Barneyisfat

I've been journaling a lot this week. I don't have a computer with me - so I just use an internet cafe from time to time. My English ability is diminishing the longer I live overseas. It's really painful and I can sense that my use of my first language is less vivid and engaging than it used to be.

I feel that I should probably work on blogging more. When I'm back in Ukraine I might try to blog every day for 30 days straight. Part of me feels that my thoughts aren't important (which didn't seem to stop me from writing when I was in college!) and part of me feels that I need to write just to stay sharp.




For the first time, I read today of the "White Marches." After John Paul II had been shot, millions of Polish citizens dressed in white and rushed to the city-center of Krakow to pray for their Pope.

While many wide-eyed, uninformed Americans hope that the next Pope will be US born - I honestly can't imagine our people making such a show of affection for any current leader in the Catholic church in America. Karol Józef Wojtyła saved the Polish people in many ways. His election as Bishop saved the Catholic church in Eastern Europe. His bold actions helped many Christians embrace anew the Catholic Church.

Spiritual leadership is essential. As the United Methodist church moves toward General Conference, one piece of legislation has been given the unfortunate moniker of promoting a "United Methodist Pope." We have a tremendous number of bishops in the UMC, and with few exceptions, it seems that none of them are terribly effective at what they are called to do.

This isn't their fault. It's the fault of the system. It would be interesting see a chart that examined the number of days a Bishop spent in his or her Episcopal area compared to days spent outside of it. Most of our Bishops spend an incredible amount of time in the air. They move from meeting to meeting, from speaking engagement to conference, from office to mission trip. It would be interesting to see the above mentioned chart compared to growth in the Episcopal area they serve.

I would be willing to put forward a guess that the Bishops who spent the most time "on the ground" in their Episcopal area managed to grow the local churches most efficiently.

Every Bishop should be part of a church planting team in the Episcopal area they serve. They should feel the pavement under their feet and meet the people they are ministering with.

It seems to me that our most effective spiritual leaders are those with a compelling personal narrative. The Bishop who has overcome adversity, worked to begin new ministries, or fearlessly stood up for an unpopular cause tend to be the Bishops that can encourage clergy to rally to the cause of their call.

When electing new Bishops - and even in finding a possible "United Methodist Pope" we must look for men and women who have served God fearlessly and well - and not for a popular CEO personality with lots of Skymiles.