Of Pentecost & Annual Conference: A Different Perspective

Back in 2015, Taylor Watson Burton-Edwards shared his thoughts about the East Congo Annual Conference at Kivu on his Facebook page. He said that their primary agenda item was: “To evaluate what God has done among them during the past year.” Taylor then noted that they were not reporting on what the Annual Conference ministries had done in the past year, nor what the leading pastors had done.

This re-framing of the evaluation question is so powerful. First, it is full of humility. Notice that in the East Congo they focus on what God has done among and in them. It is all about God, and the movement of the Holy Spirit. For me, this perspective totally changes the evaluation process. For instance, at the Foundation we promote using a “mission – narrative budget,” to tell the story of the ministries taking place at the local church. This process focuses on what “we” have done, our success stories, and feel-good moments. While this is so much better than the line-item-budget, it does not reflect spiritual mysteries that do not have a price, or a cost associated with them. How do we report what happens when people are called to receive Jesus at the Communion table? Moments of awe, and glimpses of the face of Christ do not translate well on a spreadsheet; this mystery requires testimony, poetry, art, and hymns.

Focusing on how God is working in the life of the church is much different than planning the next bean supper, or yard sale. In many of our churches our activities may in fact be blocking what God is trying to do among us. After all, most of what we do ensures that the church membership is appeased and comfortable. God is trying to rock our world and we are rocking ourselves to sleep.

On a personal level, I have to ask myself what I have done to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and how have I have resisted this movement toward being one with Jesus? From a stewardship point of view, the Holy Spirit is always moving me toward generosity. It is a journey from self-centeredness to selflessness, from hard-heartedness to soft-heartedness. This new re-framing evaluation question could be asked: “What have I let God do in my life this year?” Only my fears, my need for comfortable sameness, and self-centeredness keep the Holy Spirit from working within me. I am not comfortable with the Pentecost “wind,” a slight breeze is all I want – just enough to be comfortable. I don’t think I’m alone here, and by the statistical reports, neither are many churches.