Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
Last night, at the end of the first session of our Bishop’s Retreat, I led our clergy family in a time of prayer and reflection. Here’s the gist of what I said. Leadership and ministry often involves a lot of running. Unfortunately, too much running makes it hard to have a healthy soul! And, a … Read more
Bishop William Willimon is coming to the Susquehanna Conference next week as a guest speaker at the Bishop’s Retreat for our clergy family. Bishop Willimon recently retired from serving as bishop of the North Alabama Conference. He has since returned to Duke, where he taught for twenty years before being elected bishop in 2004. He … Read more
I recently started reading through Francis Asbury’s journal (see my previous post). I’m still only on page 50 of Volume 1 (of 3), but one thing that strikes me is how much Asbury writes about preaching, and how much he talks about his preaching in experiential terms. Here are a number of examples of how … Read more
For a while now, I’ve been casually reading American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists by John Wigger. I’m enjoying it, but I also recently began reading Asbury’s three-volume journal (Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3). Asbury begins his journal talking about a conference that took place on August 7, 1771 where he made himself … Read more
A little over a year ago, I wrote about our conference’s Matthew 28 Initiative. I wrote that post on the eve of our consultation weekend in September 2011, and I recently realized I haven’t written anything about it since then! The consultation, which was conducted by Rev. Roz Mason (Consultant), Rev. Rich Morris (Coach), and … Read more
Two years ago, I wrote about Rev. W. Lee Spottswood, a Methodist preacher from the 1800s. Spottswood served here in Clearfield 1858-1860. He wrote a book about his life in ministry called, Brief Annals, in 1888 (thankfully, it’s not too brief). My previous post focused on his experience in Clearfield, but after reading the rest … Read more
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