• By RJ Walters, Editor •No one was seen jumping off cliffs at Bishop’s Day 2011 at Grand Rapids FUMC, but hundreds of attendees were encouraged “to learn how to dance in dangerous places,” including stepping over the proverbial cliff’s edge in imagining what church can be.
The theme “Imagine” was communicated through everything from video clips of a couple dancing gracefully on the side of a mountain to contemplation of the simple power of a blank sheet of paper and economy writing instrument in the timeless kids book Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton enlivened the crowd in the morning with a stirring rendition of Jesus the Light of the World on the piano, following a proclamation that the church is alive and well with a significant amount of dreamers leading it into the future.
“Ever since I’ve been in the (United) Methodist Church it seems people have told me the church is dying or it is going to die and I said, well, I’m not going to believe in that,” he said. “I’m going to spend my time believing the church is going to grow and the church is going to develop because even the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church!”
Keynote speaker the Rev. Bobbi Kaye Jones, the district superintendent of the Austin District in Texas — who filled in admirably when an emergency arose for scheduled speaker Bishop Thomas Bickerton —invoked a series of questions for lay members and clergy when she approached the pulpit.
“When you imagined Bishop’s Day, did you imagine that in our global context people all over the world in country after country would be putting their lives at risk for liberty and freedom and that many of them would be succeeding, but some would not and they would be getting shot and strafed by their own government?” she said. “Did you imagine that when you imagined this event?”
“Did you imagine the budget woes sweeping our nation would bring teachers out of the school house and into the state house?”
“When you imagined this day, did you imagine the United Methodist Church would still be in our, let’s call it a downward trend, and that all of us would be asking the question, ‘What do we do?’ in looking toward a faithful future?”
She then paused, allowing the levity of her questions to sink in.
“This morning from Japan to Haiti we can literally hear the craving of all creation for compassion and community and I believe the United Methodist Church brings a world of hope.”
As an active proponent of denomination-wide initiative Imagine No Malaria, Jones said raising $75 million to eliminate deaths caused by malaria in sub-Saharan Africa is a substantial example of how bold imaginations can bring the church closer together.
“I have never experienced anything like this program. This program has just popped churches open. When neighbors found out about it (in the Austin District), even if they didn’t go to the church, they wanted to know how they could help,” she said. “Imagine No Malaria will expand the capacity of your congregation to have compassion. And as it says in Ephesians, ‘God can accomplish more than any of us can imagine.’”
It is estimated that a child in Africa dies of malaria every 45 seconds and Imagine No Malaria’s goal is to eradicate the suffering and disease by 2015.
Jones said the project reverberates within the walls of UMC’s because people “badly want to be connected” and to “feel vital.”
People can donate money to Imagine No Malaria or learn more about the project at www.imaginenomalaria.org.
Donations of $10 can also be made via cell-phone by texting “Malaria” to 27722.
