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...
Dissolution or Separation?
By Thomas Lambrecht - The deadline for submitting petitions to General Conference 2020 is less than three weeks away. So far, three major plans for "separation" have been released. More are in the works. The UMC Next Plan proposes to remove all the restrictions in...
The Hand of God
By Kenneth Tanner The hands that crafted humanity from the dust are the hands that grasp Mary’s finger as she looks on her infant God with awe. The divine finger that etched the commandment concerning adultery into the stone on Sinai is the human finger that drew in...
Shepherd to the fringes: John “Bullfrog” Smith (1942-2019)
Shepherd to the fringes: John “Bullfrog” Smith (1942-2019) By Steve Beard March/April 2019 “Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to...
Obsessed by Resurrection
By Kenneth Tanner I find it amusing, this great befuddlement that befalls some intelligent Christians when it comes to the definition of resurrection. On Holy Saturday the New York Times published an interview with the president of Union Theological Seminary in which...
Doing General Conference Math
Doing General Conference Math By Thomas Lambrecht Supporters of the One Church Plan are considering a number of options in the wake of the decision by the 2019 General Conference to adopt the Traditional Plan. One of those options is to come back in 2020 to the...
What General Conference Accomplished
By Thomas Lambrecht - Here is a brief summary of the accomplishments of the special called 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church held in St. Louis. Given the opportunity to support the full court press of the majority of North American bishops in...
