As our world becomes increasingly destabilized, as uncertainty builds to a crescendo, people are searching for footholds wherever they might find them. They are seeking deeper meaning amidst the chaos around us, real connection over social media likes, and healing in the wake of traumatic division. For many, they've written off organized religion as irrelevant to their lives — or perhaps they've found themselves written off by organized religion. As a wave of Christian nationalism overtakes wide swaths of churches, even more people are finding themselves spiritually homeless and alienated from their former communities. And still, with this innate faith simmering below the surface, they seek belonging and understanding.

We as United Methodists know we can offer this connection. We know the UMC to be a light, guiding the world to a belonging deeper and wider than the imagination can hold. And yet...

Maybe we've become lulled by modern consumerism into believing that true success of a congregation looks like full pews instead of moving bodies. Maybe we're so focused on keeping our doors open we forget to look beyond them into the places God is already at work in our communities. Maybe we're just weary from the daily grind of keeping things afloat, wearing too many hats, struggling to see beyond the needs of today. Maybe we ourselves are carrying traumas and hurts too deep to name. Maybe we just need to reignite our spark, to be reminded of who we are as a people called Methodists.

I want to offer a way to reconnect to those Methodist roots, a space to dream up ways to be a movement of love in a world that desperately needs one. Over the course of five weeks beginning in January, we'll meet over Zoom to engage in Radicle Methodism, a study by Dr. Ashley Boggan (found on Amplify Media) that explores the beginnings of Methodism and how it took root in America. We'll explore the ways the movement took hold and grew, and ask ourselves what such a movement could look like in this time, here in this place. We'll imagine what can happen if we say yes to having our own hearts set afire, and how that could spread across the Dakotas and beyond. 

Our group will meet over five Wednesdays, roughly over the lunch hour:

Radicle Methodism, a video study by Dr. Ashley Boggan

January 7, 11:30-12:30 MT/12:30-1:30 CT - Introduction

January 14, 11:30-12:30 MT/12:30-1:30 CT - The Radicle and the Roots

January 21, 11:30-12:30 MT/12:30-1:30 CT - The Rooted Connection

January 28, 11:30-12:30 MT/12:30-1:30 CT - Connection to the Denomination, the Flowers and the Spoils 

February 4, 11:30-12:30 MT/12:30-1:30 CT - The UMC, A Call Back to Our Roots

To register, click here and enter your information. Details and materials will be sent out as we approach the first date in January. 

If you're unable to join us, you can still do the study independently or with others in your church. All materials are accessible through Amplify Media. (If you haven't already signed up for your account through Amplify Dakotas, click here for instructions.) 

The Dakotas UMC is uniquely positioned to offer our neighbors the very thing they need most: a real, enduring relationship with the God who loves boldly. We just have to start dreaming about what our own bold love can look like.

For questions, or to get help finding other resources for renewal and discipleship, feel free to reach out at renewal.connector@dakotasumc.org.