When I first joined my church I was blown away by the outstanding, world renowned theologians who would show up in the pulpit from time to time. Later on I was astounded - on almost a weekly basis - at what my church accomplished in terms of ministry here and around the world.
In that early time a friend said to me, "What are you doing at that big, wealthy church?" Meaning, of course, that he didn't think I belonged here. I do belong here. But I'm not wealthy or famous or powerful. But here's the thing. It's all good. We all have a roll.
This morning sort of blew my mind. In the United Methodist denomination, the top guys and gals are bishops. They're elected. The Methodist hierarchy is set up kind of like the Catholic hierarchy except we don't have a pope. Bishop is the highest you can go.
We have a new bishop here in Florida. His name is Ken Carter. He oversees about 700 churches as well as all of the Methodist institutions here in Florida.
As it happens, we had the president of Asbury, one of Methodism's leading seminaries, Timothy Tennent, preach at all three of our services this morning.
Both of these men are world renowned theologians, both young (53) and dynamic.
Today, Dr. Tennent talked about Doubting Thomas - and how he got the name. To make a point he said to a young lady in the choir named Amy, "How would you like to have one bad day and spend the rest of you life as Doubting Amy?"
Anyway, our new bishop Ken Carter, and his wife Pam showed up at our church to hear Dr. Tennent preach. Somehow or other he ended up teaching Sunday School in the sanctuary while Dr. Tennent preached in the contemporary service in the gym.
My Sunday School teacher for the morning - The bishop - was great. At one point he gently let us know that in a church like ours, full of powerful folks, some people could be made to feel like outsiders. Good point. We need this reminder. Even I need this reminder.
Later, when we met, I said to him, "Bishop, I will tell you what kind of church this is. It's the kind of church where we can get the bishop to teach Sunday School in one room while the president of Asbury is preaching in another. I was teasing.
But I'm serious about this: I believe that both of these great men are at the forefront of an exciting future for the church - universal.
***
In that early time a friend said to me, "What are you doing at that big, wealthy church?" Meaning, of course, that he didn't think I belonged here. I do belong here. But I'm not wealthy or famous or powerful. But here's the thing. It's all good. We all have a roll.
This morning sort of blew my mind. In the United Methodist denomination, the top guys and gals are bishops. They're elected. The Methodist hierarchy is set up kind of like the Catholic hierarchy except we don't have a pope. Bishop is the highest you can go. We have a new bishop here in Florida. His name is Ken Carter. He oversees about 700 churches as well as all of the Methodist institutions here in Florida.
As it happens, we had the president of Asbury, one of Methodism's leading seminaries, Timothy Tennent, preach at all three of our services this morning.
Both of these men are world renowned theologians, both young (53) and dynamic.
Today, Dr. Tennent talked about Doubting Thomas - and how he got the name. To make a point he said to a young lady in the choir named Amy, "How would you like to have one bad day and spend the rest of you life as Doubting Amy?"Anyway, our new bishop Ken Carter, and his wife Pam showed up at our church to hear Dr. Tennent preach. Somehow or other he ended up teaching Sunday School in the sanctuary while Dr. Tennent preached in the contemporary service in the gym.
My Sunday School teacher for the morning - The bishop - was great. At one point he gently let us know that in a church like ours, full of powerful folks, some people could be made to feel like outsiders. Good point. We need this reminder. Even I need this reminder.
Later, when we met, I said to him, "Bishop, I will tell you what kind of church this is. It's the kind of church where we can get the bishop to teach Sunday School in one room while the president of Asbury is preaching in another. I was teasing.
But I'm serious about this: I believe that both of these great men are at the forefront of an exciting future for the church - universal.
***
