106 Florida churches file lawsuits
By Thomas Lambrecht It was announced this week that 106 United Methodist congregations in Florida have filed lawsuits against the annual conference after invitations to negotiate an amicable exit were ignored and rejected by the Florida Annual Conference. The...
Editorial: Be Forewarned
By Rob Renfroe Will the post-separation United Methodist Church be “the big tent” denomination that centrist pastors and bishops claim it will be? Leading centrists tell us that there will always be a place for traditionalists. The beliefs of conservatives will be...
Two Boards of Ordained Ministry Spurn Judicial Council Rulings
By Walter Fenton- The Boards of Ordained Ministry of both the New York and Pacific Northwest Annual Conferences have announced they will not abide by recent rulings of The United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, the denomination's final arbiter of church law. In...
Largest Congregation in Mississippi Parts Ways with UM Church
By Walter Fenton- The largest local church in the Mississippi Annual Conference in terms of worship attendance and one of the 25 fastest growing churches in the U.S. has now officially exited The United Methodist Church. According to lead pastor Bryan Collier, The...
Eyes of Faith
By Rob Renfroe- Years ago I heard a preacher say, “It’s not what happens to you, but what happens in you that makes the difference.” I have come to believe that statement is true. And I’m grateful it is because we cannot control what happens to us but we always have a...
A Cup of Joe & John Wesley
Coffee drinking may be an essential component of any modern day United Methodist church, but John Wesley was not a big fan. Neither did he champion the cause of tea: “But three cups of strong tea will now make my hand shake, so that I can hardly write.” In his health...
Judicial Council Decision
Not long after our deadline, the nine-member Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church (the denomination’s Supreme Court) responded to the South Central Jurisdictional Conference, regarding the election of Mountain Sky Area Bishop Karen Oliveto, the...
Loosening the Connection?
By Heather Hahn- The 32 members of the Commission on a Way Forward are getting down to the business of doing what their name says — helping a denomination deeply divided over homosexuality move toward some sort of future together. That future could end up looking very...
