Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I’m on a Methodist history kick these days, writing posts on Strawbridge Shrine, Lovely Lane UMC, as well as posts on the 1784 Discipline (yesterday’s post: Visiting From House to House). I’ve also been re-reading Rev. Dr. W. Lee Spottswood’s book, published in 1888. Spottswood was one of my predecessors here in Clearfield (1858-1860) (see … Read more
One of the historic questions candidates for ordination in The United Methodist Church are asked prior to ordination is, “Will you visit from house to house?” This question was also one of the questions from the 1784 Discipline, the first discipline of the Methodist church in America (see my post with the 1784 version of … Read more
Today, I found myself expressing to God a desire to be “moved by the Spirit” to preach and lead (etc.). I recalled this language from the 1784 Discipline that I reviewed over the weekend (and wrote about yesterday). In the 1784 Discipline, Section XII is called, “Of the Trial of those who think they are … Read more
Recently, I re-read the first Discipline of the Methodist church in America States (1784). I read it a little more than a year ago, in preparation for ordination, and wrote several posts, including: The Historic Questions, Rules for Early Methodist Preachers, Smaller Advices for Early Methodist Preachers, Early Methodist View on Use of Time. One … Read more
On Friday, May 25, 2012, Ethan experienced his first graduation. He completed “studies” at the Clearfield Pre-School Center. It was a two-year program. Ethan now moves on to Kindergarten!
Our local United Methodist churches sponsored a two-day confirmation bus trip, hitting some prominent regional sites and ministries within our tradition. Yesterday, I wrote about our visit to Strawbridge Shrine in Maryland. From Strawbridge Shrine, we visited the historic Lovely Lane United Methodist Church and Lovely Lane Museum in Baltimore. Lovely Lane UMC, listed on … Read more
Earlier this month, the Clearfield Cluster of United Methodist Churches (churches from the Clearfield area) conducted a two-day confirmation bus trip for youth who are either preparing for confirmation, or have been confirmed since the last bus trip a few years ago. The trip, with 30-something people, included stops in the Harrisburg area (the Pennsylvania … Read more
At the United Methodist Church’s recent General Conference in Tampa, Florida, one of the focuses of the first morning’s worship service was, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” While I did not watch the entire service, which was live-streamed (I saw only Bishop Weaver’s Episcopal Address, which I wrote about), this phrase came … Read more
Since General Conference 2012, I’ve been reflecting on what needs to happen for The United Methodist Church to experience transformation (see “The Recovery of a Contagious Methodist Movement”, a review of George Hunter’s book, and 4 Strategies to Transform The United Methodist Church). One thing that must happen is a recovery of Wesleyan theology! Over … Read more
Both in churches and in denominations, such as The United Methodist Church, in need of transformation and turnaround, it’s easy to focus on fixing the church. Our job is not to fix the church but simply to make ourselves available to God! We place too much emphasis on gifts, skills, and abilities, and not enough … Read more