Have you ever been to a session of the General Conference of the UMC? If so, could you call what happens there “holy conferencing”? If not, something has to change. The GC is the only body that speaks on behalf of The United Methodist Church. It is where we establish church law and make decisions…
Chicago’s O’Hare airport is one of my least favorite places. I try to avoid it, but as a frequent flyer who lives in Dayton, I sometimes don’t have much of a choice. I don’t like flying through O’Hare because there are so often delays and flight cancellations. It’s commonly the case that my flights are…
Ready… Aim… Fire. William J. Abraham has never been accused of pulling his punches. In his newest book, Dialogues Amongst the People Called United Methodists, he is true to form, taking on the debate over human sexuality that we have engaged in for forty years and which will likely reach a boiling point in Portland in 2016.…
Last weekend I attended the national conference of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, the charismatic renewal movement in United Methodism. If you have never attended an ARM conference, I strongly encourage you to do so. These are the most vibrant, optimistic, and powerful meetings I have ever attended among United Methodists. There is an attitude of peacefulness…
Dr. Bill Arnold is a friend and dialogue partner. I got to know him first by our common work on the University Senate. We both care very much about the church, the work of ministry, and theological education. We are committed to the UMC and would see denominational division as a very sad and regrettable…
I’ve always thought it significant that the great creeds of the church are statements of doctrine, rather than statements of ethics. The teachers of the faith who handed on to us our doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection knew that without a clear sense of who God is and how God has…
A plan has recently emerged to preserve the unity of the UMC. I encourage you to read it carefully and prayerfully. The proposal begins by diagnosing a very serious problem in our denomination: we have reached an impasse on matters related to “self-avowed, practicing homosexual” people. The proposal then offers a potential solution which I…
I’ve thought for some time that, while we have significant theological and ethical disagreements in the UMC, a large part of our difficulty with ecclesial disobedience at present is structural. Every tradition has internal disputes, but how we deal with these will come to bear in important ways on our life together–and whether life together is…
Good News has just published a press statement regarding some eighty pastors and theologians who are calling for a division of the denomination. A group of leading pastors and theologians released a progress report on their considerations regarding the future of The United Methodist Church. Hailing from all five jurisdictions, the more than 80 pastors and…
Last weekend I attended the Aldersgate Covenant meeting at the Church of the Resurrection. At this gathering, I think I finally learned what holy conferencing should be. We immersed ourselves in prayer, worship, and conversation. We prayed for unity, repented of partisanship, and confessed before God that we ourselves–and not just our neighbors–are sinners. It…
Pursuing Jesus
These are the thoughts, prayers, stories, sermons, and devotions from a simple pastor. May you be blessed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as you read...
Musings and whatnot....
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Reflections from Jacob J. Prahlow
humor | musings | fiction
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work and prayer of a jesus follower
Who is my ideal reader? Well, ideal means non-existent. I have no notion of whom I’m writing for. Guy Davenport
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two of us are tall and the other one of us is short and has Down syndrome
Comments on the New Testament and Early Christianity (and related matters)
David F. Watson 