How am I feeding more sheep? To tell you the truth, I often feel like I fail at this call. This may sound strange given my profession: I am after all a teacher of New Testament at a seminary. I sit around reading the Bible all day with people who are future ministers. And although at the end of the day, I do feel that I am called by God to teach the New Testament, sometimes I still have this nagging question: am I truly being faithful to God’s call to feed more sheep? Am I doing enough to answer this call?
And then this past week I went to the annual conference of theUnitedMethodistChurchasKingston’s lay representative. After sitting through days of seemingly endless meetings, this question came up yet again. How can never-ending debates and sound-bite speeches possibly be feeding more sheep? How can committee reports and budget discussions be feeding more sheep? Yet even when reports became tedious or discussions became difficult, I was constantly reminded that annual conference is ultimately about coming together as the body of Christ so that we can do the work to which Christ has called us. I was reminded that we don’t feed sheep alone. At this gathering there were over a thousand United Methodists from the Greater New Jersey conference comprised of different ages, ethnicities, and theological backgrounds. And at this gathering we chose ten delegates to attend General Conference, an even bigger gathering of United Methodists across theUnited Statesand the Globe. The one thing that brings us all together is in effect our calling to feed more sheep. And this is exactly the business of theMethodistChurch. For example, UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief) continues to be a huge presence in disaster areas around the world, such asAlabama,Haiti, andJapan. Churches are increasing their membership, and exciting new initiatives are being proposed both by and for youths and young adults. Because we are a connectional church, we are able to serve Christ in innovative and wide-reaching ways.
So how am I feeding more sheep? In a nutshell, I am living out my call to help the church feed more sheep, whether that be as a lay rep or as a teacher of Scripture or whatever the case may be. And when it comes to answering this call, I have learned two things this past week. First, I know that I am not alone. As someone who attends Kingston, I am automatically connected with thousands of other Christians who are also working towards feeding more sheep. The question is not only about how I am feeding more sheep, but about how we are feeding more sheep. And second, I know that God is working through us, even in our imperfections. The Church may not be perfect, just as I am certainly not perfect, but God still works through us to feed more sheep. There is still much to be done, but I know that God will continue to be with us in both the exciting times and the difficult times as we, the body of Christ, continue to feed more sheep.
June 5, 2026
