united methodist church

Lay of the Land: Getting to know gay people makes big difference

April 12, 2013 Posted by Special Contributor 15 Comments

By Richard Hearne, UMR Columnist… In the roughly 30 years I have been involved in local church, annual conference, jurisdiction and General Conference activities, I have been in many contentious [...]

Consider consequences of UMC breakup

April 4, 2013 Posted by Special Contributor 10 Comments

By Ted A. Campbell, Special Contributor… The possibility of dividing the United Methodist Church as a way out of persistent conflicts over homosexuality has been raised enough times in recent years to warrant serious reflection on what it would entail. The fact that Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Lutherans have all seen either formal divisions or significant withdrawals of congregations from their denominations over these issues does not bode well for the UMC. But as tempting as the idea might be as a way out of our conflicts, we would have to [...]

Question for UMC: Why should I trust you?

February 27, 2013 Posted by Special Contributor 7 Comments

By Ben Boruff, Special Contributor… As conversations about denominational vitality and increasingly global mission efforts move to the forefront of the UMC’s mind—as they should—trust-related issues pepper our thoughts. In a recent United Methodist News Service report about the Connectional Table, Bishop Bruce Ough, the group’s new chair, noted “the intense level of distrust that exists within the United Methodist Church.” Bishop Ough continued, highlighting the possibility of “reformation and reordering and re-energizing,” but his initial diagnosis should not be overlooked. Given the frequency and certainty with which we mention [...]

Cecil and Janice – Unlikely pair writes of leading Glide Memorial UMC

February 14, 2013 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor 1 Comment

They are the odd couple of United Methodism, but the ministry results can hardly be questioned. The Rev. Cecil Williams, a destined-to-be-a-pastor African American and extreme extrovert, and Janice Mirikitani, a Japanese American introvert and religious skeptic, led Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco to become one of the UMC’s largest and most service-oriented churches—and a rare liberal megachurch. They married along the way, and now, having stepped aside from top leadership of the church, they’ve written a memoir called Beyond the Possible. Ask what it was like to write [...]

Celebrating Lon Morris College: a sermon on Isaiah 51: 1-3

January 27, 2013 Posted by Special Contributor 1 Comment

Editor’s Note: The Rev. Ted Campbell preached this sermon Saturday, Jan. 26, at the “final homecoming” for UM-affiliated Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. The venerable two year school filed for bankruptcy last summer after years of deficits, and recently saw its campus auctioned off. Morris, Morris, dear Lon Morris, Surely thou wilt be ever worthy of our homage; Morris, hail to thee! It seems like I’ve lost two mothers in the last couple of years. My biological mother, Lucretia Cammack Campbell, died on September 30, 2011. My alma mater, another [...]

Commentary: Two conversations that helped renew my hope

January 27, 2013 Posted by Special Contributor 2 Comments

By Richard Hearne, Special Contributor… As a member of the North Texas Conference delegation to the last three General Conference sessions and an annual conference lay leader from 2008-2012, I [...]

SMU chaplain: The United Methodist Church is imploding

January 25, 2013 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor 4 Comments

By Stephen W. Rankin, Special Contributor… I just finished teaching in the certification class at Perkins School of Youth Ministry. To the whole group last Monday and to the class members throughout the week, I said several hard things about the future. One of the hard things I said was, “The United Methodist Church is imploding.” Two qualifying statements as I start: 1. We normally think of an implosion happening very quickly, like a building wired with dynamite to drop vertically into a heap in a matter of seconds. Obviously, United Methodism’s [...]

Wesleyan Wisdom: Bad news can be good, if it stirs faithful courage

January 23, 2013 Posted by Donald W. Haynes, UMR Columnist 2 Comments

Something about a recent editorial by Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye. To me, it suggested a parallel between the state of the Republican Party and [...]

A United Methodist Church united for our daughters

November 5, 2012 Posted by Special Contributor 6 Comments

By Ben Gosden and Jeremy Smith, Special Contributors… As we write this article, Jeremy is in Portland, Ore., holding his 2-week-old daughter, Anjali. Ben is 2,000 miles away in Macon, Ga., holding his 8-month-old daughter, Olivia. We have a lot in common. We are both United Methodist elders under age 35—Jeremy is fully ordained and Ben is coming up for ordination interviews this next year. We are both associate ministers at our churches. And we both want a better UMC for our daughters than the one we inherited. We both [...]

Fall 2012 Judicial Council roundup

October 30, 2012 Posted by Special Contributor Leave a Comment

The Judicial Council for 2012-16 took up a full docket during its Oct. 24-27 session in Elk Grove Village, Ill. From left: Belton Joyner, J. Kabamba Kiboko, N. Oswald Tweh Sr., and Kathi Austin Mahle. Standing from left: Ruben T. Reyes, Dennis Blackwell, Beth Capen, William B. Lawrence and Angela Brown. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.

A report from the Oct. 24-27 meeting of the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, which considered18 cases.