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The late American author/speaker Dale Carnegie seemed to be dead on with the mission of the 2010 West Michigan Conference Annual conference, when over 70 years ago he said, "The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.”
The goal of the annual conference committee for the 2010 conference, at Calvin College June 3-6, is to create an experience for clergy and lay members that makes them think outside the box about how to “create new places for new faces”, the theme of the event.
To facilitate that type of thinking the conference is welcoming friends from “that state to the south”, in Rev. John Edgar, George Howard and Donita Harris from the West Ohio Conference.
The trio has been instrumental in taking a corner store that opened in downtown Columbus in 1999 and shaping it into a United Methodist congregation and hub for human services, as well as a free store that now serves over 100,000 in a city of around 750,000 people.
West Michigan Director of Connectional Ministries Benton Heisler said their cutting-edge contemporary ministries are something that should excite the crowd and get people thinking.
“We tried to bring in presenters who could create an atmosphere that places a greater emphasis on the teaching and learning about what it means to be a transformational church creating new places for new faces,” he said. “We don’t want people dreading annual conference, or getting bored by it, or make it all about these different committees — and with these speakers I think we’ve accomplished that.”
Edgar is the lead pastor at the United Methodist Church for All People, Harris is a lay pastor at the church, and Howard is the Director of Connectional Ministries for the conference.
They have mastered the art of taking basic human needs, reaching out to people and incorporating the love of Christ each step of the way.
“We’ve kind of become the poster-child for the denomination’s emphasis for engaging in ministry with the poor,” Edgar said. “We don’t have it all worked out, but we are fairly unique as far as Methodist churches in not only what we do for poor folks, but how we are in ministry and accompaniment with people who are very low income.”
The flagship ministry of the Church for All People (CD4AP) was the United Methodist Free Store, and it provides free clothing and household items. Over $11 million dollars in goods have been given away in the last decade and consumers don’t have to apply for a need-based membership — as Edgar puts it, giving away necessities is a way for people to catch God’s grace.
“The Greek word for grace is “charis”, which simply means gift. Grace itself is just a gift, so the issue is how do we help people who aren’t already part of the church experience grace,” Edgar said, speaking to one of three central theories he and his colleagues plan on talking about at Calvin College.
All of CD4AP’s ministries and services also go hand in hand with the theory volunteers and leaders call the “Divine Economy of Abundance.
“We believe God ordered creation so there is more than enough of every good gift. The problem is not in supply, it’s in distribution; so often the problem is out of our fear, selfishness and other things we hoard what God has given,” he said, noting he’s not a fan of the Gospel of Prosperity. “But it does not have to be that way.”
Edgar said what might seem like “meager assets” can go a long way.
In 2005 somebody donated an old, out-dated duplex to CD4AP and volunteers labored and finally got it all fixed up after a few mistakes in the process.
It was the beginning of an affordable housing project that was in its infancy, but five years later the project drives more than $5 million in affordable housing work by the church each year.
Edgar said sometimes all people have to offer is themselves, and if they keep their eyes on Christ that is more than enough.
“As a community of faith we need to reach out and make sure we truly care about (outsiders and the needy) in simple, concrete ways,” he said, speaking of the theory of radical hospitality he preaches.
“The slogan of the Free Store is if the doors are unlocked the coffee pot is on.”
Edgar admitted not all churches or ministries can look to CD4AP’s precise model, but he believes there is a lot to be learned about reaching others than “middle-class United Methodists”, which aligns with the theme of annual conference.
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