Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
One of the requirements in the the final year of our ordination process is to complete an ordination project. The ordination project is the newest part of our conference’s ordination process, added (actually it replaced another requirement) earlier this year (as a result of the formation of the new Susquehanna Conference). In the future, ordination … Read more
I picked up a copy of The Future of the United Methodist Church: 7 Vision Pathways at annual conference and read it a couple of weeks ago. The book is edited by Bishops Scott jones and Bruce Ough with contributions from eight other bishops. In a previous post, I listed 4 Talking Points about United … Read more
It’s Sunday and we’re on vacation so we needed to find a place to worship. It was an interesting process! First, visiting churches has multiple purposes for us. With both of us being pastors, it’s a rare opportunity for the four of us to attend worship together as a family. Because we are pastors, we … Read more
Joleen and I are both on track to be ordained Elders in The United Methodist Church on June 11, 2011 (a little over 11 months from now). It’s been a long journey, but we’re now in the final year, the home stretch. Here are the requirements we must complete in the final year … Application … Read more
Today, clergy and lay members from more than 950 churches throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania gathered in Williamsport at the Williamsport Arts Center to form a new conference, the Susquehanna Conference, a Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church. It was the culmination of years of prayer, discernment, and planning. Joleen and I left home … Read more
During the first couple of years after responding to God’s call to ministry as a 19-year-old kid, my favorite reading was journals and memoirs of great preachers from the past, people God has used to lead times of spiritual awakening. After arriving at Centre Grove UMC in July 2008, I spent a little time in … Read more
I say “surviving” rather than “survived” because, technically, we’re between sessions of Annual Conference this year. Last weekend, the Central Pennsylvania Conference held its 222nd and final session. This coming Saturday will be the first Annual Conference of the new Susquehanna Conference (with a special session to be held later in September). Ethan was with … Read more
This afternoon, we traveled to Messiah College where the Central Pennsylvania Conference is meeting for its 222nd and final annual conference! We will meet again next Saturday (6/12) to unite with the Pennsylvania churches from the Wyoming Conference (northeastern PA) to form the Susquehanna Conference. Exciting times. This is Sarah’s first time here. It’s amazing … Read more
As I wrote in my last post, we attended a seminar at the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) in Washington, D.C. last week. Here are a few reflections on the seminar experience which took place on Capitol Hill. GBCS, which addresses social issues, began as The Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals. … Read more
I wrote several posts last year about the Virgin HealthMiles activity rewards program, including last year’s first ever HealthFlex HealthMiles challenge (see my preview and recap posts). HealthFlex is our UMC health insurance program. Last year’s challenge started in July so I was caught a little off guard with this year’s challenge which begins Monday … Read more