The UMC and the Sears Catalog

Here's an interesting article about Willimon talking about mainline decline:

http://www.salisburypost.com/Opinion/031112-edit-cook-willimon-qcd

Want my opinion? Well, here it is: I recently watched a documentary on Sears, how it became America's leading retailer, peaked around 1970, didn't realize it was in decline until Kmart and Walmart had a model that checkmated them, and how they radically restructured a couple of times to stop the bleeding and maintain market share. Now they're fourth behind Target and they're owned by Kmart.

First thought: No one is so dumb as to think Sears will ever be #1 again. We Methodists better get used to the idea that we will never be the UMC of 1968. Can we stop the bleeding and maintain our religious "market share"? I don't think so, because we can't hire a CEO to give us marching orders and fire everyone who doesn't go along (it looks to me like the "Call to Action" won't even be ratified). People in UM congregations, pastors and lay alike, better get used to the idea that this isn't getting any better. The UMC gives us a decent system for accountability, the best theological basis of any denomination, resources for training great leaders, and networks for shared ministry. That won't change for a long time. But unless the Spirit moves and the wind shifts for the whole denomination, we are not going to stop losing "market share" in our culture.

I just read the Wisconsin Annual Conference's critique of Call to Action, which basically says, "We know we need to do something, but we need to study it and pray about it a whole bunch more instead of doing this." The Confessing Movement people are against it because it gives too much power to bishops--Who else has the capacity to give some focus and identity to our work and keep us from inaction and infighting? Bishops may not be a good bet, but they're the only bet we have! Of course, the whole liberal side of our denomination is against it because it seems "corporate" (meaning, it attempts to actually get something done instead of complaining about what someone else is doing) and because it undercuts the boards, which are the last bastion of liberal influence in the denomination. Anyway, my point isn't about the Call to Action. My point is that we have no mechanism to compel corporate unified change. So things will stay the same.

That's OK, as far as I'm concerned. Once upon a time I thought I'd be part of renewing the denomination and seeing it serve as a catalyst for revival. I still hope so. But I'd be surprised. Sears is still there and it's still the place to go to get a toolbox or a washing machine, but the days when I thumbed through the catalog as a kid are long gone. But Sears will never be number one again. I was driving down the road the other day and it just occurred to me, "There is no one who can fix this and the UMC is never turning around. And that's OK."

The UMC gives me a wonderful community to do really important ministry. For people who want to invest their lives in serving God's people and giving their lives away for the Gospel, the UMC is still a pretty good option. YWAM might be a better option if you don't have a decade or two of your life to spare, but it's still a pretty good option. It's much better to put your energy into making a difference where you are instead of worrying about whether we can all beat Target someday.

I hope I'm wrong. But let's get together again in 15 years and see.