Thoughts on the General Boards and Agencies

This past Saturday I returned from my first visit to an event at one of the general boards and agencies of The United Methodist Church. I was at the General Board of Discipleship for the Open Source Liturgy Project about which you can read in a few previous posts. I believe that this particular project has a lot of potential.

However, I am not confident in the effectiveness of the general boards and agencies of the UMC as a whole. While I was on the trip, I think I figured out why...

• The boards and agencies are focused on the church.

• Many local churches that were once focused on those outside the church have changed to an internal focus.

Ideally the boards and agencies would focus on the church and local churches would focus on reaching those outside the church. However, many local churches that were once focused on those outside the church have shifted to an internal focus. The boards and agencies have continued to focus on the church.

One possible path toward greater effectiveness in the denomination would be for the general boards and agencies to no longer resource local churches in ways that are helpful to current members. Instead, provide resource only what will reach non-religious and nominally religious people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

What do you think about this possibility?