Another Mainstream Misunderstanding
Another Mainstream Misunderstanding By Thomas Lambrecht It is instructive to hear how others perceive what one is saying or doing. Having an alternative perspective often sharpens up the message and enables corrections to misunderstandings. Such is the case with the...
Divisions in Africa
Divisions in Africa By Thomas Lambrecht Recent meetings have clarified a developing divide in Africa between some bishops and other leaders who want to remain in The United Methodist Church and other leaders who are seeing the need to disaffiliate. The question will...
Stick to the Path
By Thomas Lambrecht - As a young adult, I became fascinated by the story told by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was inspired by the extraordinary adventures on behalf of human goodness undertaken by ordinary folk. Through my wife's...
Reconnecting the Connection
By Tom Lambrecht - Dr. Scott Kisker, professor of the History of Christianity at United Theological Seminary, published an article recently in Firebrand Magazine that will also appear in the forthcoming edition of Good News magazine. In it, he explains two...
Remembering Bishop John Yambasu
Along with the rest of the United Methodist family around the globe, we join in mourning the death of Bishop John K. Yambasu, the Resident Bishop of the Sierra Leone Area, who died in a car accident over the weekend outside Freetown in Sierra Leone. According to...
Marriage: A School for Discipleship
By Tom Lambrecht - The cover story of the current issue of Christianity Today is entitled, "Can the Church Save Marriage?" I heartily recommend that and other articles in this month's issue that talk about the challenges to marriage in our contemporary global culture....
Coping with Covid-19 and washing dishes with love
By Steve Beard - There are good reasons to avoid watching the evening news these days. It is a rough slog, even for those with sunny dispositions. The pandemic has severally thrown us off the normal rhythm of life. Piped-in crowd cheers at baseball games, shuttered...
The Way of Humility, Honesty, and Courage
By Thomas Lambrecht - Religion writer Terry Mattingly recently reported that 50 percent of "strong liberals" say they would fire business executives who donate money to reelect President Donald Trump. At the same time, 36 percent of "strong conservatives" would fire...
Looking for Accountability in North Katanga
By Tom Lambrecht - Last week's Perspective reported some troubling actions taken by the Board of Ordained Ministry in the West Congo Annual Conference, Central Congo Episcopal Area. Today's post reports on similar actions taken in the North Katanga Annual Conference....
Violations in Central Congo
By Thomas Lambrecht - The polarization of The United Methodist Church in the United States is now unfortunately surfacing in the part of the church located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – one of at least 17 countries on the continent of Africa to host...
Images of UM Fracture
By Thomas Lambrecht - The current focus of our denomination is rightly on how to do effective ministry in the midst of a pandemic and how to understand and address racism in our nation and in our church. For most of our pastors and leaders, there is not much bandwidth...
One Step Back
By Thomas Lambrecht - How do Christians deal with discouragement? Some parts of the United States, as well as some other countries around the world, have recently seen an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases, with increased hospitalizations and deaths. The increases...
