I am a United Methodist. I do not really have any stories about my ethnicity to tell. Methodists do not really tell stories. We do not have the exciting heritage that Mennonites have. Our people did not come to America in one large group from the same country for the same reason. At least I do not think we did. We do not really talk about our heritage. I never heard stories about my ancestors from my grandparents; I discovered what I know about them through my own research.
The only relatives I have who attend my church, West Unity United Methodist Church, are my parents and my grandparents. Many of the families at my church, like mine, have relatives who attend churches of different denominations. We all have different last names and we do not think much about relations or where we came from. We do not have any ethnic foods that we eat like borscht or moon pies. We have potlucks once in a while but, then again, so do most churches.
No one in my church had ever been on a mission trip until last year when a group went to Nicaragua. There were only four of them and at least two had never been out of the country before. Usually we just have special offerings for projects or missions, most of which are in the United States.
In my church, we do not necessarily support the war but we do support our troops. We pray for them and we have a ministry to collect coupons to send to the troops. Every year on the Sunday closest to Veteran’s Day all of the veterans in my church wear their hats with all their pins and sit in the front row. As our pastor says the name of the service they were in, they stand and we recognize them. Some people get mad if we do not sing a song like “America, the Beautiful” on the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July. On one side of the stage in our sanctuary is the Christian flag and on the other side is the American flag.
Throughout my life, clarifying my denomination has not been very important. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have been asked my denomination. When I look back at the poetry I have written, none of them speak of being a United Methodist. They do not mention denomination at all. When I write, I write as a Christian, not a Methodist. That’s the way I was taught. Just as we do not focus much on heritage, we do not focus on denomination. The stories my pastor reads from the Bible during the scripture lesson are not about Methodists or Baptists; they are about Christians.
If I walk into any of the churches in my town I do not think I will feel very out of place. I will know someone there from school or work. I went to a service at the Presbyterian Church in my community once and it was very similar in structure to my own church. In the past, the churches in my community have had joint services for Christmas Eve or in the summer we set up tents at the park and had a community church service where each church helped out.
Recently, while researching my family history, I discovered that I have deep Mennonite roots on both sides of my family. My grandfather attended a Mennonite church and so did my father until he married my mother and started attending her Methodist church which is where we attend still today. My mother’s family has a long Mennonite history but I know that our family has been United Methodist dating back to before 1853. When my great grandparents moved to West Unity, Ohio from Berne, Indiana they started attending the United Methodist church because, at that time, there was no Mennonite church in West Unity. It is very strange to think that under different circumstances I could be a Mennonite living in Berne, Indiana right now. If one decision had been made differently my entire life would be changed. It also brings up interesting questions. I have always been proud of my Methodist heritage. But am I a Methodist or a Mennonite? I love peace and shy away from conflict; I like doing service and want to get more involved with missions; I attend Goshen College and I love it. But even given all of these things, I still have to conclude that in my heart I am a Methodist. Having Mennonite ancestors changes the way I view my heritage, but it does not change the way I see my life.
I attended a public high school like everyone else in my town where we went to homecoming and prom and played the national anthem before every sporting event. When my maternal, Methodist grandfather could not serve in World War II he helped by being a mechanic. My paternal grandfather, who attended a Mennonite church, fought in the Korean War. I recycle when it is convenient but in the summer I will never pass up the chance to go for a two-hour motorcycle ride with my dad around the countryside with no destination in mind. I listen to country music where faith and patriotism go hand in hand.
When I was in junior high all of my classmates seemed to be turning away from God. I was the exact opposite. I loved God so much that I secretly wanted to die so that I could be in Heaven with Him. Since then my faith has hit a rough patch or two on its journey. Every time I read scripture I find more and more questions that I do not understand: why are there two stories in Genesis, why did God harden Pharoah’s heart, do we really have a choice if God already knows everything that will happen in our life?
Last year our Conference was faced with a controversy because one of the candidates for the new CFO (chief financial officer) position was homosexual. My pastor gave a special sermon on the subject. He was disturbed because he received a petition that was being passed from congregation to congregation about the matter. He did not try to persuade us which way to lean; he explained that it is difficult to decide the answer which is why the question keeps coming up and that as Methodists “we continue the discussion, until we know the right.” He ended with what has become our congregation’s motto: “For in the end, they will not know we are Christians by our legal system, or our staunch lines, or our stated Disciplines… they will know we are Christians by our… love. Love for God, love for each other, love for the strangers in our midst.”
All my life I have had trouble making decisions. As a senior in college I still do not know what career path I would like to pursue. And the issue of homosexuality, well, that has always been a touchy subject for me because, frankly, I do not know what the right view is- I see the truth in both arguments. I have always told people I do not know where I stand on the issue but I believe we should love and treat everyone with kindness, no matter what. When I told my pastor that Mennonites are known for their view on peace and asked him what Methodists are known for, he said our political activism. But I believe that we are known for putting love above everything else, for viewing and treating everyone the same. It does not matter where you come from or what you believe; we are all the same under God’s “roof.”
Long but very knowledgeable! One thing that I was quite shocked about was your church honoring the current soldiers by sending them things. It also shocked me that your church honors the soldiers from past wars by having them sit in the front row and call their names and everyone claps for them. It is also shocking that the church has the American flag on stage. It is shocking because I thought that every single church would not honor troops or show the flag. I was also shocked (I know. I keep on saying it but it is shocking!) that you had relatives that had either served or wanted to serve in the wars.
ReplyDeleteYou have given information on what your church does for the soldiers (sending them things, applauding them, etc.) but what does your family do when not at church? Do they still send troops things? Do they walk up to a soldier walking down the street, shake their hand, and thank them for their service? Will YOU continue to do what your church and/or family has done for the troops? Or, having attended a Mennonite college where it seems that we cannot thank our troops, will you stop thanking the soldiers for their service and teach your children to stay away from any and all soldiers?
This is interesting, Kim; I've always wondered if other denominations think of themselves as distinctively as Mennonites do. I like how you start off your essay saying you don't really know what distinctions Methodists make between themselves and other denominations--that they seem, for the most part, to make less of their differences than Mennonites do. But by the end you have kind of discovered what it means to be Methodist--and that actually has to do with eliminating the boundaries between denominations and people.
ReplyDeleteI really go back and forth between thinking that it's good to own that distinct denominational identity and thinking that doing so only creates unnecessary in and out groups (and conflict). But if we're going to promote diversity, I think it's essential that we maintain some uniqueness in each of our denominational identities (though only if that uniqueness is already there, I guess).
What a wonderful motto your church has--they will know we are Christians by our love. As Sarah says, above, this essay is very satisfying in the way that it shares your discovery of your Methodist identity with your reader.
ReplyDelete"We all have different last names and we do not think much about relations or where we came from. We do not have any ethnic foods that we eat like borscht or moon pies."
ReplyDeleteYeah, a lot of time I find myself wondering if the "Mennonite" markers like shoofly pie, German last names, washing and reusing Ziploc bags, and watching only PBS, are simply markers of living in Pennsylvania, coming from Germany, Depression-era thriftiness, and middle class, liberal-arts-educated parenting. I think you hit on the unifying factor - the story we tell ourselves of where we came from.
When I was reading your essay I couldn't help but think about how much simpler church might be if we didn't have the ethnic and theological origin story and cultural identity all mixed up in there. I also appreciated your openness about your and your congregation's struggles with the issue of sexual minorities in the church.