Introduction It’s all the rage to talk about a Dystopia these days: a future filled with despair and desperation, not hope and joy. From The Hunger Games to The Walking Dead to Revolution to World War Z, there’s a ton of media offerings that depict a dark future where humanity has to learn to live [...]

The United Methodist Reporter met its over 150 year demise this past month. Thankfully, some respected online voices have stepped in to continue its online presence. The two principle people at the Methoblog (which HX feeds our content to) and the YouthWorker Circuit. Here’s the press release. Looking forward to what happens next! And I [...]

This series looks at four techniques of the most successful United Methodist churches in America. While the techniques could benefit any church, they have serious dark sides. A dystopian future could await United Methodism if these techniques become widespread.  01: Vulture Churches | 02: Franchise Churches | 03: Production Churches | 04: Caste Churches Introduction In the United Methodist Church, there are churches and then there are vital churches, meaning [...]

This series looks at four techniques of the most successful United Methodist churches in America. While the techniques could benefit any church, they have serious dark sides. A dystopian future could await United Methodism if these techniques become widespread.  01: Vulture Churches | 02: Franchise Churches | 03: Production Churches | 04: Caste Churches Introduction In the United Methodist Church, there are churches and then there [...]

This series looks at four techniques of the most successful United Methodist churches in America. While the techniques could benefit any church, they have serious dark sides. A dystopian future could await United Methodism if these techniques become widespread.  01: Vulture Churches | 02: Franchise Churches | 03: Production Churches | 04: Caste Churches Introduction In the United Methodist Church, there are churches and then there are vital churches, meaning churches [...]

This series looks at four techniques of the most successful United Methodist churches in America. While the techniques could benefit any church, they have serious dark sides. A dystopian future could await United Methodism if these techniques become widespread.  01: Vulture Churches | 02: Franchise Churches | 03: Production Churches | 04: Caste Churches Introduction In the United Methodist Church, there are churches [...]

A Wisconsin clergy group commissioned with reviewing and recommending what a “clergy covenant” means and should mean has released their recommendations…and it concludes that LGBT exclusion is itself a violation of the practice of the clergy covenant and ought not be upheld. Amy DeLong was part of our most recent church trial (another one is [...]

This coming Monday, Oklahoma has their Annual Conference, a gathering of about 1,000 United Methodist clergy and laity in Oklahoma City. Only once a year is a concentrated group of United Methodists gathered together on this scale in Oklahoma City. While many come from areas affected by tornado activity the past week, the majority come from [...]

The United Methodist Church has no Pope. Our last individual in charge of everything was John Wesley, our founder. When he died, his authority was delegated to some Bishops. And then some regional entities. And eventually, some national entities that became global entities. But all the while, the primary characterization of the UMC is that [...]