ON UNITED METHODISM'S FAVORABLE IMPRESSION

Dr. Riley Case

January 10, 2012

It is nice to be liked. United Methodists are well liked, at least according to a recent survey by Life Way Research (associated with Southern Baptists) in which 62% of Americans have a "favorable" or "somewhat favorable" opinion of United Methodists. This is compared with a 59% favorable opinion of Roman Catholics, 53% of Southern Baptists, 37% of Mormons, or 28% of Muslims.

Some comments.

1) This is not new information. Several surveys and studies over the past years have reported somewhat similar results. Fifty years ago when I was in seminary this was being discussed. Methodism, at least for the past 100 years, has reflected American popular religious culture. Methodism gave to the country gospel hymns, Mother's Day, chicken and noodle suppers, and "the right hand of fellowship" (traceable back to campmeeting days). United Methodists are middle-class. They are common, ordinary people. They do food pantries, deliver Christmas boxes, and always cooperate in the community Good Friday services.

Lutherans are in Minnesota, Baptists in Georgia, Mormons in Utah, Jews in New York, Congregationalists in Vermont, Presbyterians in New Jersey, and Catholics in Wisconsin, but United Methodists are everywhere. In every state, in almost every county, in almost every little community and even in the open country, there are United Methodist churches, sometimes big brick churches with steeples, sometimes little frame churches. The teachers, the owners of small businesses, the farmers and the skilled workers are very often United Methodists. United Methodists are the backbone of the Rotary Club, the home ec club, and the Girl Scouts.

Down through the years Methodism has built up tremendous good will. Whether true today or not, through the years Methodists have opposed alcohol and gambling, have upheld the family, and have spoken of soil stewardship and sponsored Rural Life Sunday. Methodist kids attended Sunday school and church camp and knew songs like Kum Ba Ya. Methodist women's groups established children's homes and sent missionaries overseas.

United Methodists have the reputation of being nice people without being pushy. They don't talk too much of eternal damnation; they don't claim too many miracles; they don't dance in the aisles during worship services. They don't insist on breaking the ice on the lake in winter to do baptism by immersions. United Methodists support public schools and are uneasy about the sectarianism of parochial schools.

The "pink fringe" in the Methodist Church of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s could not dissuade persons of Methodism's "nice guy" image, even after Reader's Digest exposé in the 1950s. While the seminaries were advocating socialism, and the official church documents were declaring for pacifism, regular Methodists were reliably conservative in their views of politics and social action. For all of official Methodism's and EUB's pacifism and opposition to war in the 1930s and 40s, less than one-quarter of one percent of Methodist young men and woman declared they were conscientious objectors during World War II. Methodists through the years have been good citizens, good neighbors, and have been optimistic about the future of the country.

So, there is no surprise that most Americans think favorably of United Methodism.

2) These good impressions ought to work to the favor of United Methodism. Much is made today of "branding." United Methodists have it. Our cross and flame symbol presently suggests we are safe and respectable. Those of us who work with evangelical renewal groups within The United Methodist Church deal continually with pastors and lay people who want to opt out of United Methodism. It is dead, liberal, hierarchical, and bureaucratic, they say. We in the renewal groups urge people to stay. There are a number of reasons why some of the greatest opportunities for ministry are in The United Methodist Church. The UM Church has the doctrine and the polity, to say nothing of the money, to be an influence for good in the world. Because of Methodism's favorable impression many people seeking a new church home will give the local United Methodist Church a try. They may not stay, but at least Methodists get a chance. When a new United Methodist pastor comes to town he or she will likely be asked to belong to a service club. Their kids will be accepted at school. When I was an active pastor doing house-to-house visitation (a lost art these days I am sorry to say) I was always accepted as a Methodist (and later as a United Methodist), even with strangers. United Methodists just by the name have a foot in the door; they just need to make the sale.

3). There is, however, a down side to popularity and that is part of what plagues United Methodism today.

Christians ought to beware when all people speak well of them, especially in pagan territory. During its early years in England and in America, Methodism was a despised sect. Methodists were enthusiasts (too excitable); their camp meetings were out of control; their preachers were uneducated. They sang "ditties" instead of stately hymns. They offended people by talking to them about their souls. They opposed "worldliness," which included Sabbath breaking, dancing, card playing, gambling, alcohol, and fancy dress. For the first 75 years of their presence in America, Methodists would never have won any popularity polls. But Methodism grew. From 1784 to 1850, a period known generally as the Second Great Awakening, Methodism grew from 3% of America's religious population, to 33%. It was in part because Methodism during this period thought it better to be despised for the gospel than to be respectable in the world.

It is time for the church to come up with something better than Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors as its slogan. It is time to talk about informed minds and changed hearts and the narrow doors on the path that leads to life. The emphasis on vital congregations is all right, but it needs to be understood that leadership and exciting worship and other marks of vital congregations must be based on commitment to Biblical doctrine and Biblical moral standards. I heard a man explain why he was United Methodist. He used to be Wesleyan but they objected to his cursing, his drinking, and his cigarettes. So, he explained, he became United Methodist because they didn't care what he did.

Not caring what a person believes or does is the by-product of the present emphasis on "inclusivity." No standards. No morals. No expectation of change. Nothing to offer a dying world except a social and political agenda.

People talk about making United Methodism a movement again, instead of a dead institution. This will require some new directions. Unfortunately, we probably cannot depend on our leaders to take us in these new directions. It is unlikely that the type of leaders who brought us to where we are today (40 years of decline) are the type of leaders who will make the decisions that can reverse that decline.

New life in Methodism will have to come through individuals, through small groups, and through local churches who will affirm with conviction United Methodist doctrinal standards, United Methodist traditional morality, and John Wesley's passion of souls. New life will come when United Methodists talk a lot more about Jesus (this would lower our favorable rating in a hurry) and insist of the new birth as a condition of church membership. New life will come when people witness to miracles, to the presence of the Holy Spirit in their churches, and to changed lives.