The Traditional Pastor of the Counter-Cultural Emergent Church
A perspective from Dr. Tom Pace, Senior Pastor of St. Luke’s UMC in Houston, Texas. Everyone knows the narrative. Seen and unseen forces in the world are pulling us apart. Red versus blue. Conservative versus progressive. White versus black or brown. Rich versus...
Why I’m Not Leaving the UMC
A perspective from the Rev. Steve West of First United Methodist Church Arab, Alabama. A few weeks ago, hundreds of North Alabama Methodists that consider themselves traditional, orthodox, and conservative met at Clearbranch UMC to talk about splitting from the...
A Wide Embrace
A perspective from Dr. Paul W. Chilcote, Retired United Methodist Theologian & Historian. My study of the life and work of John and Charles Wesley cultivated a deep love of the Anglican tradition in me. One particular collect that comes from the Book of...
“We are walking together at a different pace.”
A perspective from Pastor Sungho Lee (Concord UMC, Cal.-Nev. AC) Last year, we had a “holy conferencing” session at our annual conference. Annual conference delegates were mixed in small groups. No one person was from the same church in a group. Clergy and lay were...
A reflection from John Stephens, Senior Pastor at Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston, TX
On Friday January 3, major news outlets reported the press release from a broad group of United Methodist leaders who have agreed in principle to a separation over the issue of human sexuality. The Washington Post, New York Times, Christianity...
Words of Wisdom from Don Underwood and Chris Dowd, Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, TX
United Methodist Church members and friends, Since July of 2019 a small group of United Methodist leaders, representing most of the caucus groups and theological positions of our church, has been quietly negotiating to find a way through the United Methodist...
A Special Word from Bishop David Graves
Friends, Last week the United Methodist Church was in the national media headlines regarding a potential split in the denomination. A press release about a proposed agreement for separation sparked this media attention. Many of the secular headlines caused...
To Redefine The Connection: Loving our Neighbor with a Convicted Humility
At the Council of Bishops meeting earlier this month, Bishop Ken Carter, President of the Council, addressed the plenary with the address below. Redefining The Connection The scope of the Way Forward was to “redefine our present connectionality” (2016). This is more...
