The final value which I believe is important for effective ministry is inclusivity or acceptance. By inclusivity I mean the unconditional love extended to a person even before they believe in Jesus Christ.
I think this value has become even more importing with the recent shifts in culture. Years ago, people would first investigate and then adopt the beliefs of the organization. Church membership wasn’t just handed out arbitrarily. It was required that people attend classes before they were accepted into the community.
Today, most people don’t pick a church or small group because they agree with everything the group believes. Nowadays, people join a group because they feel accepted because they feel included. People even officially join a church at all, it is not because of what the church believes, but because the church makes them feel like they belong.
A couple years ago, I had our youth leadership team put together a set of values that they thought were important for the ministry. We brainstormed for about an hour and came up with four values: acceptance, trust, dedication, and honesty. These values were intentionally shaped around our small group ministry.
When I asked our students to put these values in order, acceptance was presented as number one. For teenagers, belonging is the first step in developing an identity. It is within a supportive community that a young person can safely “try-on” different identities and discovers the one that fits best.
Acceptance may be the defining value of the post-modern age. It is easy to see the push back against its advancement in the resurgence of racism, nationalism, and anti-immigration sentiments.
Inclusivity is exceptionally important for the people called Methodist. It is through the loving acceptance of a community of faith that new believers experience God’s prevenient grace.
Also, inclusivity itself is named is a critical virtue for The United Methodist Church in the Constitution which states that “all persons are of sacred worth.” Of course, this value is placed so highly because of the church’s history of segregation, exclusion, and even support slavery.
I believe we need to take our church’s commitment to an Open Table seriously and break down any barrier, whether intentional or unintentional so that people can experience the love of God.
Kena Hawkins Newkirk 