Remembering Who We Are

by Leland Spencer IV

Last week in my Sunday School class, someone had the idea that we go around the circle and tell about what our faith backgrounds were before ending up as regulars in this Sunday School class at a United Methodist Church. In a class of about 20, I was somewhat surprised to learn that only three of us were "Cradle" United Methodists (if you count predecessor denominations).

I suspect the conversation meant different things to different people in the room. I was surprised to learn about the diversity of backgrounds we had. There were people there who grew up Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopalian, Nondenominational, Presbyterian, Jewish, Christian Church (DOC), or without a faith connection. Some people still identified with the denomination they had grown up in (and were just attending a UMC) while others now identified as UM and others preferred not to identify with a particular denomination.

I appreciated the conversation because it gave me a chance to revisit many of the reasons I remain United Methodist. Sometimes, in this movement, we (understandably) become so focused on what needs to change in the church and on the ways the church has hurt us that we can risk losing sight of why we stick around to work for change. We all know there are more open denominations, but for various reasons, we remain in this one.

When it was my turn to share, I talked about the congregation where I was baptized, and I recited some of the vows they took that day. I expressed my gratefulness that people took those vows seriously and were there to nurture me in my faith. I talked about the day I joined the church and the vows I made. I said that I hoped I was still living out those vows faithfully. I talked about the moment when I experienced a call to ministry in the United Methodist Church, and my difficult decision to withdraw from that process when I discovered I did not believe I could live that call out authentically. I concluded that though I might love the UMC more than it loves me, I am still--at the center of who I am--United Methodist.

I invite you to think for a moment about who you are and why you remain. Share your thoughts in the comment thread.

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Leland G. Spencer IV, a lifelong United Methodist, is a PhD student in the department of speech communication at the University of Georgia, where he researches religious rhetoric as it intersects with gender and sexuality. Leland holds an M.A. in Communication from the University of Cincinnati (2009). While in Cincinnati, Leland served as the worship intern at the Wesley Foundation. Leland served as a part-time local pastor at Mapleton United Methodist Church in the East Ohio Conference from 2005 until 2007 when Leland withdrew from the candidacy process because of the United Methodist Church's exclusive position about the ordination of LGBT persons.