Fair for Some, Fair for All
Fair for Some, Fair for All By Simon Mafunda The recent commentary written by Christine Schneider for UM News of March 28 needs to be addressed. It directly responds to a commentary by Rob Renfroe, the president of Good News, who...
Fondly Remembering Carolyn Elias (1931-2024)
Fondly Remembering Carolyn Elias (1931-2024) The Good News staff and board of directors were saddened to hear of the passing of our longtime friend and treasured colleague, Carolyn Parrish Elias (1931-2024). The Good News Board of directors presented its eighth annual...
A Momentous Year
By Thomas Lambrecht It is hard to wrap our minds around how things have changed in The United Methodist Church over the past year. Last January, we were looking forward to a General Conference meeting in August 2022. The Protocol of Grace and Reconciliation through...
Faith in a Time of Transition
By Thomas Lambrecht This is the final week of Advent, a season of preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and preparing for his coming again. Advent reminds us that we are in the time “between the times.” We are in the time between Jesus’ first and second...
An Incoherent Judicial Council Decision
By Thomas Lambrecht This week, the United Methodist Judicial Council (the equivalent of our church supreme court) handed down Decision 1451 regarding the processes to govern the 2024 meeting of the General Conference. This decision responded to requests from the...
Considering Methodist Options
By Thomas Lambrecht By the end of this year (2022), about 2,000 local churches will have disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church. Hundreds more will do so next year. Where will they end up? A few will remain as independent Methodist churches. The vast majority...
Why Disaffiliating Churches Should Not Be Charged for Their Property
By Charles L. Harrell The Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference (BWC) is one of those conferences that Good News and the Wesleyan Covenant Association has identified as imposing egregious terms on disaffiliating local churches, particularly the levy of 50 percent of...
Charting a New Direction for the UMC (Part II)
By Thomas Lambrecht With the recent election of thirteen new bishops, the active Council of Bishops will be made up of one-third new members on January 1, 2023. As such, they will play a powerful role in setting the direction of The United Methodist Church into the...
