THE WESLEYAN CHURCH...AMONG OTHERS

While the 7600 Southern Baptists meet for their Convention in Indianapolis, another denominational meeting was taking place at the 11th General Conference of The Wesleyan Church in Orlando, Florida.

The Wesleyan Church is an evangelical, Protestant denomination that emphasizes a holy life empowered for witness and service. With headquarters in Indiana, The Wesleyan Church has nearly 5,000 churches and missions in 80 countries of the world. Formed in 1968 resulting from the mergers of several like-minded groups, dating back as far as 1843, The Wesleyan Church has its roots in John Wesley's Methodism.

The Wesleyan General Conference didn't make much news because of its size (119,000 in the US, and 411,000 all over the world). Perhaps the media thinks the 1400 delegates discussing issues within their ranks won't even make a dent on the American and global religious landscape, unlike Baptists who comprise 20% of the American population, and numbers 110 million throughout the world [bwa stats].

At the Wesleyan General Conference, the 1400 delegates elected its first woman General Superintendent, Dr. Jo Annw Lyon, CEO of church-affilliated World Hope, a compassion ministry organization. If Southern Baptists elect a woman president, that would make news that could ring out loud as long as a decade and could outrage the most silent traditionalists and ultra-conservatives! Part of the reason why the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was formed was because some Southern Baptists proposed ordination of women, and the rest of the denomination won't! The Baptist General Convention of Texas last year elected their first female president, Joy Fenner.

A General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, Dr. Nina Gunter, also a woman, commended the election of Dr. Lyon saying, "The election of Jo Anne Lyons is a powerful testimonial of the heritage and Biblical, theological persuasions of the Wesleyan Church....the Church is commended for this forward step into the future."

Dr. Lyon, in her speech after having been elected said that her father trained her to serve the church. She quotes her father who said: "I trained my girl to be a good churchman!" Talk about lack of gender-sensitivity! In Dr. Lyon's acceptance speech she said, "I believe the Lord is positioning the Wesleyan Church to have a voice in the 21st century like never before!"
Like some of my blog readers know, I may have been Baptist all my life (and almost a Presbyterian), and my masteral studies were done (being done) in a non-denominational but quite Baptistic seminary, but my Bachelor of Theology degree I received from a Wesleyan-rooted college. My half of my professors in Bible college found their way into that school from the Wesleyan Church. Bill Oden, former president of Faith Bible College is an ordained Wesleyan minister. In a retreat at Caliraya, he once admitted to me upon discovery that I am Baptist that his influences are Baptists- Billy Graham, Jack Hyles, Jerry Falwell and WA Criswell. After that conversation, he asked me to sing in a program he was planning!

Bible College adjunct professor of Johannine Writings and Pastoral Counseling, the Rev. Jack Carlson was my first real, true-blue Wesleyan exposure. I remember the Rev. Carlson saying:
- "We embraced the doctrine of holiness so much that we have become so self-centered-- concerned solely with our individual growth, holiness and prayer life. We become too judgmental towards people who have a different view of holiness. We forget about missions and church growth!

- "We declare to live in holiness! But that's fancy talk for most of us! I hope that when we say we live in holiness, we will quit judging people who we 'feel' aren't walking in it."
- "Our number is dwindling! The only real growth being recorded in my denominations annals are fruits of the Philippine branch of the Wesleyan Church." "

Once over dinner with his wife Carole, he said, "I'm guessing, if my denomination remains the way it is, we're seeing the last remaining numbers of the Wesleyan Church in North America!"
I have not heard from the Rev. Carlson, but I believe his dream of seeing his denomination grow, reach the young people and step up once again is coming to a reality.

In the Presbyterian Church (USA) thirty years ago there were nearly two thousand missionaries on the mission field worldwide. Then we got some folks in leadership positions entrenched in those positions in the headquarters -- who began to question the need for missionaries around the world and who began to discourage missions and who actually began to pull missionaries off the field to the point where just a few years ago our missionary force had dwindled down to about between four and five hundred.

During the same thirty year period of time the membership of the PCUSA went from near four million down to about 2.6 million where it is today. Do you think there is any connection there, folks? Now praise God things are turning around. there are some new leadership in the denomination. There is a rebirthing of a worldwide missions vision in the PCUSA for which we should be grateful.

In my case (Baptist), the denomination has fought for doctrinal purity in the 70s through the 90s, and the conservatives won! But Fighting is still going on over minor things!

I read the book of 3 John this morning about Diotrephes and Demetrius.
This Diotrephes is a pretty sorry person isn't he? He emerges out of this text as an arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, control freak. His motto is Just Say No. His theme song is Sinatra's I Did It My Way. He is not the kind of guy you want in a leadership position in a church and yet he's there, not just back there in the first century; he is still around in a variety of churches across this globe.

Good Christian leader need to put our lives up against this text, up against this contrast between Diotrephes and Demetrius. Good spiritual leaders are first of all good followers, followers of Christ. Good spiritual leaders are folks that don't cut down other people's ministries but come alongside and encourage other ministries and work hard for the advancement of the kingdom even if they are not going to get any credit for it. Good spiritual leaders have a missions vision. Good spiritual leaders are involved in raising people up into ministry not running people off. Good spiritual leaders are willing to hear the truth about themselves.

A church advances no further than its leadership does. That's why in the body of Christ we need to hold the leadership to the highest standards according to the Word of God.