The final report of the Call to Action Interim Operations Team, says that the United Methodist Church's way of doing business is “unsustainable,” and that the changes made during and immediately after the recent 2012 General Conference are not enough to deal with challenges the denomination faces.
Showing posts with label umc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label umc. Show all posts
Friday, October 05, 2012
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Saturday, June 16, 2007
The Trinity
Christians of all sorts believe in the Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (aka Holy Ghost). But the word "Trinity" is not specifically mentioned in scripture and the concept was not used until years after Jesus' Ascension. This has led to all sorts of "takes" on the concept.
Nazarites point to a pagan origin and say that the Torah does not mention the Trinity. Skeptics claim that the term was invented. Some claim that the concept was needed in the early church but that it is now an anachronism that is no longer needed.
Some even point to the term "Spirit" being feminine gender ("her") in Aramaic, the language that Jesus used. In Greek, the word in neuter gender ("it"). Only in Latin is the term masculine gender ("he").
I look at the concept of the Trinity as a way we try to understand God. We fallible mortals can never understand God perfectly, but the concept of the Trinity helps us get closer to an understanding.
What's your take? Is the word "persons" in "God in three persons" a mental stumbling block? Would a word such as "aspects" convey the concept better?
Related links
Nazarites point to a pagan origin and say that the Torah does not mention the Trinity. Skeptics claim that the term was invented. Some claim that the concept was needed in the early church but that it is now an anachronism that is no longer needed.
Some even point to the term "Spirit" being feminine gender ("her") in Aramaic, the language that Jesus used. In Greek, the word in neuter gender ("it"). Only in Latin is the term masculine gender ("he").
I look at the concept of the Trinity as a way we try to understand God. We fallible mortals can never understand God perfectly, but the concept of the Trinity helps us get closer to an understanding.
What's your take? Is the word "persons" in "God in three persons" a mental stumbling block? Would a word such as "aspects" convey the concept better?
Related links
- United Methodist Articles of Religion - Article 1, the Trinity from the 2004 "Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church"
- Meaning of the Trinity, St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (PDF)
- Holy Trinity is a mystery (Catholic); second, personal page
- Catholics, Methodist agree on Trinity
- Evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament (Catholic)
- Trinity concept no longer needed
- Is the Holy Spirit feminine?
- Ode 36 of Solomon uses feminine gender for "Spirit"
- There is no Trinity (Nazarite)
- Holy Trinity invented (a skeptic)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Will the real Methodists please stand up!
We say we're Methodists, yet we seem to shun Wesley's ways. We say we're United, yet we're fragmented, self-oriented both as congregations and as various groups within the denomination. We seek higher numbers of members, relegating spiritual growth to a lesser role.
So the question is ... are Methodism's problems a result of losing sight of the spiritual in pursuit of funding, programs, social contact, Sunday School based on best-seller books, and being sort of a religious country club? Are we so lost in trying to force our own interpretations of the Bible on each other that we fail to bring the lost home to Christ?
Have our Sunday Schools lost sight of the type of Bible study that Wesley's "Bible-Moths" would approve of? Scripture was the most important part of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, not just an equal quarter of the whole.
Andrew Thompson, author of the Gen-X Rising blog, says, "Let's decide: Are we Methodists or not?" He takes a good poke at churches that seem so ashamed to be United Methodists that they leave that part out of their publicized church name. Either be Methodists or don't, but don't be half-hearted Methodists, he seems to say.
Andrew suggests that it is a good and fruitful thing to follow Wesley:
So the question is ... are Methodism's problems a result of losing sight of the spiritual in pursuit of funding, programs, social contact, Sunday School based on best-seller books, and being sort of a religious country club? Are we so lost in trying to force our own interpretations of the Bible on each other that we fail to bring the lost home to Christ?
Have our Sunday Schools lost sight of the type of Bible study that Wesley's "Bible-Moths" would approve of? Scripture was the most important part of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, not just an equal quarter of the whole.
Andrew Thompson, author of the Gen-X Rising blog, says, "Let's decide: Are we Methodists or not?" He takes a good poke at churches that seem so ashamed to be United Methodists that they leave that part out of their publicized church name. Either be Methodists or don't, but don't be half-hearted Methodists, he seems to say.
Andrew suggests that it is a good and fruitful thing to follow Wesley:
- Shun religious pretension
- Practice rigorous discipleship
- Actively pursue the way of salvation
- Tirelessly carry the gospel to the lost and the poor
So ... how are you and your church doing? Are you truly Methodists?
The United Methodist Reporter site has picked up several other Gen-X Rising articles in 2007:
- Churches that matter offer true community
- Young church leaders plan grassroots event
- Giving up our right to choose for Lent
- Growing out of a 'country-club commitment'
As a side note, Gen-X Rising is now linked in the "Methodist, Other blogs" section of this blog.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
UMC should clean house
Rev. Mark Schaefer, in his sermon-containing blog, daydreams about the United Methodist Church swooping down on American University, dissolving the board of trustees and just starting over.
His sermon, "Grapes and Vineyards", starts out with that musing. But the musing points out the denomination-owned aspect to many Methodist properties.
... Something to think about ... but it assumes that the denomination administrative structure has the "cure". It sometime seems that the administrative structure makes secular decisions when spiritual ones are needed.
We seem to have an undue emphasis on protecting the "job security" and "pay" of clergy. The UMC denomination leadership sometimes appears concerned more about district, conference, and denomination politics than members themselves. Maybe if we were all concerned more about the spiritual health and needs of congregations and their surrounding communities, we'd be growing in numbers as we grew in faith and saved souls.
His sermon, "Grapes and Vineyards", starts out with that musing. But the musing points out the denomination-owned aspect to many Methodist properties.
... Something to think about ... but it assumes that the denomination administrative structure has the "cure". It sometime seems that the administrative structure makes secular decisions when spiritual ones are needed.
We seem to have an undue emphasis on protecting the "job security" and "pay" of clergy. The UMC denomination leadership sometimes appears concerned more about district, conference, and denomination politics than members themselves. Maybe if we were all concerned more about the spiritual health and needs of congregations and their surrounding communities, we'd be growing in numbers as we grew in faith and saved souls.
Who is going to Hell?
People of faith hold no common answer as to who goes to Hell and who does not. Christian denominations have differing views, and those differ from Jews or Universalists.
Louisiana's Herald-Argus newspaper posed the "Who is going to Hell?" question in an article and got a lot of comments. Feel free to read them and even add your own.
Methodists may be interested to know that the denomination's belief in prevenient grace might mean that God may allow anyone to escape an afterlife in Hell, according to Dean William Lawrence, SMU Perkins School of Theology.
Prevenient grace is divine love preceding any conscious action, a concept that John Wesley wrote the concept into Article 8 of the Articles of Religion he adapted for American Methodists.
Louisiana's Herald-Argus newspaper posed the "Who is going to Hell?" question in an article and got a lot of comments. Feel free to read them and even add your own.
Methodists may be interested to know that the denomination's belief in prevenient grace might mean that God may allow anyone to escape an afterlife in Hell, according to Dean William Lawrence, SMU Perkins School of Theology.
Prevenient grace is divine love preceding any conscious action, a concept that John Wesley wrote the concept into Article 8 of the Articles of Religion he adapted for American Methodists.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
About the new UMC Web site
The United Methodist Church's denomination web site is undergoing some significant changes. Unfortunately, the phase-in of those changes is not as smooth as I'd like to see. There are many disconnects, pages with a lot of "This feature is still under development" pop-up balloons, and broken links.
I was always taught to never use "under construction" type web pages. Make the development on a development server, then go public all at once. The current UMC method may be the result of a desire for feedback while development proceeds, which might also mean that the denomination is still unsure of what the final outcome will be. But maybe this method will get the massive changes done faster.
The new web site has a fresh new look, more color, more animation (for those that like that sort of thing), and either access to lots more information or else links that make the old information easier to find. Of course I do cringe at the heavy use of green in the navigation menus. My web development training has been to try to avoid red and green colors due to people with the most common form of color blindness.
The "Pastor: Overview" page has text overlap problems (at least in IE7) in the right-side "Related information for" box. But you can tell the type information that will eventually be there.
A few new features:
I was always taught to never use "under construction" type web pages. Make the development on a development server, then go public all at once. The current UMC method may be the result of a desire for feedback while development proceeds, which might also mean that the denomination is still unsure of what the final outcome will be. But maybe this method will get the massive changes done faster.
The new web site has a fresh new look, more color, more animation (for those that like that sort of thing), and either access to lots more information or else links that make the old information easier to find. Of course I do cringe at the heavy use of green in the navigation menus. My web development training has been to try to avoid red and green colors due to people with the most common form of color blindness.
The "Pastor: Overview" page has text overlap problems (at least in IE7) in the right-side "Related information for" box. But you can tell the type information that will eventually be there.
A few new features:
- A horizontal menu and a horizontal submenu that changes with the top menu item selected. Some studies show that people prefer left-side vertical menus, but this one works, though it takes a bit of getting used to.
- The home page has a link to a new "Methopedia".
- Role-based (some say "personality" or "profile") sections of links, in Leader Resources, for example. Four common role-related links appear at the right side of the main horizontal menu: Pray, Give, Serve, Connect, Lead.
- Added syndication capability for webmasters
- Personal Profile pages, "similar to MySpace, FaceBook, and similar social networks", the site says. Sure, go ahead and add a nice sharp photo of yourself and some juicy personal information that an identity thief would love to get his grubby little hands on. Parents need to keep track of this area if their kids use it.
- "Our World" has a collection of feature "stories of faith".
- Most main menu index pages have a nice, medium size color photo. The overall page design is attractive.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
UMC seeks feedback on site redesign
United Methodist Communications has been redesigning the denomination's web site, UMC.org. Today UMComm announced that you can take a "sneak peek" at the new UMC.org site as well as provide feedback.
Access the sneak peek at http://www.umc.org/; click the "sneak peek" image banner link (in the center middle of the page) to preview the site.
Following the short introductory video, select one of the links to new features. After checking out a new feature, feel free to select the "Feedback" link. UMComm is actively seeking comments in order to make the final site better meet visitors' needs when the site "goes live" in January 2007.
Access the sneak peek at http://www.umc.org/; click the "sneak peek" image banner link (in the center middle of the page) to preview the site.
Following the short introductory video, select one of the links to new features. After checking out a new feature, feel free to select the "Feedback" link. UMComm is actively seeking comments in order to make the final site better meet visitors' needs when the site "goes live" in January 2007.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
What is Methodism?
St. Andrew's by the Sea UMC in San Clemente, California, has a good video series. (Windows Media file format) You can find them at their Methodism 101 page:
- History of the Methodist movement (WMV file)
- Our Methodist Heritage (WMV file)
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Take the Pulse of evangelism
The Lausanne World Pulse free online magazine contains lots of interesting news, information, and analysis of evangelism, outreach, and missionaries. The home page always dishes up the current issue -- May as of this writing. The May issue has a mini-bio about Jennie Fowler Willing, a strong supporter of women's involvement in missions in North America.
Among other things, Mrs. Willing served as an officer in the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. "In many ways, she was Methodism's Susan B. Anthony, and was certainly Evanston's and Illinois Methodism's most famous woman in history." [Quoted at "The Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground", by CDCGA -- cached at Google].
The mini-bio in the magazine is topical and timely, since with Heritage Sunday 2006 on May 26th, the United Methodist Church celebrates 50 years of full clergy rights for women.
Related links:
Among other things, Mrs. Willing served as an officer in the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. "In many ways, she was Methodism's Susan B. Anthony, and was certainly Evanston's and Illinois Methodism's most famous woman in history." [Quoted at "The Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground", by CDCGA -- cached at Google].
The mini-bio in the magazine is topical and timely, since with Heritage Sunday 2006 on May 26th, the United Methodist Church celebrates 50 years of full clergy rights for women.
Related links:
- Professor recovers lost history of American women evangelists
- Empowered foremothers
- Social Holiness in New York City (scroll down to see the brief entry about Jennie Fowler Willing.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wesley Foundations need revival
Chuck Russell, a former Internet Resource Consultant for United Methodist Communications, says that United Methodists really messed up when they let Wesley Foundations flounder and disappear from college campuses.
In "Aging Clergy: Where are the 30-year-olds", he points out that the number of clergy under 35 has plummeted from about 3,220 in 1985 to a lowly 850 now. He quotes a UMNS article. And he lays a good bit of the cause for that at the doorstep of weak or disappeared Wesley Foundation efforts.
In "Aging Clergy: Where are the 30-year-olds", he points out that the number of clergy under 35 has plummeted from about 3,220 in 1985 to a lowly 850 now. He quotes a UMNS article. And he lays a good bit of the cause for that at the doorstep of weak or disappeared Wesley Foundation efforts.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
UMC membership growth concerns Bishop
Our Membership is Growing, But... is a blog article by Bishop Lindsey Davis, North Georgia Conference, on the Gateway Church [UMC] site.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Evangelism and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral
In "The four-sided swimsuit", seminary student Jeff Slater describes how the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (don't be put off by the scholarly-sounding phrase) fits with evangelism. He declares that it gives evangelism a special place in United Methodism.
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