CREEDE HINSHAW: Boiling it down to a paragraph

This week’s column gathers some disparate thoughts, each which I thought might be profitable for an entire column but finally boil down to a paragraph:

GENEROSITY WARNING FROM CREDIT CARD COMPANY: A few weeks ago my wife and I, celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary, dined at a fine restaurant in Milledgeville where the meal and service were excellent. I left a tip of 30 percent, which resulted a few days later in an email from the fraud department of my credit card company asking if I’d really intended to be that generous. What would happen in our world if people became consistently more generous with their neighbors, their churches and synagogues and in their own families? The average American gives somewhere in the vicinity of 2 percent of their income to a religious institution, a figure that will never lift the eyebrows of a bank or credit card company.

MORMON STATE LEADS THE WAY: Thanks to the influential lead of the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints) the state of Utah, dominated by a Republican Legislature and led by a Republican governor, has passed one of the finest state laws in our nation protecting the rights of the LGBT community while still guaranteeing the rights of the religious community to practice their faith without interference. This new Utah law could never have won acceptance without the strong influence of Utah’s Mormon hierarchy. Nobody got everything they wanted in this legislation, but it was a huge move forward for all parties, built on a trust level that grew over the months of conversation. Contrast this enlightened Beehive State law with the fearful, defensive, controversial, counter-productive law (SB 129) touted and promoted by many Georgia churches and pastors. That law, now in the hands of the Georgia House of Representatives, will come for a vote within a week.

THE CALL TO ORDAINED MINISTRY: Last week, I had the opportunity to visit with some of the candidates in the United Methodist Church who were seeking ordination. These hopefuls came to Macon to be thoroughly examined by their peers in matters of doctrine, theology, personal life, preaching and teaching. One of the young men told me, “I never considered myself a candidate for ordination, but God had different plans for me.” Every denomination/church approaches ordination differently, but every church shares this in common: candidates for ordination sense some kind of (often surprising, even unwelcome) call from God and churches examine that candidate to validate – or in some cases refuse to validate – that call. Listening to these young men and women made me thankful that God still calls some of our very best people to ordination.

PALM SUNDAY, HOLY WEEK AND EASTER: The most meaningful season of the Christian Church year is upon us. Pray for pastors and staff who plan and lead these services. Make sure you are present at worship as Lent draws to its dramatic conclusion.

Creede Hinshaw is a retired Methodist minister living in Macon.