It turns out, The United Methodist Church is basically Traditionalist/Evangelical

The United Methodist Church, though often described as progressive, or Mainline Protestant, is actually an evangelical and traditionalist denomination on the whole.*
That is the inescapable conclusion that we can now draw, not only from the recent General Conference's decision to endorse the "Traditional Plan" as the way forward through disagreements on sexuality, but also from a Nationwide survey conducted earlier this year by United Methodist Communications.

This survey is quite significant, and you can read the entire article that I'll be referring to on the UMC's official website HERE.

First we must note that The United Methodist Church is a world-wide denomination and this survey was a survey only of American Methodists.
Any attentive observer of trends in the UMC is aware that overseas Conferences are overwhelmingly conservative, traditionalist, and orthodox (and, in some cases, charismatic as well).
Furthermore the Church is now almost evenly divided between American Methodists and International Methodists.  This would mean that if even a small minority of American Methodists were traditionalists or conservatives, that would still mean that the world-wide church was mostly traditionalist.

But, as it turns out, however, the new study of American Methodists reveals that there are far more self-identified Traditionalists/Conservatives than there are Progressives/Liberals in the American Church.

Here is how it breaks down according to the article linked above:
Of those contacted, 
44 percent identified themselves as conservative/traditionalist in religious beliefs
28 percent as moderate/centrist
20 percent as progressive/liberal

Many will immediately be wondering what are the "political" ramifications (which is itself a sad commentary on how much fighting we've been doing).

Conservatives and Traditionalists are, far and away, the largest group.  This runs counter to the common narrative (often repeated in the run-up to the recent General Conference) that Centrists form the large majority of the UMC in America.  Rather it is likely that, when it comes to any particular moral or theological question or dispute, a majority of United Methodists in America would tend to line up behind the more traditional understanding.
Even supposing that you took the 28 percent that self-identify as Moderate and split them 50/50 between aligning with Traditionalists and aligning with Liberals on any particular issue, a significant majority of the American church (to say nothing of the Central Conferences overseas) would lean conservative/traditionalist.

Now, you might say, "Well, we should add all the Moderates together with all the Liberals, to see where the majority of the American church really is."  However, what the study actually found is that those who self-identified as Moderates tended to be closer to Traditionalists than they were to Progressives:
"The self-identified moderates generally ended between conservatives and liberals in the results for specific questions.  But often they were closer to the conservative position." 

This also raises the question about representation at General Conference.  I saw many progressives on social media saying that upwards 60% of American delegates to the recent General Conference voted for the One Church Plan, rather than the Traditional plan.  I think it is very possible that a few Conservatives actually did so as well, choosing institutional unity over their preferred theological understanding.
Nevertheless, if it is really the case that almost 2/3 of American GC delegates were Liberals/Progressives, then this would suggest that American Traditionalists are greatly under-represented at the General Conference level.

What about are the ramifications for the theological character of the Church?  On the whole, for those of us who are concerned with upholding and proclaiming the classic Biblical faith - the faith of the 'one holy catholic and apostolic church' - in United Methodism, the survey findings are very encouraging.

"The survey dug into United Methodists' views on various theology-related subjects, including the Bible, Jesus, salvation, the Resurrection, and the afterlife...
On some matters there was broad agreement.  For example, large majorities of all three self-identifying groups believe in Jesus' birth from a virgin,  his crucifixion in order to reconcile humans to God, and his resurrection in bodily form.  By big margins, conservatives, moderates, and liberals understand God as creator of heaven and earth and believe God's grace is available to all..."

So on the matters of basic theological orthodoxy, as articulated in the Apostles' Creed (for example), the vast majority of American Methodists are basically orthodox.  This is great news for the future health of the Church!

On the other hand, there was significant disagreement over the doctrine of Hell:
"But only 50 percent of liberals believe in a literal Hell, compared to 82 percent of conservatives and 70 percent of moderates..."

I do wonder if the phrase 'literal Hell' might have been a hindrance to some, and if a different phrase (like "an actual hell" or "eternal separation from God") would have yielded slightly higher numbers.
Nevertheless, we are pretty firm on our belief that Jesus really is the only Savior, and the only way to the Father:
"An overwhelming majority of conservatives, 86 percent, said a relationship with Jesus is the only way to salvation.  64 percent of moderates agreed with that and 54 percent of liberals did."

Again I'm pleasantly surprised to find that the numbers are this high (even among liberals) for this decisive orthodox and evangelical doctrine.

Finally, "The survey showed that women are more likely than men to hold liberal/progressive views and that church attendance is strongest by conservatives." 

Many have bemoaned the lack of involvement in the church by men, which has been a long-standing problem (even Karl Marx noted this almost 200 years ago).  But this survey would suggest that moving the church further in a liberal direction, if it did anything, would actually exacerbate the problem.

Because of the way Traditionalists interpret the Bible and understand its authority (including the 10 Commandments), I'm not surprised to find that conservatives are strongest in church attendance; I would also not be surprised to find that (because of their more traditional interpretations of the Bible) they are also more likely to give 10% of their income to the church, but apparently that question was not included.
It would indeed be interesting to see another survey that follows up by asking about the spiritual disciplines and practices of all these people, and seeing how that may (or may not) correspond to their self-described religious beliefs.

United Methodism is a big and diverse denomination, and I think (and hope) it always will be a place where everyone is welcomed and embraced (as is certainly appropriate for a world-wide Church); but we clearly do have a theological identity and the evidence shows that, on the whole, the UMC is a theologically traditional and orthodox denomination as well being diverse - both in the USA and, even more so, across the world.

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*I always feel the need to note that by Traditionalist and Evangelical, we do not mean Fundamentalist in the usual sense that word is now used.  The average Evangelical United Methodist will be open to things like Ecumenism or the Ordination of Women etc. things which are generally rejected out of hand by Fundamentalists.

Dear Lord, save Notre Dame from modern architects

I think there was a collective groan heard round the world - and perhaps in France especially - when French President Macron announced that there would be an "international design competition" to build a new spire for Notre Dame Cathedral after the recent fire.

For one thing, why not get a Frenchman to design it?  This isn't really a big deal to me, but it seems like it ought to be a big deal to the French people: Notre Dame is after all the national church of France.  The old spire, and indeed the whole church were achievements of the French.  Are they no longer capable of such feats?

But my bigger concern is that some kind of "cool", Post-modern steel and glass spire will be shoe-horned onto this gorgeous Medieval gothic cathedral.  And it will look cool...at first...state-of-the art...for a while, until trends change.

My attitudes toward "improving" upon classic architectural idioms by "supplementing" them with modern forms were firmly set during my time at LSU.  If you go to the main quad in the center of campus, all around the Quad are stucco-covered, Italian-esque buildings, with matching red tiled roofs, fountains, and rows of beautiful arches all around the quad.  Except on one end.  There is Middleton Library.  An orange and green cube, that apparently fell from outer space and landed in the center of the quad.

At the time it was built, Middleton library was the latest and greatest, the cutting edge in architectural trends.  But now, while the rest of the quad continues to look timeless, the Library just looks dated.  And ugly.

The same phenomenon is clearly visible a short walk away.  The old LSU Law School is a Classical building, very much resembling the US Supreme Court, modeled after Greek and Roman architecture.  Attached to the back of it is the new Law School, a modern hulk of concrete and glass that makes no attempt whatever to blend with the old building.  While many people still admire the beauty of the old Law School, again, the new school looks strikingly '60s or '70s.  It looks dated.

Why?  Why do the various classic idioms remain timeless while Modern architecture - while initially admired - ultimately looks dated, even ugly, within a few decades?

This video explains why quite well, and I hope and pray that if any new spire is added to Notre Dame, it will be in the gothic style, and fit seemlessly with the rest of the structure so that - in a few generations - rather than looking like a strange (and very "2020's looking") addition, it will instead be taken for something (like the 19th Century spire) that could have been a part of the original construction all along.

Hope among the Ruins (Easter Sunday Sermon)

This video remains one of the most powerful and heart-rending things I've ever seen:


Luke 24:1-12

Church fires have been in the news lately. We’ve had the 3 historically Black Baptist churches deliberately burned, not far from here, in Opelousas. Monday morning I got a text message that the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was on fire. Now, a few years back a prominent cathedral, St John the Divine in New York City, had a fire that didn’t amount to much; so I didn’t think much of it. Later in the day I got online and started watching the news. Then I watched in total shock as Notre Dame burned; the great spire – holding up the sign of the cross high over the city – fell down, breaking, collapsing into a roar of smoke and cinders. I saw videos of French Christians gathering to pray and sing in the streets as the fire roared through the night, and heard how the church bells all across the city of Paris began to ring and ring, as a call to prayer, or perhaps a sign of grief. As I watched, I thought, ‘We may lose the whole church. It has stood for nearly 900 years – survived the French Revolution and two World Wars – and this will be the generation that lost Notre Dame.’

Watching the great church burn stirred up so many mixed feelings in me. One was just that sense of futility. Maybe you’ve seen something like this in your life, your health, your relationships or your work. You work so hard to build something up, to preserve it, maybe even pass it on from one generation to another, for a thousand years even…and then in a single afternoon it can literally go up in smoke. What once was full of light and life is now a pale, gray ruin. Frailty and decay seem to have the last word.

Notre Dame, like the Twin Towers, is far more than just a building or unique work of architecture. It is a symbol. Perhaps as much as any building anywhere in the world Notre Dame is the Symbol of our Western, CHRISTIAN, Civilization. It is a symbol of Christian faith, the faith-motivated cultural and technical achievements of our ancestors, and of the yearning of human hearts for a transcendent beauty and harmony that can ultimately be found in God alone.

I’ve heard stories of people with no particular faith in God who visit some of these great Cathedrals as tourists, only to leave the place haunted by the sense of beauty and glory they’ve encountered, asking questions they’ve never asked before that send them searching, until they finally come to find that their longings are satisfied in the embrace of Jesus Christ. A gothic cathedral is not just an auditorium where one goes to hear a teacher…the building itself is a teacher of the depths and riches of our faith. Everything about it, from the cross-shaped floor plan, to the Bible stories depicted in stain glass windows, even the number of windows, the mathematical proportions of the building, everything about it is designed to express the truth and beauty our Christian faith.

It also struck me as very…interesting…that Notre Dame burned during Holy Week, during Passion Week: This week when we remember Jesus’ betrayal…his arrest…we remember how Peter denied Christ…we remember his suffering…his pain…his crucifixion…and finally his death upon the cross to take away our sins.

And during THIS week, one of the World’s most significant symbols of Christian faith, Christian civilization suffers a devastating fire.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it means. Many countries with a strong Christian heritage – and France especially - have increasingly embraced an aggressive secularism that has no time for God, that denies Christ, and has no confidence in any unchangeable Truth. We don’t generally spend 200 years building gothic cathedrals anymore; we build shopping malls and sports arenas surrounded by acre upon acre of gray asphalt (temples to consumerism and entertainment).

I watched the glorious cathedral – built during the ‘Age of Faith’ – burn in the midst of a fiercely secular city, and I wondered, ‘Could it be a sign, even a warning?’ What good is it, asked our Lord, to gain the whole world and yet forfeit your SOUL? (Mt. 16:26; Lk. 9:25). I believe many people in our secular societies are desperately hungry for something that you cannot buy on Amazon or win in the playoffs, you cannot find it in a political cause or even in a romance; we are looking for truth, for justice, for beauty, for a Spiritual Harmony, for a Meaning and a Mission which we can without reservation or regret give ourselves to completely. We are hungering for God, the Living God (Ps. 42).

Could this somehow be a sign for our times of the spiritual desolation and emptiness that comes when faith is lost? Or could this event, in the midst of Passion Week, somehow spark a re-awakening?

In college I went with some friends to London and Paris one year for Spring Break. On EasterSunday, 2004 (15 years ago today) we went to worship in Notre Dame Cathedral. There we heard the old story again. You’ve heard the story: What once was full of light and life was a pale and gray ruin. The body of Jesus sealed in a cold tomb. He taught the way of holiness and love in a way that captivated the crowds; his words amazed humble fishermen and learned philosophers alike; he healed the broken, and touched the untouchable. His life was good and true and beautiful, and called for our total allegiance in a way that challenged everything in this sinful, broken world.

And so we killed him.

But today we hear the announcement of the angel. The women came to the tomb in grief, thinking at best to find a cold and dead body to anoint with burial spices. Instead they found an empty tomb. Instead they saw the glorious angels, and heard their words: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen!” (v.5)

Our injustice, our foolishness, our short-sightedness has simply been overwhelmed by God’s power, God’s love, God’s Truth.
This is Easter; this is Resurrection Day – there is Hope springing up in the ruins; there is Life bursting forth from the grave, and His Name is Jesus, and He is Lord. This is the Last Word!

Then the Angels said to the women, “Remember!” Remember Jesus! Remember his words! Remember how he told you…that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. (v.7).

‘Then,’ says verse 8, ‘they remembered his words!’ They remembered!

I pray that people all across this globe will remember Jesus, remember his words, will rediscover the faith that inspired our forefathers to build Notre Dame; will remember that there is a Solid Truth that has given hope to millions across the Centuries, even in the face of death and loss. There is a divine order to things, a solid rock you can build your life upon. There is a Heavenly Love, a glorious vision of God – this Lord who loves you enough to come and die to win your heart and save your soul – that vision has the power to transform and sustain your life, and even the life of a whole civilization. He Lives! And He offers his own Risen Life to you as a gift!

Do you remember? Was there ever a time when His Truth set your heart ablaze? When you gave your heart to Christ? And does that faith burn in you, or has it grown cold? Now is the time to remember, to consider, to ponder this old story, to believe and to find Life anew in Him!

Whether you’ve been a committed follower of Christ for decades, or are just here today as a seeker asking questions, we have Good News. Today we remember His promises of forgiveness and new life; we remember his Goodness and Love, and today remember his power to bring Hope even among the Ruins!

You can contribute to the rebuilding of Notre Dame HERE.

You can contribute to the rebuilding of the 3 Louisiana churches burned by arson HERE.  

Toxic vs Redeemed Masculinity (Once more unto the breach!)

I want to revisit a topic I took up a few months ago, when I shared my concern that many seemed to be trying to address the (very real) problem of toxic masculinity by trying to toss aside or radically redefine 'masculinity' itself, rather than addressing what turns it toxic.  I also, in that same post shared the great CS Lewis Doodle video about Chivalry.

As I noted in the previous post, the personal redemption of any particular man begins with surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ, accepting the gracious forgiveness of sins that he alone can provide, receiving the promises of Holy Baptism, and beginning to live a new life, walking by faith in the Son of God.
But what about redeeming masculinity, the ideal of masculinity, itself in our culture?
Is there even a coherent ideal of masculinity in our culture anymore?

I've been thinking a good deal more about this in recent months.  I agree that there is a crisis of masculinity, and a crisis that leaves boys not really being sure what it means to 'be a man,' and without the rites of passage needed to know that they have become men, and that this confusion may (I suspect) contribute to everything from the sexually libertine hook-up culture, to domestic violence, to gender-identity confusion.  I've said before this may be why so many young people (including young ladies) are more comfortable calling the men in their life "guys" rather than "Men."  That little verbal habit may speak more volumes than we know.

It seems even more clear to me now that a solution to "Toxic Masculinity" is to be found by drawing on the Biblical message and the Christian traditions.  That Solution to "Toxic Masculinity" is not "Less Masculinity" (or, Heaven help us, "No masculinity").  Rather, the Solution to Toxic Masculinity is Redeemed Masculinity...better known to our Western culture as 'Chivalry.'

Chivalry presents the ideal of a man who fights for the Right and is fierce in battle, but gentle and courteous at the banquet table; he is meek and reverent (and regular) in worship, and also assertive and dedicated in doing his duties and actively pursuing noble goals; Chivalry presents us with the ideal of a man who is a saintly soldier.
Their dedication to this ideal (at least in principle) is why knights - and the monastic knights such as the Templars and Hospitallers in particular - were so highly esteemed in Medieval Christendom.

As the literature of the Medieval Romance reminds us, the Chivalrous gentleman - or knight - was supposed to always speak the truth, always keep his word, always uphold justice, always respect the honor of women, and always defend those who were weak.  Do you begin to see why chivalry is the proper antidote to the sort of Toxic Masculinity that has been in the news?

Yet some strands of feminism have objected to the very concept of Chivalry, because (they say) it assumes (and therefore perpetuates) a power dynamic in which men are more powerful than women.

Of course, on the purely physical level this is generally true (and always has been and always will be): Men tend to be taller and stronger, with more muscle mass and greater bone density than women.  Men have a hormone called testosterone which can cause us to be more physically (and sexually) aggressive than women.  If you took a man and a woman with very similar genes, similar physical activity, nutrition, and so on, the man will usually be more physically threatening to the woman than the other way around.  This is simply a fact, and it is a fact that Chivalry has attempted to account for and deal with in a constructive way, while merely pretending that 'all people are always equal in every way' does not really help us deal with this fact in any useful way at all.

But I think this particular feminist critique misses the point of Chivalry on a much deeper level.  I'll illustrate this with a story.
When I was living in Dallas I went bowling with a group of young adults from my church.  On the way into the bowling alley, I held open the door for a young woman from the group.  She told me that she did not need a man to hold the door open for her, and that she was perfectly capable of doing so herself.  She might have even used the words "liberated" and "modern woman" in the little chastising that she gave me, I don't recall.
This was quite a shock for this Louisiana boy.

But as I've reflected on her response I've come to ask this question: What makes her think that my holding the door was primarily intended to benefit her?  What if it was primarily intended to benefit ME?

Could it be that those powerful men out in Hollywood, those powerful men in TV stations and movie studios whose abuse of women has come to light in recent years, could it be that they might have benefited by having MORE, rather than less, of these little Chivalrous habits in their lives?  Could it be that such habits help form the affections and the character of the men who engage in them in small yet cumulative ways, so that we more fully internalize the ideals of how a chivalrous gentleman "ought to behave toward a lady"?  Could those small little bits of training in habits of Chivalry have helped steel these men to choose the better way whenever the vile temptation presented itself?

Someone once said that "He who is faithful with a little, will be faithful with much."   (hint: It was our Lord)

The classical education movement reminds us of what the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the Biblical writers and the Medieval Christians all knew: a man or woman has to be trained to love what is lovely and desire what is good.  This does not always come naturally for us, it has to be taught and it has to be ingrained through habitual behavior, such as the courtesies of Chivalry.

So, what does the world need if we want to counter "Toxic Masculinity"?  Not less Masculinity (that is not possible even if it was desirable); no, what we need is more Chivalry!
It does no good to wish that men were not powerful creatures; we must channel that power in a way that is Good and Beautiful and Just.

Where can today's young man raised in some a-cultural cosmopolitan urban landscape that is largely secular, individualistic, and suspicious of anything 'old fashioned' or 'formal' turn to learn more of the virtues of chivalry?

First, you can turn to the Bible to learn from the triumphs (and failures) of such figures as King David in the Books of Samuel (and the Psalms); you might turn to look again with fresh eyes at the Great Requirement in Micah 6:8, or the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, or the exhortations of Paul to Timothy to be a 'good soldier for Christ,' or the call in Philippians 2:4 to put the needs of others above our own, or the command of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount to "Let our 'Yes' be 'Yes'," or turn to Peter's rule on how men ought to treat the women in their lives in 1 Peter 3:7, or the Heavenly command expressed in Psalm 82:4 to 'rescue the weak and the needy...from the hand of the wicked', and so on.

Indeed, the Code of Chivalry that a knight was expected to live by, is fundamentally based upon the Bible and, as an ideal, is one of the great moral achievements of Western Christendom.

To learn more of the spirit of Christian Chivalry you could look at other primary texts such as The Song of Roland, or Morte D'Arthur, or Shakespeare's Henry V.  Even the history of St. Joan of Arc may be instructive: if she really is a saint and really did hear the voices of Heaven in her visions, then she must have a great deal indeed to teach us (men and women) about the ideal of a genuine 'saintly soldier'.

There are a great many websites (and indeed upstart 'knightly orders' that you can join) dedicated to rekindling the flame of Christian Chivalry in Western cultures.  One interesting website working toward the recovery of the "gentleman" is The Art of Manliness.

There are plenty of modern books about learning to practice the virtues of Chivalry, such as Knights of Christ: Living today with the Virtues of Ancient Knighthood, and books about how fathers can raise their sons up in these virtues, such as Raising a Modern Day Knight (which gives great attention to intentional character-formation and the importance of rites of passage).

I'm just discovering a lot of this myself, and I'd love to hear other resources you may have stumbled upon as well.

The way to address 'toxic masculinity' is not trying to somehow get rid of masculinity; the way to address it is to finally reach back into the treasure house of Western Civilization and recover Chivalry: the ideal of a Redeemed Masculinity.  As Tennyson has it in Idylls of the King: "Follow the Christ...Live Pure, Speak True, Right Wrong, Follow the King!"

I'll end with the ultimate goal of all Christian Chivalry (and the motto of the Templar knights):
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory!" - Ps. 115