On the heels of a global pandemic and amid its own multi-faceted schism, the Southern Baptist Convention is experiencing something few could have predicted: Financial gifts to the SBC for the 2021-2022 fiscal year are up — way up. The…
Here’s what you need to know about why United Methodists now appear headed for a nasty divorce
When a marriage becomes irretrievably broken, nasty events can transpire in the dissolution. Such has occurred in the past month as The United Methodist Church faces the launch of a breakaway traditionalist denomination expected to draw an uncounted number of…
Facing schism and decline, United Methodist Women rebrands as United Women in Faith
United Methodist Women, a venerable Methodist women’s mission agency for more than 150 years, announced March 3 that it has rebranded itself United Women in Faith in hopes of attracting new, younger members and surviving the denomination’s decline and fall….
Who will carry on United Methodism’s legacy of service and community?
When I was a young-ish reporter working on a medium-sized daily newspaper in Florida, one of the more dreaded assignments was the Saturday work known as “bits and ‘burbs.” That jargon stood for the oft-scorned task of collecting suburban news…
Will the Coronavirus Omicron variant delay United Methodists’ split for a third time?
Prospects for The United Methodist Church’s twice-delayed General Conference — the only body that can make binding decisions for the entire 12-million-member worldwide denomination — dimmed considerably with the announcement of a new, more infectious variant of coronavirus now labeled…
United Methodists approach Advent living in ‘now’ while longing for ‘not yet’
The season of Advent always comes as a time of “now-and-not-yet.” Scripture readings for this period of the Christian year hark back to God’s promise to Israel of a deliverer and forward to the time when God’s promise of salvation…
United Methodists will welcome President Biden for Communion
Roman Catholic bishops may bar President Joe Biden from receiving Holy Communion because of his political beliefs, but United Methodists are ready to welcome him to the Lord‘s Supper without question. Anyone who has attended Communion in a United Methodist…
Now there appear to be three paths for once-united Methodists
For more than half a century, leaders of The United Methodist Church have seen the denomination as a “big tent,” a place where different theological and ecclesiastical identities could co-exist and perhaps even co-mingle as a single entity. Now that…
Visionaries seek new creation from United Methodist chaos
In 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in the fledgling United States of America at a gathering that became known as the Christmas Conference. This year, The United Methodist Church, descendant of that first denomination, faces a Christmas of…