Of first importance when reading a paragraph of the Discipline is an understanding that the Discipline is whatever your conference leadership says it is. Bishop Holston declares par. 2553 not applicable in South Carolina and then declares himself in full compliance with the Discipline. He is correct. Every bishop does the same. They take the paragraphs they don’t want to implement and declare them invalid or not applicable in their context, then they assure us they are in full compliance with the Discipline.

Continue reading “How To Read A Sentence” →

I am not a United Methodist. I had my own exit strategy that did not require conference approval. Yet, I have compassion for those South Carolina United Methodists who feel trapped by an unfaithful power structure. What I offer is a personal perspective. It is advice based on how I understand the faith, how I have struggled to express it with my life, and how I understand the processes that move the South Carolina Conference. If you find it to extreme for your liking, then set it aside. Perhaps some part of it will inspire someone to produce better words.  

Continue reading “For Those Remaining in the South Carolina Captivity” →

(This could be two essays. While I am comfortable with the first part being reproduced as a stand alone document, I would not want the remainder distributed without the first.)

Continue reading “Where I Am Going and Why I Am Leaving” →

Because the doc is difficult to navigate to on the net I am posting the file here. Scroll to the bottom to read request for recusal.

(Many UMs will be attracted to this essay because of the upcoming announcement about General Conference.  I will speak to that at the end of the piece, but I am weary of commenting on corruption in the UMC and enjoy being immersed in a life of faith and hope and charity.)

Continue reading “Spring Is Coming. Let’s Plant a Church!” →

Before we move to specific reforms in Eucharistic practice, we must devote more words than I would like to an elephant in the room. United Methodist worship takes place in an environment of open Communion. Open Communion relieves the pastor and congregation of certain burdens, but it also brings additional burdens. A rite that is used before listeners who are barely familiar with the Christian faith, if at all, needs to be a clearer guide, more precise, and more catechetical–not less. Many denominations practice open communion, but in United Methodist practice the term is too often synonymous with indiscriminate Communion.

Continue reading “The Burden of Open Communion: Rescuing the Eucharist from the United Methodist Church, Final Part” →

“We have failed to be an obedient church…”

I agree. In as much as we have accepted the ecumenical rites and have promulgated them among our congregations, we have failed to be an obedient Church.

Continue reading “We Have Failed To Be An Obedient Church: Part 3 of Rescuing the Eucharist” →

“Christ our Lord invites to his table…”

No. He does not.

Christ does not invite. He calls. He commands. There is no common sense of the word by which we may say that any person of the Trinity “invites.” God does not invite, and that is a good thing.

Continue reading “Rescuing the Eucharist from the UMC: Part 2 The Invitaion” →

From my childhood I remember the story of a counterfeiter who went undetected for years—not because his bills looked so authentic but because he found a way to make them look very old. He noticed that when people receive a new bill they examine it closely, but if the bill looks old—like it has been accepted by many people before—they barely glance at it. The same is true with ideas. If a concept looks new, then we study it carefully. If it sounds like it has been around a while and used by many others, then we accept it and pass it along.

Continue reading “Rescuing the Eucharist from the United Methodist Church: Part I” →