United Theological Seminary and the University of Dayton’s Center for Scriptural Exegesis, Philosophy, and Doctrine will host a conference on October 4 and 5 called “Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity.” Speakers will include: Dale C. Allison Jr. Mark Goodacre Chris Keith Anthony LeDonne Loren T. StuckenbruckJens SchroeterDagmar WinterRafael Rodriguez The conference is based on a book by the same…

This one seems to have gotten in under the radar in the furor of GC: UMC health care coverage for people with mental illness extends only for two years, after which benefits cease. Rationale? It is very likely financial. Never mind that we spent almost 9 million dollars at a GC where we seem to have…

Some great news…. United is working with GBHEM to offer the first United Methodist certification in ministry with people with disabilities. This is a long overdue addition to the UM certification offerings. This fall I’ll be teaching the first course in the certification program, Disability, the Bible, and the Church, working off of Amos Yong’s…

Folks, October is going to be a busy month at United. First, Jason Vickers is bringing together a group of young(er) scholars to produce a volume on the renewal of doctrine in United Methodism. Since I am invited, I am grateful to Jason for the very generous definition of “young” that he is using. Shortly thereafter,…

United Theological Seminary will hold a conference called “Theology, Eucharist and Ministry” on May 17 of this year. This conference is in honor of Kendall K. McCabe, a retiring professor who has taught at United for 35 years. Speakers and participants are as follows: William J. Abraham is the Albert C. Outler Chair in Wesleyan Studies…

The following petition was approved at the 2012 GC to raise awareness of people with disabilities in the church:  Each Conference shall designate that at least one Annual Conference session during the 2013-2016 quadrennium will have a theme centered on Disability Awareness to set an example for each District and Local Church.  Resources and guidance are…

A few years ago I received a message from Bishop Peggy Johnson regarding seminary offerings related to ministry with people with disabilities. While I had done research in this area, United, like many other schools, was lacking with regard to educational offerings in this area. This fall I will teach a course called Disability, the…

“Plan UMC,” a plan to restructure the UMC, has passed on the floor of GC. You can learn more about the plan here. This could end up going to Judicial Council, though. Update: It did go to the Judicial Council, which struck it down. So, no restructuring at this time…. 

With the demise of the Call to Action legislation, a new plan is being debated. There was a move to refer restructuring plans for further study, but it was voted down. And this means… something is probably going to happen here. To be continued….

The UMC General Conference has voted to approve full communion with the historically black Methodist denominations. This is an important and historic event. Hopefully it will lead to more substantive cooperation between denominations. At least it’s a step in the right direction.