SAILING THROUGH A HURRICANE

Years ago, a couple in my church retired and embarked on a trip of a lifetime. They cruised around the world. They came back with great stories - but the one I most remember is the night that they met a Category 1 typhoon in the Indian Ocean. Apparently it popped up suddenly, and the captain decided it would be best to just plow through. Everyone on board received Dramamine, delivered to their state rooms before bedtime. All ship activity was curtailed for an evening and they put folks to bed. By morning the sun was out and they had passed though the storm.

Three years ago this fall my co-author from Weird Church and I travelled with our spouses to Venice for a late fall cruise celebrating the end of the work on our book. Really good deals on November cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. There is a reason for those really good prices. About the same week of the year and at about the same GPS where the Apostle Paul's ship got into trouble (and shipwrecked on Crete), we hit sustained winds in excess of 70 knots two nights in a row. The swimming pool water actually would splash up into the air on one side revealing the bottom of the pool, then fall back and splash up the other way revealing the bottom of the pool again.

But we were a big ship. The captain sailed us with purpose. We were unable to land in port In Dubrovnik.  But we were fine. Granted, the people at either end of the ship had clothes flying out of their closets, and the breakfast buffet had lots of available seating those two days!

But we sailed through!

I have been thinking of hurricanes lately as three named storms were recently  lined up in the Atlantic headed west.  I have used this image as a metaphor for UMC General Conferences 2019,2020 and 2024. Stormy times.

But I fully expect to be here in 2024, traveling each week to work with local churches - many of them in the Methodist tradition.  Some of them will be a bit battered from the storm, but come Sunday, there will be church!  Some of those 2024 churches don't even exist yet.  They will soon be planted. And their people will care little about UMC General Conference meetings.

My strong word to churches who want to postpone capital campaigns or bold mission until after the storm - it's a better to sail on through with purpose, vision and an exciting local narrative than to be caught without direction, doomed to years of just bobbing around and reading church newsfeeds on our phones.

People. Pray for General Conference but don't get too distracted!  We have places to go, mission to attend and communities to bless.  The best "way forward" for any local church is a sense of God's call and faithful action to be busy bringing Gods dreams to life LOCALLY.

The storm will pass. The Church of Jesus Christ will sail through.