Growth of Global Methodists
By Keith Boyette The process of church disaffiliation has completed its second wave, with churches disaffiliating through special sessions of their annual conferences in the fall. This piecemeal process of disaffiliation is not what we had hoped for when I joined...
Surprise at the Tomb
By Kimberly Constant Every spring as nature awakens from its winter slumber and life bursts forth anew, the church revisits the heart of the gospel message. An old rugged cross. The discovery of an empty tomb. The wonder of a risen Lord. The promise of an eternal...
Rethinking Success
By Scott Sauls The book of Ecclesiastes is a confounding, long-hand essay written by a man who on the one hand has immeasurable power, wealth, possessions, feasting, and pleasure, and on the other hand cannot find happiness. As I think about Ecclesiastes and all the...
Bartimaeus and the Brothel
By Jenifer Jones Sharon Hill* is a storyteller. She recites passages of Scripture in an interactive way, inviting listeners to see themselves in the story and to experience the Jesus they are hearing about. She does this primarily among Muslims and among people who...
Hard to Admit I’m Wrong
By B.J. Funk You and I are cofounders of the “Can’t Admit When I’m Wrong” club. One of us realized its truth first, but I can’t recall if it was you or me. It’s almost unfair how we were selected because, at the time, both of us were terribly young and in control of...
The M28 Difference
By Eddie and Allyson Willis On a July morning in the mountains at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, young people and their leaders from youth ministries around the Southeast have just finished breakfast and are gathered outside the entrances of Shackford Hall in the...
Analyzing Disaffiliating Churches
By Thomas Lambrecht A recent report by Lovett Weems of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership purports to examine the 2,000 or so churches that disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church by the end of 2022. The Weems report was supposedly intended to discover the...
Methodist Heritage: Bishop Matthew Simpson
By James V. Heidinger II It would not be long before I began hearing much about Matthew Simpson, the renowned son of Cadiz, Ohio. He was a nationally-recognized Methodist bishop and then president of Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University). He was also...