I would classify myself as a company man. I have worked in a variety of fields from
private industry, government and now the church. In every venue of employment, I believe that
I have faithfully worked to the satisfaction of my employers while learning and
growing and responding to new and sometimes challenging opportunities. I believe that I am a faithful husband,
father and now grandfather and have provided a stable environment for those I
love to thrive.
I am currently
serving as a company man of the United Methodist Church. In our denomination, we itinerate to the
appointment (faith community) which our bishop feels most appropriately fits
the local church’s need and our gifts. I
have never once turned down a request to move.
Asked to go, I went. Which, as a
good company man, meant that our family was uprooted, children moved to new
schools and spouse to a new job. Each of
our children were baptized, confirmed and now they are getting married in
different local congregations. Where
ever possible, I have served faithful in a variety of positions in the local,
district and annual conference. And I believe
that I have been an asset to our denomination and for the local churches I have
served.
I have always been proud to be a company man for the United
Methodist Church. When I was baptized at
the age of 21, I was attending St John’s United Methodist/Presbyterian USA
Church in the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center.
I was told that when I joined St John’s I needed to state which
membership roll would I be listed on – the United Methodist or the Presbyterian
USA. I asked the resident pastor, “I
like what you say, what are you?” He replied, “United Methodist!” My response, “Then I am United Methodist!”
I fell in love with Methodist way of life while living in
Harrogate, England. We attended a small
British Methodist Church in town while supporting the Methodist preacher on the
Base Protestant Chapel. Whenever and
wherever possible our vacations took us to places where John Wesley was known
to have rode/preached/served and we made a point of checking them out. It was upon our return to the United States
and our settling in the United Methodist Church on Main Street Westminster, MD
that I started to sense God’s call. I
left my professionalized career with the Federal Government to attend seminary
and serve in my first appointment as a student local pastor.
As a company man, I have honored the company’s rules and
regulations contained in the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. Recently, some have affirmed the pending
changes to the Book of Discipline because they will now be able to weld the
Discipline like a sword, turning this book into a book of consequences and punitive
measures, while the original English meaning of the word ‘Discipline” is more
closely aligned to “structure” and “order.”
The Book of Discipline is
intended to order the polity of our
denomination; it doesn’t gag the people of the church to remain silent in
regards to its contents. As a good
company man, I can freely speak for or against anything the Book of Discipline
contains as long as I state the stance of our denomination.
As a company man in the United Methodist Church, I have come
to appreciate the breadth and depth of our common life together. With
pride I would exclaim we are the church of Hillary Clinton and George
Bush! While not all United Methodist
think alike, I have endeavored to say yes to Mr. Wesley’s questions, “Can we
not all love alike?”
This company man has been on the payroll for nearly a
quarter of a century. I sense that what was once a broad tent where evil,
injustice and the “-ism”s of the world were denounced and the diversity of the
church was celebrated has been set aside.
We have turned inward and we now call each other evil, unjust and all
the while we permit the “-ism’s” to thrive in the church. We have taken the broad tent and affirmed
through legislation that in order to remain recognized as a representative of
the company one only needs to check a small box.
This company man has a confession. I have never liked boundaries and I certainly
don’t like to check boxes which makes one part of an exclusive club. I never was successful at drawing in the
lines in my children’s coloring books and frankly a check box is just an
invitation to leave unchecked and to draw outside of it. This may have at times meant I have been in
favor and out of favor with management. I
will also say that I am not a good person—my sin is ever before me. I know this to be true because what goes on
inside my head (that thankfully for the most part stay there and are not
vocalized) about things that are blatantly being affirmed by our denomination are
of “an equal measure of evil” that surely cannot be of God. I acknowledge that at times I have pushed the
intent of our denominational rule book in favor of my understanding of God’s
rule book. And as a broken, sinful
person I am sure that many would disagree with my understanding of God’s rule
book; so I have simplified it down to Jesus’ command, “Love God and Love Others!” And Jesus second rule, “Do not judge!” but
this one is so much harder to follow than the first and keeps me in my sinful
state before the throne of God. I have
always pushed to just the point where it was not quite considered
denominational heresy. I have made it
clear and honored the boundaries in which our denominational rule book has
defined this company man’s territory to officiate at a wedding where two people
love each other. I have also made it
clear that I believe that as an Elder in this company, I can go anywhere and
serve in any capacity on behalf of the company even if the company says
otherwise—it just means that there may be ramifications in serving as Christ’s
representative over the company’s.
This company man is at a “Y” intersection in his professional
life with the company. To check the
small box and buy into the company’s small box culture or dust off the dirt from
his soles (soul) and move on. Which is exactly
what the “small box culture” would rather this veteran of the church to do. Frankly,
I resent being forced into a decision at this stage of life because it is both
worrisome and scary. The denomination
which I love and have faithfully served has put me in this conundrum. Those who have advocated for this new system
are pushing good company people out and refusing to see those who God has
placed before us as a new generation of company people because they cannot
check the box. And at this point in
time, I mentally gaze down two “no good” paths:
one leads to complicity of the small box culture and the other leads to
resentment for the loss of professional life that I have given a quarter of my
life to serve.
There is a third option.
I can remain and be a thorn in the flesh of those who advocate for the small
box culture and all the while refuse to check the box. This would make a me a company man gone
rogue. A rogue, company man! An
oxymoron at its best! Yet, it is a title
that seems fitting at least until the denomination comes to its senses or Jesus
Comes back and sets us all straight!
