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By Melissa Lauber

"To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them."
- Thomas Aquinas

In Isaiah 59, we're told that the righteous should put on "a cloak of zeal." But in today's world, zeal is a garment traditionally reserved for the newly converted.

A recent article in the Pew Forum bears this out. In a report titled "The Zeal of the Convert," Pew's Research Center on Religious and Public Life reports that roughly half of all Americans admit that they have left the faith in which they were raised. Increased commitment and enthusiasm about their faith are reported by almost all converts.

But the fascinating fact of this story is that "Methodists stand out as a group in which converts consistently evince higher levels of religious commitment compared with non-converts.

"Converts to Methodism are more likely than those who were raised in the faith to say religion is very important in their lives (65% vs. 55%), to attend religious services at least once a week (48% vs. 38%), to believe in God with absolute certainty (82% vs. 77%), to pray every day (64% vs. 57%), to share their views on God with others at least once a week (20% vs. 16%) and to believe theirs is the one true faith (14% vs. 11%)."

I have no idea why this is. In conversations with people around the church, several people have expressed delight in these findings, suggesting that the United Methodist emphasis on new member classes seem to be working.

"Some denominations excel at the altar call," said the Rev. Mary Dennis, a Guide for the Western Region. "United Methodists are good at assimilating people into our communities."

We embrace the importance of Christian education and faith development and provide opportunities for new members to express their faith, she said.

The Rev. Ramon McDonald at Mt. Oak UMC agrees with Dennis. At his church in Mitchellville, "the minute a person walks in the door they became part of our family," he said.

Mt. Oaks also helps those who are new to their church discern their gifts, graces and spiritual maturity, McDonald said. The congregation takes spiritual development and growing spiritual leaders very seriously and tries to avoid creating "fat Christians," who just sit in the pews and embrace cheap grace. "We can't stop learning," McDonald said.

Strictly speaking, conversion is not just about transferring denominations. Conversion means literally turning around to embrace something new. Transformation is inherent in the act.

The Rev. Barry Hidey of Bel Air UMC knows this. His church embraces evangelism and offers a comprehensive Beginnings class and innovative leadership training for laity.

Bel Air's treasurer, Kevin Hoy, attended a new-member class about three years ago. He recently thanked the congregation for giving him the opportunity "to find faith."

"Like many of you in this room I grew up as part of the un-churched. About once a year, usually in late December, my mom would take my brothers and me to a building where nice people sang songs. We sat in the back and followed along and then we left. What I didn't know then and didn't really find out until much later in life was that there was more to faith then just that building or just those songs," he wrote in a message to the congregation, which Hidey read as part of a recent sermon.

As he grew older, Hoy noticed the messages the church sent out, but they didn't seem to apply to him. Until one day, when he decided to listen.

"I finally answered your many messages and I came to a building where nice people sang songs," he said. "Only this time I came to find out if there was any truth to your many messages that I had seen and heard.

"You gave me a Bible and you offered me classes to learn what was in it. You gave me a chance to watch and participate in the helping of others. You gave this to me because you wanted to share what God had given to you. You gave me the opportunity to find faith and then you followed up and gave me help and gave me tools so that I in turn could give someone else the same opportunity."

Hidey called upon his congregation to begin to think more about the Kevins out there who still don't know about "this group of people who sing nice songs and host weekly events," challenging them to begin to witness to their faith.

Each week in the Baltimore-Washington Conference about 80 new converts are made as people join The United Methodist Church on professions of faith.

It is the conference's goal to increase that number of more than 4,100 new members or "converts" by at least one percent by 2010.

It's a goal that will require zeal - the zeal of the converted and of life-long United Methodists.