“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” –John Wesley
Although I do not consider myself a lifelong United Methodist, the church has been very formative in my life. Only now that I am in Divinity School and pursuing ordination, I am able to discover the sources within the Methodist tradition that have provided my own theological and ethical backbone. That being said, I have had to uncover the connections between my call to establish interfaith cooperation amongst different communities and my call to ministry in the United Methodist Church. The explicit fact of religious diversity in the United States demands that we all uncover these connections in our traditions (religious or secular) if we want to make any sustainable progress in building relationships between different communities.
While chatting with a rather esteemed faculty member at a reception, my future as a religious leader became a topic of discussion (as is all too typical). Knowing that I do a lot of interfaith “stuff,” he asked, “Are you still going to be as active with interfaith things when you are working in a church?” I stumbled a bit with my words because that struggle had only taken place in my mind before this moment but I responded with, “Of course.” I began to explain to him what I like to name my multi-pronged call. If God is calling me to congregational ministry and to work towards interfaith cooperation, why should I have to sacrifice one for the other? I should be able to have my vocational cake and eat it too! As a religious leader, I can provide unique gifts to the interfaith movement and my experience as an interfaith activist can provide unique gifts to my congregation. And to top it all off, my denomination’s theology supports this kind of work!
John Wesley, founder and leader of the Methodist revival, meant something when he said that the “world is my parish.” This led him to leave the comfort of Oxford and travel throughout the land, forging meaningful relationships with the Other, which for Wesley meant the poor coalminers and their families at Bristol or other people who were in need. These new relationships were not strictly preacher-to-congregant. Wesley was able to see the poor and oppressed as human beings and recognize the systems of power that produced such oppression. He responded both mercifully and with a call to justice. Upon discovering that the impoverished families in Bristol could not read, he established the Kingswood school so they could learn. His theological outlook was one of knowledge and piety; you cannot have one without the other. He did more than give a hand out; he gave a hand up! This is the justice-oriented theology that forms me as a United Methodist.
Flash forward 300 years from Wesley and I find myself in a world where “connectionalism” (a terms used to describe the web of Methodist circuits, districts and conferences) has taken on a whole new guise. Global migration and a global economic system has connected human beings together like never before and religious diversity in our country is an factual product of those connections. Just as Wesley was called to help the impoverished people of Bristol and other places, I am called to connect different communities, religious and secular, together to strive for justice. As a religious leader, I hope to be able to convey these Wesleyan ideals of connection with my congregations, encouraging them to not only embrace the religious Other, but collaborate with them as well.
Collaborations between religious and secular groups are going to heal the wounds of the world. I do not think that my denomination feels the same way I do about interfaith cooperation. Although there are some UM congregations who are doing great work, in general, the church is stuck in a sea of superficial tolerance. In following my call to ministry, I hope to convey the necessity of interfaith cooperation through a Wesleyan lens to my congregants and to the church as a whole. I put Wesley’s quote at the top of this piece because I feel that it could be the mantra for interfaith work all over the globe. We do not think alike and those differences are important. But our capacity to love our neighbors is truly beautiful.
As a Wesley admirer myself, Anthony, I appreciate this perspective. One of my professors, Randy Maddox at Duke gave me a list of Interfaith resources relating to Wesleyan Theology. Drop me an e-mail and I’ll send it to you!
Great post, Anthony! The possibility of religious and secular groups together striving for justice is a goal to which many of us aspire. But I have to be honest– whenever I see words like “justice” is a context like this one, I get a bit squeamish and wonder “whose justice are we talking about?” For example, for me, “justice” only takes on shape and content when understood in the context of a story roughly summarizable in something like the Nicene Creed. I imagine the shape it would take on when placed in a purely secular story, whatever that might be, might be rather different. Maybe one of the goals of dialogues like this one is getting us to place where we don’t need merely imagine.
You have to be right about your vocation being “multi-pronged.” I hope you find a way for your congregational and interfaith work to flow seamlessly into one another. It can be difficult. But, the difficulty may lie in precisely the fact that healing is often painful– and you are so right to say that “Collaborations between religious and secular groups are going to heal the wounds of the world.” The wounds are real. but so are our connections: I am grateful today for learning the term “connectionalism” from you!
Cheers!
As someone who has devoted more than 30 years to congregational dynamics and the interfaith movement, I was deeply moved by your essay. Would you send me your email id or phone number, or call me at 415-775-4635. Would love to talk. Thanks!