OUR QUADRENNIAL MANIFESTO:

“WHERE THERE IS VISION THE PEOPLE FLOURISH”

Allow me a few paragraphs to delineate where we are in the Department of Lay Ministry especially if you do not happen to be a Connectional Board, Annual CME Convocation, General Conference, or www.cme.org website aficionado as they pertain to the department. 

Too Busy Doing The Work

We have assumed that if we busied ourselves within the Department of Lay Ministry actually doing ministry that folk would see the evidence and fruits of our labors and appreciate it.

Instead of busying ourselves writing about our aspirations, hopes, and dreams we have focused on the business of fulfilling and achieving them.

This General Secretary often speaks in the collective terminology of “we” because there are so many people, for little to no compensation, within this department that really makes it go and maintain vibrancy.

Chief among them is Chief Dr. I. Carlton Faulk (General Secretary Emeritus of Lay Ministry), the Chairman of the department, Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., and my wife, Wanda.

But, there are so many, many others like the Stewardess President, Mrs. Maxine McClury; Mr. Darran Caudle, Director of Video Ministry; the chair of the Communications of Information & Technology (CIT) ministry, Sis. Theresa Duhart; and the Director of Online Services, Mrs. Lauran James.

Scores of others are active behind the scenes working diligently and efficaciously.

We are building repeatable models for expanding the reach and breathe of the department by involving learned and erudite CME members like Dr. Evelyn Parker.  She is working in place of the general secretary and on behalf of the department as an executive board member of the National Council of Churches USA.

Annually, we have sojourned to Africa and helped spread the vision of spiritual enlightenment and economic empowerment now under the committed guidance of Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham.

We have built a tremendous convention services platform known as “CME TV”.  We have a wonderful cadre of CME members, some of whom lend previous audiovisual skills, but many who have been trained by us from the ground up to operate a portable professional audiovisual services ministry. 

Consequently, we have been able to save money for every CME convention we have worked based on comparable market costs.

For example, a comparable service for the 18^th Annual CME Convocation may have cost the church a minimum $20,000 extra.  Additionally, CME TV gives thousands of dollars of audiovisual sales revenue back to the Convocation where no such revenues previously existed.  Importantly, the Convocation is now operating in the black turning a profit in lieu of a deficit.

Increasingly, connecting the grass root local churches and local church members to not only the Department of Lay Ministry but, to all other departments, Episcopal Districts, and local churches is the incredibly successful www.c-m-e.org which is the official CME website.

And coming soon, still beta testing in the First Episcopal District, is the “CyberChurch” initiative.  CyberChurch is a secure, online, comprehensive church management solution.  Currently, Presiding Prelates may direct electronic reporting by local churches for any and all accounting meetings.  CIT members in the respective Episcopal Districts may coordinate regional training at the direction of their Presiding Prelate.

We have long planned and will soon name a Director of Christian Methodist Men’s Fellowship to extend a vision of ministry to focus on urgent needs among our boys and men.

We have established a permanent funding method for the W.L. Graham/ Roscoe C. Webb Scholarship Fund.  Although, the previous treasurer of the Connectional Lay Council, Mrs. Eleanor Lowery, had collected less than $2,000 for the fund prior to 1998, the fund now has a has a balance of more than $75,000.

The funding plan includes depositing the disciplinary required annual contribution to the Department of Lay Ministry from the annual Connectional Lay Days throughout the country and the sell of lay pins and lay manuals.

We have been busy about the work of the Department in a detailed, documented, repeatable, scalable, and transparent manner.

By the Way

Even though the Department of Lay Ministry serves as repository and custodian for the many assets we have purchased and developed the past several years – all of these assets and the benefits thereto belong to the CME Church.  These assets are principally deployed for ministry enhancement in the CME Church.

Consequently, when CME TV bids CME convention events the price includes only labor costs and a small addition to assist insurance and repair charges.  The Department has not and will not attempt to recover equipment costs from CME events.

Of course, the church is fully authorized through its well-established entities to do as it wishes with these assets at any time.

The Department of Lay Ministry is very sensitive to the necessity to operate CME TV for the corporate benefit of the church.

Consequently, we instituted reform in the handling of our connectional funds.  In fact, the Department of Lay Ministry sends all monies through the Business Department of the CME Church, that is, the Department of Finance.

The Department of Lay Ministry does not custody any funds or even write its own checks.  The Department does not possess a checkbook and has not written a check from the Department since the election of this General Officer in 1998.  All checks are written by the Department of Finance.

Why CME TV?

Senior Bishop Marshall Gilmore has framed the issue, ‘What would Jesus have me to do?’ rather than ‘what would Jesus do (wwjd)?’

For the Department of Lay Ministry, at all levels, we believe that communications of information and technology is what Jesus would have the lay people do and not only that but, it is exactly what Jesus did.

Have you ever considered how Jesus, without any electronic aid, was able to communicate with probably 10,000 people all at one time?

Jesus and the disciples clearly had to utilize acoustically friendly environments.  That is to say, they possessed technical literacy.

They did advance planning, secured the necessary licenses, and it is not unreasonable to assume they advertised – distributed leaflets, flyers, and hand bills ‘Jesus of Nazareth Speaking Today’.

So then, they were technocrats, information technologists, and maybe even geeks.

Jesus and the disciples wanted as many folk as humanly possible to hear about Him, to see Him, to know Him, to follow Him.

Jesus and the disciples in preaching and teaching were contemporary urban technocrats.

My fellow laity this is our hope and charge today. 

Not to be the Pastor or try to speak, teach, or be in charge in his/her place.  Our task at every level is to see to it the message gets out and replicates itself over and over and over again.

The only way to even remotely accomplish this today is to be multimedia literate.  There is at least one denomination today that owns a cable channel while some of us remain mired in a thought process ending in the throw away phrase, “it don’t take all that”.

However, over and over, throughout our great Zion we hear the plea and complaint that someone didn’t know.

As much as our own church members “don’t know”, is it not reasonable to assume the world doesn’t know either?  Certainly, they do not know enough about us, that is, the CME Church.

So it does take all that and then some to maintain relevance in a 21^st century of great challenge for regular parishioner and potential member attention.

The 21^st century local church must be big and great – not in numerical strength – but, in the power of its ideas.

If That’s All It Is  - It’s Enough

Recently, a prominent and active lay member asked if the Department of Lay Ministry was going to do anything other than technology.

After a long list of other things we are doing, this General Secretary further commented, however, “if it’s the only thing people know we accomplished   it would be enough to be known for broadly launching the CME Church into 21^st century multimedia ministry.”

We must eschew the ephemerally attractive call to continue production of eight track tapes in an mp3 world.

Jesus would have us to be wise and erudite because committing to the cause of Christ has never required commission of intellectual suicide.

To be sure, the structure of the CME Church has always contemplated a robust, informed, and literate lay ministry.

The laity serves best when its energy extends the best of learned, dynamic, vibrant, and just practices to the church locally, regionally, and connectionally.

The laity must commit to being best at leading, teaching, extending, and executing these “best practices”.

Many, and sometimes most, members of the local church exist in roster name and high holiday season only.  As the popular internet and popular electronic game expression goes, they exist “virtually”.

However, many of these virtual members are, in fact, being spiritually advised.  It is through television, radio, and other media forms.

Many of the concepts, precepts, and teachings of “virtual pastors” that inform them play determinate roles in their lives.  Not only that, but, some of these virtual members are among the most technically literate and financially capable in their community.

Many of our local congregations are viewed by these virtual members as white elephants:  fun to be around and take your picture with but, dangerous to tarry too close for fear of predatory hunters, being squashed by inadvertent pachyderm activity, or phobias to anachronism.

And then, of course, too many of our regular local church attendants, like a pensioner already receiving social security benefits, are content to proceed full steam in place.

Others are left to define the stark choice we have. 

The choice is not whether we should continue with business as usual.

The choice is whether we will embrace 21^st century multimedia ministry or like the white elephant population continue to shrink numerically and influentially.

Consider this

We believe the era of the horse and buggy has both literally and figuratively passed.

Yet there are those who posit in this 21^st century information age that effective persuasion may only take place by the departmental General Officer traveling to different regions to conduct training sessions.  Such a mentality equates to an argument the best cross country travel in the United States remains the horse and buggy.

As we have previously written, the CME Church has finally embraced technologically enhanced 21^st century ministry at the Connectional level by approving the Communications of Information & Technology (CIT) Ministry in 1998, proceeded by a modicum of funding provided in 2002.

However, who is responsible to take on the dynamic and challenging issues of working with the College of Bishops and all the General Officers to see to it that a CIT net is effectively cast in each Episcopal District and in each of the several connectional officers ministry.

Of course the CIT Ministry is taking up this mantle presently but, it requires a great deal of cooperative work with the College of Bishops and General Officers.  Presently nothing is codified in law or even effectively enough understood as to how any such legislation might look.

Further, might such an ambitious and urgent ministry itself be a free standing department, as in the United Methodist Church, or minimally take on a much more robust nature within the Department of Lay Ministry.

There are those who seem to suggest that if many members of our Zion are not yet ready for the 21^st century the church must do its level best to delay its arrival.

Notwithstanding, this potentially pervasive attitude, this General Secretary believes there is a latent and more potently pervasive urgency to develop these ministries rapidly and close our technological gap versus the majority populace.

VISION

We do not believe when new vision is cast it is immediately embraced, however, we feel a great portion of the landscape we are sowing is simply a journey “back to future.”  We earlier discussed the reflection of technical literacy exhibited by Jesus’ disciples.

By reaching back and embracing the best of our past we establish the most effervescent course to our future.

By continuing to more and more widely cast this vision we bring more and more adherents.

We believe this sojourn – honor for the past, vision for the future – will light our Zion and all who serve it.

For where there is vision the people flourish.

Dr. Victor Taylor, General Secretary Department of Lay Ministry February, 2005