Presence of Christ in a Wrecked World I find it quite surprising that I am writing to Good News Magazine. I have read the magazine each time it comes across my desk, but am probably not a traditional “Good News” pastor. However, I have just read and thought about “Clergy Covenant” (Letter to the editor, January/February [...]

By B.J. Funk
Looking out of my living room window this morning, while winter’s season is in charge, I could be disheartened if I did not know about the next season. Spring will come, and with it I will have beautiful color in my yard and pleasant smells that cannot be manufactured anywhere but in God’s perfume shop. If I thought this season of winter was all there is, I would likely cut down the crepe myrtles that appear lonely and dead. Though I cannot see it, I know my trees and plants hold a secret, the secret of a new season. My yard is experiencing a pause. There is, however, the hidden, yet marvelous assurance of a promise in a pause.

By Boyce Bowdon
Richard Pierson and Annette Harper—two United Methodist laypeople who minister with persons who are chemically dependent — observe that law enforcement and other government agencies cannot solve the chemical dependency problem on their own. Pierson and Harper declare that it is going to take a united effort and they believe churches have a unique and vital role to play.

By Thomas A. Lambrecht
we believe that working through the legislative process to make changes in the Book of Discipline and bring about reform in our church helps steer around obstacles that prevent spiritual renewal in the church. Spiritual renewal is a work of the Holy Spirit through committed clergy and laity who yield to the Spirit’s empowerment in faithfulness to Jesus Christ, but organizational obstacles can hinder that work.

By Amy Forbus Proposals for change across the denomination drove the discussion at a November gathering entitled: “How does the Call to Action affect African-American churches?” The Call to Action is an effort initiated by the Council of Bishops and Connectional Table with the charge to help The United Methodist Church better fulfill its mission [...]

“We are saddened by the willingness of pastors within our New York Annual Conference to reject their ordination vows and the teaching of our church that goes back to Jesus and the apostles and to disobey the clear directive of our own bishop” says a group of evangelical United Methodist pastors after hearing that hundreds [...]

By Kathy Gilbert United Methodist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for their work on women’s rights. Johnson Sirleaf, a member of First United Methodist Church, Monrovia, Liberia, in 2006 was the first woman to be elected a [...]

By Shane Raynor I sometimes hear frustration from those who think that some groups within Christianity aren’t intellectual enough. Others complain that certain groups are too intellectual. There are entire ministries built around Christian apologetics, some attempting to refute evolution, others trying to reconcile Christianity with evolution, some dispelling the notion that Christians aren’t intellectual, [...]

By Chris Kinyon Schutz The word of God is reaching poor and illiterate people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in several ways, thanks to the generosity of Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The project was born in 2004 when the Rev. Jim Lenderman, then a pastor in Conway, Arkansas, heard an African [...]

By James V. Heidinger II The Good News board has recently lost two persons who served on the ministry’s governing board for many years. The Rev. Dale C. Bittinger, 89, of Bristol, Virginia, died December 8, 2011. Attorney Dale B. Kincaid, 69, of Massillon, Ohio, died November 17, 2010. Both had served with distinction on [...]