Church-Wide Dialogue on War
Christ Church United Methodist
Louisville, Kentucky

February 12, 2003
This plan was put into practice to get members of a large United Methodist congregation speaking to one another about why they believed what they believed about this war.

"What Is a Christian to Think about War?"
1. Dinner

2. Prayer

3. Welcome and Overview of What to Expect During the Evening

4. Statement of Our Common Bond in Jesus Christ
a. There will be different beliefs shared.
b. That is normal to this congregation and this denomination
c. What unifies us is our common bond in Jesus Christ

5. Statement of Our Common History as United Methodists
a. Have handouts on each table that list simply some rules of dialogue (I
used the following very simple guidelines found on pages 46-7 in Joe
Phelps' book entitled More Light Less Heat: How Dialogue Can
Transform Christian Conflicts into Growth.)
*Risk
*Respect
*Fairness
*Humility
*Teamwork
*Openness
*Listening
*First-Person Speech
*Depth
*Patience
b. Conferencing is a uniquely United Methodist ministry
c. Conferencing is dialoguing from a Christian perspective and with a Christian heart.
d. First Methodist conference was held in Philadelphia in 1773.
e. Famous Christmas Conference was held in Baltimore in 1784. Here those gathered laid out the doctrine and direction of the Methodist Church.

6. Acknowledgement that Anxiety is Normal
a. It is normal to feel nervous when we enter into a dialogue or conference.
b. This is because we will talk about our faith beliefs, and we hold those very close to our hearts.

7. Motivational Statement that This Moment Offers Great Hope
a. We conference anyway, because a moment like this holds great hope for the Church.
b. Just the fact that we are willing to risk, and be vulnerable, and share is really important.

8. Four Things for which We all Hope
a. We all hope for a world of peace and love
b. We all hope we can learn from each other, and respect each other.
c. We hope we can learn more about United Methodist theology.
*Wesleyan Quadrilateral
*Part of our theology is that we do not make stands for each other. (John Wesley's famous quote is: "Dost thou love and fear God. It is enough. I give thee the right hand of fellowship.")
*Part of our theology tells us that we are already united through Jesus Christ. That is the essential. Other matters may be considered non-essential to our salvation. That creates in our denomination a wide variety of beliefs, and we say the creative tension among those beliefs is a good thing. They keep us in check with each other, and help us learn from the things God is teaching each other.
d. We hope we can gain some understanding and grow in our own relationships with God.
*Tonight is not about changing each other's minds.
*Tonight is about searching our own souls and learning about our own relationships with God.

9. Time of Prayer

10. Twenty-Minute Teaching Time
During this time, in the pastor's own way, teaching about how the four parts of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral inform our faith beliefs and stances. The pastor may then choose to state his or her own response to the question of whether or not we should go to war.

11. Three-by-Five Cards
a. They have already been placed on each table.
b. People must be sitting together at tables of at least 3 people.
c. Each person is prayerfully invited to write down his or her faith stance on whether or not our country should go to war.
d. Then, in about 5 minutes time, each person is invited to write down each of the four parts of the Quadrilateral, and next to each write down how that part informs their stance.
*Scripture
*Tradition
*Reason
*Experience

12. Sharing around the Tables
During this time, of about 20 minutes, each person is invited to share around the tables what they wrote on their cards. It is important that each discussion begins with the Experience part of the Quadrilateral, since it is through our stories that we become more real to each other. After Experience, they should move to Scripture, as that will keep the discussions grounded.

13. Concluding Statements
a. Remind Participants that Tonight Is Not about Changing Minds
b. State Again the Four Things for which We Hope
c. Ask Them to Carry Forward the Things They Have Learned Tonight

14. Time of Prayer
a. Pastor-Led Prayer
*for governmental leaders
*for those who serve in the military
*for this congregation, that we might be a witness to God's love in this world.
b. Prayer around the Tables
*for each other
*for the unknown of the future
c. The Lord's Prayer.