United Theological Seminary recently hosted an event with Ginghamsburg Church on ministry with people with disabilities. It was a great success. During the event many of the speakers talked with great insight and sensitivity about their own journey with disabilities or with loved ones who live with disabilities. Harriet and I spoke about our own…
If you’ve been following news around the UMC at all, you’ve likely become acquainted with the term “just resolution.” Essentially, this is a way of resolving administrative complaints without a church trial. As stated in ¶363 of the Discipline, “A just resolution is one that focuses on repairing any harm to people and communities, achieving…
Bishop Coyner of the Indiana Conference has offered some very interesting ideas about one possible way forward in the UMC. The meat of the proposal is this: “What if we allowed each AC around the world to make its own decisions on all matters other than those restricted by the Constitution? What if we allowed…
Dear Pastors: This is a letter to say thank you. For the messages of hope that you preach, the people you lead to Christ, the baptisms you perform, the newcomers to whom you teach the faith, the long-time churchgoers whom you nurture in the faith, thank you. Thank you for the counsel you provide to those who…
Recently the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church engaged in a dialogue over human sexuality. I was under the impression that the purpose of dialogue was to increase understanding, and perhaps even reach consensus. Apparently I was wrong. According to an article on UMC.org, The Connectional Table, one of The United Methodist Church’s governing…
Leo Durocher once wrote, “Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.” I would add that baseball, like church, involves a community that you have to be a part of in order to gain understanding. To appreciate the beauty of the game of baseball, you have to learn to sit with it. You have to…
Originally posted on John Meunier:
United Methodist Internet conversation is plagued by many logical fallacies. We invoke the slippery slope. We appeal to authority. We roll out the band wagon. The one that always comes to my mind first, though, is our rampant use of straw man arguments. This is so common that it almost appears…
Imagine that there was a pre-natal test, commonly recommended by medical personnel, to identify children who would experience depression throughout their lives. Upon receiving a positive test, parents were counseled: You know, you might not want to go through with this pregnancy. You’re headed down a very difficult path. You may very well see your…
“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Cor 5:19). This is one of the most well known passages of Christian scripture. It is also one of the most puzzled-over. Atonement is a particularly knotty theological matter. While the…
When I was interviewing with the Board of Ordained Ministry to be commissioned as an elder, one member of the committee asked me about the resurrection of Jesus. She asked, “How do you see resurrections in your own life?” I’ve long reflected on that question because the way in which we answer it has implications…
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....
Finding the humor, beauty, and purpose in the mess of motherhood
Doctrine Matters
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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
'An arrow through the air' - Notes of a Methodist pastor
Holiness, Sustainability, and Tending Good Soil
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 