Rev. John Kasper, superintendent of the Central Bay District, highlights a new district initiative called Connexion Zones, where pastors and churches collaborate and partner together.

JOHN KASPER
Superintendent, Central Bay District

One of the unique characteristics of The United Methodist Church that I cherish is our emphasis on connection. More than any denomination with which I am familiar, United Methodists have long recognized a unity amid diversity. This trait has been and will continue to be one of our greatest assets.

I have likened our connection to my family. I am the eldest of six boys. As we were growing up, it was not unusual for one of us to hear, “Oh, I knew you were a Kasper. You all look alike.” We would look at each other and smirk. We did not think that we looked anything alike. Yes, we have familial similarities, but we also have different talents, likes and dislikes, and opinions. And yet, our differences do not separate us, for they are the glue that holds us together. And should any of us or our families struggle, need another’s ability or knowledge, or have reason to celebrate, we are always there for each other.

Perhaps this sense of connection is what drew me to become a United Methodist. Our unique connection is more than simply having the same doctrinal understandings, the same organization and polity, and the same name on the building. We recognize our differences of talents, likes and dislikes, and, yes, opinions. And yet, our differences do not separate us, for they are the glue that holds us together. And should any of us struggle, need another’s ability or knowledge, or have reason to celebrate, we are always there for each other.

Our unity with diversity allows the Holy Spirit to sharpen our focus and our resolve to apply the great commandment to love God with our entire being and to love others as we love ourselves, to live into the great commission to make disciples of Jesus, and to accomplish this to the best of our ability by following the example of Jesus. Our unity with diversity enables us to fulfill Jesus’ prayer: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one — as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me” (John 17:20-21, New Living Translation).

Think of John Wesley and the beginnings of what became the Methodist movement. Could it be that John truly was striving for a better connection? Didn’t he wish for the Church of England to sharpen its focus on being the family of God to, for, and with all people rather than an impersonal institution?

Consider our beginnings with me. Methodism arose as a missionary movement. John Wesley focused on the Spirit of God, burning like a fire in the hearts of converted individuals, renewing the church, igniting communities, and spreading until scriptural holiness covered the whole earth. His vision was of the restoration and renewal of all things through grace. Wesley created imaginative training programs, policies, structures, and liturgies, which released the energy of the Spirit into new groups of Christians who were growing in personal and social holiness and working alongside the poor and the disadvantaged. Wesley showed that where missional thinking and the activity of the Spirit are focused and directed through proper strategy and structure, church preservation can become swallowed up in the exciting work of living into and accomplishing the church’s mission. And while we tend to focus our denomination’s beginnings on one person — John Wesley — the movement began in connection with his brother Charles and others and then moved into bands and classes.

What was needed then remains true today. We have a huge task before us that will remain so until Jesus returns. If the world is to believe God, the Father, sent Jesus, we must strive to be one, living out our unity with diversity. While the local church remains the primary point of disciple-making, this cannot be accomplished in isolation. Instead, The United Methodist Church will need to be as connectional as possible. Clergy, laity, and congregations must work together to live into the full potential of our pastors and churches.

To make Jesus’ prayer from John 17 a reality, the churches of the new Central Bay District have been gathered into Connexion Zones. The vision and purpose of the Connexon Zone is to equip and connect pastors, lay leadership, and congregations to effect Christ-centered mission and ministry, bold and effective leaders, and vibrant congregations (the mission of our conference) within a relatively common geographical area. We expect that ministry best happens as passionate and gifted clergy and laity collaborate and partner together. Connexion Zones will (1) develop leaders who are growing into the likeness of Jesus while cultivating others in faith and leadership and (2) help churches clarify their mission and a plan of intentional ministry that can be communicated and supported.

For the Connexion Zone to be most effective, pastors and churches are expected to participate and live out the values of connection. As such, an individual church or pastor is not to be an island, and all are expected to participate. The Connexion Zone is intended to be a framework from which fruitful and creative ministry can become a basic unit of collaboration for and with the district. All Connexion Zones have the same basic framework while, at the same time, allowing for implementation and methods unique to each zone and situation.

What John Wesley implemented was radical at the time. He recognized that the Church of England could not continue as it had. The method, not the message, needed to change. Then, the good news of a restored relationship with God through Jesus could be heard, experienced, and received. That was possible since Jesus’ disciples in England at that time fostered the same oneness with one another as Jesus and the Father had. Similarly, we need to be willing to encourage our connection of unity with diversity that does not change the message but opens us to new methods, leading us to a restored relationship with God.

I encourage you to hold Jesus’ prayer in your heart: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one — as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”