Seedbed, New Room, New Room Bands & the Wesley Covenant Association
by President Dr. Timothy C. Tennent
The challenges to historic faith within the United Methodist church over the last four or five decades have led many of our graduates who serve with the United Methodist church almost to despair. Despite tireless efforts, the United Methodist church has continued unrelentingly into that all-too-familiar death spiral which has been the fate of every major mainline church in North America. Many have held out hope that the UMC might just be the exception. Although the reasons for the despair have not substantively changed, the last six months have brought a new ray of hope for “the people called Methodist.”
The basis for this hope is not because of any official ecclesiastical turn back to the faith of the Apostles “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). Instead, the Lord appears to be renewing the UMC from the bottom up, not the top town. For decades countless UMC pastors have been pleading for their leaders to stand up for biblical faith, to fight for the Wesleyan heritage, and to hold the line against the erosion of holiness in the church. Every four years there is hope that “this will be the General Conference” where things get turned around. Yet, in the end, delegates committed to historic faith and the renewal of the Wesleyan tradition, go home feeling empty, angry, and in despair. It is not unusual to read articles in the various renewal publications of the UMC begging the Council of Bishops to reaffirm historic faith and Wesleyan distinctives, only to be met with silence. More recently, the Judicial Council has not acted quickly and decisively as some hoped it would after the ordination of Karen Oliveto.
In the midst of such times, the prophet Isaiah continues to speak the word of the Lord: “Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:9). I want to highlight four fresh streams I believe God is bringing into our desert. First, I see it in Seedbed, which has in less than five years established itself as the central resourcing center for Wesleyan publications. The growth of www.seedbed.com has been astonishing. We cannot take credit for it. God has called forth Seedbed as a stream in the desert. Second, I see it in the New Room Conferences which have exploded in growth. New Room has been the fastest growing Wesleyan conference in the world. The annual conferences in Franklin, Tennessee, have doubled every year and the regional gatherings around the country have been full and vibrant. New Room has brought United Methodists into relationship with vibrant, Spirit-filled Nazarene, Salvation Army, Wesleyan, Free Methodist and Christian and Missionary Alliance streams and the many vibrant members in those movements who share a common history, faith and witness with the faithful UMC. New Room is a stream in the desert. Third, I see it in the newly released Band Together app which is revolutionizing our capacity to unleash 21st century class and band meetings in a way we have not seen since the 18th century. Although the app was very costly to develop and service, we felt the Lord leading Asbury to give it away for free as an acknowledgement that this is God’s work. He is bringing this forth as a stream in the desert. Finally, I see it in the Wesleyan Covenant Association. Although Asbury is not the sponsoring body of the WCA, many of our graduates are involved, and we rejoice in the growing solidarity among millions of Methodists who are standing up and saying, “although our covenant has been broken, we will stand up for our covenant.”
These are days for renewed hope. God is moving us to travailing prayer. God is calling us to repentance. God is preparing us for new streams of life, hope and vibrancy. None of us knows the future of any denomination, including the United Methodist Church. What we do know is that Jesus Christ is building His church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). We are together on this journey of the people of God through the centuries. In our day, God is doing something which cannot be dismissed as just the emergence of some new caucus, special interest, or lobbying group for the next General Conference. Instead, I see a deep movement of the Spirit of God unfolding around us. I particularly sensed it when we were concluding the New Room conference in September. The night before over 1,000 Methodist leaders we were up until after 11 p.m. weeping before God, crying out to Him in a way I have not witnessed in North America for a long, long time. The next morning as we concluded the conference we all sang these words from And Can it Be:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast found in sin and nature’s night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart from free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
God is breaking our chains! He is calling us forth! Our place of agony is being flamed with light! Streams are flowing in the desert! Beloved, may we not miss this divine moment.
Praise the Lord for your report. I hope the UMC and other denominations will be revived in our day.
Thanks, Don Mueller 1969
President Tennent’s encouraging word and report of God’s call to travailing prayer coincides with the call of the UMC bishops to intensive prayer with a focus on the new Commission on a Way Forward and the bishop’s announced intent to call a special session of the General Conference in early 2019.
“………the bishop’s announced intent to call a special session of the General Conference in early 2019.”, will be too late for most of us. Is there not ONE brave man who will initiate action immediately. This old believer has already become exhausted being trampled in the bottom of the barrel. Thank you for trying. Blessings.