Omnia Methodist Posts

“… I am never so busy as to forget my friends.” — John Wesley This statement from Wesley is one of my favorites for a number of reasons. The first is that I think it’s good advice for us all. Don’t forget your friends. The second is that is a striking claim from one of […]

Long defrocked, now reinstated, the Rev. Beth Stroud helped lead communion at a service marking the first anniversary of The United Methodist Church’s move to full LGBTQ inclusion. Stroud was happy but shaky as she stood offering the elements.

GREENVILLE — With lawsuits pending in two South Carolina courts, the ownership of several churches remains in limbo as arguments mount on whether they can legally separate from a United Methodist denomination. The S.C. Supreme Court granted an extension to June 4 on the case filed by 11 congregations against the S.C. United Methodist Conference. […]

Anniversaries matter. They remind us of our past and contribute to our identity as individuals and communities in the present. The month of May includes such national anniversaries as Cinco de Mayo in the USA and parts of Mexico, National Patriots’ Day in Québec and Victoria Day across the rest of Canada, and Constitution Memorial […]

Opposition to Methodism came swiftly and early. Anti-Methodist sentiment in Oxford and resistance to the early zealotry of the preachers has already been mentioned. But much of the opposition came from bishops concerned about a seemingly untethered movement within the Church that was not directly answerable to its leaders or from small communities who saw […]

In this segment, Lonnie presents on the recent Judicial Council Decision #1517, which presents some significant problems for UMC jurisprudence and the future possibility of any amicable separations on the part of local churches from the UMC.

I preached my first sermon at Asbury Theological Seminary in Estes Chapel on Wednesday, April 30. It was a really joyful experience and a great honor for me. Many thanks to Jessica LaGrone for the invitation. I’ve included a short clip of it above. If you’re interested in listening to the whole thing, you can access […]

The split in the Methodist Church has led to our local church’s division. More precisely, everybody left. Well, 70-80% of the congregation and choir left, setting up their own church that meets in a local funeral home on Sundays. I asked a friend of mine what this new church believed in. He said, “We believe […]

This is a clip of my conversation with Rev. Alexander Sabo, in which he details the attacks on Global Methodists at the hands of United Methodists, facilitated by UM episcopal leadership.

During our time together as a Council of Bishops we, along with the rest of the church, received Judicial Council decision 1516. We are aware that this decision has created some anxiety and consternation, and we are aware that there are misunderstandings regarding the decision. We thought it helpful to offer some clarifying words.