Diversity Within our Unity

I would have never learned the real story unless I had been in a conversation with someone from a different racial history who had different knowledge from mine.

It makes me wonder how much more we could be learning from each other. And it makes me excited and hopeful about the potential of an emerging United Methodist Church. Those of us who choose to remain United Methodist in a new, emerging church have the blessed possibility of both holding on to the history of who we are, and at the same time refocusing our present and our future in order to hear everyone’s stories. It's a rare opportunity to celebrate the beautiful diversity of gifts that everyone brings to the table, to write a new, more inclusive history.

TheologyRev. Dr. Jean HawxhurstAugust 5, 2020Comment

Something Better

Author: Bishop Roy I. Sano

TheologyBishop Roy I. SanoJuly 6, 2020Comment

Fiesta: The Act of Resistance!

This is what fiesta does. It strengthens and renews us. It empowers and emboldens us to sing our songs
even in a foreign land (Ps. 137:4). So, in the face of fear, fiesta! In the face of oppression, fiesta! In the face of the unknown, fiesta! Because fiesta is an act of resistance! Fiesta es un acto de resistencia.

EcclesiologyRev. Lydia MuñozJune 30, 2020Comment

Church: An Egalitarian and Inclusive Community

Similarly, human beings have been created in the image of God as an egalitarian community in which all members care for one another and coexist. When people hurt each other with discrimination and injustice, the image of God in humanity gets broken, marred, and lost. Whenever the marginalized suffer due to injustice, God’s image is broken. Jesus’ ministry of equality restored the broken image of God. Today’s church must continue the same mission

EcclesiologyRev. Dr. Hwa-Young ChongJune 15, 2020Comment

Delighting in Our Stories Together, Even in Uncertain Times

"...our staff decided to commit together to be spiritually grounded during this time. We resisted the temptation to go into hyperactive overdrive mode. We decided that, in this season, what we really need is to keep it simple—to share stories and delight in them together.”

LeadershipMichelle HettmanMay 27, 2020LeadershipComment

The Power of Through (Galatians 5: 22-23, Luke 24:13-35)

HistoryAlfred T. Day IIIApril 30, 2020History, historyComment

The Traditional Pastor of the Counter-Cultural Emergent Church

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 poor. Education versus no education. Pick your faction or fraction. So how does one lead a church in this kind of culture?

LeadershipDr. Thomas J. PaceApril 1, 2020Leadership, leadershipComment

Structural Journeys and the Shadows They Cast on Lay Women

StructureGlory DharmarajOctober 17, 2019StructureComment

The Ancient Tree

…In God’s forest called The United Methodist Church, every tree is important, whether young or old, splintered or splintery, filled with strength or struggling to stand…

EcclesiologyAshley Crowder-StanleyAugust 21, 2019ecclesiologyComment

Slam Poem: Why Now?

At the 2019 Michigan Annual Conference, the Rev. Dillon Burns performed this slam poem at the commissioning and ordination service to celebrate and honor new leaders entering ministry. The poem addresses the question, “Why would you become a new leader in this church at this time?

EcclesiologyRev. Dillon BurnsAugust 10, 2019ecclesiologyComment

Reflections on Leadership, Part I

What kind of leadership fits this moment? How should we lead toward resurrection and new life? Indeed, these questions raise a quandary. How do we lead into something new when we don’t really know what “new” looks like? Or, rather, how do we lead when “new” could take many viable forms, including some that retain core elements of the old? Ultimately, how do we lead in ways that call for new ways of being, particularly at a time in which assumptions and typical ways of doing must be reexamined. How do we lead when we don’t know the way?…

LeadershipRev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai and Eric MartinJuly 31, 2019leadershipComment

Reflections on Leadership, Part II

Each time Jesus asked Peter, and Peter affirmed his love, Jesus asked again. It was not enough for Peter to proclaim his love. It was not enough for Peter to express the emotion. Jesus called Peter to an expression of love beyond emotion. What Jesus wanted of Peter was action—or perhaps more than action. Jesus wanted of Peter a complete orientation of his life to service in the name of Christ. So, Jesus essentially gives the same direction three times, “Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.”…

LeadershipRev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai and Eric MartinJuly 31, 2019leadershipComment

Reflections on Leadership, Part III

A key failure of leadership is the inability or unwillingness to recognize and deal with woundedness and loss. The hurry to “do something” or feelings of guilt and responsibility sometimes result in impatience at hearing and touching the woundedness of the church.

LeadershipRev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai and Eric MartinJuly 31, 2019leadershipComment

Reflections on Leadership, Part IV

Jesus is inviting us as leaders to face squarely this woundedness—to face the grief, anger and pain of our own woundedness, and to face loss. Heifetz has noted, “What people resist is not change per se, but loss. ” Indeed, many change efforts fail because the leaders trying to bring about change fail to recognize and deal with loss. It is the same with the church. We cannot hold space for divinely inspired resurrection unless we hold space in the church and within ourselves for divinely inspired loss…

LeadershipRev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai and Eric MartinJuly 31, 2019leadershipComment

Reflections on Leadership, Part V

The truth be told, we don’t know where The United Methodist Church is heading. We don’t know the solution to our dilemmas. When we think we do, we are in danger of repeating old patterns, patterns and solutions that exclude and push people away, destroy trust, and have long contributed to the difficulties we face. In other words, our best thinking got us here…

Characteristics of Leadership Needed for United Methodism’s Future

The coming decades will present all churches with challenges beyond their current leadership capabilities. This may be especially the case for well-established traditions such as the United Methodist Church that thrived in more stable eras. Leadership skills from the past may not fit the disruptive challenges of an utterly changed social, cultural, and demographic landscape. We offer these five competencies needed by church leaders of the future…

LeadershipCynthia D. Weems and Lovett H. Weems, Jr. July 30, 2019leadershipComment

Remembering the Mission During Disagreements

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world became an increasingly complicated endeavor as the Christian mission expanded beyond Judea.

While the new Christian community in Antioch was growing and attracting large numbers of Gentiles, rumors began to spread that they were pushing the limits of sound Jesus teaching and of the Jewish tradition. For some time, the leadership at the center of the movement in Jerusalem had accepted the move from an exclusively Jewish interpretation of Jesus’ sending to a broader understanding that included all people. (Acts 11)…

MissiologyBishop Christian AlstedJuly 30, 2019missiology Comments

The Multifaceted Nature of Progressive Theology

Many of us have said that the division within The United Methodist Church goes beyond the issue of homosexuality. We recognize that our division goes to the very core of our theological divide and is rooted in our biblical interpretation and our understanding of the nature of the Bible as sacred text…