What Do We Do Now?

The Promise of the New United Methodist Church

Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

The pandemic and debates about disaffiliation have taken a toll on many pastors and congregations. Adding to these challenges is an era of declining overall religious participation. While weariness is understandable, inertia and despair are not inevitable. 

Many clergy and congregations now feel freed to explore new directions as familiar patterns no longer work as they once did. Clergy and congregations are returning to their original callings to ministry and founding values of their churches. Together they are finding hope and energy as they discern the next faithful steps God has for them.

Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr., is distinguished professor of church leadership emeritus and senior consultant of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He was the founding director of the Lewis Center in 2003, coming to the position after 18 years as president of Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. He became senior consultant in 2017. A native of Mississippi, he was a local church pastor in that state for many years. His years in local church ministry in Mississippi were marked by emphasis on both evangelism and social concerns. His work in Mississippi led the distinguished Mississippi writer Willie Morris to describe him as “one of the persons who added much to the growing civility of Mississippi.”

Prior to joining Wespath as a Benefit Educator, Bob worked for 12 years at the Cultural Institutions Retirement System in New York City, a not-for-profit multi-employer pension and 401(k) system, providing benefit communications and participant education for employees of New York City museums, botanical gardens, zoo’s and performing arts centers.   Before that he spent 12 years at Dreyfus Corporation, where he was a licensed investment representative in a corporate retirement services division, focused primarily on participant education for national corporate 401(k) plans.

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