I’m very thankful to Shelley Walters who sent in the following guest contribution as she advocates for a resolution to be considered by annual conferences as they begin their 2023 season. I certainly resonate with her call to “stop settling for crumbs” at such a time as this, and to reclaim the middle ground from those who have scorched the earth. Read on.  Credit: Depositphotos === Have We Lost Sight of the Middle?  A Resolution for Annual Conference Consideration Shelley Walters Early in its inception in England, the people called Methodists found themselves caught between contenti ..read more

Lately, several open letters have surfaced urging people to review or lift the suspension of Western Jurisdiction Bishop Minerva Carcaño (you can read the latest official update on this matter here). Nevertheless, we have yet to hear from members of her annual conference to, which she is accountable to and has authority over. Fortunately, we now have an update from some of those clergy members. Open Letter The following is a full-text copy of the Open Letter on Facebook. May 1, 2023 An open letter to: United Methodist Council of Bishops, c/o Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, President General Comm ..read more

Origin Stories, Lessons Learned, and Favorite Posts over the years! Origin Story Q&A A friend suggested some questions to respond to, so here they are for this momentous post! Why did you start the blog? In the fall of 2002, I first dipped my toes into online discussion and advocacy. Sure, I had entered into online arguments about church and society and frequented several online message boards and forums. But unlike the Christian forums, which required assent to pages of beliefs to converse, I wanted to create a respectful space for interfaith online discussion that didn’t require peopl ..read more

We miss the power of Palm Sunday when we frame it as a dignified welcome for a king; the true power of the scene comes when we frame it as a drag show. CC0 License Frames Matter Scripture is full of different genres of literature. There’s poetry in the Psalms, wisdom quotes that could fit on a meme in Proverbs, narrative in the Gospels, history accounts in Acts, operating instructions for purity and for building a temple in Leviticus, and so many more. When we read scripture, it’s important to know what genre we are reading, so we can understand how it was originally received. We get into trou ..read more

I write this on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent in the Church. These 40 days are popularly characterized by “giving something up” for Lent. Eight years ago, and reposted every year since, I criticized Christians who “give up social media for Lent.” I was wrong. Here’s why. The Theory: Missionaries to a Digital Culture Dr. Leonard Sweet (@lensweet) is a church futurist who has many evocative books about Christianity and our changing culture. In a video of him that I have archived from The Work of The People (not available anymore, sorry), Sweet talks about social m ..read more

Five states significantly reduced the effects of the opioid epidemic through one unusual accountability practice, and Methodists of all kinds would do well to pay attention.  Accountability in Triplicate On a July 2022 episode of his podcast Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell looks at the opioid epidemic. He stumbled upon an “ah-ha” moment that made me think of the United Methodist Church.  In the episode “In Triplicate,” Gladwell examines an obscure line in the California Narcotics Act of 1939 that stated prescriptions of addictive painkillers (i.e., opioids) had to be prescribe ..read more

Nine years ago in one of the most-commented articles ever, this blog articulated “Methodism 2.0” which predicted what would lead to transformation in The United Methodist Church. Flickr Creative Commons share The Origins Nine years ago, my spouse and I both had the same model of iPhone but it had one difference: I had completed an upgrade of the iOS operating system, while she was sticking with the old version. We both had the same hardware but were running different software. Incidentally, this continues throughout our marriage as I am an early adopter and she resists changing an operating sy ..read more

Progressives and Traditionalists likely have complicated feelings about the ruling. UMNS photo by K. Barry What Year is it in United Methodism? When the 2020 General Conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then postponed again, folks assumed that it might be cancelled entirely and the next conference would be a new one in 2024. However, when the latest postponement came out, it said the 2020 General Conference was postponed to 2024, not that 2024 was a new conference. This is significant language because it means that the delegates elected to 2020 would continue to serve at ..read more

Elections are over in The United Methodist Church, and the future is bright, no matter who tries to steal our joy.  Bishop Elections The 2022 episcopal elections in The United Methodist Church were dramatic affairs. WJ elected more “Firsts” in their long list of Firsts for the denomination. SCJ filled every election on the first ballot (!!). And though a Black, queer candidate was a top vote-getter on NEJ ballots, the jurisdiction got locked in a gridlock and delayed the election of their second bishop until 2024. Drama indeed! UMNS reported several notable election results, including ..read more

Jurisdictional Conference is a time when new things can happen, and I’m excited for what can come next in 2022 for the Western Jurisdiction. Communion Table at WJUMC 2016 Many “Firsts” in Jurisdictional Leadership In 2016, a clergyperson in my annual conference (I’ve now forgotten who?) wrote about the many “firsts” in the West that came about at our Jurisdictional Conferences that elect bishops and provide jurisdictional leadership.  In 1972 Wilbur Won Yan Choy was elected by the Western Jurisdiction as the first Asian-American bishop in The United Methodist Church. In 1984 the Western ..read more