Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
Following up on what I wrote in Circuit Riders 1.0, I think what challenges and inspires me to be an effective leader is the early circuit riders’ sense of mission — they simply went wherever the people were! Lovett H. Weems, Jr. describes the pioneering spirit of the early Methodists in his book, Leadership in … Read more
Ilove history, especially the history of great Christ-following leaders who’ve gone before us. While reading about the UMC’s itinerant system for the previous post, I was once again challenged by the character and the courage of the early “circuit riders.” The term “circuit riders” has stuck, even though it has evolved over time (e.g., the … Read more
Since our announcement a couple weeks ago (i.e., about our upcoming move), we’ve been reflecting on the process of appointment making in The United Methodist Church (e.g., how we got here). In The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church (2004), ¶338 addresses “The Itinerant System” … The itinerant system is the accepted method … Read more
A few months ago, Randy wrote an entry called, Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, which included a few suggested verses of Scripture to pray for children. Another good resource for parents to incorporate into their prayers is an article from Christian Parenting Today called 40 Ways to Pray for Your Children. The article includes … Read more
Look who’s the newest member of the Manor Hill United Methodist Men (UMMen)! Wednesday evening, Ethan and I visited the 42nd annual building of picnic tables. They made 93 tables this year. The 6-foot tables were sold out before they were ever made! However, there are 8-foot tables for $110 and 10-foot table for $120. … Read more
Last Saturday, Ethan took his first steps. He usually only takes a few steps at a time, but once on Saturday, he walked between the love seat and sofa, which is at least six feet! On Sunday, we happened to catch him in action in this photo.
A few weeks ago, 12th Street UMC scheduled a gathering for May 4 to welcome Ethan. In the meantime, we learned of our new appointments, so the welcome also became a farewell. Although Randy will continue to serve 12th Street through the end of June, it was probably the last time that Ethan and I … Read more
During this transitional time in our lives, it might be a good time to recast the vision for this blog. This blog started out as a place for us to post summaries of our sermons (in late 2004) and it has broadened over the years. The current tagline of our blog is: Life. Leadership. God’s … Read more
General Conference 2008, the top decision-making body in the United Methodist Church, a gathering of delegates from all across the connection, is nearing an end. I’ve been reading the daily wrap-ups and other news items at the website devoted to GC 2008, and decided to share some thoughts on a *few* of the many items … Read more
Not everyone may be aware of how pastoral appointments are made in the United Methodist Church (UMC), so we thought we’d share briefly a little bit about the process we’ve gone through in the last couple of weeks. In the UMC, bishops (and district superintendents) have the responsibility of making pastoral appointments. In our conference, … Read more