Dissecting “Inclusiveness” Theology
By Thomas Lambrecht - In a sermon preached in the run-up to the 2019 General Conference, Bishop Elaine Stanovsky (Greater Northwest Episcopal Area) promoted the One Church Plan and her vision for the inclusiveness of the church. That vision reflects the understanding...
Back to Our Future
By Mike Lowry, Bishop of the Central Texas Conference The harsh reality is that we are in a post-Christendom age. No longer does the Christian faith, and more specifically the United Methodist Church, assume a leading societal position. During my first year or so as...
UM Mission Agency Discusses Budget and Theology
The United Methodist mission agency, faced with negative budget projections in the coming decade, is considering substantive cuts in both programmatic and administrative sectors in order to maintain what it regards as its “core competencies.” This year’s GBGM Annual Board Meeting convened in Stamford, Connecticut, to discuss, among other things, the possibility of a dramatic downsizing of the Board from 89 directors to a potential 30, and a revision of its Theology of Mission Statement and its associated Mission and Vision statements.
African Bishops Urge Theological Education
The United Methodist Church in Africa is growing, but the number of trained and licensed clergy is not keeping pace. In addition, money allocated for African theological education has been slow to filter down.
Court upholds pastor’s right to withhold membership
A United Methodist pastor has the right to determine local church membership, even if the decision is based on whether the potential member is gay or lesbian. Annual (regional) conferences cannot limit that right or ask the church’s top court to set policy, the United Methodist Judicial Council ruled during its October 27-30 meeting.
The “Reverend” Handicap
If you are a pastor, perhaps you remember how people began treating you differently when your identity changed from “student” to “minister.” You began to notice that the types of parties to which you were invited were tamer and the jokes people told in your presence had a more stringent filter. And, the moment you were introduced as “Reverend” certain masks seemed to appear. I remember the very week, over 30 years ago, when that unwanted barrier arose, and have been wrestling with that tension ever since. Over the years there have been many times when I have wondered how different my witness would have been had I pursued the secular vocation of my choosing and served Jesus in that context.
January/February 2011 Letters to the Editor
I am one of two members who have been attending our local United Methodist church since birth. We’ve attended longer than any of the present members. I can cry myself to sleep about the condition of the United Methodist Church—how it has drifted from the Wesleyan tradition and the roots our forefathers planted. There are a number in our congregation who have left the church to find spiritual food and feel a part of the church family. It’s disheartening to see United Methodist membership declining.
The Antidote for Hopelessness
Hopelessness and Christianity cannot live in the same body, for the first word means we have no hope and the second word means we have all the hope in the world. To be hopeless indicates defeat. However, to be a Christian indicates the acceptance of the Power of the universe into our lives. So, how can we be both? How can we be a Christian and also be hopeless?
