In the second of a two-part series about GracePoint’s departure from the United Methodist Church, Robin Russell investigates what might cause a church plant to leave, and how the UMC is responding.
Every pastor is familiar with antagonists, the so-called ‘clergy killers’ who raise trouble in a congregation. Mary Jacobs looks at the phenomenon and the ways clergy and congregations deal with it.
Today, I turn 30. I've been joking and lamenting to family and friends about how old I am, but really, I'm fine with 30. It seems strange to me, I'll admit - a little weird to be 30. Where did the last ten years go so quickly? But I'm ok with it. However, I thought I'd work on a list of things I'd like to do/accomplish/
try/etc. during the year that I'm 30. Here we go:
1. Make myself get on a plane again. I'm very afraid of flying - my biggest phobia - but I flown many times before, and need to get back into the habit of just doing it.
2. Go to Ireland
3. See the Grand Canyon, visit my friends out West, and take that cross-country road trip I’ve had on hold for a few years now.
4. Start taking tap classes again. I broke my ankle 2 1/2 years ago, and had surgery to correct it 2 years ago, and it's never been the same, and dancing has seemed out of the question. But I really miss it, and want to try it even if I have to go back to a beginner class.
5. Get back into running 3 miles. Again, ankle issues every time I've tried to start running again. But I think I need to go about it in a more systematic way, and try again.
6. Plant a garden. Not sure how this will work, now that I will be living in apartment, but we'll see.
7. Learn a few guitar chords well enough to play along with easy songs that I could use in worship settings.
8. Start learning Spanish (and Gaelic, which fascinates me, but Spanish does seem so much more practical.)
9. Work on or be in a play/musical. I really miss working in the theatre.
10. Finish the scarf I’ve been knitting for a
long time. Think 3 or 4 years....
11. Be more intentional about discerning God's direction re: higher education.
12. Find a place in Syracuse, as
I did in NJ, to be in regular, hands-on mission work with my congregation.
13. Organize a group of at least 40 young people from our
4 conferences to attend
Exploration in November.
14. Start eating more local, organic, vegan foods, even if I can't make the complete vegan transition because I'm wimpy.
15. Speak the truth more often. I know that sounds pretty vague, but applies in so many different ways that I think vague is better.
16. Start spending less. I've been blessed with a good salary, as far as clergy salaries go, for the past couple of years, and I've been amazed (read: distressed) at how I've grown right into spending it. Having a pay cut as I move back to
NCNY from
GNJ will help me spend less (eek!) but I want to be more careful, more thoughtful about my spending regardless.
Okay, I'm running out of ideas. Maybe Part 2 tomorrow. What would you like to/liked to have done when you were 30? Any ideas?
When Glenda Raye Hill died, she was surrounded by her family and the sounds of the gospel music she loved and performed professionally with her daughter, United Methodist Jana Fox. Joan LaBarr reports.
The global connectionalism of United Methodism impacted Donald Haynes anew when a Methodist pastor in Mumbai, India, recently contacted him.
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Athiests are coming out of the closet. And in South Carolina, no less; a place noted for the strength of its religious and political values, strongly conservative and deeply held. That’s the gist of the NY Times piece on "emerging" athiests and secular humanists.
A Pew study on religious attitudes across the country provides context. [...]
as i am catching up on the blogosphere & other feeds i was reading up on josh browns continued dismay with social media. i get his sentiment.. it had me thinking then of some of the stuff that made the...
Our religious faith was inherited from countless generations of translators, says Bishop Robert Schnase, but how we translate the meaning of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is left to us.
While he sees the appeal in other expressions of Christian faith, pastor Andrew Bartel stays in the United Methodist Church because he believes its message of grace is a match for how he understands who God is.
Author Kathleen Norris spoke with Robin Russell about the experience of acedia, a “lack of caring” distinct from depression, as experienced through monastic literature and contemporary culture.
The youth of Friendswood (Texas) United Methodist Church put on a concert to help those experiencing displacement after Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston. Cindy Dalmolin reports.
To improve health would you build more schools or hospitals? Truth to tell, I’ve never thought of it as either/or. Most likely I would choose more hospitals. But I’d be wrong.
Christine Gorman at Global Health Report blog summarizes findings from health surveys that demonstrate "education, social support and early childhood development play a more important [...]