This comes in two volumes:
Volume 1 contains the fixed texts, including Acts of Parliament and other legislation, and historic documents.
Volume 2 contains the Deed of Union, Model Trusts, and the standing orders, updated annually after amendments by Conference.
Methodists can often get into quite a state about "CPD" as it is affectionately named. Most of the annual eight day conference is devoted to revising its contents. A revised version of Volume 2 is published annually.
I have a copy of the 2010 edition. It weighs (according to the kitchen scales) 1lb 3oz or 590 grams. Coincidentally this is the same weight as my leather bound Gideons Bible.
Volume 1 consists of 49,028 words. Volume 2 consists of 274,230 words. Together 323,258 words. Volume 2 is 868 pages long.
Just as a comparison, The Bible has 593,493 in the Old Testament and 181,253 words in the New Testament. A total of 774,746.
So our Volume 2, very much the working document of the Methodist Church is one and a half times longer than the New Testament.
Among more than a quarter of a million words Volume 2 has two references to "Holy Scripture", three references to "Jesus Christ", four references to "Holy Spirit", five references to the "Bible", eight references to "evangelism", 44 references to" prayer" or "prayers", 66 references to "G-d", 133 references to "Christ", 148 references to "mission", 265 references to "membership", 449 references to "president", 572 references to "synod", 716 references to "council", 2143 references to "conference", and 2323 references to "committees" or "committee".
For all the words CPD has some staggering omissions.
The words "complaint" or "complaints" are mentioned 642 times. But there is no reference to the scriptural procedures laid out in Matthew 18.
Eight pages are devoted to the appointment of "district chairs", our equivalent of a bishop. The "qualification" (SO420) is simply "A minister appointed to be Chair of a District shall be a minister in the active work". Yet scripture makes it clear that a bishop (KJV) or overseerer (NIV) has very special qualifications.There is no reference to these scriptural standards.
My simple calculation is that words like "Bible", "prayer" "mission", "G-d", "evangelism" appear about 400 times. Words like "committee", "synod", "conference" appear more than 5700 times. A factor of more than 13 to 1. This illustrates our priorities. This is where we are going wrong and have been going wrong for many years.
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2 comments:
Methodist Preacher, your ideology is getting in the way of historical fact. The Evangelical Movement was led by many dedicated ministers, some of whom remained in the C. of E. and some of whom did not. The people flocked to hear them preach the Word. The people have never started a move of the Spirit. A few dedicated individuals have always been used by God.
As to structure, some structures are better than others, but without the Spirit of God these dry bones will never live.
The point about management is that it is the 'manus' of man. We need the Hand of God. Rules and law (secularism) move in when Love moves out. A loose 'Tolerance' and relativist liberalism have won the day. Methodism has set itself against God in many ways. An unbiblical and self-righteous legalism has taken over. Methodism is doomed. Ichabod.
It is merely a question of how long it will take to die.
Thanks Corin, Readers may be a little confused by your comment. To set it in context it is a response to my own comments on The Kneeler post: http://the-kneeler.blogspot.com/2011/03/british-methodists-ltd.html
Let me reassure you that I fully accept that revivals of the past and revivals of the future will be the sovereign work of God.
However I believe that such a move requires a preparedness on the part of God's people to pray and work for such a revival.
The problem we have in the Methodist Church is that a tiny minority hunger for such a revival. A greater number are indifferent because they themselves have never known the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in their own lives.
There is a well placed critical mass of members, often ministers, who are actively hostile to any move of the Spirit. They are comfortable with a theology which does not challenge. They feel that they can flourish in the cosy, cliquey bureaucracy of which CPD is the descriptor.
In our present time I agree with you that for all intents and purposes the Methodist Connexion is a secular, rather than spiritual organisation. We are not a body of believers but a corporation that have lost our way.
Martyn Atkins in his book "Resourcing Renewal" understands this, but one only has - for example - to read the blog of the current President and Vice President to understand how isolated he is. (I don't think Martyn will thank me for being this explicit!) On a more junior level one only needs to read the Connexions blog to see how, for some, faith is a game and the church little more than a playground for grown ups.
But unlike you Corin I do not accept that Methodism is doomed. Over the last three centuries variations of Methodism have spun out of the movement and been used powerfully by G-d. That process will continue.
Meanwhile many in our congregations come from a different cultural tradition than the tired and cynical middle class of Britain. We have yet to see what impact the 25% of Methodists in London from West Africa are yet to have on the wider connexion.
There remains a remnant within Methodism. And where there is a remnant there remains the possibility of change. Dry bones can become a mighty army!
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