Can you help?

Sometime after arising just before dawn quite unintentionally I assure you, I had this thought: We are spending a whole lot of time talking about schism and unity and all parts in between in my beloved denomination the (somewhat) United Methodist Church. Why not force that unsettling settling subject out of our brains this morning and talk about what is working instead?

The blogosphere has been lit up by talk of splitting and such. Everyone, including yours truly, has an opinion about what is going to come. We can't come together on one simple subject so we will split apart over everything. Seems a might reactionary to me, but as we have determined, you and I, over time, we have a history of fussing. Doubt me? Try this: what sort of music is best to worship with, or what is the acceptable manner of taking communion, or how should we dress to be respectful in worship, or what does (pick a verse) this verse really mean? I could go on about baptism or scriptural study or, well, everything.

So, what I'm asking will be difficult. But a man's gotta know his limitations, said sage and prophet Clint Eastwood, and he has to know what he needs to force. Today, force.

Here goes. Oh, the humanity.

My question is this: Why don't we, for lack of a better more inclusive term, talk about all the things we've tried that failed and our best idea discerned through prayer and mediation and all the things that worked (with the same methodology).

In other words, why not have all the bloggers, columnists, readers, pastors, laity, bishops, district superintendents, you name its, post somewhere what we need to be doing and how we need to be doing it at least as it applies to the local church.

Then, here's my best idea, let's try to do it all. Just wrap it up like a dang ol' Christmas/birthday/Hanukkah present and do it. Just Nike it and let it be so.

For a "religion" based upon commitment, sacrifice, and love we sure have gotten full of ourselves, haven't we?

When was the last time you spent a few hours trying to figure how what you do for a living could be a living sacrifice for Christ? When was the last time we all spent time figuring out how to get out of the predicament we find the denomination (any and all will do, thank you) in trouble? When was the last time you invited someone to come work through the church (not at)? When was the last time you prayed for someone who wasn't sick? You know, simply prayed that that person in our lives (or even better, those strangers we come in contact with) be blessed with clarity and insight and one dang idea that will work in our churches?

When was the last time, as a blogger, as a reader of blogs, that we simply began putting ideas together?

When?

Here's my proposal: I want to know why your friends don't go to church, or why you've stopped. If you're reading this, there is either the small chance you think I still write sports and you stopped by to see what I might be writing about the Saints or even high school sports or you wanted to see who I would slander today. I'm doing neither. I want to know what is working at your churches, and I want to know what isn't. I want to know what you would like to see, hear, feel, do in a church if you were in charge.

No nudity. No stupidity.

Just clear, clean ideas about what might have never been tried but is on your heart and you have no other place to, er, place it.

You can do this in a couple of ways. You can comment in the section below or you can share this after commenting on Facebook when this appears there.

And I would like each of the 40-60 readers each day to share it every day. I want to increase readership to increase times we might get new ideas.

Let's try being positive for a while, ditching negative like old mop water in a ditch.

Today, let's start a new movement. You have the power of the universe in you; let's exercise it together. Can we heal all wounds? Probably not. But we can start again, fresh, sun coming up like a new day was beginning or something.