A Momentous Year
By Thomas Lambrecht It is hard to wrap our minds around how things have changed in The United Methodist Church over the past year. Last January, we were looking forward to a General Conference meeting in August 2022. The Protocol of Grace and Reconciliation through...
Faith in a Time of Transition
By Thomas Lambrecht This is the final week of Advent, a season of preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and preparing for his coming again. Advent reminds us that we are in the time “between the times.” We are in the time between Jesus’ first and second...
The Church Divided
By Rob Renfroe- The United Methodist Church is at a crossroads. We are a divided church, and the truth is, we are a hurting church. Some believe our differences are so great and the ongoing battle so destructive that it is time to part ways. For over four decades,...
Means of Grace
By Elaine A. Heath- “The thing is,” my neighbor said conspiratorially, “I really love to iron. I iron everything. I iron every day.” Corrine, a Lutheran, lived across the street and was a faithful member of a neighborhood spiritual formation group that I led. She had...
Royal Faith
Royal Faith By Steve Beard- There is an intriguing scene in Season 2 of the wildly successful historical drama, The Crown, on Netflix. For the uninitiated, the award-winning series revolves around the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the now 91-year-old sovereign of the...
Restoring Our Vision
By Duane Brown- One of life’s great blessing is to have clear vision, and few things are more frightening than the prospect of losing one’s sight. During the summer of 2013, I began losing my vision. For nearly six months I stubbornly ignored the problems. After...
In the Beginning
By B.J. Funk- God and his creation were on good terms. Throughout the first chapter of Genesis we can almost hear nature clapping loud approval after each “God saw that it was good” statement. The Creator masterfully painted the flowers with deep red, gold, and violet...
Big Picture Status of United Methodism – Part III (Europe/Asia)
By Thomas Lambrecht- Over the last several weeks of Perspective, I have been surveying the growth and decline of United Methodism around the globe. The statistical report is available here. The big picture is that most of Methodism around the globe is in decline, with...
