Analyzing Disaffiliating Churches
By Thomas Lambrecht -- A recent report by Lovett Weems of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership purports to examine the 2,000 or so churches that disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church by the end of 2022. The Weems report was supposedly intended to discover...
Methodist Heritage: Bishop Matthew Simpson
By James V. Heidinger II -- It would not be long before I began hearing much about Matthew Simpson, the renowned son of Cadiz, Ohio. He was a nationally-recognized Methodist bishop and then president of Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University). He was also...
Focus 3: Why is an Exit Path Necessary?
By Thomas Lambrecht Whatever the outcome in St. Louis, some congregations and clergy will be unable to live conscientiously within the boundaries established by General Conference. From the beginning, the Commission on a Way Forward (COWF) acknowledged that an exit...
Focus 3: Living shabbily, praying meagerly
- By E.M. Bounds - I believe that what the church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more novel methods. She needs Christians whom the Holy Spirit can use—Christians of prayer, Christians mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not...
Focus 3: Traditional Plan affirmed again
In the first indicator of the direction of the 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, the majority of delegates affirmed the Traditional Plan. In a vote gauging "high priority" vs. "low priority" of various denominational plans, more than 55 percent...
Kulah: Standing on the Promises of God
- By Dr. Jerry Kulah - My dear brothers and sisters of The United Methodist Church from all around the world, I humbly greet you in the strong name of Jesus Christ! We thank God for all who have participated in observing a sacred season of fasting and prayer as we...
Focus 2: Global inequity challenges United Methodism
By Steve Beard - The 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church is being simultaneously translated for delegates in French, German, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili. The skilled bank of interpreters illustrate the unique international DNA...
Focus 2: Devotional – Power of the Holy Spirit
By Samuel Chadwick - The church still has a theology of the Holy Spirit but it has no living consciousness of His presence and power. No doctrine of the Christian faith has been so neglected. The blunders and disasters of the church are largely, if not entirely,...
