Young Clergy Exodus – Stories in the #UMC

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I am a young clergyperson in the United Methodist Church. On April 18th 2013, I found out that FOUR of my young clergy friends in different areas were leaving ordained ministry. I could not stop the lament from tearing at my heart. They are a terrific loss to the church and to me personally. After [...]

Progress in a Middle Direction

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  If you like the Hacking Christianity Facebook page, then you get easy access to relevant images and links along with the blog posts–Like this one above! It’s a quote from E. Stanley Jones, a United Methodist missionary theologian. Here’s the full quote:  ”The conservative is a necessary element in human society. Without him we [...]

Theological Science Theatre 3000

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First Entry: Star Wars, a New Hope A new occasional series will take place on this blog at the intersection of Science Fiction and Theology, which will be a sharable form of classes that I’ve developed at my local church. In January 2013 I began a monthly group that would watch or reflect on a [...]

Holding the UMC Hostage 04 – The Conclusion

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  The following is an entry in the “Holding the UMC Hostage” series regarding a manifesto that encourages discontent laity in our largest churches to defund the work of the global United Methodist Church. Read the full series: 01 – The Setting | 02 – The Blueprint | 03 – The Effects | 04 – The Conclusion “Mission work around the world, whether it be a [...]

Response to “Hostage” series by Andy Langford

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The following is an entry in the “Holding the UMC Hostage” series regarding a manifesto that encourages discontent laity in our largest churches to defund the work of the global United Methodist Church. Read the full series: 01 – The Setting | 02 – The Blueprint | 03 – The Effects | 04 – The Conclusion   To the readers of the “Holding the UMC [...]

Holding the UMC Hostage 03 – Collateral Damages

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The following is an entry in the “Holding the UMC Hostage” series regarding a manifesto that encourages discontent laity in our largest churches to defund the work of the global United Methodist Church. Read the full series: 01 – The Setting | 02 – The Blueprint | 03 – The Effects | 04 – The Conclusion “By combining several smaller gifts into a larger amount, we [...]

Holding the UMC Hostage 02 – The Blueprint

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  The following is an entry in the “Holding the UMC Hostage” series regarding a manifesto that encourages discontent laity in our largest churches to defund the work of the global United Methodist Church. Read the full series: 01 – The Setting | 02 – The Blueprint | 03 – The Effects | 04 – The Conclusion “Everything about the life of a Christian is corporate.” [...]

Holding the #UMC Hostage 01 – The Setting

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The following is an entry in the “Holding the UMC Hostage” series regarding a manifesto that encourages discontent laity in our largest churches to defund the work of the global United Methodist Church. Read the full series: 01 – The Setting | 02 – The Blueprint | 03 – The Effects | 04 – The Conclusion [...]

Holy Humor 03: Interview with Ev’ry Day I’m Pastorin’

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This is a series on the role of humor in online discourse, including some interviews with online religious humor sources. Holy Humor 01: Methodist Memes Holy Humor 02: The Unvirtuous Abbey One of my daily tumblr visits nowadays is to Ev’ry Day I’m Pastorin‘, a blog that uses animated GIFs to depict situations that clergy [...]

The Pastor No-Tipper: Why Everyday Hospitality Matters

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This past week, all over the Internets has been a story on a receipt posted by an Applebees waitress that is pictured above. The diner was part of a large party and per restaurant custom the 18% gratuity (halfway between 15% for okay service and 20% for good servi) was automatically added to the party’s [...]