A Bishop Says Goodbye to The United Methodist Church
Firebrand Magazine: May 1, 2022, was the official launch of the Global Methodist Church. This begins a season of transition for many pastors and churches. UMC Bishop Mike Lowry has stated that, effective on that date, he withdrew from the UMC Council of Bishops to...
Lloyd Lunceford Church Trust Law Webinar
Do United Methodist congregations own their buildings? What is a trust? Can the United Methodist trust be revoked? Is there a legal process for disaffiliating from the UM Church separate from what is in the Book of Discipline? When might it make sense to use the legal...
Our Very Human God
By Kenneth Tanner Our closest galactic neighbor, Andromeda, is 2.5 million light-years away. She dwarfs our galaxy and contains a trillion stars. The energy that fuels all those stars and has kept them in a spiral for 13 billion years is measurable, but who has the...
How Prayer Helps a Hurting Heart
By Scott McDermott Learning how to pray when our life is hurting is one of the most important lessons we can ever learn in life, yet so few of us have been taught just how to do it. Personal pain is a part of everyone’s experience. As Jesus teaches, the storms of life...
Iconic brushstrokes from Ukraine
By Steve Beard As I watched the evening news during the haunting first few weeks of the scorched-earth invasion of Ukraine, I could not help but see Kateryna Shadrina’s vibrant image of the Madonna and Child superimposed over the video footage on television of mothers...
Lenten Underground
By Steve Beard It was standing-room-only for the noon Ash Wednesday service at my local church. Ushers were pulling folding chairs out of a closet and people were sitting in the hallway outside the sanctuary. Parishioners were literally standing against the back and...
Hard Things
By Rob Renfroe When I speak to churches about the problems dividing the United Methodist Church, I begin by saying, “If you are not aware of what I am about to tell you, it will be hard for you to believe. I’ll sound like an ancient astronomer trying to convince you...
Why many Traditionalists feel “stuck”
By Thomas Lambrecht The United Methodist Church is currently in an extremely awkward position. The vast majority of church leaders acknowledge the need for separation to take place in order to resolve the decades-long controversy over biblical authority and...
Church Trust Law Webinar with Lloyd J. Lunceford
Church Trust Law Webinar: Tuesday, May 10, 7 PM Central Time *** Do United Methodist congregations own their buildings? What is a trust? Can the United Methodist trust be revoked? Is there a legal process for disaffiliating from the UM Church separate from what is in...
Good Friday
By Shannon Vowell Sunrise that day: Your own Creation displaying glory. But no joy for You; You stumbled, pain-wracked, through the story To see it to its bitter end, To see it through... No hope, no friend Could there attend You as You faced What no one else could...
The Life and Faith of Jackie Robinson
By George Mitrovich Good News, May/June 2005 Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The presentation of the Gold Medal to Rachel...
On a Hill Far Away
By Steve Beard I was in elementary school when I first grasped that the death of Jesus was a big deal. On Good Friday, my mom and dad signed me out of class in time for the noon church service. It was somber and stiff and formal – but I was out of school for the rest...
