Living in the A.T. era: “After Tampa”
One of the tricky things about writing deadlines is the lag time between when a piece is finished and when it appears in print. When you write for a weekly publication — which I do for the United Methodist Reporter — it means that there will always be a few days between when the last.. read more →
General Conference wrap-up: Take Two!
So yesterday afternoon I am sitting in my office, grading papers and taking care of administrative chores related to the end of a semester. I take breaks to read General Conference-related stories and watch bits of the live stream from Tampa. At a certain point, I say to myself: “Self, you’ve devoted a lot of.. read more →
Judicial Council: Plan UMC is unconstitutional
In a shocking development, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church has ruled that the “Plan UMC” restructuring proposal is unconstitutional. The plan had received preliminary approval by the General Conference earlier in the week. Two main aspects of the ruling: First, that that the plan would “co-mingle” the oversight of the church between.. read more →
General Conference wrap-up
Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the more consequential actions taken by the General Conference in the first couple of days of plenary debate. I wanted to follow that up with some highlights of events in the second half of the week. As I anticipated, the “Plan UMC” proposal for church restructuring was.. read more →
“You have caused me pain”
“That causes me pain.” — Sentiment expressed endlessly from the floor of General Conference “You mock my pain!” — Princess Buttercup “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” – Westley, as the Man in Black Let’s talk about reason and emotion at the General Conference. I am going.. read more →
“Plan UMC” up for a vote today
A new restructuring plan is on the cusp of being adopted by the General Conference. It goes by the name “Plan UMC” and represents a compromise that draws on elements of the Call to Action, Plan B, and the MFSA alternative. You can download the text of the compromise restructuring plan at this link. For.. read more →
General Conference happenings…
Yesterday began the second week of the General Conference down in Tampa, Florida. After spending last week in committee work, the conference began its plenary sessions today. If you want to keep up with ongoing developments more quickly than I can supply them, check out the Methoblog site or the.. read more →
Prep for General Conference II: Study
In my last post, I wrote about the need for the whole church to prepare for the upcoming General Conference through prayer. I want to follow that up with some resources for study that my readers can use if they would like to familiarize themselves with some of the issues.. read more →
Prep for General Conference I: Prayer
The General Conference of the United Methodist Church will convene in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. The UMC’s website has devoted coverage to issues related to General Conference for those interested in what will be going on. I have begun writing a column for the Arkansas United Methodist newspaper that.. read more →
Doctrine and the People Called Methodists
In recent years Methodist folk have seemed to have an ambiguous relationship with the idea of what it means for the church to embrace its doctrinal foundations. In popular writing, you’ll sometimes see comments that suggest that the United Methodist Church is not a doctrinal church. Or you’ll see people who equate doctrine with a.. read more →