Author Archives: Kevin Watson

Henry H. Knight III’s John Wesley: Optimist of Grace is a book I would like to get into the hands of as many Wesleyan Methodist pastors and lay leaders as possible. Knight has written a remarkably accessible and concise introduction to John Wesley’s life and theology without sacrificing precision and nuance.

As the subtitle suggests, the core theme of this book is John Wesley’s optimism of grace. For Knight, “It is this ‘optimism of grace,’ in connection with the goal of perfection in love, that gives Wesley’s theology its inner dynamic.” Wesley’s theology is “not only a theology of love and grace, but also at its heart a theology of hope, a promise of new creation in the midst of this present age” (xv).

Knight summarizes Wesley’s time in Georgia and his infamous relationship with Sophia Hopkey with particular nuance. Whereas Wesley’s time in Georgia has often been too neatly described as a failure, Knight points to things that Wesley learned:

His belief in the importance of societies for Christian growth was reinforced and deepened. He also became aware of the power of hymnody as critical to Christian formation and worship. And as he began to recognize that there was no single model of liturgy and discipline in primitive Christianity, his devotion to the early church could move from a legalistic precisionism to a more fruitful focus on apostolic faith, life and mission (14).

Knight also notes that Wesley returned from Georgia aware of continued need for growth in his own faith. “Wesley had not found the assurance he was seeking, nor had he attained the holiness he desired. His announced goal of going to Georgia, to save his own soul, was unmet” (15).

Similar nuance is also found in Knight’s summary of Wesley’s relationship to the Moravians, his famous experience at Aldersgate Street, and subsequent conflict with the Moravians. Knight’s summary of Wesley’s understanding of Christian perfection, controversy related to the teaching in the 1760s, and disagreement with his brother Charles over the doctrine is also a highlight of the book.

Knight also dedicates chapters to Wesley’s understanding of the means of grace and another to “relieving the distress of the neighbor.” His summary of the controversies in the last third of Wesley’s life is another place where Knight’s ability to concisely summarize complicated events stands out.

Several one-liners in the book highlight core concerns of Wesley’s. Here are three examples:

“The renewal of the Church occurs not through condemnation of others but through one’s own repentance” (124).

“For Wesley, it was the lack of holiness in the church that was the chief impediment to the reception of the gospel by non-Christians” (131).

“Grace at its heart is the power of the Holy Spirit; thus, we can approach God with an expectant, although not a presumptive, faith” (143).

John Wesley: Optimist of Grace is a part of the Cascade Companions Series, which is an imprint of Wipf and Stock. This series publishes “books that combine academic rigor with broad appeal and readability. They aim to introduce nonspecialist readers to that vital storehouse of authors, documents, themes, histories, arguments, and movements that compromise this heritage with brief yet compelling volumes.”

This book exceeds in accomplishing the goals of this series. And at a time when the quality of the book itself is increasingly suspect in parts of Christian publishing, this book is a welcomed exception. The design of the cover, the layout of the text, and the quality of the paper all contribute to the quality of the content itself, rather detracting from it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in John Wesley and the theological foundations of the Wesleyan tradition. You can pick up a copy of the book here.

There are several moments from when I attended seminary at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D. C., that have stayed with me in the years since I graduated. I remember the class “Methodist History and Doctrine” when Dr. Doug Strong’s summary of the Wesleyan way of salvation brought so many things together for me and made me feel in my bones that I was a Methodist; it was a major catalyst for where I am today. I remember Dr. Amy Oden reminding us in every class of “Church History” to ask the “so what?” question when we studied the past. I remember Dr. Sondra Wheeler’s passion for clear thinking and her ability to challenge students to be consistent and carefully consider and probe unexamined ethical assumptions. I remember Dr. Scott Kisker sending us out into the streets of D.C. to ask people about what grace meant to them. And I remember Dr. Kendall Soulen saying that you could put a host of different things as descriptors of Jesus, but at a very basic level the gospel was simply, “Jesus saves.”

I learned a lot in seminary and had some amazing teachers. Perhaps the image that has stayed with me more than any other came from Dr. Laurence Hull Stookey’s “Corporate Worship” course. Dr. Stookey was discussing the Christian calendar, and he was trying to help us see that the purpose of the Christian calendar was more than a circle where you do the same things over and over again. He described the Christian calendar as being like a spiral staircase: you come to the same point in the circle each year, but you have ascended higher up the stairs each year than you were the year before, or at least that is the purpose of the Christian calendar.

Dr. Stookey’s image of the Christian year being like a spiral staircase has helped me understand why Christian time is itself a means of grace. Every year we go through seasons of repentance, self-denial, and fasting. Each year we also go through seasons of celebration, rejoicing, and exultation. And every year we go through seasons of ordinary time when we are in a season of “regular” living.

I have come to appreciate many things about the Christian calendar. I appreciate the way the Christian calendar helps you practice what real life is like. As I have ascended the spiral staircase, I have become better at rejoicing – really celebrating –what God has done for the world – and for me. I have also learned how to grieve, to lament, to say no to myself and others, and to notice the heartbreaking extent to which things in the world are not okay. Perhaps what has surprised me the most about the major rhythms of the Christian calendar is that I have come to appreciate ordinary time, the gift of un-extraordinary days, even seasons when you experience normal rhythms and routines.

This week, Holy Week, is the highlight of the Christian calendar. To speak in a way that I suspect Dr. Stookey might not approve, Holy Week is like the Super Bowl of the Christian calendar. It is packed with meaning and is like the entire Christian year packed into one week.

Observing Holy Week has had a significant impact on my life. There are many different ways I could mark my growth as a follower of Jesus Christ, but a major part of my growth as a Christian came when I started to attend Holy Week services. Attending worship on Thursday and Friday of Holy Week is a highlight of my year as a follower of Jesus. Attending these services has prepared me to celebrate – really celebrate – the news that Jesus Christ is risen.

As I have, by the grace of God, ascended the spiral staircase of the Christian calendar, I have discovered that Christians (especially including myself) have a lot of room to grow in discipline and self-denial. I have been surprised to find that Christians are often actually worse at celebration than they are at self-denial. Easter is not one Sunday, it is eight weeks. But I have yet to attend a church that has had the celebratory stamina to throw an eight-week party. I have been to some amazing Easter Sunday services, but I don’t remember a single worship service from the sixth Sunday of Easter.

It is here that Dr. Stookey would want to remind us all that every Sunday is a little Easter. Christians celebrate (but do we really celebrate?) the resurrection every single Sunday.

I urge you to do whatever you have to in order to attend Holy Week services this week. We need to prepare to celebrate this Sunday. And God, in God’s graciousness, has given us an entire week to prepare to celebrate the best news the world has ever heard.

Dr. Stookey would, I think, also want me to tell you that you can’t get to the resurrection without the crucifixion. The cross of Christ is itself a potent means of grace. But our ability to celebrate the empty tomb will always be impoverished if we show up to hear the astounding news of an empty tomb, but have not heard all that happened so that death’s power could be broken from the inside.

No matter what your previous experience of Holy Week has been, there is room to enter more fully into the amazing grace of God. We can continue walking up the staircase, growing in holiness with each step.

By the grace of God, may we each experience a more meaningful Holy Week this week than we ever have.

This article first appeared on Wesleyan Accent in 2015.

We’re pleased to share this Advent reflection from our archives.

I need Advent. I’m not sure I always want it. But I need it.

I need Advent because waiting has always been difficult for me. I struggle to delay gratification. And persisting in watching and waiting is a challenge. If I was preaching, I’d ask if any of you could relate.

Waiting is hard, maybe especially so in contemporary American culture. We don’t do waiting very well. In fact, we often take having to wait as a personal offense or insult.

But Advent is most fundamentally about waiting, even in the midst of a parallel season of hurrying, scurrying, and general business.

In Advent, we wait with hope and expectation.

We wait for Jesus, the Messiah. Advent is not primarily about waiting for the baby Jesus to be born in a manger. That has already happened.

In Advent we are waiting for the return of Jesus the Christ, the coming King. In Advent, we anticipate the return of Christ. Advent is about the future, the end, the “Christ shall come again in final victory” part of our faith. And so in Advent, we practice waiting. We remind ourselves that Jesus is coming back and that we don’t know the day or the hour when he will return. It might even be before Santa reappears.

This Advent I’ve been both captivated and haunted by the parable of the ten young bridesmaids in Matthew 25 and its contrast of ways of waiting.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t bring oil for them. But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil. 

When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “Look, the groom! Come out to meet him.”

Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, “Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out.”

But the wise bridesmaids replied, “No, because if we share with you, there won’t be enough for our lamps and yours. We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.” But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding. Then the door was shut. 

Later the other bridesmaids came and said, “Lord, lord, open the door for us.” 

But he replied, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.” 

Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour. – Matthew 25:1-13, CEB

In this story, we want to be like the wise bridesmaids and not the foolish ones. In my initial reading of the story, I focused on the part where the bridesmaids become drowsy and go to sleep. But then I realized that the text says that they all, the wise and foolish, fell asleep. Falling asleep wasn’t the problem. It was that when they awoke with the news of the groom’s arrival, some of them were not prepared. Both waited, but some were proactive and some were not.

So, how can we wait expectantly? Given that we cannot predict when Jesus will return, how can we be prepared for his arrival, even though it will come when we don’t expect it?

The answer is actually unsurprising and largely predictable. We prepare ourselves for Christ’s return by practicing now the kind of life we will live forever when he does return.

For Wesleyans, this is grounded in the means of grace, both works of piety and mercy. We prepare by searching Scripture, praying, worshiping, fasting, watching over one another in love, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting those who are in distress.

At our best, these practices help us keep watch for the return of Jesus, the one who will finally and completely make all things new and right. Preparing for the return of Christ is not at all the same thing as making his coming redundant. Only Jesus saves. But he graciously enables us to prepare and to participate in the work that he will bring to final completion.

Waiting is hard. I suspect many of us are tempted to either wait passively, like the foolish bridesmaids, or to take over and attempt to save ourselves by our own effort. Advent challenges both our complacency and our self-sufficiency.

As I seek to actively wait for Christ’s return, I am noticing two things. First, I am finding a deep yearning for Christ to come back. All is not well, not even close. I yearn for my Jesus to set things to rights. Second, I am asked, “Am I ready to greet Jesus when he returns?” This question pierces through both frenetic action and subtle idolatries.

By the work of the Holy Spirit, our souls are gently drawn forth to sing the beautiful words, “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”

May we wait expectantly and be found as those who are ready!

The first 10 years of marriage between me and my wife were marked by a remarkable degree of instability. The longest we have lived anywhere in our first 10 years of marriage was three years. In those 10 years, we lived in eight different “homes.” (I do not recommend that you try this at home.)

As a result, we have a lot of experience being first-time visitors to churches! And, yes, I know. You are supposed to call newbies “guests” and not visitors. But, from our perspective, the word visitor almost always feels more fitting than guest. I’m pretty sure we could start a successful consulting business.

At one level, Melissa and I are the ideal first-time guests. And yet, we have been surprised at how difficult it has been to find deep and nurturing community in the local church. We have often been discouraged, because our initial strategy for finding new community when we have moved has been to try to quickly plug in to a new church. There have been a few times when the church did not seem to need or want new people. Of course, they would say that they did, but their actions communicated more loudly that the community was content the way it was and did not want to be disrupted.

From what I have learned in the past 10 years, here are five reasons why first-time visitors become a part of the family of faith:

5. The church truly has a culture of expecting new people to show up.

Every week your church expects there to be new people in worship. People are actively looking for new faces. And there are specific people at the church who are particularly on the lookout for first-time visitors.

4. The church proactively thinks about the questions and concerns that first-time visitors will have. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to a church that did not have a clear process for where to go with your kids, or even how to get your questions answered. I have had to learn to be pretty assertive and direct in telling people that we are new and don’t know what to do. There were times where even that information did not lead us to getting the help we needed. Churches that have exceptional hospitality anticipate the questions that first time guests will have.

3. The church has already thought through the answers or solutions to those concerns, to the extent that they can be addressed. It should be obvious, but it is not good enough to think about what the questions are the new people will have. You need to carefully think through how you will respond to their questions. Churches that are exceptional at hospitality think about the visitor’s perspective in how they help answer questions or provide solutions. A volunteer at the church we currently attend noticed on our first visit that one of our kids seemed very uncomfortable being separated from a sibling. The volunteer told us that there was no problem with this child attending the other child’s class if that was ok with us. We appreciated that they noticed the feelings our child was having and affirmed that we were the parents and asked us what we wanted to do. That one detail made a huge difference to both kids feeling comfortable that first Sunday, and made a big difference to us.

2. The church has a culture of not only expecting new people to show up, but truly wants them to become an integral part of the community. First-time visitors have a pretty good sincerity detector. If you are reaching out to new people because it is what you should do, but your heart isn’t really in it, people will pick up on this right away. Churches that have exceptional hospitality convey that they really want you to become a part of the community. The most important thing is connecting people to other people in the church, helping them get to know others. We recently benefited from the pastor at our church embodying this. He knew that we were new, and from a brief conversation with us recognized that we were really hoping to make connections with other couples in the church with kids around our kids’ age. After the worship service one Sunday, he went out of his way to introduce us to several of the couples in a small group that someone else had already mentioned to us. Being introduced to the actual people in the group made it much more easy to envision actually attending the group than a generic invitation to join a small group would.

1. The membership of the church, the rank and file, are individually looking for new faces and seeking to get to know them. My pastor recently said that when it comes to finding a new church people are not looking for a place that is friendly, they are looking for friendship. From my perspective, that is exactly correct. We need community, not smiles and handshakes during a worship service. We need relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, not a perfectly polished performance on Sunday morning. I think by far the most important element in people coming to belong in a new church is finding connections to other people who have already found their place. Sadly, in my experience, very few churches actually have a plan for how new people are going to make these kinds of connections.

How does your church plan to help first-time visitors become a part of the community at your church?

What did I miss? What do you see as crucial to helping first-time visitors come to belong to a church community?

Are we too comfortable talking about our own demise? Do some of us come perilously close to celebrating it?

I’ve been wrestling with this since a friend sent me a link to a blog post urging Methodists to shift from telling stories of the death of United Methodism to “writing the story about the future of the church.” 

I appreciate the article because it did not suggest that decline is not a real and serious problem in contemporary United Methodism (a kind of head in the sand approach, which I have seen). But even more than that, I appreciated the article because of its encouragement to shift from a funeral dirge to anticipating signs of hope for the future.

We need to be honest and realistic about the challenges we face, while putting our best effort and energy into a positive and hopeful vision for the future for the Wesleyan/Methodist family. United Methodism, in particular, is a church that has been in dramatic decline for years, even decades. The strains of decline are seen from the most visible expressions of our collective life together (publishing, denominational colleges and seminaries, boards and agencies) all the way to the local church, where disheartening numbers of local churches are closing their doors for the final time each year.

Is there really room for hope?

I believe that there is. But, it is not hope for a quick fix, or even a turnaround that comes from an intense exertion of our collective will and effort. We’ve tried that already. It hasn’t worked. And we are not currently of one will, so we aren’t really pulling in the same direction.

Let me put it strongly: We have no good reason to hope in ourselves. We have been in decline despite our good intentions. We have been in decline despite having leaders who have communicated a compelling vision. In short, many United Methodists have been trying really hard for a really long time. And, yet, we are in decline.

But there is hope. There is hope because Jesus has been raised from the dead. There is hope because the church is God’s Plan A. And there is no Plan B. God will not let the church fail. Of course, it is possible that The UMC, or any other Methodist/Wesleyan denomination could fail. But the church will not cease to exist. Regardless of what happens in one denomination, the future of Christianity itself is not at stake.

Fundamentally, our hope is in the Lord. Our tendency to despair often reveals that we have put our hope in ourselves and not in the Triune God. I have hope that the current realities of Methodism in America will help American Methodists become better Christians. Since at least the Civil War, we have been pretty confident in ourselves, in our own abilities. We have often become agnostic in our lives together, acting as if the future were fundamentally dependent not on God, but on ourselves. I have hope that the Holy Spirit will enable Methodism to repent of its self-sufficiency and acknowledge our need for God.

In Scripture and in countless testimonies, desperation often brings people to a new and deeper experience of God. Could it be that God, in God’s mercy, may be allowing us to become more desperate so that we might more fully experience God in our churches? Renewal, after all, does not typically come to the self-satisfied.

I also have hope that our collective language will become more robustly and explicitly theological. I hope that we will grow in our ability to speak of God, to receive the deep and tested faith of the church, and to embrace the way of life that comes from the riches of Christian doctrine.

Put differently, I don’t have much hope that unity of practice will come without a renewed unity of belief. There are pockets of Methodism that seem to uncritically reject the role of doctrine in Christian life. And yet, these well-meaning people not only appear to overlook the beliefs (doctrines) that lead them to reject doctrine, they also tend to be unable to offer anything more than good intentions as a way to get to unified practice without unity of belief.

To be clear, I believe it is a misunderstanding of the role of doctrine to see it as primarily restricting. Doctrine is only restrictive in the sense that an expert guide is when she helps you safely explore a wondrous land that you yourself have never visited. A guide who helps you experience a breathtaking view of a beautiful canyon will ensure that you don’t approach it via an unstable cliff. The goal of a guide, as with doctrine, is to enable you to have the freedom to safely explore what you do not yet know yourself. In this context, freedom is actually enhanced by boundaries or guidance outside of your own resources. In this way, Christian doctrine facilitates getting to know God and growing in deeper knowledge and intimacy with God by pointing to God and by providing protection from worshipping what is not God.

The article I mentioned at the beginning of this post is right. We need to start telling the story of the future of the church. I believe I am starting to be able to perceive the outlines of a story of renewal and recommitment by the people called Methodists.

Our story can be one of experiencing God’s transforming presence in our lives as we recognize the depths of our need for Christ, and Jesus’s ability and willingness to meet that great need. We can move forward with confidence, knowing that the Lord will sustain the church one way or another. And as we move into the future, we will be sustained and guided from perilous missteps if we immerse ourselves in the deep wisdom of our tradition. And as we seek to follow Christ and become mature in our faith, we can invite others to come with us on this great adventure.

Wesleyans have a great story to share with one another and with the world. I am anxious to see how God will use us to draw those created in the divine image more fully into the love that is already perfected within God’s life as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I need Advent. I’m not sure I always want it. But I need it.

I need Advent because waiting has always been difficult for me. I struggle to delay gratification. And persisting in watching and waiting is a challenge. If I was preaching, I’d ask if any of you could relate.

Waiting is hard, maybe especially so in contemporary American culture. We don’t do waiting very well. In fact, we often take having to wait as a personal offense or insult.

But Advent is most fundamentally about waiting, even in the midst of a parallel season of hurrying, scurrying, and general business.

In Advent, we wait with hope and expectation.

We wait for Jesus, the Messiah. Advent is not primarily about waiting for the baby Jesus to be born in a manger. That has already happened.

In Advent we are waiting for the return of Jesus the Christ, the coming King. In Advent, we anticipate the return of Christ. Advent is about the future, the end, the “Christ shall come again in final victory” part of our faith. And so in Advent, we practice waiting. We remind ourselves that Jesus is coming back and that we don’t know the day or the hour when he will return. It might even be before Santa reappears.

This Advent I’ve been both captivated and haunted by the parable of the ten young bridesmaids in Matthew 25 and its contrast of ways of waiting.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t bring oil for them. But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil. 

When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “Look, the groom! Come out to meet him.”

Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, “Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out.”

But the wise bridesmaids replied, “No, because if we share with you, there won’t be enough for our lamps and yours. We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.” But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding. Then the door was shut. 

Later the other bridesmaids came and said, “Lord, lord, open the door for us.” 

But he replied, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.” 

Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour. – Matthew 25:1-13, CEB

In this story, we want to be like the wise bridesmaids and not the foolish ones. In my initial reading of the story, I focused on the part where the bridesmaids become drowsy and go to sleep. But then I realized that the text says that they all, the wise and foolish, fell asleep. Falling asleep wasn’t the problem. It was that when they awoke with the news of the groom’s arrival, some of them were not prepared. Both waited, but some were proactive and some were not.

So, how can we wait expectantly? Given that we cannot predict when Jesus will return, how can we be prepared for his arrival, even though it will come when we don’t expect it?

The answer is actually unsurprising and largely predictable. We prepare ourselves for Christ’s return by practicing now the kind of life we will live forever when he does return.

For Wesleyans, this is grounded in the means of grace, both works of piety and mercy. We prepare by searching Scripture, praying, worshiping, fasting, watching over one another in love, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting those who are in distress.

At our best, these practices help us keep watch for the return of Jesus, the one who will finally and completely make all things new and right. Preparing for the return of Christ is not at all the same thing as making his coming redundant. Only Jesus saves. But he graciously enables us to prepare and to participate in the work that he will bring to final completion.

Waiting is hard. I suspect many of us are tempted to either wait passively, like the foolish bridesmaids, or to take over and attempt to save ourselves by our own effort. Advent challenges both our complacency and our self-sufficiency.

As I seek to actively wait for Christ’s return, I am noticing two things. First, I am finding a deep yearning for Christ to come back. All is not well, not even close. I yearn for my Jesus to set things to rights. Second, I am asked, “Am I ready to greet Jesus when he returns?” This question pierces through both frenetic action and subtle idolatries.

By the work of the Holy Spirit, our souls are gently drawn forth to sing the beautiful words, “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”

May we wait expectantly and be found as those who are ready!

In recent years, there has been quite a bit of energy around returning to the practice of Christian conferencing in United Methodism. Christian conferencing is often referred to as “holy conferencing,” undoubtedly a more evocative phrase. Wesley, however, did not use the phrase.

At the risk of oversimplification, there have been three phases in the recent emphasis on Christian conferencing. At first, the phrase was mostly used to encourage more civil discourse when discussing controversial topics. Next, there was a period where people (myself included) pointed out that the origin of Wesley’s use of Christian conferencing was more than polite conversation, or agreeing to disagree. Currently, there seems to be a shift from a fairly thin account of “holy conferencing” to one that is much more robust and eager to discern how to reclaim the best of our own heritage.

In hopes of contributing to efforts to reclaim a robust understanding and practice of “holy conferencing,” the remainder of this post engages Wesley’s inclusion of Christian conferencing as an instituted means of grace. Locating “holy conferencing” as an instituted means of grace was a very important move by Wesley and provides a crucial starting point for reengaging this practice.

What is an instituted means of grace?

First, what is a means of grace? Wesley defined means of grace as “outward signs, words, or actions ordained of God, and appointed for this end – to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace” (John Wesley, “The Means of Grace” II.1.).

So, what is an instituted means of grace? For Wesley, instituted means of grace are specific practices that have been designated by God as channels of grace for all Christians in all times. In the “Large Minutes” Wesley identified five instituted means of grace: prayer, searching the Scripture, the Lord’s Supper, fasting, and Christian conference.

The instituted means of grace are the most basic practices of the Christian life. Wesley believed that all Christians should be committed to them because they were ways that God had committed to give grace to us. God may work in other ways, but has promised to meet us in these practices.

What is Christian conferencing?

Few Christians would be surprised to see prayer, searching the Scriptures, the Lord’s Supper, or even fasting (though it is perhaps the least practiced of these) on a list of basic practices of the Christian life. We might be more surprised to see Christian conferencing included on such a list. And we may not even be sure we know what it is! Here is the passage where Wesley included Christian conference as an instituted means of grace:

Are we convinced how important and how difficult it is to order our conversation right? Is it always in grace? Seasoned with salt? Meet to minister grace to the hearers? Do we not converse too long at a time? Is not an hour at a time commonly enough?Would it not be well to plan our conversation beforehand? To pray before and after it?

(For additional reading, see “The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley,” vol. 10 “The Methodist Societies: The Minutes of Conference,” 856-857.)

It is a bit confusing that each of the above statements are in the form of a question. I think they can accurately be read as rhetorical questions, or questions that assume an affirmative response. The passage could be rephrased: “We are convinced that it is important, though difficult, to order our conversation right. It should always be in grace. Seasoned with salt. Suitable to minister grace to the hearers. We should not converse too long at a time. An hour at a time is usually enough. We should plan our conversation beforehand. We should pray before and after it.”

The challenge with the above passage is that it is so broad, even a bit generic. One of the reasons that “holy conferencing” has been seen as polite disagreement, or something to that effect, is because the above is the only passage where Wesley uses the phrase “Christian Conference.” And the paragraph I have cited is everything he says about it in that passage.

Wesley wasn’t more specific because it was obvious to him that Christian conferencing was not generic conversation. It was piercing conversation about our lives with God, our experience of God, and how to live as a result. Dr. Randy L. Maddox, William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies at Duke Divinity School, put it this way in an email exchange I had with him about a year ago (quoted with permission): “When Wesley refers to Christian Conference as an instituted means of grace, I think the class meeting is the best example of what he has in mind. This is particularly the case if we assume his primary focus in ‘means of grace’ is sanctification.”

What does it mean for Christian conferencing to be an instituted means of grace? If Christian conferencing is an instituted means of grace, then it is one of the essential practices that should be adhered to by all Christians. It is something the Church should see as a being on the basic list of concrete practices it offers to people who are seeking to grow in their faith in the Triune God.

If Christian conferencing is an instituted means of grace, helping people talk about the state of their souls and learn to give voice to their experience of God in supportive and accountable Christian community must be on the short list of essentials for any local church.

Wesley would later define the class and band meetings as prudential means of grace. By this, he meant that the classes and bands were the particular ways that God had led Methodism to so effectively practice one of the instituted means of grace – Christian conferencing.

What does this mean for the church today? 

Contemporary Wesleyan/Methodist faith communities must wrestle with Wesley’s assertion that Christian conferencing is one of the means of grace providentially instituted by God. It is one thing if we conclude that Wesley is incorrect about this. To date, I do not recall seeing anyone argue that Christian conferencing should not be seen as an instituted means of grace. Instead, I have more commonly seen people assume that Wesley was correct and move forward.

If Wesley was right, if “holy conferencing” is an instituted means of grace, the Church needs to get much more serious about making this practice available to the faithful and to those seeking a relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If Wesley is right, we need to look at where the church invests its best time, energy, and resources. Do these things prioritize the essentials, the most basic practices of the Christian life? Or, is it time to make some changes?

Francis Asbury, the first key leader of American Methodism, certainly thought this practice was essential. Asbury and Coke wrote in the annotated 1798 “Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church” (pages 147-148):

It is the thing itself, christian fellowship and not the name, which we contend for. The experience of about sixty-years has fully convinced us of its necessity; and we ourselves can say that in the course of an extensive acquaintance with men and things, and the church of God, for about twenty or thirty years we have rarely met with one who has been much devoted to God, and at the same time not united in close christian fellowship to some religious society or other [meaning a small group like the class meeting]… We have no doubt, but meetings of christian brethren for the exposition of scripture-texts, may be attended with their advantages. But the most profitable exercise of any is a free inquiry into the state of the heart. We there-fore confine these meetings to christian experience, only adjoining singing and prayer in the introduction and conclusion. And we praise the Lord, they have been made a blessing to scores of thousands…In short, we can truly say, that through the grace of God our classes form the pillars of our work, and, as we have before observed, are in a considerable degree our universities for the ministry.

If Christian conferencing is an instituted means of grace, then we should not be surprised that something like the class meeting was a pillar of Methodism. The means of grace, particularly those instituted by God, should be the pillars of every church.

Listing Christian conferencing as an instituted means of grace is a big move that has major implications for what the church should prioritize with limited time, energy, and resources. Was Wesley right? Is Christian conferencing an instituted means of grace? If so, what does it mean for contemporary Wesleyans? What do you think?