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YOU MIGHT BE A UNITED METHODIST IF......
you don't take Rolaids when your heart is strangely warmed
you know that a circuit rider is not an electrical device
"The Upper Room" is as essential to your bathroom as the toilet paper
you've ever owned a pair of cross and flame boxer shorts
you sit while singing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus"
you've ever sung a gender-inclusive hymn
tithing is encouraged but widely ignored
half the people sitting in your pew lip-sync the words to the hymns
the word apportionment sends a chill down your spine
you realize pluralism isn't a communicable disease
names like Aldersgate, Asbury and Epworth are familiar
you consider the monthly potluck a sacrament
the only church camp song you know by heart is "Kum ba yah"
you've ever attended an Annual Conference and actually enjoyed it
you have an unexplained yearning to visit Wesley's chapel in London
your church is named for a geographical location rather than for a saint
you've never heard a sermon on Hell and don't feel you're missing out
you realize that VBS isn't a sexually transmitted disease
your pastor moves every four or five years and you like it that way
your pastor responses to you with, "I hear you saying..."
there's at least one person in every church meeting who says, "But we've never done it that way before"
your congregation's Christmas pageant include both boy and girl wise men
you accept the fact that the hymn, "O For a thousand tongues to sing" has almost as many stanzas as tongues
you know that the Wesleyan Quadrilateral isn't a trick football play involving four lateral passes
you realize that the Book of Discipline is not a guide to getting you child to behave
you understand that an "appointment" has nothing to do with keeping a lunch date
you know "UMW" stands for United Methodist Women rather than the United Mine Workers
you know the difference between a "diagonal" minister and a "Diaconal" minister
"Good morning" has the status of a liturgical greeting in the worship service
you feel a twinge of guilt when you sing "Onward Christian Soldiers" with gusto
you say "trespasses" instead of "debts" in the Lord's Prayer and have no idea why
your annual conference spends most of its time debating resolutions that nobody reads
you'd rather be branded with a hot iron than serve on the Nominating Committee (or PPR, Trustees, Finance, etc)
you've ever sipped Welch's grape juice out of a plastic shot glass during Communion
the members of the Friendship class are always fighting among themselves
you realize that sprinkling, pouring and immersing are not ways of seasoning food
you're asked to donate money to a "special offering" every other Sunday
you pour over the Conference Journal with the same intensity you would read a John Grisham novel
you have to fight through a cadre of "designated greeters" to get into the sanctuary
when the worship service lasts for more than one hour the beeping of watch alarms drowns out the final hymn.
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