African Delegates’ Urgent Requests Unanswered
African Delegates' Urgent Requests Unanswered By Thomas Lambrecht We are less than six weeks from the opening session of the 2024 United Methodist General Conference. That is why it is troubling that African delegates continue to be beset with delayed responses from...
He Wants You Back
He Wants You Back By BJ Funk My oldest son texted words that hit like a large brick thrown at my stomach. He wrote, “My birth mother passed.” I wasn’t prepared for this. I remember that joyous moment when the lady with the adoption agency placed this baby in my arms....
Extending Disaffiliation Options
Extending Disaffiliation Options By Thomas Lambrecht The main agenda items for the Renewal and Reform Coalition at the 2024 General Conference meeting in Charlotte, NC, April 23-May 3 relate to providing new disaffiliation pathways for churches and annual conferences...
“Mainstream UMC” Condemns Nigerian Bishop
“Mainstream UMC” Condemns Nigerian Bishop By Thomas Lambrecht In a recent fundraising piece, the self-identified centrist caucus group “Mainstream UMC” condemned the United Methodist bishop of Nigeria, Bishop John Wesley Yohanna. Its principal accusation...
Downsides of Regionalization
Downsides of Regionalization By Thomas Lambrecht The last Perspective spoke about the unfairness of “regionalization” in its treatment of Africa and other parts of the church outside the U.S. As I wrote, “The top agenda item for the 2024 General Conference in April...
Regionalization: the New Colonialism?
Regionalization: the New Colonialism? By Thomas Lambrecht The top agenda item for the 2024 General Conference in April for most progressives is to adopt “regionalization” as the new mode of United Methodist governance. This proposal would be a dramatic shift in how...
Things Haven’t Changed
Things Haven't Changed By BJ Funk I love to watch reruns of the “Andy Griffith Show,” which ran from 1960-1968. During the 30-minute show, I fall back into a slower time in America. I laugh at Barney and enjoy the absolutely hilarious facial antics he brings to the...
A Place of Rest
A Place of Rest By Jenifer Jones About 300 miles west of Paris, in the center of the Brittany region of France, stands a three-story stone manor house. Over the past 410 years it’s been home to lords, ladies, their servants, and in the 1960s and 70s, a famous Breton...
