This blog is published in the wake of the escalating conflict between Hamas and Israel over the weekend. Context: For My Fellow Well-Meaning Outsiders I am not an international political expert. I am not Palestinian nor am I Israeli. I am a pastor and a theologian concerned for the wellbeing and reconciliation of all Creation—an attitude all Christians are called to embrace (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). I am concerned with the ways Christians and my fellow White liberals discuss the current situation in Palestine and Israel. I say this not with cynicism but with deep care for the ways in which we c ..read more

The role of bishops (known as the office of the “episcopacy” in church lingo) has been one of the most divisive topics throughout our history as a movement. This week, I flew back to the U.S. from my Ph.D. program in Vienna, Austria, to join my fellow delegates as we gather at Jurisdictional Conferences across the U.S. to discern and elect new episcopal leaders—and the role of bishops is, yet again, a hot topic for (United) Methodism. Let me say this clearly: I believe the elections taking place this week across The UMC in the U.S. are a crucial next step in building and embodying The UMC of t ..read more

Image from General Conference 2012, taken from https://noihasseen.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/we-believe/. Context: Today, May 1, 2022, a fringe group of anti-LGBTQ+ former United Methodist clergy and lay people officially launched a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church (GMC). United Methodist polity was confusing even before the pandemic so if you’re wondering “how did they do that?”, UMNews has a helpful article about the GMC’s launch and what it means for everyday United Methodists. The short story The UMC has not officially split. The General Conference is the only body that has the ..read more

Jack-o-lantern from GettyImages. Grace for Methodists is like decorating with pumpkins for Halloween: almost everyone could identify that the one is an essential part of the other, but few would be able to thoroughly explain why. Unlike jack-o’-lanterns, however, grace is not only a meaningful decorative addition; grace is the core of our Wesleyan faith—an essential element that enabled the early Wesleyan/Methodist movement to unite both personal piety and acts of mercy, evangelical preaching with social responsibility and justice. In this brief blog (adapted from a UM History & Doctrine ..read more

Today we celebrate the shimmer of justice on the troubled sea of the U.S. The murderer of George Perry Floyd Jr. has been convicted. We celebrate that a jury of peers recognized the disturbing injustice done by former officer Derek Chauvin. We celebrate that in this instance the justice system of this country was able to live up to its namesake. And we celebrate, among other things, the light that this trial will shine on the depths of police brutality and racism, which must be dismantled. Today, we also mourn. We mourn the fact that so many Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), Asian Am ..read more

Context: On Saturday, February 13th, 2021, U.S. delegates to General Conference and the five Jurisdictional Conferences of the U.S. gathered to hear a proposal from some members of the Council of Bishops that recommends no additional bishops be elected at the next Jurisdictional Conferences. You can watch the Webinar here. Correction (2/16/21): Though I received information from a Central Conference delegate that the African bishops took a pay cut, there is no evidence to support this from the GCFA. I have also received information from UMNews that bishops are not given club status with airlin ..read more

Therefore the land will mourn, and all its inhabitants will perish. The wild animals, the birds of the sky, and even the fish in the sea will perish. Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else: for my case is against you priests! You stumble day and night, and the false prophets stumble with you; You have destroyed your own people! (Hosea 4:3-5, NRSV) Tonight, just 8 days before the election, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by the senate as the next Justice to the Supreme Court. This confirmation not only breaks the precedents which Republicans themselves advocated, it leaves us ..read more

A photo of Garrett Memorial Chapel on Keuka Lake, New York. Recently I was asked in one of my seminary classes to reflect on why I think of worship in the way that I do—and to figure out what exactly I do think of worship (which is ongoing). The prompt was: In 750-1000 words, write a liturgical autobiography/ritual memoir that focuses upon the cultural, familial, spiritual/theological, and ritual formative experiences that have shaped your understandings and practices of worship. So much of my Christian experience has been doing and believing what others told me to do and believe. From Sunday ..read more

After the proposed dates for General Conference 2021 were leaked two weeks ago, I teamed up with Ann Jacob, Jessica Vittorio, Alejandra Salemi, and Carlene Fogle-Miller, all young United Methodists, to petition the Commission on the General Conference to choose alternative dates. The proposed dates are August 31-September 10, 2021--at the same time that many young people will be moving to new places for the start of university semesters, young professors will beginning new terms, and young parents will be getting their children into the new routines for their first days of school. See the prob ..read more

It may seem too soon to see hope. It is. And it isn’t. First, we have to allow ourselves room to name and experience grief. We have lost a lot. This pandemic is showing us all what folks at the margins of our capitalist system experience daily: lack of food, not enough income to pay rent, not having access to the supplies we want or need, lack of access to medial care. For many of us, we are experiencing a profound amount of insecurity—a looming darkness in our consciousness so heavy and opaque that it numbs us or weighs on our spirits inducing anxiety and uncontrollable fear. It’s healthy to ..read more