I spent the weekend attending almost every worship service at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas. COR [as it is commonly referred to] is the largest Methodist Church in America and is pastored by Rev. Adam Hamilton. I’ve had the privilege of being a part of the Young Pastors Network during this past year which has been co-led by Adam and Rev. Mike Slaughter at Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio. I was able to attend worship at Ginghamsburg last fall.

While in Kansas City, we attended the 5:00 p.m. Saturday night service, the 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning traditional service, the 10:45 “Vibe” service which is a contemporary service in the student center with a video of Adam’s sermon from Saturday night, and the 5:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon service. They have an additional 10:45 a.m. traditional service in the main sanctuary. [identical to their 9:00 a.m. service] Adam’s sermon this weekend was the first of a four part series, “Confessions of a Struggling Parent,” and he focused on the ways we sometimes seek to bless our kids but unintentionally curse them. [i.e. All we want is for them to be happy and so we try to protect them from any struggle.]The key question for the message was this… What blessings are you giving to the children in your life?

I was moved [every time] by Adam sharing a practice that he started when his first child was born of writing a letter to them on their birthday. He has collected these letters and shared that his children will receive them when he’s gone. What was most inspiring about Adam’s message was his very heartfelt desire that he has had as a father to share his faith with his children. In talking about their own identity formation and time spent wrestling with their questions of faith, he said something to the effect, “I was so scared because I couldn’t imagine failing at this… because this is the most important thing in my life.”Hhe was brought to tears every time he said that phrase. I was too.

I was able to have lunch with two of the Associate Pastors at COR which was a wonderful treat. They had a really jam packed weekend, but we had a great conversation and it was a blessing to connect with another young couple serving the church in another context.

I came away from this experience with lots of notes and ideas for our church. I put together a four page summary for our Senior Pastor as we look at the future here at First UMC Mansfield and seek to continue to grow in our effectiveness in reaching the community we’ve been called to serve. But among all of those details and ideas, I come away with one overarching idea.

The world needs the United Methodist Church.

As a leader in this denomination I have a responsibility to do all that I can to make sure that our future is filled with churches who are effectively reaching out into the world with a desire to bring the transformation and [re]formation that represents God’s kingdom breaking into our world. I don’t mean to belittle or pass judgment on other denominations, but I do believe that the United Methodist Church has a particular part to play in God’s Kingdom and we have to do a better job fulfilling that role.

That’s the commitment of my life, and I came back from Kansas City [again] with a renewed focus on that important task of my life… the renewal of the church and the reformation of the world.

And along the way, I was reminded of the most important thing in my life… Representing God’s “fatherhood” in the lives of my children. I can’t wait to start writing those Birthday letters.

Today my family and I are heading out for a weekend trip to the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas.If you’ve never heard about Church of the Resurrection, here’s some info from their website.

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection has grown from four people in 1990 to over 12,000 adult members with an average weekly worship attendance of over 7,500 in 2008.  The church was listed as the most influential mainline church in America in a 2005 survey of American pastors.  The Church of the Resurrection has a three-fold focus:  1. Reaching non-religious and nominally religious people and helping them become committed followers of Jesus Christ;  2. Equipping and inspiring members to live their faith in mission to the community and world; and 3. Acting as a catalyst for renewing the mainline church.

I’ve had the opportunity to participate in the Leadership Institute sponsored by COR each year. In this past year, I’ve also been a part of the Young Pastors Network which Adam Hamilton, COR’s Senior Pastor, co-leads with Mike Slaughter, Senior Pastor of Ginghamsburg UMC in Ohio, but I’ve never had the opportunity to experience the weekend at Church of the Resurrection. We’ll be attending four of their weekend worship services including their Saturday Night service, their 9:00 a.m. Traditional service, a new service they’ve started called Vibe, and their Sunday afternoon service at 5:00 p.m. So we’re going to get some church this weekend!

We’ll be looking specifically at their welcoming ministry, children’s programming offered during their services, how they are handling a concurrent service [two at one time on Sunday morning at 11:00 with Vibe] and how they have grown their 5:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon service into one of their largest services. This will be my first “research excursion” as we continue to make plans to add additional worship opportunities at First UMC Mansfield.

On the way, we’ll also be stopping in Oklahoma City on Friday night and catch a Redhawks minor league game as well. I’ll try to post some pictures over the weekend and a wrapup of the trip on Tuesday!