If you’d like to learn more about why I’m writing a few book reviews and what my hopes are for the reviews, check out my explanation!

Book: The 19: Questions to Kindle a Wesleyan Spirit
Author: Carolyn Moore
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Publishing Year: 2018

Summary:

Nearly every ordained Methodist pastor, across many different Methodist denominations, has had to answer John Wesley’s “Nineteen Historic Questions,” yes or no questions covering a range of topics from personal discipleship to ministry practices to personal debt. In this book, Carolyn Moore (now a bishop in the Global Methodist Church) reflects on each question. In her brilliant way, she turns these seemingly simple questions into deeply meaningful reflections of our life. In doing so, this seemingly ordinary evaluation turns into an extraordinary conversation with God about the state of our soul.

Three main takeaways:

1. I believe that God’s vision for my pastoral ministry is to pastor people in such a way that their grandchildren—biological or spiritual—are committed disciples of Jesus Christ. I want to pastor people in a way that they are so transformed by God’s activity in their life that it creates a multiplicative effect in their life, transferring down to multiple generations. I resonated with Moore saying that the question regarding instructing children is not just about whether we as ordained Methodist preachers stand before children to teach them, but it’s also about whether our ministry is empowering parents—spiritual and biological—to instruct their children well. If our ministry stops at just one generation, I question whether it was truly a transformational gospel we were preaching.
2. Despite attempts to find good and Biblical writing on fasting, I have found very little on the topic. In addressing the question “Will you recommend fasting or abstinence, both by precept and example?” Moore gives a great explanation as to why we fast. Fasting doesn’t bind or persuade God into giving us what we’re praying for. Rather, fasting exposes our own motivations, thoughts, and actions and allows us to offer those before God so that He can transform them to align with his motivations, thoughts, and actions. As Moore says, “When my motives are purer, my worship of God is more real, and my prayers are more effective. No wonder the enemy of our souls would rather we find a reason not to fast!” (p. 91)
3. Thanks to its founder, John Wesley, Methodism is a very organized and disciplined movement. However, those of us who used to be in the United Methodist Church know what it looks like to create a system that serves itself, rather than what (and Who) it was intended to serve (God through the local church). This organization and discipline helps keep us from living undisciplined, chaotic lives. An undisciplined and chaotic life can lead us to scatter our energy in too many directions, causing more harm than good. Who hasn’t been majorly inconvenienced or even hurt by someone who was overly committed to too many things and therefore unable to give what they’re called to the amount of time and energy it deserves? Moore holds fast to the discipline and organization of the Methodist movement without sacrificing the power of the Holy Spirit’s work in and through this movement.

Three quotes:

1. “Wesleyan doctrine can be summed up in two words: grace and holiness.” (p. 53)
2. “Methodists believe Christian perfection (or entire sanctification) is the trajectory of authentic discipleship.” (p. 18)
3. “Because the family is the basic unit in the kingdom of God, the home matters. If we diligently instruct the children ‘in every place,’ that must include especially the home. By answering yes to Wesley’s question [Will you diligently instruct the children in every place?], we are committing not just to developing a good children’s ministry at church, but to training parents to raise their kids spiritually.” (p. 81)

What “hole” the book fills on the shelf of literature:

Despite these 19 questions being around since the 1700s, I don’t know of any other book that explores these questions in depth. For a movement that has ordained hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of clergy, that’s a mighty big hole that this book fills.

Review:

As someone answering these questions in just a few months when I will be ordained as an elder in the Global Methodist Church, I read Carolyn Moore’s book The 19 as a way of preparing to answer these 19 questions myself. While some portions of the book were dated in terms of addressing a previous division within the United Methodist Church, Moore turned questions that could have been very factual into deeply spiritual reflections of how God is at work in my life. I found this book to be deeply reflective, encouraging, and inspiring as I took one of my final steps towards ordination as an elder.

Three types of people that might enjoy the book:

1. Those seeking ordination in a Methodist denomination
2. Methodist pastors looking to rekindle their love for the movement
3. Methodist laity wanting to learn more about Methodism

Want to read The 19 by Carolyn Moore? Check it out on Amazon here!

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Want to check out my other book reviews? Here they are:
“Humble” by Daryl van Tongeren
“On Writing” by Stephen King