United Methodist Disaffiliation Success Stories
United Methodist Disaffiliation Success Stories By John Lomperis Congregations who wish to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church (UMC) have a historic, rapidly expiring opportunity to keep their church buildings and parsonages. Despite the historic nature of...
A Life of Sacrifice
A Life of Sacrifice By Thomas Lambrecht “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This verse is sometimes called the “theme verse” of the Gospel of Mark. It encapsulates in one sentence...
Stuck by the Side of the Pool
By B.J. Funk - For years, a man had stayed at the side of the pool of Bethesda, waiting with many other disabled folks for a chance to get into the water. It was thought that the pool of Bethesda held healing powers, and that when the miraculous water bubbled, the...
Indianapolis Plan and Amicable Separation
By Thomas Lambrecht On September 18, the conversation group working on the Indianapolis Plan submitted the final version of a plan for an amicable separation in The United Methodist Church. As the document states, “We seek to move away from the caustic atmosphere...
Sinners in the Hands of a Singing God
By Steve Beard - Set in 19th century France, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is an epic tale of the spiritual consequences of sin and the search for redemption. In the 1998 movie version, there is a noteworthy scene with the story’s protagonist Jean Valjean (played by...
Release to the Captives
By Shannon Vowell - Prison Ministry: Kairos Training” reads the hand-lettered sign on the upstairs door. Inside, the smell of coffee competes with the smell of bacon in a crowded space that is surprisingly silent. A woman moves toward me on tiptoe. Her eyes are full...
Advice to UM Pastors and Churches: Know What You are Going to Do!
By Shane Bishop - I have played competitive softball since I was fourteen years old at every imaginable level. Up to a handful of years ago, I played over a hundred games each season and now in my late fifties, I still play twenty or thirty. For much of that time I...
WCA Global Gathering: Report from Tulsa
Envisioning a New Methodist Movement -- By Walter Fenton, Wesleyan Covenant Association -- Over the course of two inspiring days at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) set forth its vision for a new,...
