It’s a Math Thing
In conversations about United Methodist disaffiliations, I’ve heard lots of talk about people voting “abstain” and how those “should be counted”. First some disaffiliation background… In disaffiliation votes, in order to succeed, a vote must garner 67% (66.6%) or more “yes” votes of the “members present.” So, if 100 members are present, a church would […]
A Big Fat So What?!?!
This article was originally published in St. Mark’s Messenger, November, 2020 edition. We’re in the middle of a very contentious election. We’re also in the midst of a global pandemic. I’ve seen Christians from all over the country fighting about how everyone should vote “if you’re a real Christian!” “If you’re a believer, I don’t […]
Lent Again
Sometime around Christmas I always make it a point to say out loud that the Wise Men never appeared at the manger; we don’t know how many of them there were; and nothing indicates they were kings (in fact, royalty is highly unlikely given what we do know). I can bank on someone telling me […]
Reading the wrinkles
Well, we received word today of another wrinkle in the Protocol to split the United Methodist Church amicably. The Annual Conference of Liberia passed a resolution regarding the Protocol on Friday that takes issue with all of the main planks in the Protocol’s platform. You can read the entire resolution here –> https://peopleneedjesus.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/resolution-of-the-lac-umc-to-the-global-church-for-partners.pdf A few […]
It’s rarely just 2
Many others have made note of the topic of today’s post, but I wanted to wade into these waters for just a bit to express my perspective. As the ‘resident theologian’ (a common phrase to remind pastors of their primary role) at a local church, I am often asked questions about this or that hot […]
Déjà vu
[written for the St. Mark’s UMC Newsletter, February, 2020 edition] Here we go again. Fair warning … this one’s gonna be long. The specially called General Conference 2019 (GC19) was billed as the GC where the United Methodist Church would finally resolve its longstanding impasse regarding homosexual practice. After bickering since 1972, we were poised […]
Getting The Band Back Together
Today, I am restarting a blog. I’ve blogged in the past, and I find the practice difficult because I never liked writing on a schedule. In the past, I’ve started a blog just to have a place to ‘speak’ and engage people. This restart has a particular purpose at the onset. If I continue writing […]
Are We Splitting?
Prepared for Church Council – 21 January 2020 About the Protocol Itself Announcing the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation”The announcement about the proposal that ignited the conversations. https://www.umnews.org/en/news/diverse-leaders-group-offers-separation-plan The Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through SeparationThis is the actual signed document of the agreement. It lays out all of the elements agreed to […]