Abundant Life
By Shannon Vowell - Spring pushing white and lavender and pink into dazzling prominence as the gray and brown disappear. Easter joy writ large on the landscape. Alongside the greening, something new in my neighborhood, a winter-is-over ritual: Regiments of...
When Movements Lose Direction
By Windfield Bevins - Methodism swept across the American frontier like an uncontrollable prairie fire. That is hardly how we would describe it today. There are great benefits in considering some of the things that led the decline of Methodism. What lessons can...
Haitian Methodists, UMCOR assess volunteer needs
By Linda Bloom The Methodist Church in Haiti and United Methodist Committee on Relief are identifying “suitable projects and assignments” for volunteer teams wishing to assist with earthquake recovery in Haiti. Both groups are asking volunteers to delay their arrival...
Bishop Scott Jones addresses pro-life service
By Connor Ewing In what has unfortunately become a rare occurrence, the United Methodist Building in Washington, D.C. was used on the morning of January 22 to defend the dignity and sanctity of unborn life. The occasion was the twenty-second annual Lifewatch Sanctity...
Releasing your loved ones to serve
By Frank Decker “For what are you willing to die?” That was a sobering, yet defining query asked of me by an older pastor during the early days of my ministry. I now find myself asking aspiring missionaries that same question. Though an unpleasant subject, it is the...
Reviving prayer
By Emily Cooper and Jan Surratt One church launched a prayer altar ministry, another initiated prayer partners, and one other called for the creation of prayer spaces. At still another church, the pastor set aside the lectionary for part of the summer to preach on...
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor March/April 2010 Stop the dollars As a retired elder from the Western North Carolina Annual Conference, I read with interest in your Jan/Feb 2010 issue, the article about the meeting with the “Renewal group leaders and the Bishops’...
Two lives we celebrate: W.A. Amerson and Edgar Nelson
By James V. Heidinger II This spring at our annual conference sessions, pastors and lay delegates will open with a Memorial Service honoring members and spouses who have died during the past year. At this always-touching service, we will lift our voices, singing...
