Opn Mnds Opn Hts Etc....

[captainsblog]

Our United Methodist denomination has been running an ad campaign to shore up its declining, departing and increasingly dying membership, with a catch phrase of "OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS." It's a great sentiment, and even practiced as well as preached in most of the congregations I've connected with (even if there is still a groundswell of anti-gay prejudice in the redder-neckier corners of Methodism down in the Bible Belt).

It was only today, though, that I realized what symbol our church has assigned to this modern-day Gospel movement:



It's on the set of winter-weather floor mats inside the doors into our narthex, that we still unfortunately need to keep the late February slush from being dragged into the pews, and the logo's surrounded by the Open³ logo on both sides.  It's a historic icon in the history of American Methodism: the "circuit rider," the ordained clergy of no fixed address in the early days of the church's transplant here from England, who rode from meeting house to meeting house, maybe only getting to each church on the "circuit" every five or six weeks. This cut down on the ability to serve communion, as lay people would run the services in the off-weeks and couldn't offer the sacrament; even with fully-staffed congregations today, many of our churches (including, somewhat controversially, now even ours) offer it less than weekly out of tradition rather than necessity.

So my first reaction this morning, after shoving salt and slush into Francis Asbury's face, was, Why is the church using an antiquated symbol to promote its relevance to a 21st century world?

But then, it struck me- as it likely did Frank after a mile or two:

Dude is reading a Bible while riding a horse.  It's the 18th century equivalent of texting while driving.  Yeah, the kids will relate to THAT, LOLOMG.

Comments

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Well, a horse *can* drive itself. ;)

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Of course, of course.

[floundah.livejournal.com]

Semi OT: I love your avatar, and since it's Sunday, I'll even confess that I stole it.