Ask Curtis a Question

Send Curtis a question about his approach to leadership, the future of the church, or how he might serve as a bishop. He’ll use this space to respond to questions that you submit or that come up in his conversations. Use the Get In Touch contact form to send in your question.

Why would you want to be a bishop in the United Methodist Church now?

The United Methodist Church is in the midst of a great reorganization — shifting generational leadership in the United States, fully realizing its global identity, refocusing away from practices that have led to decline in many congregations, and confronting exclusionary impulses and systems. I’m pretty clear-eyed about the struggle, loss, conflict, and difficulty required for our church to navigate these transitions. And I get that we might not succeed. Being a bishop at this time means signing on for hard decisions, cultivating courageous leadership, embracing grief without allowing it overwhelm hope, and acknowledging that our current structures, including the episcopacy, must fundamentally change or be set aside. If we do not succeed in finding a faithful future for our denomination, then being a bishop in the United Methodist Church could have a relatively short tenure. Even with all of these challenges, I believe that I can be a catalyst for helping our church lean more deeply into fulfilling Christ’s mission of making disciples and transforming the world. I love a challenge, and I feel that God has called me to use all of my gifts and experiences in this important work of transitioning into God’s future.

Should the UMC divide into progressives and conservatives?

I know that some clergy and churches believe that we should divide our denomination, but I do not think this is the best course of action. For those who would like to leave, I support them and would work for a fair and kind way to disentangle those clergy and congregations from our denomination without causing financial or organizational harm to the clergy and congregations that remain. As a church planter myself, I see the allure of starting a new expression of Wesleyan Christianity. I honor those who seek this path, but it is not my calling to do so at this time.

​Most of our United Methodist congregations have people who strongly hold divergent views on full inclusion of LGBTQ people into the ministries of our denomination. Our historic strength has been that we are a church where people can think for themselves, study and learn, meet people who are different, and agree to form diverse communities of faith. This is not a glitch in our denomination. This is a feature intended, programmed, and written into our deepest doctrinal code. If we can refocus ourselves on celebrating this feature, we can resist the outside political forces that seek to wedge us apart and seek a humble unity in the midst of diversity.

How do you think we should resolve our conflict over full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the UMC?

The ultimate resolution will require us to respect and value one another through establishing relationships of Christian love within the Body of Christ, especially with those who have been traditionally excluded or devalued. We have a lot to do in establishing an environment that is supportive and welcoming to LGBTQ people. This will be hard work, and in addition to wrestling with heterosexist habits we will be forced to confront our unreflected practices and entrenched systems that exclude people of color, decelerate women’s leadership, and continue colonial attitudes toward Central Conference concerns. Until we welcome and affirm all people, we will continue to limit our evangelistic witness and be susceptible to divisive external influences.

​In practical terms, our first steps seem fairly straightforward. We must begin by committing to cease harming one another and fully listen to the voices of those naming the harm we are causing them and their communities. We must seek the good of all people and invest in collective connectional community discernment of the best actions to bring about that good. Finally, we must dive deeply into our individual and corporate spiritual practices that equip us to understand and follow God’s grace guidance for ourselves and our church.

Would you agree to a moratorium on clergy trials for being a self-avowed homosexual or celebrating same-sex marriages?

Yes. Our clergy trial process was never meant to be used as a tool for political purposes. It was intended as a means of final resort at the supervisory discretion of the bishop. The misuse of charges and trials to promote division cannot be tolerated and violate the episcopal vow to promote the unity of the church.

Would you commit to being an anti-racist leader?

Yes. Racism continues to be the pernicious scourge of the U.S. church. We continue to be a church that does not fully represent the diversity of the communities we serve, and we have not yet done enough to confront racism within our churches, our denomination, and our communities. I know that I have a lifetime of learning and growing to continue to challenge my own internalized white supremacy, but I am personally and organizationally committed to the work of anti-racism.

What do you hope will emerge from a General Conference in 2024?

As we move toward General Conference 2024, I'm hoping and praying for three results:
  1. Immediate cessation of charges and trials for LGBTQ clergy and clergy who conduct same-gender weddings, This harmful practice is destroying the calling of fruitful clergy and driving out of our churches generations of LGBTQ leaders, their friends, their families, and their colleagues.
  2. A denominational structure that allows for immediate regional contextualization in the United States. Our churches in the United States are divided on how to fully include LGBTQ people into their ministries. Regional contextualization in our polity would allow the most local conference possible to make these decisions. In our decreasing participation, leadership, and financial statistics, we can see the immediate need for this contextualization. My hope is that the delegates will be able to develop and acceptable plan of regionalization and move quickly into implementing it after General Conference. Should General Conference be again postponed or fail to pass a plan, I would expect U.S. Annual and Jurisdictional Conferences to continue to develop their own plans to allow for the regional contextualization of our church.
  3. Freedom for diversity within our unity. In the conference where I serve, our churches have prided themselves on being places of kindness and service that have encouraged people to discover and claim the grace of Christ through thoughtful, free, and generous exploration of Christian beliefs. If we move to force our people into a set of firm positions on LGBTQ exclusion, many will experience this as a betrayal of a core part of their United Methodist culture, and they will leave our churches. A loss of even 10% of their participants, leaders, and donors would be enough to force the closure of hundreds of congregations. Denominational division seems realistic to larger churches that can sustain losses or in relatively homogeneous congregations that don't anticipate losing too many people, but most of our churches are divided on LGBTQ exclusion and are too small to sustain their ministries if they must divide along these lines. We need the freedom to think differently, while remaining in organizational and personal relationship.

Does the United Methodist Church need another tall, white guy as a bishop?

'No, not if we're electing people just because they are tall and white and male. I am all of those things, and too often people who look like me have been promoted as leaders over more qualified candidates who didn't look like me. I trust the delegates to carefully reflect on the qualifications of all the candidates, thoughtfully consider the need for diverse representation among our bishops, and make decisions for the good of the entire church. This is the delegates' work and discernment. I believe that I bring some different experiences and perspectives that could benefit the leadership of our church, and I offer myself for consideration in that spirit. I will also celebrate and support other candidates who courageously offer themselves to the delegates' discernment. This is no time for anyone to sit on the sidelines, and I believe that our church needs all of our leaders of every skin tone, height, and gender.

How do we innovate a new United Methodist Church?

The United Methodist Church is changing to meet the spiritual needs of a changing world, but too often it is slow to react instead of actively innovating new ways of being church. Creating and sustaining a healthy culture of innovation arrives from a combination of four factors:
  • Centralizing the voices of leaders who are fully bought-in to the mission and ministry of Christ, especially those who have been traditionally marginalized: We won't build a new future if our conversations are all about sustaining structures, patterns, or privileges from the past at the cost of fulfilling the mission today.
  • Prioritizing relationships of trust among leaders: Pushing boundaries in creative exploration often requires exceeding individual authority, which means that leaders have to believe and trust one another to do the right things in pursuing the Gospel mission.
  • Eliminating institutional barriers to innovation: Established systems and structures often provide disincentives, obstacles, or direct resistance to new approaches which must be removed in order to allow creativity and innovation.
  • Celebrating God's victories: God is the one who is building the new way of being church, and our greatest task is recognizing, celebrating, and joining in the work that God is already doing.

How will you lead people who disagree with you?

Leadership in polarized times means that everyone won't agree with you. Even if we don't agree on everything, we can agree on respecting and treating each other justly. I have served alongside leaders with whom I disagreed. Sometimes the disagreement was on a small matter of tactic, but sometimes it was a greater issue of strategy or goal. I have always respected those leaders who acknowledged that we disagreed, listened carefully to my input, and respectfully chose a different way. When the disagreement was over essential matters where compromise would have damaged either of our integrities, I've appreciated a frank and direct conversation and mutual parting of the ways. I have modeled my life on several of these leaders and always tried to lead with that level of honesty and care for those who disagree with my decisions or goals.

How do we find and support great leaders for our churches?

Developing, deploying, and supporting lay and clergy leaders is a critical task in innovating a new way of being church. These leaders will experiment and explore how church can work in their changed contexts. This work of leadership development begins in reconnecting church leadership tasks to the energy and excitement of mission, evangelism, and justice. Inspiring church leadership is an outgrowth of an experience of God's loving grace in Jesus Christ and woven into a personal encounter with salvation. We lead because we want others to join in the good news we have found. Inspiring and supporting these leaders requires that we help them identify their giftedness and passions and then allow them to develop their unique leadership roles instead of plugging them in to a predefined committee, board, certification, or ordination category. Supporting leaders happens through the direct relationships of leaders with mentors, coaches, and supportive supervisors.

How do you understand the grace and lordship of Jesus Christ in your life?

Jesus Christ is lord of my life. When I finally fell in love with God's gracious love for me, I surrendered control of my life over to Christ. Christ's gracious love gave me a new purpose and new power for living. My greatest joys have come in the ten thousand surprising ways that God has blessed me as I attempted to follow Christ's leadership. My greatest missteps have come from thinking that I know better, that I don't need to listen, or that I am in control. Jesus Christ is lord of my life because I am a better person, better Christian, better pastor, and better leader when I follow Jesus. 

Do you want to do the things that bishops do?

During my discernment about offering myself as an episcopal candidate I watched a group of bishops celebrate Holy Communion together, and I imagined what it would be like to be a Bishop in our United Methodist Church. I have an essential tremor that causes my hands to shake. I've had it since I was a boy, and it's not dangerous to me or a precursor to any other conditions. However, it makes it really hard to hold a microphone in my hand, and I never hold a cup without a lid. After spilling a few times during communion when I first started in ministry, now I try never to hold the chalice either. Watching them I was filled with dread at suddenly having to try to control my tremor after being thrust unexpectedly into celebrating communion, as Bishops sometimes are. It got me thinking about how I feel about other things that bishops do.

Each bishop is faced with a nearly impossible list of expectations and must choose how they will lead, what they will do, what they will delegate, and what they will leave undone. There are parts of the work that I do not see myself doing very well. There are other parts that are a good match for my gifts. I think that it is easy to get sucked into institutionally-focused meetings and tasks that absorb a lot of time without many missional results. I do not want to do those things. However, when I have been disciplined about focusing my work on the mission of Christ, I have rejoiced in using my gifts. I think that I would "bishop" differently and uniquely to match how God has equipped and prepared me. If I can follow God's gifting, focus on my strengths, and avoid organizational and systemic traps, then I would love to do the things that bishops do in The United Methodist Church.

How long could you serve as a bishop before retirement?

Assuming that our structure, denomination, and Discipline remain unchanged, I could serve until 2040, including at least two 8-year appointments before reaching the mandatory age of retirement. However, I believe that we will see significant changes to the episcopacy in the next few years. Our structure is quite costly, and we are already seeing proposed changes. I believe in our mission, and I am ready to take up the challenge of adapting leadership structures and institutions to changing missional needs and capacities.

What has COVID taught you about the church?

The crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the changes in our churches. As one pastor described it to me, "Tomorrow has now become today." The generational changes that we have anticipated rushed into our present reality and destabilized much of U.S. society. I think it has taught me three important things about the United Methodist Church:
  1. Our organization is insufficiently flexible. Limiting in-person travel and meetings has been frustrating and difficult for our organizational decision-making at every level.  We need to develop effective back-up plans and options to continue the global work of the church even if General Conference is delayed or canceled.
  2. Our U.S. clergy and lay members are struggling with their core identity as Christians. In too many churches, people are not including their political opponents as their neighbors. Their identity seems to be too much formed by their political partisanship and not by their baptism. This confusion has ripped apart relationships and congregations, even over formerly non-controversial issues such as COVID health safety practices. Acting in self-sacrificial love and care for our neighbors is not partisan, it's just faithful.
  3. Our dominant models of congregational leadership seem to be increasingly unsustainable. Many of our lay and clergy leaders are exhausted, discouraged, burned-out, and tired. Each year, we lose good leaders who decide that they can serve Christ more faithfully in other vocations. We have trouble recruiting new pastors because candidates can see the struggles and choose other more effective paths of ministry. If we want a future, we will have to promote and celebrate new world-changing visions for the church that will excite and inspire a new generation of leaders.
All of these learnings have helped to deepen my commitment to remaking the United Methodist Church. Without significant changes to our structure, identity, and congregational models, we won't be able to re-engage our critical missions and ministries for a new generation in a post-COVID society.