Methonerds, this is a special blog post just for you. It relates, however, to a Judicial Council decision that has significant implications for the whole church. In case you are not a United Methodist and are punishing yourself for some great sin by reading about our church politics, or you are a United Methodist and…
There has been no small amount of dialogue among North American Protestants as of late on the contributions of women in ministry and the challenges they face. Beth Moore’s “A Letter to My Brothers,” for example, is a painful reality check from an evangelical icon: I am a laugher. I can take jokes and make…
If you’ve been following the drama that is United Methodist politics, you’re probably aware of the recent statement by the Council of Bishops. The Council recently met in order to deliberate on the report submitted by the Commission on a Way Forward. After prayerful consideration, our bishops offered the following statement, which I quote from…
Christians have long discussed and debated the best way to approach the Bible. In my own tradition, United Methodism, there is considerable ongoing debate about how best to interpret Scripture. I often hear claims that seem to have no relationship to our stated positions as a church. The debate, moreover, tends to devolve into whether…
The future of The United Methodist Church is… well … uncertain. What’s going to happen? Will we have a new structure? Two or three new churches? More of the same? The Commission on a Way Forward has offered three sketches of what our future might look like. You can access the United Methodist News Service…
Warning: Lots of United Methodist insider talk in this post. If you are not United Methodist, you might find this all a bit confusing. In fact, I find it confusing myself. The Commission on a Way Forward has presented an interim report to the Council of Bishops. The report is not particularly surprising, but it could…
This is my son, Luke, sitting with his adoring younger brother, Sean. Luke is a good kid. He’s smart and kind, though he is developing some concerning Calvinistic tendencies as a result of his education in a Reformed Episcopal context. Like many teenage boys, he is rather aloof. He is minorly obsessed with basketball, and…
This year I attended the New Room conference for this first time. I’d always heard great things about it, and I wasn’t disappointed. There was a diverse group of insightful speakers. The worship, led by Mark Swayze, was powerful. There were plenty of great books for sale, along with opportunities to meet and converse with…
A few good posts have popped up about the “Next Methodism” and what that might look like. Kevin Watson, Scott Fritzsche, and Stephen Fife have taken up this topic, and I made my own contribution as well. Now I’d like to continue the conversation with a bit of reflection on what it might mean for…
Let’s face it: no one really knows what’s going to happen over the next few years within The United Methodist Church. Division? Restructuring? Fragmentation? Slow demise? Despite widespread conjecture and one or two wild conspiracy theories, your guess is as good as mine. The Wesleyan movement, however, is much larger than The United Methodist Church.…