I’m an ordained elder in the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. My path to become ordained, however, was more difficult than it should have been. When I say this, I know that I echo the sentiments of many people who have gone through the ordination process in the UMC, whether they are…

Many Christians I spend time with are deeply concerned about matters of inclusiveness. Sometimes by this they mean that they wish that their churches were more racially diverse. Others wish the church was more accepting of gay and lesbian people. Sometimes they mean to talk about socio-economic diversity. Only occasionally, however, are they talking about creating…

We often talk about various Christians in broad categories like  “conservative,” “liberal,” “evangelical,” “progressive,” and “moderate.” In this post, I want to explore the term “liberal,” because I think of these terms it is the most difficult to define. Part of the reason for the difficulty is that “liberal” has at least two meanings that…

So… I haven’t been able to blog nearly as much as I would like on this trip. Part of the reason is that I have been helping my son, Luke, with his blog, which is an assignment for school while he’s here. So if you want an update on the trip, check out Luke’s Blog…

Well, the best laid plans…. Over half of our group couldn’t make it out of Dayton or New Jersey yesterday. Most folks are here by now, but some are still in transit. All things considered, though, everyone here is in good spirits (but I can’t vouch for the ones who are still on the way).…

I’m heading out today for a contextual immersion trip to Israel and Jordan with a large group of students from United. This trip will also be led by Dr. Lisa Hess, Rev. Brian Maguire, and Rabbi Brad Hirschfield. Oh, and my son Luke is going, too. He’s eleven. Lucky kid, huh? I’ve been to many different…

The website “UM and Global” is offering a series of posts by United Methodist professors on the mission document of The United Methodist Church, Grace Upon Grace. In this post, Dr. Luther Oconer of United Theological Seminary reflects on this document, and particularly on what he calls the “synergistic nature of God’s grace.” I commend…

Young people will not save the church. Bible study will not save the church. Leadership will not save the church. Being missional will not save the church. Being more conservative, progressive, or evangelical will not save the church. Worship we call “contemporary” will not save the church, nor will worship we style as “traditional.” Nothing…

Megyn Kelly of Fox News apparently thinks that Jesus was white. Yes, this is a rather unsophisticated claim, but not particularly surprising. It’s probably the case that all, or almost all, of the images of Jesus she has encountered depict Jesus as having European features. This is the most common representation of Jesus’ ethnicity in…

If you live in the world of social media at all, you are probably aware that about three weeks ago Mark Driscoll was accused of plagiarism. Andy Crouch has written an article in Christianity today called “The Real Problem with Mark Driscoll’s ‘Citation Errors’ (And It Isn’t Plagiarism).” Apparently, he feels the real problem is…