One afternoon when I was serving the church in Marengo, a young woman walked into the church and asked to use the telephone. Not a problem, I said. We talked for a bit and I learned she had just been released from the county jail, was 80 miles from home, and no one was coming…
United Methodist Church
From Everywhere to Everywhere (2.0)
This Sunday, I was making my way back from our bi-annual Global Ministries meeting and so took the opportunity to do a brief rewrite of the message I preached at Ingathering: This quadrennium, I have the honor of serving on our General Board of Global Ministries: Last fall, in our opening worship, we read the…
From Everywhere to Everywhere
My sermon from the Thanksgiving Ingathering on November 5 This quadrennium, I have the honor of serving on our General Board of Global Ministries: Tell about opening worship – reading the names of the missionaries who have died. Very white, anglo sounding names. But that evening, I met missionaries who reminded me that the focus…
Reflections a week after General Conference… #umcgc
As Psalm 146 reminds us: human leaders and human institutions aren’t everything. They won’t save us. We are finite and we make mistakes. Only God is forever faithful. Yet, any denomination or tradition comes from God’s followers attempting to live out their faith and their discipleship together. Fully knowing that we are not perfect, we…
Open. #umcgc
I haven’t posted much of substance the past few days. Mostly because there simply isn’t energy to do so. Two mornings ago, the Council of Bishops presented us with a report we asked them to make. We took a break and came back to discuss it and one word expressed how it is with my…
Home. #umcgc
Each evening, when deliberations are done, it’s time to head home. While for most delegates, that has been to a hotel room, sometimes shared with one other person, I am sharing a home with a small group of folks. We found a place through AirBnB not too far from the convention center. It is a…
Empty. #umcgc
So far at this conference I’ve been given a few nicknames. Mama-Pastor. Interloper. Bridge-builder. I feel called to be United Methodist and I have always felt called to hang out in the middle and help various sides hear one another. Maybe that is why my subcommittee experience was so powerful. We connected across cultures. We…
Holy Pockets of Grace #umcgc
As I came out of my subcommittee meeting in Faith and Order tonight, I felt like we were finally doing it. We were finally embodying what it meant to hear one another, to seek understanding, to seek God’s will, and to serve God in this capacity. We were reminded by our vice chair at the…