Setting my face toward General Conference

"The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches."  - Acts 15:39-41 I dropped my kids off for their first…

The Dipping Part

Children's time at church is such a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I dislike that the kids seem paraded up front on display, where their unabashed curiosity, evolving faith, and sweet antics entertain the watching adults like an adorable weekly installment of "Kids Say the Darnedest Things." On the other hand, give me half as…

Favorite Christmas Hymns

Throughout Advent, I invited the congregation at Lebanon UMC to vote for their favorite Christmas Hymns, and for the first Sunday after Christmas, we counted them down-- well, not in order, but as part of the worship service. I shared some history of each song, gleaned from the wisdom of the Internets, and I did…

Reflecting on the Social Principles Consultation

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to the offices of the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church. There I participated in a Consultation on the Social Principles, one of eight planned meetings "to consider a process about how to make the United Methodist Social Principles more succinct,…

Why I Blog

All the world is my parish.  That's what Methodism's founder, John Wesley, said. Ironically, I think he said it to clarify his commitment to itinerant ministry, to his particular sort of traveling, voyaging, never-rooted-for-too-long preaching of salvation in every place he could reach. I might be tempted to say I blog for that reason-- to…

Under (Re)Construction

The dust is still clearing... In case you missed it, I did that most Methodist of things this summer, and itinerated (relocated at the discretion of the Bishop and the Cabinet, for the non-Methodist-types), starting in my new appointment, Lebanon United Methodist Church in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on July 1. And so of course, my…

Let the penalty fix the “crime”

Here we go again... A month after the Board of Ordained Ministry in Pennsylvania stripped Rev. Frank Schaefer of his ordination credentials for officiating at his son's wedding and refusing to state he would follow the entirety of the Book of Discipline in the future, the United Methodist Church is back at it again. The…

The courage of couples

Tim Schaefer takes the stand today. Tim's father, Rev. Frank Schaefer, was found guilty yesterday in a United Methodist Church trial for officiating at Tim's wedding to his similarly-gendered partner six years ago. An inactive member of Schaefer's church, angry because his mother and Schaefer had a disagreement which led to her being fired from…

Jurisdictional Dreams

On July 23, DreamUMC hosted a Twitter Chat to reflect on the recent Jurisdictional Conferences of the United Methodist Church. In my opinion, this was one of our most exciting and fruitful conversations so far. We began by asking people in Question 1 to name the highs and lows from their Jurisdictional gatherings, or from…

Diary of a Delegate: Northeast Jurisdiction recap

I've been home from the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church for a little over a week and a half, and I'm still mentally unpacking (although I actually did unpack my suitcase after almost a week). As I wrote earlier, I did have some hopes and dreams for NEJ. From my perspective, the…