Bud Reeves
Special contributor

We recently began ordering movies by mail.

You sign up online, tell them the movies you want, and they send them. After you watch a movie, you send it back, and they send you another one. It’s very cool and convenient. 

Since we now have a bajillion movies to pick from, we decided to watch some that are considered among the best films ever made. One of the top films on most lists is Citizen Kane, the 1941 film by Orson Welles.  I could tell it was a groundbreaking film for its time, and I read an article detailing the innovations in lighting, cinematography, storytelling, etc., that made it a work of art in its day.

Frankly, however, to my contemporary eyes and ears, it was good but slow. So many of the innovations have become commonplace that it seemed ordinary.

Soon after watching Citizen Kane, we went to a theater and watched James Cameron’s new film Avatar in 3-D.  It was a good story, and the special effects (3-D and computer graphics) were amazing. It is also being hailed as a new level in filmmaking, a groundbreaking cinematic experience. It was pretty cool.

As I reflected on those two groundbreaking films, it occurred to me that innovation is contextual. Of course, Orson Welles had no conception of 3-D computer graphics, and if James Cameron had tried the same innovations that were spectacular in Citizen Kane, his Avatar would never have shown in a theater.  Each was ground-breaking in its own time, but each was limited to its historical context.

Many United Methodist pastors and laypeople recently attended the Imagine Ministry meetings held in four locations around the state.  The focus of the meetings was the state of the United Methodist Church in Arkansas, and we hope from these meetings to start a conversation about the future of Arkansas Methodism.  There are no answers yet, and there was some apparent frustration at that.

 So far, all we have is an invitation to “wander in the wilderness” — to talk, think and pray about our church, to seek and discern God’s will, to let the Holy Spirit move among us, in us  and through us.  I hope the conversations continue in our local churches, even beyond Annual Conference.

We are at a crossroads in the United Methodist Church — across the nation, but also in our state and in our local communities. We have the opportunity to make some deep changes that will alter the direction of our church and get us on the path toward vitality again.

We also have the possibility that we can ignore the current situation, resist change and continue to decline until the United Methodist Church is a footnote in the history of American Religion.

The innovations we seek and the strategies we propose for the vitality of the church in the 21st century cannot be based on 20th century strategies.  What worked to make the church grow 50, 20 or even 10 years ago will not be effective in our present or future context. We are plowing new ground.

The opportunity is exciting, but the responsibility is daunting. The stakes are very high. None of us who are steering this process in Arkansas know where it will end up. 

But we trust that if we are faithful, God will lead us in a positive direction.

I came away from the Imagine Ministry meetings I attended with two thoughts: One, I am thankful for the strength of the United Methodist Church in Arkansas.

We have taken some hits, but we still have churches full of dedicated and passionate folk. There are great resources we can bring to bear for the revitalization of our church. 

Two, I am glad we are not ultimately responsible for the Kingdom. God is. And He guides His people in every generation. The Holy Spirit will lead us if we will allow.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ transcends every historical context, and it will translate effectively into the 21st century. I can’t wait to see what form it will take.

William O. “Bud” Reeves is senior pastor of First UMC, Hot Springs. He can be reached at brobud@fumchs.com.