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I, with many of my classmates, hoped going to seminary would provide me with all of the answers. I was excited to continue answering my call to ministry by continuing my education. I looked forward to my new life in a new city, but I was most looking forward to getting all of the answers to all of the questions I had carried around since my days in youth group.

I wasn’t disappointed, but it wasn’t because I got all the answers I wanted. It was because I learned how to ask better questions. That has made all the difference for me.

We live in an extraordinary time where we have access to more information than at any point in history. While in seminary, I quickly discovered how wide the gap is between what I know and what there is to know. The only way I could bridge that gap (even a little) was to ask more questions and to ask better questions. Seminary gave me the tools to dig into the unknown, to ask those big questions, and gave me the courage to say, “I don’t know.” This journey of discovery is the catalyst behind the Alpha program. Participants are invited to lean into their questions and resist trite answers.

Ger Jones, a pastor in California, had over 400 participants in Alpha at his church this past year. He noticed, year after year, that an atheist couple kept coming back. They never converted. They never were baptized. They never shared any life-changing faith experiences with Ger. He asked them at Alpha one night, “You’re atheists, and yet you keep coming back to Alpha. Why?” They replied, “Because you let us ask whatever we want!”

That’s why I’m looking forward to our upcoming worship series, So What? Through the month of January, we will explore big faith questions together. In this post-Christmas season, we’re faced with such questions. The baby has been born. The gifts given. The carols sung. The food eaten. The prayers prayed. The good news proclaimed – God is with us. So we ask, “So what? What does this say about me and my identity? Does this mean I’ll be okay when I face hardship? Does this help me understand my purpose? What does Jesus have to do with any of it?”

I think that asking better questions beats pat answers. By questioning genuinely, prayerfully, and collectively, we deepen our faith together. I hope you’ll join us as we ask these questions together – and I hope you’ll invite someone to come question with you.

Rev. Colin Bagby | Associate Pastor

ColinBagby@mdumc.org

Every Tuesday beginning January 28 | 6 PM | C201