For a colleague of mine who is in the hospital: O Christ, who alone art our Defender: Visit and heal Thy suffering servant, delivering her from sickness and grievous pains. Raise her up that she may sing to Thee and praise Thee without ceasing, O Thou who alone lovest humankind, in the name of the Father,…

Earlier this year Billy Abraham and I published a book together called Key United Methodist Beliefs. The book started out simply as a catechism, but soon morphed into a ten chapter account of the Christian faith from a Wesleyan perspective. Obviously, you don’t write that kind of book unless the Church’s central doctrinal heritage is…

Some of the most gifted and inspired leaders in the Church today are women. In my work as a seminary professor and dean, I encounter numerous women with incredible potential for the work of the God’s kingdom. Yet many churches and denominations still struggle with the place of women in leadership. The so-called “mainlines” are…

Watch live streaming video from unitedts at livestream.com Dr. Frank Thomas recently spoke at the Doctor of Ministry intensive at United Theological Seminary. His topic was what he called “the real” in preaching: authenticity and truth, not just in the event of the sermon, but in the life of the pastor. This is a lengthy…

The sermons of John Wesley collectively serve as one of our doctrinal standards in United Methodism. It is in our interest, then, to read, reflect upon, and comprehend Wesley’s sermons as ways of entering into the life of faith more deeply. Jason Vickers of United Theological Seminary and Ken Collins of Asbury Theological Seminary have…

At a recent conference I attended, an insightful Canadian colleague remarked to me that the U.S. is in a “cold civil war.” I’d never thought about it that way before, but it’s a frightening idea, and there may be some truth to it. In my lifetime, the left and the right have never been so…

For the last three days I’ve been at the Summer Institute for Theology and Disability in Toronto. The dialogue has been rich, provocative, and deeply edifying. If you have any interest in the intersection of theology and disability, I strongly encourage you to attend this event next year (time and place TBA). Part of the…