Hard to Admit I’m Wrong
By B.J. Funk -- You and I are cofounders of the “Can’t Admit When I’m Wrong” club. One of us realized its truth first, but I can’t recall if it was you or me. It’s almost unfair how we were selected because, at the time, both of us were terribly young and in control...
The M28 Difference
By Eddie and Allyson Willis -- On a July morning in the mountains at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, young people and their leaders from youth ministries around the Southeast have just finished breakfast and are gathered outside the entrances of Shackford Hall in the...
Western Jurisdiction elects Karen Oliveto as bishop
The Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto, senior minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, has been elected as a bishop by the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. She is the first openly married lesbian to be elected bishop within the...
Update: 2016 Episcopal Election Results
This week, the five U.S. jurisdictional conferences will elect a total of 15 bishops. The gatherings also will finalize the next assignments for a number of already active episcopal leaders. According to United Methodist News Service stories, the newly elected bishops...
Good News Welcomes Creation of Wesleyan Covenant Association
By Walter Fenton- "We heartily endorse the creation of the Wesleyan Covenant Association," said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of Good News. "Having vibrant, orthodox United Methodist churches across the connection link hands to promote the church's core teachings...
A Prayer on this Day of Shock and Heartbreak
By Ravi Zacharias As we mourn this week’s tragic events in Louisiana, Minnesota, and now Dallas, it is evident that we need God now more than ever. My prayer on this day of shock and heartbreak: God, our heavenly Father, our minds go back to the day when Jesus knelt...
What seekers want from church
Nashville, Tenn.: Spiritual growth and genuine community are the top motivators for attending church. That’s according to a new survey of spiritual “seekers” aged 18-34, conducted by Barna Group on behalf of United Methodist Communications. The top reasons to attend...
United Methodists endorse Wesleyan Covenant Association
An Open Letter to the People of The United Methodist Church: As clergy and lay leaders of healthy, vibrant orthodox United Methodist congregations, and as teachers preparing the future clergy leaders of our denomination, we welcome the creation of the Wesleyan...
Charges against Talbert
When the United Methodist Council of Bishops met during its mid-November meeting, it requested that a formal complaint be filed against retired Bishop Melvin Talbert for performing an October 26 same-sex union in Alabama. Talbert had been asked not to perform the...
How did we get here from there?
By Riley B. Case
How did we get from there, from the Methodism of Bishop Simpson, to where we are today? Instead of 12 percent of the American population, United Methodism today counts 3 percent of Americans as United Methodist (and this after the EUB merger). In 1890, Methodism claimed 7.1 million members, almost as many as today, when the population was only a fifth of what it is today.
Good News responds to same-sex marriage statement
“We share Bishop Dyck’s commitment to ensure the protection of the civil rights of all persons. However, there are other ways to ensure the civil rights of gay and lesbian persons without redefining the bedrock institution of marriage. We see no reason why the church should allow a secular, anthropocentric, hyper-sexualized Western culture to tell us what marriage is, rather than looking to the Scriptures and, with real concern for the rights of all, maintaining what God has revealed.”
Distorted United Methodist abortion statement
United Methodist representatives to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) are once again promoting a lopsided and jaundiced view of our denomination’s view of abortion. Staffers from the United Methodist Women (UMW) and the General Board of Church and Society recently marked the 40th anniversary of the controversial Roe v. Wade decision by bizarrely claiming “we seek to be a voice crying out to prepare the way for the Lord to bring about a new era of reproductive justice for our families and communities,” a warped apparent reference to John the Baptist. The Bible teaches that John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb when he was in the presence of Jesus Christ, who was still in the womb of Mary.
