Being the Church in a War Zone
By Bob Kaylor - Driving through the countryside of the Normandy region of France feels a bit like entering the world of an animated Walt Disney film. The green fields, bushy hedgerows, lolling cows, and medieval-period stone houses, churches, and barns call to mind...
Not Losing Hope on the Road to Emmaus
By Reverend Rob Renfroe - Just one week earlier the two men had come to Jerusalem. On what would later be called Palm Sunday, they entered the city with Jesus. Their hearts swelled as the crowds shouted his name and called him king. They watched him enter the Temple...
The Wesleyan family tree
By Kenneth C. Kinghorn John Wesley invented no new theological doctrines. “Whatever doctrine is new must be wrong,” he wrote, “and no doctrine can be right, unless it is the very same ‘which was from the beginning.’” Mr. Wesley said, “If Methodism…be a new discovery...
Rediscovering John Wesley
By James V. Heidinger II In my retirement, there has been a welcome change of pace. In the midst of several major family projects, it has been refreshing to have time to do a lot of reading. One of the big serendipities this fall has been working through Basic United...
Lessons in the desert
By B.J. Funk If his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, had asked a young John what he would be when he grew up, he likely had no response. But, fast forward the story of John to his adulthood, and hear his firm answer: “I am the voice of one who cries from the...
A challenging future
By Walter Fenton Clearly, the United Methodist Church is in for some serious challenges. True, people have been saying this since the merger in 1968, but the present environment is significantly different. The church continues to face the perennial problems of...
A judicious decision for United Methodism
By Rob Renfroe A reassuring ruling from the Judicial Council was released on November 2, 2009. The Council serves as the supreme court of the United Methodist Church and it functions as a binding interpreter of church law as stated in The Book of Discipline. At...
Blessing your community
By Brett DeHart How can a small and shrinking church, which no longer matches the demographics of its community, be faithful to the task of making disciples of Jesus Christ? That is the question many smaller churches across the country face. It is the question that...
