In this month’s blog, Bishop David Bard returns from summer leave with reflections on discipleship and renewal, drawing on daily prayer to ask how our churches can love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.
BISHOP DAVID ALAN BARD
Michigan Conference
As I return from my summer renewal leave, I have been reflecting on the renewal of the Church. The mission of the Church, as articulated by The United Methodist Church, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Our new vision statement helps describe who disciples of Jesus Christ are — people who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. Forming disciples who transform the world is at the heart of who we are. How might we engage this task more deeply and invite more people to join the adventure of discipleship?
I have no easy answers or a quick, guaranteed formula, only a few thoughts to share. Beginning with prayer is always a good idea. Pray for your own discipleship. Pray for the renewal of your church’s ministry. Pray for renewal in The United Methodist Church.
I have been thinking about another prayer, one I pray frequently, that moved me to reflect on the renewal of the church and its ministry in new ways. Most days, I pray this prayer: New every morning is your love, Great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us a desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. It is part of the order for morning prayer in our United Methodist worship resources.
Allow me a brief detour. I understand that some don’t find printed prayers and liturgies particularly meaningful. While such resources can become rote, I would ask us to consider the distinction between spontaneity and authenticity. Simply because something is not spontaneous does not make it any less authentic to our souls. Often, the words others offer in prayers or poems capture something deep in my soul that I might not otherwise have been able to put into words, or they help me articulate something important in my heart and soul.
I often pray the United Methodist morning prayer, and as I have been thinking about the renewal of the church, that prayer has been helpful. Reflecting on that prayer raises questions as we consider church renewal.
New every morning is your love, great God of light. New every morning. The heart of the message of our Christian faith is God’s love for the world. “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). God’s love is constant, persistent, steadfast, and new every morning. How might we, in our lives and in our churches, keep the message of God’s love new and fresh? Sometimes that means changing how we worship, how we read the Bible together, and how we help people discover and use their gifts. Sometimes it means building on our strengths, making even better what we do well. Fresh appreciation for God’s love in our lives and in the world requires both.
All day long you are working for good in the world. God desires the transformation of the world in the direction of kindness, justice, peace, reconciliation, and love. God’s Spirit is constantly and consistently moving us to be part of the work of God’s goodness in the world. In what ways are you participating in this work of God? How is your church working for good in the world, particularly in your community? Here is a challenge. There is more good to be done in the world than any one of us, or any one of our churches, can do alone. We have to make difficult decisions about how we will work for good in the world, based on who we are as people and as congregations. It is always important to ask how God is inviting us to work for good in the world. Where should we focus our time, energy, and resources?
Stir up in us desire to serve you. The Christian life is not meant to be a constant gritting of the teeth to do difficult things because we think we should. To be sure, spiritual growth sometimes requires that: doing what needs to be done even when it is not exciting or when we might rather do something else. That said, growing in Christian love means opening our lives to God’s Spirit so that our very desires are transformed. John Wesley once defined Christian perfection as “the humble, gentle patient love of God and our neighbor ruling our habits, attitudes, word and actions.” How are we opening ourselves to the transforming power of God’s Spirit, and how are we joining with others in this adventuresome journey?
To live peacefully with our neighbors. The language of neighbor reminds me of the recent work of Gil Rendle, a perceptive analyst of church life. In his book, “Countercultural,” Rendle offers what he considers crucial foundations for the ministry of the church in the twenty-first century. “The need is greater than ever for the church to be a neighbor, a good neighbor — and speak clearly about what it sees, what it knows, and what it believes. The church must speak publicly in its own neighborhoods with a conviction that what it says is important” (xiii). “The story that the congregation holds is its true treasure, primarily because it describes a world of love and interdependence” (67). Rendle argues that we need to tell our story with beautiful simplicity, “the simplicity on the other side of complexity” (77). We don’t deny the complexity of the world we live in, but we need to tell a beautifully simple story that makes some sense of the complexity. Here are the crucial elements of the church’s simple story, the beautiful simplicity of the Christian story, according to Rendle (85): love God, that is, trust in the God who loves you and the world wildly; love your neighbor; include everyone.
Love God. Love others. Include all. This is our beautifully simple story on the other side of complexity. If we are to be in ministry in this day and time in ways that genuinely heal, free, and contribute to the creation of the common good, we need to find and share that story with clarity, humility, and gentleness. In a world that is better at drawing lines and excluding, we have a better story of inclusion. In a world that often diminishes the other to elevate the self, we have a better story about all being loved and about love as a resource that flows freely and wildly. In a world that encourages narrow self-regard, we have a better story about the benefits of a rich commons for all.
We have a beautifully simple story that does not neglect the complexities of the world we live in and, in fact, leads back to them. Gil Rendle says, “The simple, powerful, life-giving narrative of faith can never thrive if the simple is allowed to become simplistic . . . . The simple must be mined deeply for the full depth of truth that it holds” (91-92). He goes on: “At the lived level, a life of intentional faith is a complex project” (93).
Devote each day to your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Renewal for Christians is always centered on Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we know God’s wide and wild love for the world and can appreciate it afresh each day. In Jesus, we understand the centrality of loving God and neighbor. It is the spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, who shapes and forms us in love, inspiring us to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. The renewal of the church and of our lives is a deeper connection to Jesus.
I invite you to pray the morning prayer often, letting its words and images move you to reflect on the renewal of the church.
The ministry of our bishop is made possible thanks to generous financial gifts from local United Methodist churches in Michigan through Ministry Shares. Thank you! Learn about the impact of Ministry Shares on mission and ministry in Michigan and around the world.
Last Updated on September 8, 2026