(The potential impact of prayer walking on community and church revitalization.)
So, an inebriated friend of mine (back in my “Pre-Jesus” days) once looked at me with that "I've had too much to drink, and now I'm brilliant!" look in his eye and said; "We're all connected Schmutz... All of us! All across the country... Pavement! Pavement connects all of us!" And, now, all these years later, in a truly sober minded reality my-self, I have to wonder if there might just be something applicable in that interesting memory from the darkness of my past.
What might actually be the spiritually practical implications and applications of the connectedness of “pavement” for all of us as a "connectional" church / denomination? True, we can (and do) use pavement (roads of all types) to get to meetings, conferences, and even to churches, but what if there were more possibilities? What if we could do more, and be more, and see more, and experience more, by using or utilizing our pavement in a different way?
What if this Denominational affiliation which we all hold so dear, that has in many ways become an "Untied" Methodist Church, could become truly "United" again, and maybe for the very first time? What if there is a "sacred" place that is calling to us, beckoning, inviting, and proclaiming possibility, right before our very eyes, right in front of our faces, and right beneath our very feet? What if there is a sacred place that is yet to “be,” and if we would, or could, only effectively engage it, we could find that what we did with it had the potential to change all of us and everything all around us?
It was Jackie Pullinger who said "The problem with most Christians, is that they have hard hearts and soft feet, but what God wants is for us to have soft hearts and hard feet." So, what if now, in the midst of so much of the rubble (see Nehemiah 2) of declining, dying, and closing churches, we began to work together at callousing our feet and softening our hearts, and simultaneously had our eyes opened to the needs of our communities (our mission fields) by setting our feet in motion as we walk through, and pray for, the very ground upon which we have been planted.
As a United Methodist Pastor (approaching my 20th year of ministry), my heart is truly for the revitalization of the United Methodist Church. And, I cannot help but believe that right now, at this particular time in the history of our denomination, we have the tremendous opportunity to be a part of bringing that revitalization about through faith in verses like 2 Chronicles 7:14, application of verses like Genesis 13:17, and the inspiration of passages like Nehemiah 2:12-18. My heart says, let's give our best shot! Let's be willing to do what we've never done, in order to be and become what we have never fully been, as Pastors, Congregational Leaders, and Local Church Members... Let's take Jesus, and this “Methodist” thing, to the streets and see what God does with it!
It was John Wesley who said "The World is my Parish..." and, I'm quite certain he was including roads, streets and sidewalks in his proclamation. So, let's get to “it” and see what God does with “it,” and with all of us as we do!
If this idea interests, or intrigues you, if you have grown weary of “business as usual” in the local church, if you have lost your way in the familiarity of the status quo, I would like to invite you on a new adventure. I would like to invite you on an adventure that starts right here in the heart of the Kansas area, in the Wichita East District. On Sunday afternoon, August 28th from 2 – 4pm, you are invited to the new United Methodist Church at Park City (1510 East 61st Street North, Park City, Ks, 67219) where I will be leading a Prayer Walking Training for United Methodist Clergy, Lay Leaders, and Local Church Members, who are interested in exploring the Holy Ground all around them, and the Pavement that connects us all.
To register for this upcoming event, please call Taryn Pierson at the Wichita East District Office (316)684-6652, check out our website over the next few weeks (www.churchatparkcity.com), or look up “The United Methodist Church at Park City” on Facebook for more info.
Rev. Rob Schmutz,
The United Methodist Church at Park City
The United Methodist Church at Park City
