OKUMC SPIRIT IN ACTION | 17
What Does an Anchor Church Look Like in the UMC? BY REV. DR. SAM POWERS
Now that disaffiliation is largely in the rear-view mirror for United Methodists in the Oklahoma Conference, I have enjoyed the conversations at various charge conferences on moving forward both locally and as an annual conference.
year and the church looks outwardly more than inwardly.
As we reconfigure the number of districts and look at their new boundaries, we want to have a certain number of healthy churches spread through each geographic area.
Prior to disaffiliation, I have always assumed that many of our healthy churches were serving as what I would call “anchor” churches in our conference, helping us to move forward as a whole. Post-disaffiliation, I now realize that I misjudged some of them. It’s likely that we didn’t expressly state our expectations for these churches and their leadership.
While a healthy church is largely recognized by its multi-generational membership which is also reflected in its leadership, it is also one that is reaching its community in transformational ways. Baptism is celebrated throughout the
As I appreciate transparency, I thought it would be helpful for us in realizing our best future to share the characteristics of an anchor church in our conference. We will need them in each district as we live into our future together.
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The Anchor Church understands its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
While a local church may have its own mission statement, it should be congruent to our denomination’s understanding of our purpose. Our mission is rooted in Wesleyan grace in that all people are called to discipleship through prevenient grace. We would seek for as many to respond as possible to the grace of Jesus Christ through justifying grace. The transformation of the world comes within our personal growth through sanctifying grace. The truth of “for God so loved the world” reminds us of the diversity of the church at Pentecost and we seek to integrate that wider vision into our churches today.
The Anchor Church is deeply connectional as a congregation and excited to be a part of The United Methodist Church.
This is harder to define and we may “know it when we see it”! We are living in an antiinstitutional time where individuals mistrust larger organizations. Currently in our society, the focus on the individual eclipses the focus on the community which makes it harder to work together. But working together as the body of Christ is certainly Pauline as we look back to the early church and it is entirely Wesleyan as a part of our heritage. Lately, in those churches that have remained with us, I’ve noticed less hesitance to live out what we have vowed to be.
