The Warning from Jude for Today
I do not believe you will find a book in the Bible more relevant to The United Methodist Church than the Epistle of Jude. Early in his letter Jude writes: “Although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you...
Mary’s Devoted Heart
Mary's Devoted Heart By Dick McClain Growing up, I don’t recall having heard a sermon on Mary, the mother of Jesus. She did get dusted off every December for the Christmas pageant. But apart from her annual appearance reincarnated in the form of a budding young...
Perspective, August 3, 2011
Here We Go Again In the wake of the recent clergy trial in Wisconsin that doled out a 20-day suspension for a United Methodist clergywoman for performing a same-sex union, a United Methodist pastor in Minnesota has already conducted a handful of ceremonies for...
VBS ‘mans up’: Vacation Bible Schools thrive when men pitch in
By Mary Jacobs The Vacation Bible School at Bailey Memorial United Methodist Church in rural Rosemont, W.Va., may be small—38 kids this year—but it’s breaking new ground. Bailey’s program was a test run of Cokesbury’s new VBS curriculum for 2012, entitled Operation...
A love letter to small membership churches
By Donald W. Haynes What a thrill to see a feature on the rural church in the July 1 issue of the United Methodist Reporter! An equal thrill at my own annual conference this year was to see something I had never experienced before—an entire evening devoted to a film...
Story behind “Just As I Am”
By Irene Ting-Ting Lai “Just as I Am, Without One Plea” Charlotte Elliott UM Hymnal, No. 357 Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Charlotte Elliott, a Victorian hymn...
Seminary preps pastors for laity’s big questions
By Jason Byassee Like many Methodists with a stake in both the church and the academy, I read the Rev. Sky McCracken’s commentary (in the July 5 Reporter) with more than a little interest. Mr. McCracken offers a damning indictment of the failure of our seminaries to...
Staying connected to college students
By Renee Elder Congregations routinely celebrate college-bound youth with farewell gifts and parties featuring slideshows of pre-school Christmas pageants, high-school mission trips, and almost everything in-between. But youth leaders and pastors who want to extend...
