Iowa Cabinet Jumps the Gun
By Thomas Lambrecht In the sport of track, races are often set off by the firing of a starter’s gun. Racers who cross the starting line and begin the race before the gun fires are said to have “jumped the gun.” That is exactly what the Iowa Appointive Cabinet has done...
A Time to Prepare
By Thomas Lambrecht - In the church calendar, the Advent season – the four weeks leading up to Christmas – are set aside as a time of preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth. The idea is taken from Isaiah 40:3, “A voice of one calling in the...
The AFTE Effect: Behind the scenes theological renewal
The AFTE Effect: Behind the scenes theological renewal By Elizabeth Glass Turner and Steve Beard 2011 Richard B. Hays, Dean of Duke Divinity School and George Washington Ivey professor of New Testament. Scott Jones, United Methodist Bishop of the Kansas Area. Wade...
John Stott has died
“The evangelical world has lost one of its greatest spokesmen, and I have lost one of my close personal friends and advisors. I look forward to seeing him again when I go to Heaven.” –Billy Graham
Rev. John Stott, Major Evangelical Figure, Dies at 90
By Wolfgang Saxon, The New York Times
The Rev. John Stott, one of the world’s most influential figures in the spread of evangelical Christianity over the past half-century, died Wednesday in Lingfield, Surrey, in the south of England. He was 90.
The DeLong Challenge
By Rob Renfroe
Within the new edition of Good News you will find several articles describing and reacting to the trial of the Reverend Amy DeLong, a United Methodist elder that was recently brought before a church court in Wisconsin for (1) having performed a “holy union” for a same-gender couple and (2) being a self-avowed practicing homosexual. She was found guilty of the first charge, but not guilty of the second.
The case of Amy DeLong
By Heather Hahn
For the first time in 20 years, a conviction for performing a same-sex union has not resulted in a United Methodist elder’s defrocking or indefinite suspension.
Instead, after seven hours of deliberations, a jury of 13 United Methodist clergy voted 9-4 to suspend the Rev. Amy DeLong from her ministerial functions for 20 days beginning July 1, 2011.
What I would say to Amy DeLong
Commentary by Karen Booth
In 2004, I wrote a column for The United Methodist Reporter entitled, “What I Would Say to Karen Dammann.” A church trial court had just acquitted her of being a “self-avowed, practicing homosexual,” and someone had asked me what I would say if given the opportunity to talk with her.
