Becoming a Methodist

by John Lampard.

The Catholic journal, The Tablet, has recently run a series of articles in which seven young adult converts to the Catholic Church write about their journeys of discovery. What helped them find what a Catholic faith is and what it does for them? As I read the articles I tried to picture if a parallel series could be written by seven young people who could write about their journeys to a Methodist expression of the faith.

The writers in the Tablet come from very different backgrounds. One was an atheist, another a cultural Muslim and Marxist, another was ‘dragged into an uncomfortable place where Jesus seemed to provide the best answer to a question, I didn’t even know I had posed.’ Another was a strident secularist who had argued publicly for the abolition of faith schools. Several of them had moved from other Christian faith traditions, but had been drawn to Rome, one of whom had been inspired by the journey of St John Henry Newman from Protestantism to Catholicism.

So, what attracted them to Catholicism? How did they find a true and living faith? Unsurprisingly each convert described an individual journey with few common points, apart from a sense of slowly committing themselves to something bigger and surer.

For one, who described himself as agnostic, but had married a catholic, it was a reluctant attendance at the baptism of his two daughters. ‘I did not, therefore experience a Damascene moment, but rather a gradual spiritual awakening. At our daughters’ christening, I became aware of a process that had already started.’ Eventually he felt relief, exaltation and, above all, belonging.

Another man was particularly attracted by the quality of the priests he encountered. He found his rootedness, ‘To begin with: good priests. Human priests. Holy priests: men whose lives became icons of Christ without losing what distinguishes them as unique men.’ Writing of one priest he says, ‘his humour is as genuine an expression of his faith as the seriousness with which he takes his duties. Here is a man who lost nothing of himself in his vocation, putting all he has and is into joyful service of God.’

Other converts were attracted to a sense of the ‘solidarity’ of the Catholic Church, in its worship and its theology. They were aware that they were moving in a counter-cultural direction, against the flow of much of society. They found strength and comfort in the Mass, which extended beyond the hour of worship. ‘The liturgy and sacraments spoke to my mind, to my reason and to my passions.’

The man who was a cradle Muslim was drawn into the church through joining a group of compassionate volunteers who worked with rough sleepers. ‘I can count dozens, if not hundreds, of instances where my friends spent long hours, foregoing food and sleep, trying to improve someone’s life.’ He ends his account by saying, ‘To believe in a loving God, a God crucified, is to say yes to a transformation we can’t see – a transformation in our souls.  When I chose to believe, I made a wager that love moves through the world more profoundly than power.’

All the writers expressed a sense of joy, future expectation and profound faith and hope.

I am very grateful that the Methodist Church is now putting substantial resources, funds and personnel into its Mission and Growth Strategy. This is the first time in the over 50 years of my ministry that it has done anything of this magnitude. I find its plans and projects encouraging and exciting. There is an emphasis on the church on the margins, pioneering ministry and church planting, evangelism and contemporary culture, and ‘digital evangelism.’  I am grateful for this and have looked through the website which provides evidence of serious intent and dedication. It will be a blessing to the church if it has any measure of achievement.

I am not the only minister who has experienced church growth through thorough and dedicated pastoral care. One of the best expressions of this is getting to know people by visiting them. I have always been attracted to the expression that God came to earth and visited his people. Could a ministry of visitation be another strand of Growth and Evangelism?

As I said earlier, the question which kept recurring in my mind, as I read The Tablet week by week was, ‘Could a Methodist publication, such as Connexions or other form, find seven new converts, not just to Christian faith but specifically to Methodism?’  I think it can and will.