Our Primary Calling
Our Primary Calling -- By Stephen Seamands -- I was a young pastor in my mid-twenties, just three years out of Asbury Theological Seminary, attending a day-long continuing education event for pastors. But before they introduced the main speaker I was looking forward...
The Changing Shape of Methodism
The Changing Shape of Methodism -- By Thomas Lambrecht --- As many churches considered the option of disaffiliation, there has been a focus on the contrast between a traditional understanding of our Methodist doctrines and practices compared with how The United...
Marriage: A School for Discipleship
By Tom Lambrecht - The cover story of the current issue of Christianity Today is entitled, "Can the Church Save Marriage?" I heartily recommend that and other articles in this month's issue that talk about the challenges to marriage in our contemporary global culture....
Coping with Covid-19 and washing dishes with love
By Steve Beard - There are good reasons to avoid watching the evening news these days. It is a rough slog, even for those with sunny dispositions. The pandemic has severally thrown us off the normal rhythm of life. Piped-in crowd cheers at baseball games, shuttered...
The Way of Humility, Honesty, and Courage
By Thomas Lambrecht - Religion writer Terry Mattingly recently reported that 50 percent of "strong liberals" say they would fire business executives who donate money to reelect President Donald Trump. At the same time, 36 percent of "strong conservatives" would fire...
Looking for Accountability in North Katanga
By Tom Lambrecht - Last week's Perspective reported some troubling actions taken by the Board of Ordained Ministry in the West Congo Annual Conference, Central Congo Episcopal Area. Today's post reports on similar actions taken in the North Katanga Annual Conference....
Violations in Central Congo
By Thomas Lambrecht - The polarization of The United Methodist Church in the United States is now unfortunately surfacing in the part of the church located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – one of at least 17 countries on the continent of Africa to host...
Images of UM Fracture
By Thomas Lambrecht - The current focus of our denomination is rightly on how to do effective ministry in the midst of a pandemic and how to understand and address racism in our nation and in our church. For most of our pastors and leaders, there is not much bandwidth...
