Sweet Potato Rolls

The parking lot was full when I arrived at the Nelsons UMC in Hebron, Maryland.  The annual “Sweet Potato Roll Sale” was in full swing on that crisp fall day in late October. For many years the members of the church have worked for an entire week preparing for this fundraiser that garners over $30,000 annually for their many mission projects.

Some people actually take a week of vacation from their secular employment to help out. I came to visit the church on “pick up” day for a promised gift of two dozen of these highly-coveted homemade delights.  I learned that some people who have moved out of the area drive long distances to the church each year to continue to make their purchases.

The pastor, the Rev. Dr. Becky Collison, explained that the whole church gets involved in this process.  There are those who cook, peel, mix, roll-out, cut, butter, package, label, and sell. On the day I was there the fellowship hall was filled with church folks engaged in making rolls.

The room was buzzing with a spirit of joy and cooperation.  Everyone was using their talents to accomplish this great work of making 4,900 dozen rolls—58,800 in total. All had been pre-ordered, and many requests had to be turned down.

People were arriving at their assigned pick-up time, and some were purchasing quite a few dozen. They said they would freeze them and bake them for Thanksgiving Dinner. These rolls were a popular family tradition during the holidays.

The curious thing about these rolls is that they are square and not round as one would expect.  For years the church folks made round rolls, but at some point they realized that they could make them more efficiently if they were square, placed in a rectangular pan and scored.

The new shape took some getting used to, but when some ingenious member of the church made a contraption that actually scores the slab of sweet potato dough, the speed of the production took off.  After all, a square roll tastes the same as a round roll.  The benefits of the new shape outweighed the need for it to adhere to tradition.

In churches we have an old saying “We’ve never done it that way before.” Sadly, that attitude keeps us from doing something new and better that the Lord is calling us to do. Our ministries and missions are good but sometimes they need a creative new edge, perhaps using some new talent, new kinds of outreach, more diversity, a broader reach. 

Nelson UMC uses some of its profits from the roll sale to fund an after-school program for children at risk in the community. The whole town is experiencing the benefits of this ministry.  They have also paid for the installation of a wheelchair ramp and donated to a number of overseas mission projects.

What new thing can you be doing at your church?  How can you “sing to the Lord a NEW song?” (Psalm 96:1)  Who does God want you to reach for Jesus Christ that requires you to change the way you do things? 

I know a church that does Vacation Bible School the whole day on the Saturdays before school starts, so that parents are free to go out shopping. They have doubled their attendance.

Many churches are beginning to use credit-card machines to accept donations because increasingly people do not carry cash or check books. A church in Texas has installed washers and dryers in its education building to help the homeless population have clean clothes. Some of our churches are studying their carbon footprint and are beginning to use china dishes and cloth tablecloths instead of disposable paper and plastic products. 

The possibilities are endless. Our God is a God of new ideas, a God who longs for us to invent  new ways for people to experience divine love.

“Behold I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)  May you follow the example of the square sweet potato roll-makers at Nelsons UMC. May you go out to start something new!

'Tear Down this Wall'*: A Pastoral Letter

This week is the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany. This wall was erected after the second World War and it divided East and West Berlin.

During The United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops fall meeting our bishops from Germany testified about the jubilation and amazement felt when the wall came down. People were able to move about freely from one side to the other. Not a single shot was fired.

Humanity is well-acquainted with walls, not only physical walls but the walls of difference that are found in hearts and minds. We are quick to erect attitudinal walls around our differences and our beliefs.

Walls create alienation, separation, fear, distrust and violence. Such a wall stops ministry dead in its tracks, and it is never the will of God. God sent Jesus to deal with walls. Ephesians 2:14 says "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility."

A wall of separation in the UMC

United Methodists are well-acquainted with a wall of separation about the marriage and ordination of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Our Book of Discipline states that all people are of sacred worth, but it includes a wall concerning the practice of homosexuality being "contrary to Christian teaching."

At the 2019 General Conference the traditional prohibition against the practice of homosexuality was maintained, same gender marriages continued to be banned, and it was expanded to include more enforcement and a broader scope of what defines homosexuality. There were also more additions to the process of filing complaints against people who engage in practices found in the list of "chargeable offenses." Being a self-avowed and practicing homosexual and performing a same-gender wedding are on that list. The added measures will be effective on January 1, 2020.

I write this pastoral letter to the flock of God in the Eastern Pennsylvania and the Peninsula-Delaware conferences, my beloved Philadelphia Area. It is a passionate plea that you do not engage in filing complaints around the issue of homosexuality. It simply exacerbates the painful, formidable wall that stands between people of good will who have different hearts.

Homosexuality complaints and trials do harm

Complaints and trials do an enormous amount of harm to everyone. Our baptism vows call us to "resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves." Nothing good can come from this battering. We can never legislate a heart.

As your bishop I am bound to receive and process complaints, but I do not believe it is helpful to engage in church trials. So, I will not refer any such complaints for a church trial. I say this not out of a sense of rebellion against the rules in our Book of Discipline but out of my pastor's heart that wishes to defend the people of our conferences against this destructive, divisive and expensive process.

The complaint paragraphs in the UM Book of Discipline call for a resolution that focuses on repairing any harm to people and communities and that can bring healing to all parties. Instead of filing a complaint, I suggest that those who have experienced harm begin with a conversation.

Engage people with whom you disagree. Hear their hearts and engage in humble inquiry about a person's life story and perspective. Explain where the harm is and craft a peace plan. And most importantly, pray with each other!

Power of prayer to tear down walls, build a just peace

When I visited Germany last year and toured the former site of the Berlin Wall, our guide said that the Communist government was "no match for prayer and our candlelight vigils." The power of the risen Lord is available for us to tear down our walls, but we need to have the humble will to work at it and pray for it.

Is this not what Paul meant in Romans 12:18 when he said, "As far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all"? I humbly suggest that you engage in these steps before sending a complaint to my office.

We are living in a "liminal" (transitional) time as we prepare for the May 5-15, 2020, General Conference. At that conference delegates will consider how we as a denomination can maximize our witness and craft a form of unity that brings a new wind of hope for all people.

Catch sight of God's vision of a church that is busy making disciples of Jesus Christ, a church that is engaging in ministry and mission, a church striving for equality and equity for all people.

We can only get there as we employ with grace all of the giftedness of the Body of Christ, not just one "side" or the other. Dividing our church would cut off some of our needed giftedness. We can only accomplish this vibrant ministry as we take down the walls in our hearts and "do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God." (Micah 6:8)

I close this letter with two verses of a hymn that was sung in Germany during the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. It spread like wildfire around the churches, both East and West, as people yearned for freedom and unity. May it be a song in all of our hearts as well:

          
          Have faith is God's new pathways, walk on in this new day.
          God hopes you'll be a blessing for all upon the way.
          The one who in the days gone by breathed life in us and hope,
          Will lead us to the place where God wants and needs us most.

          Have faith in God who shows us new paths that lead to life.
          It's God who comes to meet us, the future is in God's hand.
          Who follows God is full of hope, now and forevermore.
          The door for us is open, the land is bright and free.

*"Tear down this wall" was the appeal U.S. President Ronald Reagan made in his Berlin Wall speech in West Berlin, Germany, on June 12, 1987.

Humbly submitted,



Bishop Peggy A. Johnson