World Vision for the Church in Crisis
World Vision for the Church in Crisis Good News Archive: What follows is condensed from a historic address by Dr. E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) to the 1970 Good News Convocation in Dallas. As Christians we have an Eternal Person and an unshakeable Kingdom – the essence...
What is a Methodist?
What is a Methodist? By Thomas Lambrecht – I have argued before that a consistent Methodist identity has been blurred and obscured in The United Methodist Church. What it means to be United Methodist varies from church to church and conference to conference. A wide...
Good News Statement on the Council of Bishops Decision
May 4, 2018 - This afternoon, the United Methodist Council of Bishops announced that it will submit a report to the special 2019 General Conference that contains all three plans for a way forward considered by the bishops and the Commission on a Way Forward. This will...
Understanding Incompatibilists
By Thomas Lambrecht - The Council of Bishops is currently meeting to decide what proposal(s) to submit to the 2019 General Conference to resolve the conflict in our church. Will they understand and accommodate the interests and convictions of incompatibilists in their...
John Wesley: A Short, Uncertain Space
By Ralph Pauls - Jesus once told a parable about financial dealings and a shrewd manager. "Give an account of your stewardship," the manager is told in the story (Luke 16:2). In his sermon, "The Good Steward," Methodism's founder John Wesley (1703-1791) wrote about...
New Social Principles: A First Look
By Thomas Lambrecht - The 2012 General Conference commissioned the Board of Church and Society to do a total rewrite of the United Methodist Social Principles. The project is moving toward completion with the publication of the first draft of the proposed new...
Now is the Time
By Katy Kiser - "Now is the time of God's favor, Now is the day of salvation." - II Corinthians 6:2 Each year, women come to the national conference of the Celebration Women's Ministry in Houston seeking to grow in Christ and encounter God's Spirit. Some seek the...
Bishops Request Judicial Council Decision
By Thomas Lambrecht - The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is asking the JudicialCouncil for a declaratory decision on what petitions can be submitted to the denomination's Special Session of General Conference called for February 2019. The Council of...
Baltimore-Washington Defies Judicial Council
By Thomas Lambrecht - In response to six different annual conference boards of ordained ministry voting in 2016 not to comply with the Book of Discipline's qualifications for ministry in evaluating candidates, the Judicial Council ruled that "The Board's examination...
Tribalizing Methodism
By Scott Kisker - With the 2019 called General Conference looming, it is time to address the risks posed to our United Methodist polity as a peculiar articulation and preserver of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The United Methodist Church is set up as...
The Power of a Transformed Life
By Steve Beard - If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here." -- Saint Paul (II Corinthian 5:17). An essential element of the magnetism of the Christian message is the opportunity for a second chance, a clean slate. When we...
Northwest United Methodist Defiance
By Thomas Lambrecht - United Methodists in the Greater Northwest Area, under the leadership of Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky, have again decided to disregard the letter and spirit of United Methodist Church teachings. Indeed, it seems Stanovsky has gone out of her way...
