Author Archives: omniamethodist

by Bob Phillips A man went to his neighbor’s house and asked to borrow his lawnmower. The neighbor said no. The man politely asked why, since it was sitting unused in the garage. The neighbor replied, “Well, I have to shave.” Puzzled, the man asked, “Do you shave with your lawnmower?” The neighbor replied, “Friend,Continue reading “Of Borrowed Lawnmowers and United Methodist Clergy Status”

by Bob Phillips The law firm of Picky, Petty, and Small seems to have been retained by the legacy denomination for unfortunate purposes. Numerous bishops are specific and emphatic that retired UM clergy are not to be on the payroll of the local brothel or any Global Methodist Church since the consequences for either actionContinue reading “Retired Clergy and The Ghost of B.T. Roberts”

by Chris Ritter I have a strong bias for the local church. If the primary mission of Methodists is to make disciples (Par. 120, UMC BOD) and the primary arena of disciple-making is the local church (Par. 120, BOD), the health and wholeness of the local church is more important than which denomination scores aContinue reading “Creative Congregations Navigating UMC Division”

We at the Holston chapter of the WCA are sending the following message on behalf of Rick Van Giesen, the transitional benefits officer for the Global Methodist Church. This information should be helpful for pastors and churches moving to the GMC. The attachments he references are available as part of this page. If you haveContinue reading “GMC Pastors, Churches, Take Note!”

by Bob Phillips In a recent piece in Firebrand Magazine, Kevin Watson made this painful, accurate observation: “The United Methodist Church chose the route of ugly and bitter divorce.” The Bad News So it seems. In an article published in Methodist Review in January, 2021 I spoke of the possibility of a Methodist Mitosis asContinue reading “Methodist Mitosis 2.0: New Thoughts on a Needed Direction”

Since, racist, bigoted, patriarchal, trans/homophobic, sexist, male chauvinist, cis-biased, privileged, colonizer has worked so well over the decades to stifle speech, silence the dissenters, and retain the narrative when challenged, let us add to that the charge of ‘mis-informer’, or one who is accused of trafficking in ‘misinformation’. You see, to be labeled as oneContinue reading “Killing The Messenger Is In Vogue Again”

With the tragic news of a local clergy person, taking their own life, it has hit me hard that we need to do better. A young man, in his twenties, serving a rural, elderly congregation, was found by his congregants on a Sunday morning when he failed to show up for church service. It hasContinue reading “We Need to do Better!”

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by Chris Ritter Methodism in the United States is a faltering structure with an amazing foundation. As our institutional relationships are re-negotiated, we have both need and opportunity to un-learn bad habits and re-connect with our own DNA. This is not the first time Methodists have had to do so. During its rapid expansion in […]Continue reading “Methodist Detox — People Need Jesus”

“Here ye, here ye. Come one, come all to the town square and meet the man who can cure your every ailment, your every malady and sickness with just one spoonful of his special elixir being sold only today”. So goes out the edict from the town crier as yet another snake oil salesman comesContinue reading “The Modern Day Snake Oil Salesman”