Dear St. Lukers,
As we continue our time in History Class: Wesleyan Vile-tality, we will consider the prophets who call out to us to remind us of who we are called to be. Our scriptural voice this week is the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived through an extremely turbulent time. Again and again, he calls out to the people of Judah to change their ways, to love God, and to love their neighbors. Unfortunately, the people did not listen.
Pastor Melissa shared last week that there have been times throughout United Methodist history when we have not listened to the invitations to love and justice that God placed before us. There have been times and seasons when our denomination has missed the mark, and still God has called out and worked through leaders in our tradition to remind us of who we are called to be.
One of the examples we meet in Dr. Ashley Boggan’s book, Wesleyan Vile-tality, is Francis Willard. Willard understood that “One’s Methodist faith should compel them to make themselves uncomfortable, to push their own boundaries, in order to spread the love of God to as many people as possible” (84). It is through people like Willard that our tradition continues to be vile in small and large ways.
During my time at Candler School of Theology, I was privileged to take a class called “Methodism and Race” with Bishop Woodie White. Bishop White has been a critical voice in the United Methodist Church throughout his career and was instrumental in the founding of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, the abolishment of the Central Jurisdiction, and the establishment of the General Commission on Religion and Race.
So much of this class remains with me, but one thing that remains so brilliantly is the love of God and neighbor we saw in Bishop White. He is someone who radiates love in the most powerful of ways. I would encourage you to spend some time this week looking up Bishop White to get a glimpse of the incredible work he has done as we consider the voices that call to us to be who God is calling us to be.
I look forward to worshipping with y’all this week,
Pastor Jayde
The Rev. Jayde Rasband Swygert Minister of Care and Grow Ministries
