Latest Articles

We’re Not Leaving

By Rob Renfroe - Progressive and moderate leaders have an interesting dilemma. Do they partner with leading traditionalists to create and pass a path for amicable separation at General Conference 2020? Or do they fight on, hoping to overturn the ...

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Riverside’s Ministry to the Community

By William March - In the heart of Little Havana, just west of the Miami River, sits an anomaly – Riverside United Methodist Church. It’s in a neighborhood that struggles with poverty, inadequate housing, and social isolation. There are plenty ...

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Back Row America

By Steve Beard - Chris Arnade earned a PhD in theoretical physics and spent 20 years on Wall Street making piles of money as a bond trader. In a season of disillusionment with his lucrative career, he began walking around New York City to ...

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A Supernatural Kingdom

By Carolyn Moore - In Luke 4, as he sits among his people, Jesus casts a vision for a radical change in the spiritual climate. He stands up in the middle of church one day and reads from a scroll unrolled to the words of the prophet ...

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Preparing for General Conference 2020

By Timothy Tennent - Leonard Ravenhill once said, “there is no greater tragedy than a sick church in a dying world.” The United Methodist Church is hurting and sick. It is one of the few things that people across the various divisions all seem ...

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Discovering God Through the Trees

By Matthew Sleeth - I love trees. I always have. I love looking at them. I love sitting in their shade. I love hearing the sound of wind rustling through their leaves. But what can trees teach us? Specifically, what can trees teach us about the ...

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Steadfast Faith

By Nako Kellum - Why do I continue to believe in God? I asked myself this question as I was listening to Maybe God, a podcast hosted by the Rev. Eric Huffman, a United Methodist pastor in Houston. This episode featured a conversation between ...

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In the News

Annual Conferences, Statistics, and “Winner Take All”

By Chappell Temple - He attributed the phrase to Benjamin Disraeli, but you won't actually find it in any of his works. But in speaking to the power of numbers to bolster an otherwise weak ...

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Centrists, progressives, and traditionalists work toward a fair plan of separation

Guest Commentary by Keith Boyette - In the aftermath of the 2019 Special General Conference, people across The United Methodist Church have wondered, "What now?" The General Conference decided. ...

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A U.S.-Only Church

By Thomas Lambrecht - It has been intriguing to follow a series of blog posts from "Mainstream UMC," a newly minted special interest caucus. The posts have been analyzing an unscientific, ...

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Several Bishops Uphold UM Discipline

By Tom Lambrecht - One would not think that bishops upholding the United Methodist Book of Discipline would be worthy of a headline, but such are the times in which we live. In the recent ...

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Exclusionary Politics, Money, and Statistics

By Thomas Lambrecht - It's all about the money. That could have been the title of the latest opinion piece from Mainstream UMC. And of course, beneath the issue of dollars is the issue of power and ...

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The Distortion Continues

By Tom Lambrecht - Every person is to be highly valued. That value makes it important to listen to every voice, whether critical or supportive, to discern which elements in what they say would be ...

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British Methodists Take Steps Toward Progressive Sexual Ethic

By Tom Lambrecht - In an action taken July 3, the British Methodist Conference voted 247-48 to approve a report titled God in Love Unites Us. The report marks a "watershed moment in the life of ...

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