I don’t remember how or when I came across this term. As a child, for a short while, I lived not far from New Orleans, which is where this word is used generously. But that was for a short while in second grade, and if I learned it there, it receded into my memory for several decades. I have lately grown to appreciate it and have been trying to practice it myself.

For those of you who may not be a coonass (don’t get upset- that is a very respectable term down in the bayou), lagniappe is a Cajun-French word for “something extra.” Usually, a little gift given at the end of a business transaction. You may buy a dozen beignets at the Café du Monde and the generous baker throws in a packet of coffee without asking or mentioning it. Or you purchase a necklace for your partner and the jeweler gives you a small key chain. Sometimes you ask for a lagniappe, hoping to get something more, but beware! If you do this greedily expecting something, you’ll probably not get anything but some unknown (to you) Cajun cuss words. But if you are light-hearted in asking, most likely you’ll receive.

Like most people these days, I buy lots of things online. Anything that’s standard and I don’t really need to make sure everything is okay- ink for my printer, toiletries, books, sometimes clothes and shoes. Amazon, Better World Books, Etsy all know me by name. Two companies that I love to buy from are Field Notes (they make small, pocket-sized notebooks based on the ones that were used by farmers and agricultural agents in the mid-1900s) and Penzeys (a spice retailer based out of Minneapolis). Invariably they practice the art of lagniappe. There is always something extra in the package when it arrives. Field Notes may include a pencil or old-fashioned tinted postcard or a small number of “general purpose bands of rubber”. Penzeys will throw in a packet or two of sample-sized spices along with your order. I know when the box arrives from either one of those there is something extra waiting for me.

In the same vein, the French fry guy (and so far, it has been a guy, but I bet a gal would do this too) at Five Guys burgers always throws in an extra cup of fries into the bag. Always. I know if I order a small, I will get a medium, a medium will bring me a large, and a large gets enough for me and my hunny-bunny to munch on through a movie at home.

In all of these, I feel like I am special. I am getting more than what I paid for, more than what I asked for, and more than what I deserve.

So I have been trying to figure out how I might practice that myself. I am a preacher. Technically, I am a retired preacher, but I still serve a couple of small, wonderful congregations. I’m not sure how to give them more than what they are expecting. “Here’s my sermon for today, and as an added gift, here’s some coffee to keep you awake. The Ambien rating today is pretty high.” I live in a nice neighborhood, with friendly people on each side of me. And my community is a good place to live. How can I give back a little more? How can I practice lagniappe?

I’ve been thinking about my life, too. Looking back over the years, I see that God, or the universe, or whatever this life force is has given me so much more than I could have ever deserved. Radio host and author Dave Ramsey popularized a phrase that many of us use. How are you doing? “Better than I deserve.” I have been the recipient of divine lagniappe.

And I am going to do my best to figure out a way to give that something extra to everyone else.

PS- If you click on the links to Field Notes or Penzeys, it will take you to their sites. If you buy anything from them, I do not get anything from them. Other than the hidden knowledge I passed on a couple of good things.

Today, September 2, is the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Schism. Not the one currently going on in the United Methodist Church, but the one that started it all. At least for us Methodists. It was on this day in 1784 that John Wesley, an Anglican minister, consecrated Thomas Coke as a bishop, then sent him, to America to join Francis Asbury in leading the Methodists in this newly formed country.

The problem was- and is- John Wesley was not authorized to consecrate another person bishop. Only bishops could do that. And the bishop of London would not consecrate or authorize someone to go to America to lead the Methodist societies.

So John went ahead and did it. (An Anglican minister friend told me years ago that Methodists were not truly ordained because there was no ‘apostolic succession.’ Coming from a guy whose church was started just so a king could get a divorce, this really meant something to me.)

His brother, Charles, the great hymn writer, was livid. How could John do that? Even worse, this newly and wrongly ordained bishop later ordained Francis Asbury and then, after the Methodists elected him as General Superintendent at the Christmas Conference in 1784 consecrated him bishop. Charles wrote a little ditty about it. (He abbreviates Coke with just the letter C.)

“On C. consecrating Asbury

A Roman Emperor, tis said
His favrite (sic) horse a consort made:
But C. brings stranger things to pass,
And makes a Bishop of his – Ass!”

The Methodist Episcopal Church in America (the name of the new denomination in 1784) was born out of a schism. And it has been in our DNA ever since.

And the people on both sides of the schisms have always claimed that Scripture was on their side.

John Wesley took a hard stand against slavery. He urged boycotting businesses that benefited from slavery, and in the Book of Discipline always included a ban on Methodists owning slaves.

That was pretty much ignored by Methodists in the southern part of the US. In 1804 Asbury edited a version of the Discipline for South Carolina that omitted the ban on slave owning. Eventually, in 1844, the denomination split. The Methodist Episcopal Church (the northern branch) and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In some older church buildings you can still see on cornerstones “M.E. Church, S.”

In 1828 a group that wanted to have congregational governance and lay representation at the church Conferences (it was only clergy at the time) broke off to form the Methodist Protestant Church.

Along the way other schisms occurred that formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church (and from it the AME Zion Church), and the CME (Christian Methodist Episcopal – originally Colored Methodist Church) Church. These were based on the treatment of formerly enslaved peoples. Some groups broke off due to theology- mostly dealing with the understanding of sanctification (does it happen over time or is it instantaneous?). Regardless, divorce seems to run in our family. And everyone is sure God is on their side.

In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church united to form the Methodist Church. However, a small group of Methodist Protestants and a larger group of ME Church, S churches did not join in. Most of those churches did not want to unite with the north, and especially did not want to see any integration of blacks and whites in their churches. The ME Church, S churches that did not join formed the Southern Methodist Church. As of 2008 there were 42 Methodist Protestant Churches left, and as of 2017 the Southern Methodist Church had 72 churches (with a total membership of 3,200- most of the churches being in South Carolina).

In 1968 the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren united to form the UMC.

As you can see, we have had a long history of dividing up, and occasional times of getting back together. Every time we have split up, both sides claimed biblical authority. And both sides eventually came out weaker. With the current move of some churches to “disaffiliate” (a strange term since we never said we were affiliated before), we are just living out our history. Some believe that the break-off denomination, the Global Methodist Church, will have a majority of the churches disaffiliating join it. I am not so sure. The largest UMC churches moving towards disaffiliation have said they do not want to join another denomination, and are forming a network, The Foundry, where each church is independent. And the smaller churches that are talking about disaffiliation basically want to be independent, responsible only to themselves. Like the Methodist Protestant and Southern Methodist denominations, the GMC may have a grand start, but end up sidelined.

On a final, personal note- I keep hearing in the back of my mind the only prayer in the Bible specifically for followers of Jesus today. It was prayed by Jesus, and since it is the only one specifically for us today, we should pay attention. In John 17 Jesus first prays for himself, that God would glorify him in what he is about to do (the cross). Then he prays for his disciples, that they are not taken from this world but protected from the evil one. Then he says “I pray for those who will believe in me because of their word…” (That’s us! Pay attention!) He prays that we will all be one, even as he and the Father are one. And he gives us this promise, “if they are one, the world will be convinced that you (God) sent me.” I hear that in my mind, feel it in my heart, and think, is it any wonder we aren’t convincing people Jesus is from God?