So many of the people who attend The Orchard have asked about specifics of what we believe or have asked “why is it that we do this or that”. This FAQ series will provide a practical tool for many of those questions to be answered.

Q: What is the mission of the Orchard?
A: Our mission of helping people Grow Deep and Branch Out as we become fully devoted to the cultiva-tion of fruit for Christ’s Kingdom remains the same. Our Core Values—why we do what we do have not changed. These questions and answers are specific applications of that mission, vision and core values to the questions of faith and life.

Q: Will this answer all the questions?
A: We will not attempt to address every issue because many of them are stated clearly in our core values like what we believe about God, Bible, Prayer, People, etc. What we hope to address is the way those core values and our core convictions about God’s truth apply to specific actions of the Church.

Q: The Orchard is very contemporary, unlike any church I’ve been to, yet it immediately felt like home. I know that it is a United Methodist Church, but can you explain the similarities and the differences between the Orchard and traditional United Methodist Churches?
A: Yes, our local congregation is part of the Tupelo District and the Mississippi Conference of The United Methodist Church. The reason that we may not look or act like any other United Methodist church you have ever seen is that within the structure of the United Methodist Church is great Freedom. We have exercised some of these freedoms in order to accomplish our God given goal of being an Orchard: devoted to the cultivation of fruit for Christ’s Kingdom through helping people Grow Deep and Branch Out.

Q: Something that I was wondering is, will Bryan be leaving us in a couple of years like most United Methodist pastors?
A: Bryan was sent to our congregation like every other United Methodist Pastor. He is in a slightly unique situation as the founding pastor that should allow him to remain the pastor of The Orchard for an extended period of time.

Q: Every denomination has its own perspective of how they think about God. What are the theological principles of the Orchard?
A: We are United Methodist in theology. Some agree with John Calvin’s interpretation of Scrip-ture—usually Baptists and Presbyterians. Some agree with Martin Luther’s interpretation—obviously Lutherans. Methodists agree with John Wesley’s perspective on Scripture. The distinctives of this perspec-tive are largely centered on the immeasurable grace of God. By grace we mean the undeserved, unmer-ited, and loving action of God in human existence through God’s ever-present Holy Spirit. It is by grace that we hear God’s call to enter into relationship with him; by grace that we are made right with God and by grace that our transformation into his likeness is enacted. It is by grace that we can know the assurance of God’s love and our secure relationship with him. Finally, It is by grace that God empowers us to work for his purposes in the world.

Q: For those of us who don’t have a Methodist background, tell us more about the Wesleyan perspective.
A: In interpreting life and arriving at standards for what we think about God and how we live in his world, Wesley believed we were to consider four influences: (1) Scripture: which is always primary. All other influences are subjected to the rule of Scripture’s Standards; (2) Tradition: when confused, we should ask, “how has the community of faith interpreted this passage, or this issue down through the ages (3) Reason: God gave us a mind and expects us to use it. Think, discern, pray, dialogue with others to arrive at answers (4) Experience: learn from your life, your success and failures. How God has revealed himself to you and been a presence in your life and experiences.

Q: What is the Orchard’s position on the subject of Free Will?
A: It is clear from Scripture from beginning to end that God gives humanity the choice to serve or not serve him. In the very beginning, God placed a tree in the middle of the Garden, instructed Adam and Eve not to eat of it and clearly left them with the ability to do otherwise. The freedom to choose to serve or not serve, to have a relationship or to reject a relationship with Jesus is one that God has given each person. That God would predestine some of his children for heaven and some for hell is inconsistent with the God of the Bible for he is, “patient not wanting any to perish.” (2 Peter 3:9)
For further discussion on this teaching you may request the tape “Just How Free is My Will?” dated, July 16, 2001. It is included in the Core Beliefs Pack of Cassette Tapes.

Q: You mentioned our relationship with Jesus - what does the Orchard say in respect to this and salvation?
A: The Orchard clearly affirms that outside of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ there is no salva-tion for humanity. Acts 4:12: there is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.
    Romans 10:9-10: For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is in by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. We enter into this saving relationship with Jesus by grace through faith—not of our own efforts, or knowledge or worthiness.
(Ephesians 2:8-9).



Q: Some churches seem more open to working with other churches and other denominations. What is The Orchard’s approach to other faiths or other denominations?
A: John Wesley had a great saying: “In essentials unity. In non-essentials, diversity. In all things charity.” I think that is a good approach. The essentials are things like the belief that salvation is in Christ alone and that the Bible is the authoritative word of God. Non-essentials would be things like mode of baptism and method of serving communion, to name a few.
    The Orchard sees itself as part of the body of Christ that must have its different parts so that there can be a whole body. We want to play our part and function so to help the other parts. We will always work with people and congregations in pursuits that further Christ’s Kingdom.


Q: There are several core belief topics that people have asked very important questions about. Which topics are you asked about most often?
A: Baptism is probably the most often talked about because it, along with communion is most public. But baptism is usually more misunderstood. Baptism is outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace signifying what God has done, not what we have done. For this reason we accept other baptisms because we recognize them as the work of God, not of a particular congregation.
    As an adult it is a celebration of our recognition that we are loved by God and begin to love him back! And all that is by grace. I tell people it is a celebration of when we recognize God has recognized us.


Q: What about infant baptism?
A: For infants and young children, it is the parents and community of faith realizing that God has claimed each person as his child, even before they have the capacity to claim him back. It is then, the lifelong effort of the parents, friends and church to nurture and teach that child so that they embrace God for themselves as God has already embraced them. It is a common misunderstanding that this baptism is for salvation. Remember baptism is a celebration of God’s act, not ours. So, for a child their act of accepting a personal relationship with Jesus for themselves must follow.


Q: You mentioned Communion or the Lord’s Supper as the other most misunderstood action of the church. Why is this so?
A: Well most people understand that communion is a remembering of the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross so that we might have forgiveness of sins. However, it is much more than that. It is remembrance. Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. It is not just his death that we remember, but also his life. The whole scope of Jesus’ actions, healing, teaching, and loving are also a part of that remembrance. And certainly the most loving act—his suffering and death are at the heart of our remem-bering.

Q: Who should take communion? Everyone? Or just members of The Orchard? Or Just Christians?
A: If you have been to The Orchard for a service in which we serve communion, you have heard me say, It is the Lord’s table everyone is welcome. Communion, at The Orchard is not just for members.
It is for all God’s children. Now there are some criteria which you will hear me state at the beginning of the communion service.
In 1 Corinthians Paul instructs the Corinthians to examine themselves before eating this meal. We define that examination as those who earnestly repent of their sins, seek to live in love with God and with their neighbor.
    Some dig into the verse immediately before that 1 Corinthians 11:27 as an argument that we have to have belief or proper understanding. However the condemnation that Paul announces to the Corinthians is not about lack of knowledge. He doesn’t correct them for not knowing what they were doing. He criticizes them for knowing what they were doing and eating the meal as a meal—to satisfy their hunger—and not reverently in remembrance as it was intended.
    Wesley called communion a converting ordinance. He meant that when we come in faith—however little that faith may be—that because Jesus has promised to meet us at the table, we are moved more deeply into our relationship with Jesus. He believed that the Lord’s Supper was such a powerful means of grace not only in maturing the believer, but in working in the seeker who would purposefully examine them-selves. In this seeker Communion worked in them to lead them to a conscious acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
    Wesley certainly would say that some degree of faith is necessary, but this level of faith must not be in-terpreted as a work by which we make ourselves worthy to receive Christ. The same can be said of knowledge—our desire to understand the Communion is healthy, but if we begin to think we have to un-derstand it before we can receive it then the development of the Knowledge has become a work whereby we have made ourselves worthy. The degree of faith and the degree of knowledge necessary is only this—that we recognize our unworthiness and utter helplessness and come to the table trusting that Je-sus has promised to meet us in this communion meal.

Q: What about Children, should they take communion?
A: Based on what we just discussed about the degree of faith and knowledge necessary they are cer-tainly “eligible” if that is a word you want to use.
    Children may have a more difficult time understanding self-examination, repentance, or even unworthi-ness and helplessness. It is the responsibility of the church, of parents, and of the leaders of the church to diligently instruct our children in these matters so that they can participate in Communion. Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who come as children. In our teaching them about these matters, maybe they could teach us about the innocent trust we need as we approach God.
    One more thing. I heard someone say: we learn to eat at the table by eating at the table—instruction is part of that; help is part of that. Adults, or in this case, the mature in faith should take time to help instruct the children or beginners in faith about how to eat this powerful meal. Of course we respect parents opinions about the readiness of their children to and we try to provide ways for parents to have the choice of how or if their children participate.

Q: I’ve heard you say that the Orchard’s congregational worship and teaching are centered in the teachings of the Bible. What are the Orchard’s convictions about the truth and use of the Bible?
A: The first question many people ask is do we believe the Bible is the inerrant (error free) word of God. I always answer that it depends on how they define inerrancy. We believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God in the sense that there is no error in truth that it communicates and the demands it places upon our lives for a saving relationship with Jesus and discipleship.
    If by inerrancy, someone means that there have never been any human errors in translation from the first copies of the Bible. We don’t believe such a claim. There are far too many facts that show the human errors in translation down through the centuries to believe otherwise.
    Besides that the Bible does not claim this last kind of inerrancy for itself. The Bible does not say it was the whispered word of God as though God spoke each word in the ear of the author. The Bible claims for itself in 2 Timothy 3:16 that it is “inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” (NLT). We fully affirm this truth about Scripture.
    We believe the Bible is a book that describes our lives even though we live some 2000 years or more from the events recorded in its pages. It tells personal accounts of the problem we all have—sin and a personal account of God’s remedy. The Bible is active and relevant to our circumstances and lives today.

Q: There are so many controversial issues that society struggles with on a daily basis. It’s so important to know how the church stands on these. Let’s take them one at a time and you can explain the Orchard’s stance on these difficult topics.

Women in Ministry
    The United Methodist Church and The Orchard affirm the gifts and calling of women to all forms of ministry. The criteria for serving and leading in ministry are not based on gender, but on evidence of a call to and gifts for a particular area of service.
    It is interesting to note that the first religious and temporal leader of the nation of Israel was Deborah a woman. She was the first in a long line of judges who served as the spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel in the days before their first king.
    In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says that a woman shouldn’t pray or prophesy without her head covered. He does this because of a cultural offense regarding women during his day. However, we should note that Paul doesn’t say women shouldn’t pray or prophesy, he simply gives them guidelines, as he does the men, on how to do it in the right way. If we take the 1 Corinthians passage that is most used to silence women in chapter 14, we understand that Paul is not silencing them completely because he has given them direction in how to speak in chapter 11. The issue Paul addresses is how worship should be practices when the issue is the sharing of certain charismatic gifts.
    Romans 16:1 records for us that Phoebe was a deacon in the church in Cenchrea.
    Colossians 4:15 records that the church met in Nypha’s House
    You also have the great contingency of women that followed Jesus and participated in his ministry in the New Testament.
    We echo the verse that Paul writes to the Galatians, “In Christ there is no Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male or female for we are all one in Christ.” (3:28).

Alcohol Use
    The United Methodist Church officially encourages abstinence and The Orchard does the same. Realizing that Scripture does not mandate abstinence, The Orchard affirms the right of individuals to consume alcohol in the strictest of moderation and to act responsibly in matters where alcohol is involved. Paul, encourages the Ephesians, “do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.” The principle Paul lifts up is that people of Faith should not be under the control of anything but God’s Spirit. So, while Scripture allows for alcohol use in moderation it should be noted that misuse and/or abuse of alcohol is destructive to individuals, families and communities.
    Because the use of alcohol is such a volatile subject in our culture there is much misunderstanding about its use. Therefore, no alcohol is to be served at Orchard Functions, including Small Groups, or any other formal gatherings where people gather in any way in the name of The Orchard.

Divorce
    Our first counsel when considering divorce is always to exhaust every avenue of reconciliation. However, when a married couple is estranged beyond reconciliation, even after thoughtful consideration and counsel, divorce is a regrettable alternative in the middle of brokenness. Divorce is always less than what God intended for marriage and is therefore sin.  However, I always remind people that it is not the unforgivable sin.    
    Through the process of healing and restoration people can be restored to community and to healthful and whole relationships that may include remarriage. Of course, when people consider divorce, they should always “count the cost.” I encourage people to consider the devastation on them spiritually, emotionally, and physically and to those they love. Children are often left without any input or recourse except to move on. Our ministry to the children of parents who decide they will divorce must be one of compassionate care.

Gambling
    The United Methodist Church states “Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice."

Church Discipline: Out of Order
    The Orchard discourages litigious action except when all other courses of action have been exhausted. The Bible clearly outlines a method for settling disputes and insofar as both parties are willing to enter into Biblical resolution, The Orchard encourages the approach outlined in Matthew 18:15-19. Where you admonish directly then you take someone with you, then you appear before the leaders of the church in order to settle disputes.
    At The Orchard we also regrettably have to practice “Life Out of Order” situations. It is when the Lead Pastor or the Leadership Team has to step forward and say to someone, you are in open rebellion or you need some time to reorder your life, we are asking you to step back from leading for a time period. We want those people to be able to focus on restoration and healing and we want to partner with them in that process.