Destination with God
By Shannon Vowell I like to use Google maps on my phone. I type in the address of where I need to go, and, presto! A map appears right there in the palm of my hand, along with step-by-step instructions for getting from where I am to where I want to be. I can even...
Pilgrimage as a Spiritual Possibility
By James R. Thobaben In 1864, as the American Civil War turned toward its inevitable (and proper) conclusion, Methodists in North Carolina published The Southern Zion’s Songster. Included in the work, albeit uncredited, was “I’m a Pilgrim and I’m a Stranger,” a poem...
Complaint Dismissed Against Openly Gay Clergywoman in Iowa
By Walter Fenton- Bishop Julius Trimble has dismissed a complaint filed against a United Methodist clergywoman who announced during a plenary session of the 2016 Iowa Annual Conference, "I am a self-avowed practicing homosexual. Or in my language, I am out, queer,...
Jerry Kulah to Address at WCA Chicago Gathering
The Rev. Jerry Kulah, West Africa Central Conference Coordinator of the UMC Africa Initiative and the dean of the Gbarnga School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary in Liberia, is set to speak at the WCA launch event Friday, October 7. Jerry is an ordained United...
Jessica LaGrone’s Invitation to the Wesleyan Covenant Association
"During this time of uncertainty and chaos in our church the Wesleyan Covenant Association is a fresh voice of hope,” says the Rev. Jessica LaGrone, Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. In her invitation to United Methodists to join...
Faithfully Forward
By Rob Renfroe- If the Western Jurisdiction wanted to create a schism within The United Methodist Church, its delegates could not have devised a better plan than their recent election of the Rev. Karen Oliveto to serve as a bishop of the UM Church. As is widely...
The Martyr’s Invitation
By Steve Beard- “Jacques, you were a faithful disciple of Jesus.” If he were given the opportunity to overhear the proceedings at his own funeral, these are the words that Father Jacques Hamel would have been most pleased to hear. They were said with a mixture of...
West Elects Oliveto
The Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto, senior minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, has been elected as a bishop by the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. She is the first openly married lesbian to be elected bishop within the...
