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We are at the annual conference of the Central Pennsylvania Conference this week taking place at Messiah College. We arrived yesterday to settle into our room and to attend a dinner with the Board of Ordained Ministry for those who are in the commissioning process along with their mentors. Annual Conference began this morning with … Read more
In my last post, I described the process of becoming provisional elders in The United Methodist Church. Now I want to say more about how we got to this point. In early 1998, after a lengthy search for our place in the body of Christ, we made contact with then District Superintendent, Rev. Thomas Irwin. … Read more
Recently, I wrote Why We are United Methodists. But one thing we have not blogged is the ordination process we’ve been engaged in ever since we have been United Methodists. The process of becoming ordained pastors in the UMC has been long for us, mainly due to coming from another denomination (I’ll say more about … Read more
Awhile back, I read some posts of (young) United Methodist clergy stating why they stay in The United Methodist Church. I finally took some time to put part of our story in writing. Joleen and I became members of (and pastors in) The United Methodist Church 11 years ago. We did not grow up in … Read more
A few days ago I said that I’d blog some reflections on our reading of Methodist history, some serious, some less serious. This is the less serious one. Today, the popular slogan of The United Methodist Church … Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors. That slogan came to mind when we read a statement that … Read more
John Wesley wrote a document (a letter) called A Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, written in 1748. In part of it, Wesley addresses various objections he faced at the time. One of the objections Wesley addresses relates to the classes he had recently developed. Wesley quotes the objector: There were no such meetings … Read more
In the last few weeks, Joleen and I have been hard at work (as I alluded to in recent posts) working on studies in United Methodist history and doctrine (we had completed the polity part awhile back). We finished yesterday and while our heads are still swirling (almost literally, we probably covered a semester’s, or … Read more
During one of the meals at the Bishop’s Retreat last week, each place setting included a 1-2-3-4 card which is intended to describe United Methodists. The folded card is designed “to provide talking points about our church and its mission,” states … We are the people of The United Methodist Church. We believe in— making … Read more
On Sunday, Joleen, Ethan, and I attended our district’s first (of what may become an annual event) “local pastor sabbath.” It was intended to be an opportunity for Local Pastors (and Student Pastors and Appointed Lay Speakers) to share a day off together. We gathered at Gethsemane United Methodist Church in Allport (located across the … Read more
When we were in Kansas City last week for the Leadership Institute at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, we received a 7 Days of Prayer prayer guide. Many churches are using this prayer guide to join together in prayer for the renewal and transformation of our churches. Here it is … Seven Days … Read more