The top two authors United Methodist pastors read are Will Willimon and Henri Nouwen. That’s a problem. Willimon has jumped the shark in the UMC’s meltdown, and I suspect that may affect his readership numbers. Be that as it may, Nouwen and Willimon are not evangelism and discipleship writers. They are by and large shepherd/teacher writers.
But we are in a discipleship and evangelism crisis. We won’t get out of this mess following the leaders who got us there. Our clergy will have to reinvent themselves. It’s been too easy for too long to be a United Methodist pastor. We keep getting paid and the institution keeps rolling along in spite of the free-fall of worship, membership, and finances.
“The split” will not fix it. I have no doubt that the centrist/progressive church will die. But to be honest, I don’t really care what happens to a centrist/progressive church. The orthodox Methodists will not thrive, however, just because they split. Our choices look like “status quo plus gay marriage” and “status quo minus gay marriage.” Both of those mean death.
So, we need to change what we read. By all means, keep Henri Nouwen on the bedside table. But we really need to catch up with some heavy reading to change our ministry habits and equip us to do what Jesus did.
For starters, I think it would be good to spend a year reading and implementing the conclusions of 3 books:
The Master Plan of Evangelism, by Robert Coleman
The Training of the Twelve, by A.B. Bruce
Discipleshift by Jim Putman and Robert Coleman
