It Won't Happen Here vs. "Let the Children Come To Me"

One of the favorite stories that is told during Childeren’s sermons is the Matthew text where Jesus says:

“Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.”[i]

Jesus insists that we bring in the most vulnerable of his society (children) and bless them. There is a “feel good” aspect to this. How wonderful that we get to include children as an important part of our congregations and church life!

Yet since children are so vulnerable, it’s incredibly important that we take the time to ensure that we take care of them.

Unfortunately, the most common reason that people in United Methodist Churches do not follow through on "Safe Sanctuaries" programming because they think that it's unnecessary for their congregation. They cannot see their congregation as a place where sexual violence could happen. They do not recognize that their children are as vulnerable as they are.

The statistics are stark:

• 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).
• About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.1
• 15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12:
  Inlcuding:
• 7% of girls in grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
• 3% of boys grades 5-8 and 5% of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
• Approximately 2/3 of rapes were committed by someone known to the victim. [ii]

Bacher and Cooper-White suggest that "abuse and harassment prevention, boundary reinforcement, background checks, and other such matters should [not] receive attention only or even primarily because of legal requirements or to avoid lawsuits. At their core, these are deeply theological, ethical, and pastoral issues.”[iii] And they’re absolutely right. We need to recognize that we have a biblical imperative to let the children be bless in our church and we also need to recognize that we live in a reality that is far from perfect for children.

Ensuring that churches take part in and follow programming like Safe Sanctuaries is not suggesting that our church is terrible because we think people will rape our children. It’s quite the opposite. It’s suggesting that we love our children so very much that even in this violent and terrifying world, we will do everything we can to protect them.

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[i] Matthew 19:13-15

[ii] Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network: http://www.rainn.org/statistics

[iii] Bacher and Cooper-White, Church Administration, 276

Good to Great and the United Methodist Bishop

In a series of patheos articles about the future of the mainline church, Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster,* was interviewed about his vision for the future of the United Methodist Church.

When the interviewer, Debera Acra, asked him about the mainline decline and specific plans, Bishop Goodpaster referenced Good to Great:

Given the membership decline in the mainline church, what specific efforts are underway in the UMC to revive the church and make it relevant for the future?
Many United Methodists, both lay and clergy, have read and been influenced by Jim Collins' book Good to Great. In that book, Collins makes reference to the Stockdale paradox, which states, in essence, that we must always confront reality, but never give up hope. That, it seems to me, is where we find ourselves today. Reality: declining membership in the United States coupled with redirected resources. Hope: the vision of the Reign of God pulling us into a different future. By the power of the Spirit and the grace of Jesus, we move forward to create a future with hope. We know we are losing any sense of relevance in this rapidly changing culture.

For me, seeing the President of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, apply Jim Collins in a way that speaks to middle ground, makes me enormously happy, in large part this is an entirely Methodist synthesis of the text. Methodists like to balance personal and social piety, the present and future reality of the kin-dom of God, so why not add in the reality of church in decline with following Jesus in the future.

For the rest of his interview go here. His answers for what to do about young adults is well worth investigating.





*Yes, seriously. My love for puns is exceedingly happy about this. Much like when I heard my aunt’s stomach doctor was a Doctor Chow.