A point of comparison…

Given my last post, here is our "traditional" service, which continues to meet at 10:30 a.m. Your comments are welcome. See the worship guide after the jump.

The Relational Church

For the past couple of weeks, I have been thinking quite a bit about the notion of connectionalism, and how that concept is unfortunately broken in relation to the United Methodist Church that I love. As I was writing on this topic, there was a particular direction I was headed in thinking about renewing the … Continue reading The Relational Church →

The Goal of Connecting

This morning I woke up thinking about my last post and realized that I had missed an important piece of the puzzle: the ultimate goal of being “connectional,” that is, what are we trying to achieve in connecting. That is an important question to ask, for the goal helps to determine the tools and means … Continue reading The Goal of Connecting →

Where is the Connective Tissue?

One of the problems we face with describing ourselves as a “connectional “ is that it assumes that an actual connection has been made. Put another way, we describe an outcome as an objective reality (that we are connected) with little ability to either demonstrate or explain how that connection has been made, or the … Continue reading Where is the Connective Tissue? →

Redefining Connectional – Part 1

Last night I had a chance to sit down with Chuck Russell and Clif Guy, the tech gurus of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Jack Ewing, director of the Foundation On Evangelism, and Gavin Richardson, my partner in crime, to talk about technology and the church. As is typical in … Continue reading Redefining Connectional – Part 1 →

Redefining Connectional – Part 1

A Plug for SoulFeast

Next month, Kay and the girls and I will load up the car and head six hours south to the Mecca of southeastern Methodism, Lake Junaluska, for our annual pilgrimage to the SoulFeast Conference, sponsored by the Upper Room. We started attending SoulFeast several years ago when we were short on funds and needed to … Continue reading A Plug for SoulFeast →

Live Blogging Adam Hamilton on Evangelism

October 2-3 -- COR Leadership Institute Reaching new folks for JC will require change: 3 Questions for Consideration: Why do people need Jesus Christ? Why do people need the church? Why does anyone need our particular church? Many congregations suffer from low self-esteem. Part of our job is to help congregations see what is remarkable … Continue reading Live Blogging Adam Hamilton on Evangelism →

Live Blogging Adam Hamilton Session 3 — Preaching and more…

Make sure to plan your sermons in advance. Five Types of Sermons: Fishing Expeditions -- addressing the questions or concerns of non-religious individuals. Want to announce those at Candlelight Christmas Eve service which can be a great time to draw visitors. Discipleship Sermons -- take folks deeper in their faith (usually in Lent) Healing Sermons … Continue reading Live Blogging Adam Hamilton Session 3 — Preaching and more… →

Live Blogging Adam Hamilton Session 2 — Worship and Preaching

Imagine entering a restaurant where you walk in and no one speaks initially, they toss you a menu, and take forever to go speak with you. Then, when you finally order the food it takes long to get there and the food isn't very good, lukewarm, and you find a hair in the food. Are … Continue reading Live Blogging Adam Hamilton Session 2 — Worship and Preaching →

Live Blogging Adam Hamilton Session 1 — Leadership

The challenges ahead of us are huge, and we have to be able to lead in new ways, not worrying about things like apportionments. We are in part in a leadership crisis. Seminaries don't do a very good job in training folks to offer leadership in a church in crisis. Telling the story of his … Continue reading Live Blogging Adam Hamilton Session 1 — Leadership →

Skipping Ordination

Ten years ago, at a gathering of the Tennessee Annual Conference not unlike the one I am currently attending, I knelt at an altar and felt Bishop Kenneth Carder lay his hands upon me for my ordination as a probationary deacon (I came in under the 1992 Book of Discipline). It was certainly not the … Continue reading Skipping Ordination →

Getting Organized

I don't leave until tomorrow, so I have been checking out the GC web sites to see what is happening. One smart thing they have done this year is to schedule orientations for delegates all day and waiting to start the opening worship until tonight. In past years the conference opening worship was usually in … Continue reading Getting Organized →

Can we talk? Can we listen? The Possibility of Reconciliation

This coming Monday, a group of persons will be gathering at the Arlington United Methodist Church in a first attempt to address the concerns raised in the recent actions of the TN Conference Council on Connectional Ministries to discontinue the staff positions for youth and children's ministries (see the bottom of this article for a … Continue reading Can we talk? Can we listen? The Possibility of Reconciliation →

What does it mean to be Methomergent?

I was surprised to see a shout-out in the latest edition of the Emergent-C newsletter, which focused on denominational expressions of the emerging conversation. I've been a part of this emergent conversation thingie (the thing we find ourselves in) since 2002 or so, and I count myself as one who has been influenced by the … Continue reading What does it mean to be Methomergent? →

A Statement on Change — A Deconstruction

I have spent a bit of time recently talking with many folks about the staff restructuring at the Tennessee Conference Council on Connectional Ministries office, focused in the discontinuation of the positions focused in ministry with youth and children. As has been suggested here earlier, the process for this change seems flawed in many ways, … Continue reading A Statement on Change — A Deconstruction →

A Letter to Rachel

Rachel posted a comment in my post on the update from the Bishop. This is my response. Rachel,First of all, I am neither the apologist for the Bishop nor the CCOM leadership. When I heard about this situation, I expressed my concerns to the Bishop. He responded to me and allowed me to share his response … Continue reading A Letter to Rachel →

An Update from the Bishop

I just received the following message from Bishop Wills clarifying some of what he told me: I misunderstood Loyd on at least two points and I have written Beth and apologized.First, Beth was not told about this new direction and organization. So, it is unfair me to have told you that she knew 6 months … Continue reading An Update from the Bishop →

In the interest of transparency…

…I am going to reply to a couple of comments on the last post here on the front page. Jason wrote: My greater concern is that what is being expressed is that the positions are being eliminated. Maybe it is legalese to get through the removal of staff without a lawsuit. But if the positions … Continue reading In the interest of transparency… →

Youth Ministry SNAFU #2

Mark Hagewood makes some good points in his comment on my previous post. While I am too tired to give a complete response, I feel like I need to clarify a few things: I absolutely agree the communication has been horrible in regards to this situation and that the correct action in trying to facilitate … Continue reading Youth Ministry SNAFU #2 →