Duty and Delight to Reimagine - An Interview with Ben Gosden
Where do you see God moving among us?
I see God meeting us in this chaotic season with care in the midst of our grief and a promise that our grief will not have the final word over us. Our local churches do not look the same as they once did. Our annual conference does not look the same. Both of these realities hurt and it's okay to be like Job and sit in the ash heap and name our pain in this moment. But I also believe we are in the midst of a Good Friday/Holy Saturday moment that comes along with great change. I see God calling people into the liminal space of taking inventory of themselves and their church and their personal and communal faith life. This is really hard work. But it's work that I think exemplifies the call to discipleship. And this work leads us into resurrection hope that says God is not finished with The United Methodist Church in South Georgia. Our best days are still ahead of us.
Tell us about the ministry you’re doing now.
One of the newest ministries our church has been working on is a new home church we're helping to plant in Albany, GA. We are so blessed to have amazing home group leaders in Wallace and Jennifer Bonner. They open their home every Sunday to folks who are looking for an inclusive and United Methodist expression of church. By "inclusive" we mean in the best sense of our United Methodist heritage -- a space where people of all walks of life are welcome. This group now has 15-20 people who worship online every Sunday together and enjoy time for relational ministry before and after worship. It's becoming a true hybrid expression of church -- a "both/and" way of being online and in-person at the same time. Our folks in Savannah love to hear about their fellow Trinitarians in Albany. And our Albany folks are always faithful to check in online during our livestream.
This past Sunday the South Georgia Conference ratified 193 disaffiliations. What are your initial thoughts on losing so many churches in the connection?
Disaffiliation has been a very difficult season for so many of us. In many ways, it feels like a death we should grieve collectively. That said, I cannot deny the fact that this change comes on the heels of a global pandemic, which accelerated some difficult things churches have been facing for some time now. In other words, change has been on the horizon for us for a good while now, it has simply arrived at our doorstep and, with gods help, we must live into it together.
Methodism has gone through many evolutions and iterations and it’s long history. I believe we are now at a turning point into a new version of Methodism. It’s scary because we don’t exactly know where we are going just yet. But it’s also very exciting because God is truly doing a new thing in our midst. The early church in Acts 2 must’ve been a little scared because they did not fully understand how the Spirit was moving among them or where it was taking them.
We are a smaller conference now. But the work of God in the world around us has not changed at all. I believe that our best days really are ahead of us. And this change will push us to the margins of our society to reach people the church has never reached before. That’s the big vision of our Congregational Development department — to reach people for Jesus Christ in new and innovative ways that can impact the world for the Gospel.
We can bless our brothers and sisters, who have chosen a different path for their future. And at the same time, we can boldly declare that United Methodism is alive and well, and we will replant communities of faith in places where our presence is temporarily absent. In fact, I believe this will be a pathway for laity and clergy alike to hear a call from God on their life in ways that may not have been heard quite so clearly had this monumental change not taken place.
So yeah, I am sad to lose a significant part of our connection. But I am also very excited in trusting, and knowing that God is not finished with us yet!
How has disaffiliation been a part of the work you’re doing?
Many in our home group have come to this new way of doing church by way of leaving a church that voted to disaffiliate. It's been a difficult process for them but one where I see God present in and among them every step of the way. They've also brought in others who had been disconnected from church before disaffiliation happened. So I think it's been healing for all of them to work through their collective grief in community as they've connected to our church as their new church home.
How is this work similar to how you’ve done ministry in the past? How is it new?
Trinity Church is known as "the mother church of Savannah Methodism," so it's in our DNA to plant new things. Trinity has also been a community where inclusion has been at the heart of how we do church for over 30 years. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that church can exist online and in-person, so we're simply trying to listen to how God might be calling us to take these skills and apply them in new ways of doing church during this chaotic season.
What does it mean to be a South Georgia United Methodist today, especially in light of the ministry you’re doing?
I think being a South Georgia United Methodist means the same today that it always has -- we are a big tent community across county-seat, rural, and urban areas of South Georgia where people can be welcomed, loved, challenged, and sent forth to love God and their neighbors in extravagant ways. I was literally born into this annual conference 40 years ago and it's the spirit of United Methodism I was formed in for my entire life. If anything, this new season and the challenges it brings calls us to remember who we are and take risks for the sake of those who don't yet know the saving love of God. I can't think of anything more South Georgia United Methodist than that!
“If anything, this new season and the challenges it brings calls us to remember who we are and take risks for the sake of those who don’t yet know the saving love of God.”
How can churches and individual United Methodists across the conference support this ministry?
I would love to see churches consider becoming host churches for home groups like we've done. Our way of doing this isn't the only way it can be done. We're really building the proverbial airplane as we fly it. Churches and individuals can click here to learn more about the many ways they can stretch their imaginations to do church in new ways in South Georgia. If you're in the Albany area and would like to visit our home church, you can email me and I would be happy to connect you with our home group leaders. I would also love to help you think through how to do this through your church. Feel free to email me about that, too.
What else do you want readers to know about the way you’re engaged in ministry?
This is challenging, but it's not impossible with God's help (Matt 19:26). I think God is calling us to lean into this scary season and trust that we will be led into the best days our annual conference has known yet. We have the duty and delight to reimagine ministry in South Georgia. I'm so proud of my local church for stepping out in faith to support this new thing. And I know other churches will want to join in the fun!
Where do you see hope for South Georgia and The United Methodist Church?
I see United Methodists across South Georgia doing the hard work of prayerfully considering what it means to welcome ALL people in their local church. They are taking risks and engaging in the difficult work of discernment. But I think if God's abundant welcome to all is our guiding force for the decisions we make, we cannot go wrong! I'm also proud to chair our conference board for congregational development. Anne Bosarge is doing such a great job of leading us into new territory for doing ministry. We are working to launch more new things than I've ever seen us launch. Bishop Graves has enthusiastically supported this initiative and South Georgia Methodists, in true fashion, are delivering as they answer the call to step out in faith. I know this is a hard season for so many of us. But I have so much hope in our future, too.
