The annual gathering of United Methodists from the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference concluded in the early afternoon of this past Wednesday. From the opening worship service on Sunday evening to the concluding act of the fixing of clergy appointments, the Holy Spirit was present and evident throughout.

There were many high and holy moments, and the atmosphere was consistently hopeful, yet realistic. Everyone knows there are still challenges ahead, but the clarity and sense of purpose that all the reports, stories, resolutions, motions, and votes generated provided proof that God is not done with the people called United Methodists!

The theme was “More Than We Can Imagine”, based on Ephesians 3:20-21 which reads, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” (NRSV)

Throughout the agenda there were moments of sharing from local churches and missional agencies about how God has blessed them in ways that were more than they could have imagined. One such story was from Arlington UMC in Nashville. Like many churches, their membership was smaller than it had been in the past, and they were struggling to maintain their facilities, of which a large portion were unoccupied and void of activity. After several failed attempts to make fruitful contacts for rental or occasional use of their available spaces, they realized they needed to take a deeper and wider approach to recognizing the needs of their community by embracing the diversity that existed within it.

Turns out there wasn’t just a Hispanic congregation in their area that needed space, but also faith groups from Ethiopian, Sudanese, and Muslim backgrounds. It took having some previously unimagined conversations and establishing some new relationships, but today all four groups now have and share space at Arlington. Their efforts to offer a traditional food pantry or clothes closet were sincere, but didn’t have the impact they had hoped. After connecting with the ENP FreeStore, Arlington is now a host site for 1,300 registered members who gather on Saturdays to share resources, services, and household goods. There were also community needs for those in recovery, and others who did not have easy access to basic health screenings. Thus, they now host Footprints to Recovery meetings and Lifeline Health Screenings.

Today, a large percentage of their space is used for addressing critical community needs, and yes some of them have created revenue streams that are beneficial to Arlington UMC. But the real success came when the church went beyond imagining ways to make more money, and they started looking in a deeper and wider way to see what their neighbors needed. The results were indeed more than they could have imagined!

This type of deeper and wider imagination is essential for churches to be relevant to their communities. Churches cannot be silos unto themselves or to people only like those in their membership. They must be willing to go below the surface of who a person is or is perceived to be, and work to discover who they truly are and how the church can connect in a sincere and tangible way.

God gave us the ability to imagine so that we might look beyond our fears and misunderstandings of our neighbors and ponder, wonder, and consider how we can build bridges that form mutually beneficial relationships. That is Kingdom work that requires risk, courage, and trust…but the results are certain to be more than we can imagine!

Forward in Faith,

Rev. Dr. David Weatherly