📣📣 UNVEILING THE SECRET TO WCA'S SUCCESS – A SPECIAL FINAL MESSAGE FROM REV. JAY THERRELL 📣📣 We loaded up your email box with WCA Outlook issues in December. We have one voice that says so well the secret of the WCA’s influence and impact: Rev. Jay Therrell, the second President of the WCA. Honestly, Jay had prepared this piece at Thanksgiving time (he’s an on-time kind of leader). Other events pushed around our original timeline for distribution, so here is an important word both from Jay and from Scripture that captures how the Lord has used a network of committed believers to accomplish the unimaginable. Jay was at the WCA helm during the tumultuous “season of disaffiliation” in the USA – holding regional equipping meetings, accessing legal and financial resources for churches seeking to disaffiliate, helping loose networks become organized for collective action in so many annual conferences, and traveling widely as a wise encourager. He was a key player, too, in the preparations for the launch of the Global Methodist Church and now leads the Florida Annual Conference of the GMC. He brought the gifts, passion, and faith to lead the WCA in an extraordinarily active season of its mission. We have all benefitted from his leadership! Jay took the time to share his perspective on the impact of the WCA: As I write this, it’s the day before Thanksgiving. I just finished the brine for our turkey and have the “bird” soaking in all the wonderful spices and dried fruits. I’ve started making the cranberry sauce so it can chill overnight with all the flavors combined for a sweet and tart treat. Along with all the goodness of the food we will have tomorrow, I am sitting at my computer writing this article with an enormous sense of gratitude for all that God has done in our midst over the past few years. This past season was extremely hard for most of us. We watched the foundations of our faith, like the authority of scripture and the Lordship of Jesus, erode. We felt betrayed and lied to by institutional leaders, and when we tried to hold them to account, we were gaslighted. Denominational officials, in many places, worked overtime to prevent congregations from disaffiliating and to censor pastors from leading their flocks. They threw up obstacles that were, in some cases, cruel and devastating. Yet, despite all of what I just wrote, God has done a new thing, and it’s beautiful to watch! A new Wesleyan movement, the Global Methodist Church, is well over two years old. It has approximately 5,000 congregations across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Without exception, everywhere I travel, I see congregations springing to new life. In some cases, churches that haven’t had a baptism in years are now rejoicing with people coming to faith. Churches are starting new ministries to meet people at their point of need and offer them Jesus. Entire countries full of churches are declaring their intent to join this movement. It’s powerful good! In the United States, over 25% of the churches in The United Methodist Church were able to disaffiliate. With all the obstacles thrown at us, we freed millions of people to pursue Jesus according to the historic, orthodox faith. When compared to other separations in the Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Episcopalian denominations, well over double the number of churches and people were able to find freedom. It was historic! Those numbers don’t begin to factor in churches that have departed the UMC in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and it will likely be sometime before accurate numbers are known as our former denomination is refusing to release them. That tells you how big the numbers are likely to be! Do you want to know the secret to our kingdom-success? The secret is simple and is what the Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1. I’m first reminded of what Paul said in Colossians 1:3-6 as a prelude to sharing the secret. Read this WCA FINAL OUTLOOK SPECIAL EDITION at https://wesleyancovenant.org/2024/12/31/the-secret-of-the-wca-success-rev-jay-therrell-former-president-of-the-wca/ (fb)

📣📣 DON'T MISS THE LAST ISSUE OF THE WCA OUTLOOK 📣📣 It’s a New Year! Will 2025 include the journey to a new church for you? Here’s one story of Quiet Quitting United Methodists who moved across the country and across denominations to find a church home… at least for now. Does this sound familiar to you? Earlier in the fall, I wrote about Vanguard Methodists. These are the former United Methodists who left their building and congregation behind to form a new local church. Among the emails with energetic stories of new churches starting, I also received an email from a couple that are part of Quiet Quitting United Methodists. Quiet Quitting United Methodists don’t demand or demean. They don’t stir up trouble or undermine the pastor. Why would they? The Quiet Quitters love the people of their congregation. They have been members and leaders in their local church, perhaps for decades. Finally, however, they have come to the decision that they can no longer in good conscience support the local church with their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. They quietly walked away. Here’s the email I received (lightly edited): “My husband and I are lifelong EUB/U. Methodist members. My dad, Gaylord Saltzgaber, was a U.M. pastor in the northern Indiana district. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, we left the UMC in 2021. We joined a small Presbyterian church in a West Virginia town where we are retiring next year. We joined that church because the pastor is Evangelical and preaches a pure gospel message. We have briefly helped out, off and on, at our UMC church here in Indiana until we retire in May. We love the people. They are our friends, but we are in strong disagreement with the UMC on many issues. The UMC church we attended in Indiana never talked to the congregation about disaffiliation. It is a church of mostly farmers, and many were completely unaware of what was happening until an announcement was made after the general conference in May 2024. You could see the look of complete amazement on many faces. The very next Sunday, people began to leave. Many members of the congregation have disappeared over the past several months. I was directing the choir, and they are almost all gone. No one speaks about it. It is a little like the Twilight Zone, if you know what I mean. Our area has several active Global Methodist churches. From what I can discern, some have joined these congregations, one couple joined a Baptist church, some have gone to non-denominational churches.” What is an orthodox, evangelical, Wesleyan Christ-follower to do if you are still in a United Methodist congregation?" Read the final issue of the WCA Outlook from Rev. Dr. Scott Field at https://wesleyancovenant.org/2024/12/31/quiet-quitting-united-methodists-the-wesleyan-covenant-association-mission-is-accomplished/. (fb)