There are two things I’ve noticed in my own life and in the lives of people I know that tend to lead toward less divisiveness and greater Christian unity. These are: 1) A focus on doing mission 2) A focus on the study of scripture What’s interesting is that people can differ on how to…
Or you might say, denominations (or even just “organizations”) and innovation. We don’t have to work within the system if we don’t want to. We can work without it. We can go outside of it. We can leave it if it continues to stifle us. I might have preferred “if God calls us to,” but…
I’m struck by the fear with which churches greet new ideas. No, I think I should make it more direct than that. I’m struck by the fear with which churches greet ideas. Any type of ideas. The type of people who manifest this sort of fear are generally those who are either unable to support…
J. Lee Grady steps on some toes again. In general, these apply to any leader, especially the point about accountability. A lack of accountability undermines any other efforts.
Dave Black responded to my previous post on the United Methodist Church by referring to some thoughts he has had on his own denomination. I want to quote them here, since Dave’s blog doesn’t make linking to a particular entry possible. 7:55 AM Noted Methodist blogger Henry Neufeld ponders the question, How to cure the…
A great quote: We Americans aren’t very good at absolute authority, but we presently have the opposite of it in the UMC – we have an episcopacy shackled to lead, but convenient to blame. It’s a great system to play armchair quarterback in, but it doesn’t make disciples. Go read the rest. It’s thought provoking.
This blogger thinks so. I think he has a point.
It wasn’t as funny as if they’d gone into a bar, but it was considerably more enlightening. It might appear that having two complementarians against one egalitarian was unfair, but Rachel clearly had no problem with the format, and the host pointed out that, though he was playing neutral moderator, he was more inclined to…
United Methodist Insight led me to Jeremy Smith’s article, Defeating the Dark Side of Church Metrics. I recommend the second link because of comments. Since one commenter talks about people who oppose accountability but who receive their paycheck from the church, let me note that I am a United Methodist layman, and I do not…
I’m delighted that my church, First United Methodist Church of Pensacola has started offering Holy Communion at all services. For several years this has been offered at the ICON service and at the 9:30 service, but was only offered monthly at the others. Now this will be consistent, and I think closer to the way…