The first time I heard the Wesleyan Covenant prayer in a United Methodist New Year Service I was struck by the simplicity and power of the words. 

“I am no longer my own, but thine.”  

I was just beginning to learn about the United Methodist Church and the ministry of John Wesley that gave way to a denomination. I liked the balance of social holiness and personal piety that sprang up from worship and I was smitten by the power of Wesley’s words. 

“Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.”

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, if something is worth doing it is worth doing any time of the year. However, I do like revisiting this covenant prayer annually, as we begin another year. Within its poetic words are a powerful reminder of what it means to live out our faith in Christ.

“Put me to doing, put me to suffering."

When we turned the calendar to 2019, last month, there was a reality check for many United Methodists. In United Methodist circles, we have been talking about 2019 for several years now.  In anticipation. In dread. In bewilderment. With hope. Now that 2019 is here, we wait, as if we were in Advent, anticipating, marching toward the denominational special session in St. Louis at the end of February wondering who we will be March 1st. 

“Let me be employed by thee or laid aside by thee. Exalted for thee or brought low for thee.”

In a world where we are taught to be more “selfish” than “selfless”, in an era when contentiousness and blame shifting abound, John Wesley’s invitation to live for Christ, offers a sense of centering for our lives and our relationships.

“Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing.” 

Who will we be on March 1st? A denomination that has conquered fear and stands in hope for all God’s creation? A people who cannot bridge our divide? A church that chooses sides? A denomination that holds onto Christ and the hand of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters?

“I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.”

On the heels of this prayer and the events of the United Methodist Special Session, we begin our Lenten disciplines with Ash Wednesday the very next week on March 6. The ashes of repentance we share that day may have a deeper meaning than ever before. The journey we take in our Lenten disciplines will be influenced by the words and actions of the general conference. 

To call us together in remembering our humanity, our faith and our hope the Northern Illinois Conference will be sharing a Lenten Study this year. Focused on the image of shepherding, the study will take us on a journey with shepherds in the scriptures and remind us of what it means to be shepherding today.

The six sessions, written by Bishop Sally Dyck and Co-Chair of the Annual Conference Shepherding Team, Reverend Myron McCoy, Senior Pastor at the Chicago: Temple, we will reflect on biblical images of sheep and shepherding and our call to be people of Wesley’s covenant prayer.  

Titled:  A "Sheepish" Lenten Guide to Sheep, Shepherding, and Staying on the Path, this Lenten devotional has been edited by Jane Rubietta and gives us an opportunity to remember our covenant with one another and through a common study of the scriptures. Provided online, the study will be downloadable and will offer opportunities for small groups to study together, join a Facebook chat, and engage in prayer. 

Please watch for more on this opportunity in an upcoming NIC eNews. If you are not signed up to receive the eNews you can do so by clicking here.

“And now, O glorious and blessed God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer thou art mine, and I am thine.  So be it.  And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it be ratified in Heaven. Amen”