contributing to the effort, a risky and exciting plan had been hatched with the organ sales agency. Very quietly, we got the agency to install the organ. The installation was, by design, obviously temporary — speakers were placed on boxes all over the nave and there was a lot of clutter. But the sound was heavenly. Next Sunday, by the end of our worship services, the congregation owned our dream and opposition simply melted.

The organ never left. Within a few weeks we held an organ recital, at which time we passed out pledge cards. A week later we had pledges sufficient to pay for the organ and enough cash for a substantial down payment. Installation was completed by Palm Sunday. It had been a thrilling experience for all of us — a dramatic lesson in the power of vision and the efficacy of a real team.

Timothy Moss is retired from the staff of the General Board of Discipleship. This article appeared in the January 2000 issue of Links newsletter.