Impressions of “The Gathering”

 

I just returned from “The Gathering” which is a once-every-four-year reunion/conference for a couple thousand Wesleyan pastors and spouses. It was meaningful for me to reconnect with friends I’ve had for decades, and to see scores of my former students. This is a sort of national camp meeting for Wesleyan pastors.

 

I know a lot of non-Wesleyans read the Tuesday Column so in case you are wondering what we’re like and what are the recent emphases among Wesleyans I took some notes while the conference was happening as if I was a spy—an outsider wondering what Wesleyans were like and how they were changing. Here is what I wrote down:

 

1. Wesleyan still emphasize “getting people saved.”

While progressive conversion is making giant strides among evangelicals Wesleyans still talk about getting people saved—at least the speakers at this conference did.

 

2. Wesleyans believe the way to get people saved is to love them.

Got tattoos all over your skin and a bone through your nose?—no problem there’s a place in our worship band for you. Shacking up with some girl and cheating on your wife—you are welcome here because we love you first and clean you up later. “You don’t have to clean up first to come to the table.”

 

3. Wesleyans are switching from counting “conversions” to counting baptisms.

Every single time at this conference that they said “conversion” or “saved” it was reinforced visually with pictures of people being baptized. Maybe this is related to progressive conversions? Anyway, Wesleyans are moving to baptism as the “moment you count” more than a getting-saved moment.

 

3. Wesleyans sure have a lot of Methodists who switched.

My goodness where did they get all these super church pastors who came from the Methodists? Could it be that Wesleyan government offers Methodists something they can’t get in their own denomination??? (i.e. plant a church then grow it to a mega-church and you can stay there for life and your DS and denomination will take a mostly hands-off approach?)

 

4. Where did Wesleyans get all these Latinos, blacks and international congregations?

North American Wesleyan gatherings have been mostly WASPS in the past—where did all these minority congregations come from? Seems like all new DSs & GSs in the future better at least know Spanish!

 

5. Wesleyans are trying to pass on the torch to emerging leaders.

While the speakers were mostly young boomers or Xers, the musicians were emergents and the emphasis of everyone was on making a place at the table for younger Wesleyans—indeed the entire Gathering was preceded with a full-day conference of young leaders the day before.

 

6. Wesleyans like to laugh.

Humor was everywhere—people laughing in the hallways, at dinner tables, at receptions, in the provided Internet café, and they even hired a professional comedian to open the services. This was a ROTFLMHO conference for pastors. Lord knows pastors need to laugh in January.

 

7. Wesleyans must have lots of troubled pastoral marriages.

They even stuck the Wesleyan statistics in the conference magazine and hired a Smalley to speak.

 

8. Wesleyans want pastors and churches to be more creative.

The speakers constantly affirmed experimentation and creativity—find new places to meet, new ways to worship… e.g. “There are lots more ways of doing church than we’ve thought of yet.” Not a word of caution or concern was given—this was a locker-room pep conference—“get out there and do it any way you can.”

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Maybe you were there too? If so, what did you hear about Wesleyans beyond these notes?

 

 

So, what do you think?

 

The discussion of this column is on Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=161502633

 

 

Keith Drury   January 8, 2011

 www.TuesdayColumn.com