Methodist Blogger Profile: Mike Holly

Mike Holly of Inside Mike's Head

I’m married to Julie and we are both pastors in Birmingham, Alabama. We’re about to have our first child, Lena. I’m originally from South Carolina and went straight from college to Duke Divinity School for seminary. I’ve worked for the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, a Wesley Foundation and am now an associate pastor at a growing suburban church.

Why do you blog?
A friend of mine began blogging in 2004. After graduating from seminary where I was used to writing paper after paper, I figured that it would be a way for me to express my thoughts a part from my congregation. Blogging has become, however, more of a conversation for me, rather than a form of expression. This way, it seems as though we Methodist bloggers are constructing theology. Or rather, we are hashing out our theology in practical ways.

What has been your best blogging experience?
The best experience has been the camaraderie of the Methodist bloggers, engaging in the conversations and leaving uplifting messages. When my still yet-to-be-born baby’s heart had an arrhythmia, several people left messages saying that they would be in prayer. I never thought that blogging would lead to random friends being in prayer for my family!

What would be your main advice to a novice blogger?
Seriously, why would you want to do this? There’s so much pressure when the weekly roundup comes around and you haven’t written anything. So you have to come up with something brilliant you can say…hoping that you’ll get a “Best of the Blogosphere” award in order to stroke your own ego. You have to keep your mind set on being part of the conversation. It’s ok to post something as a thought (even though your write it as a proof or statement of faith) and then have people attack or disagree with you. The whole project is to put something out there that makes people think. But you have to listen to the honest responses that might guide you to a deeper understanding of your own theology. So in one word, focus!

If you only had time to read three blogs a day, what would they be?
Hit the Back Button: http://gavoweb.blogs.com/
St. Phransus: http://stphransus.blogspot.com/
John: http://locustsandhoney.blogspot.com

Who are your spiritual heroes?
I tend to quote Bishop William H. Willimon a lot. That’s because I went to Duke Divinity and he is now my bishop in North Alabama. But my heroes would have to be the German theologians in the 1930’s (mainly Barth and Bonheoffer). Most of modern theology has come from pre-war Germany, where they were battling with the creation of the Third Reich as a new “Roman Imperial Cult” and confronting earlier German theologians’ historical Jesus quest. There is nothing as rich as the confessing movement that admitted that allegiance to Christ trumps any other allegiance there is!

What are you reading at the moment?
I tend to read something heavy and something light at the same time. I just got “The Faith of Jesus Christ” by Richard B. Hays and began reading it. At the same time, I’m reading “Good To Great” by Jim Collins, as suggested to me by my D.S., about how some companies perform well and others perform excellently.

What is your favorite hymn and why?
Well, the one that immediately comes to mind is “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” When I was in South Africa in 2002 with the Southeastern Jurisdictional worship team, Kadasha, teaching youth ministers – we went to several Dutch Reformed churches that were caged in. Literally, some had barbed wire and guard stations. We sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our Church” as a joke with a few people. They didn’t find it very funny.

The most meaningful hymn is “Come Thou Fount.” I especially like the last verse: “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” It speaks to me about how we all can be like the Israelites approaching God and then avoiding/abandoning God.

Can you name a major moral, political, or intellectual issue on which you've ever changed your mind?
Probably war. In high school and college I studied about Vietnam and I understood why people would protest. However, I only knew Desert Storm. And to me, that looked like a “good” war. It looked as though we had indeed saved lives and executed a war quickly and ended something horrible from happening. However, in reading Barth and Bonheoffer and then learning about the Mennonite anti-war stance, I feel that it is vital that Christians push for the preservation of life in war, just as we fight for the preservation of life in unborn children. I’m not going to engage the “just war” argument yet, because I’m still not sure how I stand there…

What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to combat?
The idea that faith is a just a segment of our lives…a segment of our brains…a choice we have among many choices. Faith and discipleship are never “ideas.” We are baptized into a new people and a new family. How in the world have we made baptism and church membership into the Mall of America…into a “myspace” where you can deny friends or join groups and then leave groups? The idea of individualism will eventually leave us alienated and alone.

If you could effect one major change in the governing of your country, what would it be?
I know a lot of people who are upset about the government asking for Google for records on searches. They’ll just find some boring searches for other people’s sermons on my part. That and some Google Earth looks at my family’s homes.

If you could effect one major policy change in the United Methodist Church, what would it be?
We are inheriting structures that don’t make much sense anymore. We keep some alive because we “believe” that they matter. When in reality, United Methodists continue to become increasingly unaware of their heritage. There is little “institutional loyalty” left. While I cannot imagine a future of our church where there is a “choose how you want to be Methodist” agreement, continuing with structures to maintain order and discipline may not be the answer. We may need to look at the way we are training our clergy or our laity…or in the way we ignore the idea of the “order” of elders – where they are to hold each other theologically and denominationally accountable.

What would be your most important piece of advice about life?
Based on my life history, I’m not so sure I am the kind of person who should be engaging this question. The best thing I can say is that in your life, you have to be honest about who you are. For years, I was under the impression that other people always had the best intentions for me. Or that I could “feel” my way through life. The thing is you’ve got to know who you are in order to make the best decisions. This might mean serious introspection, or it might mean intensive therapy. Whatever gets you to being able to hear the hard truths about yourself and seeing them as growing areas, that’s what you have to do. Knowing that I am a people-pleasing, wimp in a crisis or conflict, idea person means that I have to grow a backbone, make decisions that sometimes don’t please everyone, and grow in my ability to do ground work and orchestrate groups of people. I couldn’t make any headway in that unless I could own up to my shortcomings.

What, if anything, do you worry about?
Right now, that my wife could have a baby at any minute. Meaning that my life stops for an indefinite period of time!!!

If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything that you'd do differently?
I feel pretty good about my life. Living through those painful years lead me to be able to learn about who I am, so it paid off!

Where would you most like to live (other than where you do now)?
My honest answer would be that I would have a home with the backyard being the mountains and the front yard would be in a downtown neighborhood close to a coffeeshop and music store. Since that is in no way possible, I would love to live in western North Carolina – specifically somewhere equally close to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Asheville.

What do you like doing in your spare time?
I used to hike, but my spare time now consists of getting ready for a child, working on the computer at home, and reading.

What is your most treasured possession?
Sadly as a techno-geek, I have to say my laptop and my iPod mini. It just seems so cliché to admit that.

What talent would you most like to have?
I would love to be able to play more than five chords on my guitar, but I would really love to have a photographic memory. It would help since I don’t have much time to really absorb much!
If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?
First of all, it wouldn’t be dinner – it would be one by one at a quiet coffee shop. So how about Zach Braff, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and Jon Stewart.