Barefoot bishop inspires flock Methodist chief seeks to bolster membership

PORTLAND – The new head of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church on Saturday stood at the altar barefoot and urged members of his flock to do the same.

Bishop Peter Weaver passionately urged worshippers to wiggle their toes and feel the world that is under their feet at a ceremony held in the historic Chestnut Street United Methodist Church nestled just off Congress Street behind Portland City Hall.

“I invite you to take the shoes off your souls and be in touch with the reality of the power in God’s presence and the pain of God’s people,” Weaver, 59, said.

About 500 people from the five states that make up the conference – Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut – attended a street festival and the service afterward.

Weaver was appointed in July to serve the 101,000 United Methodists worshipping in the 550 congregations in New England. Previously, he worked as bishop in the Philadelphia area for eight years, the traditional length of service in one conference, after being elected a bishop in 1996. He replaced Bishop Susan Hassinger, who retired this summer after serving as bishop for eight years.

Church membership in the New England Conference of the denomination has fallen by 13,000 over the past decade, according to conference spokesman, the Rev. Michael Hickcox. Tight finances over the two years have forced the church’s New England headquarters, located in a former furniture store in Lawrence, Mass., to downsize its staff.

Other challenges facing Weaver include graying congregations and declining Sunday service attendance, which in rural locations in northern New England often means an average of 25 worshippers per service, Hickcox said on Saturday. Aging church buildings often are in desperate need of repair

As he took off his shoes and delivered a fiery sermon interrupted by applause and amens, Weaver said that those things would not be the focus during his tenure as bishop.

“The time invested in maintaining and shining our shoes will only end up with us in the Imelda Marcos shoe museum,” he said. “Let some congregations take off their shoes. If the local church stands on its own two feet and neglects the feet of its neighbor, God will move on.”

The fight over homosexuality among United Methodists has made many people in the conference unhappy and caused some to leave for churches with a more liberal outlook, Hickcox said Saturday, adding that the 18th and 19th century music older worshippers often prefer puts off many younger worshippers. Yet success in blending contemporary and traditional worship styles has been mixed, often leaving “everybody unhappy part of the time,” he said.

Saturday’s service seemed to balance successfully the traditional with the modern. It included old and new hymns, a liturgical dance performed by the Shalom Dancers of Contoocook United Methodist Church in Contoocook, N.H., and an offering informally collected in large, white buckets to remind worshippers of the devastation of the recent hurricanes.

“I like his passion,” the Rev. David Abbott, pastor of Belfast United Methodist Church, said of his new boss as the service ended. “I like that the focus of his sermon was on the work of Jesus Christ and not on money or the budget. Our first concern should be to make disciples of all people.”

Still barefoot after the service, Weaver greeted his new flock outside the church. He believes that if the denomination is to survive, it must bring in new people not only to replace aging, traditional worshippers but also to fill the many empty pews in United Methodist churches throughout New England.

“We must inspire more of our congregations to be invested in their communities, sharing Christ’s love and working for social justice,” Weaver said. “We must catch the spirit.

“If that starts to happen, if we have a close relationship with Christ and a close relationship with the community, all the rest of our problems and what we think are our problems will take care of themselves.”