In Michigan the 11th largest city in the U.S. is called “Dih-TROIT.” However, in northeast Texas, there is a village called “DEE-troit” with a population of 732 and a United Methodist church whose membership has gradually declined from around 100 to 56. This Easter, they had an alarmingly low attendance of 15. I’ve just spent five days with them, talking about “re-vitalization.” If we can develop a plan for revitalizing Martin Memorial UMC in Detroit, Texas, it might be helpful as a paradigm for other churches in pretty much the [...]

Recently I saw the film version of Les Misérables, a moving portrayal of the fading of the old order and the rising of the new. At the barricades in the streets of Paris, the young and restless lost and the old order prevailed for another day. But the forces for change had a battle cry: that however black the night, it would soon yield to the dawning of a new day. I cannot support a division of United Methodism. However, divisiveness, acrimony and socio-theological elitism continue to erode our numerical [...]