New Wesleyan Networks & Connections - A Conversation with James Lambert

A trend since disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church has been that many churches are electing to start new denominational bodies. Some are staying independent, but many are forming new cooperative ministries between churches with varying levels of commitment and accountability.

In this segment my friend, Rev. James Lambert, spends some time explaining his church's own "Asbury Connection" that is coming together alongside the "Antioch Connection" and many other cooperatives aimed at paving the way forward in the Wesleyan tradition. He talks a good deal about the doctrinal and ecclesial concerns of this new body, as well as the particular issues at play in deciding covenantal affiliations for his church.

The Asbury Connection is welcoming denominations to consider affiliating with them for the sake of bearing fruit for the Kingdom. You might consider spending some time with James to consider how it is that your own local church is bearing fruit, and if your covenant relationships might do well to be revisited for the sake of pruning and bearing more fruit (John 15:2).

My Analysis

I have always liked and respected James. He was good to take this interview, knowing on the front end that I’m somewhat of a partisan for denominations. Andrew Forrest was good to give his consent, as I have a reputation of publicly criticizing people and movements. I think our interaction here is an honest reflection, both of our love of the tradition and mutual respect for one another, while also being at a place of disagreement.

While I appreciate James’ exhortation to join a larger covenant body, and his insistence that to be Methodist is to be connectional, this still seems like a net loss of connectionalism.

The primary claim seems to be that larger denominational bodies don’t seem to be able or willing to acknowledge that larger churches bear more fruit, nor are they inclined to adopt the ethos or practices of larger, fruit-bearing bodies. Rather, they seem content to use the monetary and reputational credit that such churches afford while somewhat sidelining them in leadership.

Rev. Lambert’s claim that large churches are growing while small churches are shrinking is indeed true.

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