Omnia Methodist Posts

As a longtime Methodist, I can attest that—at least from a distance—it is not the most dramatic of the world’s religious operations. Very little incense, not much speaking in tongues, and sulfur and brimstone are barely in evidence. There are bishops, but they don’t get special hats. Methodist Central Hall, in London, has a magnificent […]

In this deep, 70-minute conversation, publisher Henry Neufeld sits down with authors and theologians Allan Bevere and Bruce Epperly to explore the vital, often misunderstood concept of “social holiness.” At a time when public discourse is increasingly polarized and human beings are routinely reduced to political abstractions, how does the church live out a concrete, […]

Methodism has always had a primary concern with the person and work of the Holy Spirit. John Wesley’s sermons revolved around a robust pneumatology (theology of the Holy Spirit) with great regularity. Yet over the course of a couple of centuries, the Holy Ghost became somewhat alien to average churchgoers, taking the place of something […]

A group of people in the church I serve is reading through the Bible in a year. In the New Testament section of the schedule we’re following, we’ve made it to Revelation. We recently read through those letters to the seven churches. For a long time, Laodicea held my attention, with its warning about lukewarmness. […]

The Holy Spirit visited us in so many ways during the first regular General Conference of the Global Methodist Church in South Africa. It was a holy and focusing time for our movement. I regret that time did not allow me to chronicle the work day by day on this site. But some of the […]

There is a word we used back in Jackson Parish when something wasn’t exactly crooked, wasn’t exactly backwards, but somehow didn’t seem put together quite right: cattywampus. I’m not sure that’s how one spells it, but I know it’s how one says it. I’ve been looking at the new episcopal areas of the Global Methodist […]

The Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church filed a lawsuit in state district court, seeking to protect regional church property and assets amid ongoing disaffiliation disputes. According to court filings obtained from the Dallas County District Clerk’s office, the regional church body is asking the judiciary to clarify property trusts under church polity […]

For the last 11 days, I’ve been in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the General Conference of The Global Methodist Church (GMC). It has been a whirlwind of 18-hour days, little sleep, and hard work. I was privileged to serve as the chair of the Worship Subcommittee of the General Conference Commission. The team and I […]

The Global Methodist Church adopted a set of Articles of Faith and elected eight bishops to its first regular Assembly of Bishops during a General Conference that closed Saturday (Sept. 5) at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, the denomination said. It was the second General Conference in the history of the denomination, which launched […]

The Global Methodist Church elected eight bishops at its General Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, marking the new denomination’s first full-time Assembly of Bishops. The denomination consecrated the bishops at the Saturday conclusion of the conference, it said in a news release. The recent general conference was only the second such gathering in the history […]

The Global Methodist Church (GMC) has unanimously appointed Bishop John Pena Auta as its Coordinating Bishop in Nigeria, placing him at the centre of the denomination’s spiritual and administrative coordination at a critical stage of its growth in the country.

We want our lives to matter. We want to know that our years have added up to something, that our work has made a difference, and that the people we love are better off because we were here. There is nothing wrong with wanting this. The trouble begins when we try to satisfy the desire […]

What kind of Methodism will emerge over the next generation? In this episode of More to the Story, I talk with Pete Bellini of United Theological Seminary about his thought-provoking article, “Which Methodism?” Bellini explores key theological and ecclesial questions facing the Global Methodist Church and outlines five possible trajectories the movement could follow in […]

John Wesley wrote these words in 1760 in a letter to Dorothy Furly. She received many letters from Wesley with pastoral and health advice. Wesley corresponded with a number of people, particularly women, that sought his counsel and at the end of one such letter to Furly, we find the words “it matters not how […]

God is seeking us long before we ever have the first thought of seeking Him. In Episode 11 of Awake & Arise, Conference Superintendent Greg West is joined by Rev. Joshua Hong and Nancy Hong of The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ GMC in Chesapeake for a conversation about Prevenient Grace. How do we, […]