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“Pray for Orlando" we read on Facebook and Twitter. Prayer is vitally important, but is there more we can do? As United Methodist Christians, we mourn with the victims and families of those wounded and killed in the shootings on June 12, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. We may even pray and wonder if anything could have been done to avert this heinous act. But should we do more? Is there anything that can be done to keep something similar from happening in the future? While we may not agree on a solution, many of us agree there is a problem....

n 2016, the frontline of the war against the legitimacy of the Jewish state isn’t Gaza or Israel’s northern border — or even the Golan Heights. It is the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to terminate the Jewish state by delegitimizing it in the world community. This ugly campaign plays out on our nation’s college campuses, including most recently at the University of California-Irvine, where campus police had to intervene to save (mostly) Jewish women from “activists” protesting a film about Israeli soldiers. BDS-ers, crafting their efforts as “pro-peace,” have had considerable success with mainline Protestant...

The top policy body for the United Methodist Church is struggling to avert a split over gay rights. The Methodist General Conference voted 428-405 to delay all discussion of church policy related to LGBT people during a meeting in Portland, Oregon. Delegates created a commission Wednesday to review all relevant church law on the subject over a period of at least two years, then hold a special meeting to discuss the way forward. …

Adam Hamilton has once more entered into the fray of making pronouncements about what the Bible does and does not advocate when it comes to same sex sexual activity and same sex marriage, and you can read his post here, http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6876/the-bible-homosexuality-and-the-umc-part-one only the first of four such posts leading up to the General Conference in a couple of weeks. My concern is with the misinterpretation of the Bible in this post as well as the misrepresentation of Methodist cultural trends at various points and so once you’ve read what Adam says, then consider the following response. In the first place,...

Dozens of Methodist leaders are objecting to Mississippi’s new religious objections law, saying it violates their religious principles. More than 30 ministers from around the state and nation published an open letter Monday saying the so-called “religious freedom” law goes against Christian teachings to love and respect all people. The group joins major businesses, human rights groups and legal experts in opposing the incoming law, which they say discriminates against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. […] Pastor Bruce Case of Madison, Mississippi, was among those who signed the letter opposing the law. He said the law creates a...

Pastor Drops Gay Bombshell in Middle of Sunday Sermon 6:00AM EST 1/15/2016 JENNIFER LECLAIRE We're seeing 1 Timothy 4:1 playing out right before our very eyes. It's called the Great Apostasy and it's well underway. "At last I am choosing to serve in that role with full authenticity and as my genuine self—as a woman who loves and shares my life with another woman." Those were the words of Cynthia Meyer, a pastor at Edgerton United Methodist Church, who decided to make her first sermon of 2016 a coming out party. Meyer, 53, has been an ordained UM pastor for...

One Monday in June, 79-year-old Charles Moore, a retired United Methodist minister, drove to Grand Saline, Tex., his childhood home town some 70 miles east of Dallas. He pulled into a strip mall parking lot, knelt down on a small piece of foam and doused himself with gasoline. Then, witnesses said, he set himself on fire. ... The Tyler Morning Telegraph obtained a copy of the suicide note from Grand Saline police. In it, Moore lamented past racism in Grand Saline and beyond. He called on the community to repent and said he was “giving my body to be burned,...

As people of faith, we believe that each of us has a moral obligation to take care of each other. At one time or another, every one of our fellow human beings has a need that we can help ease. We have an even stronger obligation to help the most vulnerable among us — those whose needs are often the greatest. 4307821 Whitefish Physical Therapy (headache) Instory HHN That obligation means more than making sure people have food and clothing. In today’s world, those basics fall far short of what anyone needs to better their lives, support a family and...

Bill Mefford, Director of Civil and Human Rights at the UMC’s Washington office, used the March for Life last week to mock the event with a sign, and picture he posted on Twitter, saying “I march for sandwiches.” Many are upset a church leader used a solemn event to liken an unborn baby to a sandwich. The next day, UMC Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe General Secretary General Board of Church & Society, issued a statement about Mefford’s “march”: “Affirming human dignity is central to the witness of Jesus Christ. Christians are called to watch over with care the lives of...

The United Methodist church is settling a complaint against a retired bishop who performed a same-sex wedding in Alabama, and a church leader said the agreement showed the denomination doesn’t have to be divided by differences over gay marriage. Church statements issued Monday said the case against retired Bishop Melvin G. Talbert had ended with a settlement that the denomination calls a “just resolution.” Official Methodist teaching doesn’t allow same-sex marriages, and there’s been discussion of splitting the denomination over disagreements about whether the position should be amended as society changes. Talbert is retired, but he still holds the title...

A Methodist church in West Virginia was stymied in its efforts to help the needy last week when the county health department told them their plan violated state health codes. The parishioners at First United Methodist Church had decided to install a large refrigerator outside their building that those in need could access at any time. Anticipating concerns about food safety, they planned to stock it with only prepackaged food, and built a cage around it to prevent small children from climbing inside. “We just wanted a way for more people to have access to food, along with some privacy...

Will the United Methodist Church soon have to drop the “United” part of its name? A group of 80 pastors, including at least two from North Carolina, says the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination faces a split because of an inability to resolve long-standing theological disputes about homosexuality and church doctrine. But more than lamenting the divisions, the pastors indicated there is little reason to think reconciliation – or even coexistence – could be found. Like a couple heading to divorce court, the pastors cited irreconcilable differences that can’t be mended.

A lesbian preacher in the United Methodist Church is being given a free ride. After a complaint was filed against Sara Thompson Tweedy of New York, the matter was considered and the case dismissed. There will be no prosecution. Rob Renfroe of Good News, an orthodox renewal United Methodist group, says there's no mistake about Thompson's lifestyle. "She's very up front that she that is married to another woman…" tells OneNewsNow. Renfroe describes her as a "proud, active, self-avowed lesbian."

The Boy Scouts of America has revoked its charter agreement with a Seattle church that refused to remove a gay troop leader after the organization withdrew his membership. A Boy Scouts attorney told Rainier Beach United Methodist Church last week that it no longer could host troops under the Boy Scouts name. The church has stood by Geoff McGrath, 49, a Seattle software engineer and Eagle Scout, after his membership in the organization was revoked last month, setting off an impasse between the church and one of the country’s most popular youth organizations. …

The Salvation Army on Tuesday settled a decade-old lawsuit that charged it with engaging in religious discrimination by requiring its government-funded social service employees to reveal their beliefs and to agree to act in accordance with the Christian gospel. As part of the settlement, approved by a federal judge in Manhattan, the Salvation Army will distribute to its New York employees who work in programs that receive government financing a document stating that they need not adhere to the group’s religious principles while doing their jobs, nor may they be asked about their religious beliefs. The Salvation Army, which is...

In a Friday morning Fort Worth Star Telegram article by Bud Kennedy, we became aware that Tea Party leader Julie McCarty has opposed a local candidate for criminal court judge because “he is a Methodist…Methodists tend not to take a stand on issues – anything goes.” She explained why she is supporting another candidate in the race: “My preference is a straitlaced Baptist to an everything-goes Methodist.” Early in our nation’s history, our Founding Fathers decided to be free of the destructive denominational wars of Europe. They knew firsthand the dangers of sectarian conflict and sought to prevent this nation...

The dispute among United Methodists over recognition of same-sex couples has lapsed into a doctrinal donnybrook, pitting clergy who are presiding at gay weddings in defiance of church law against proponents of traditional marriage who are trying to stop them. Since 2011, Methodist advocates for gay marriage have been recruiting clergy to openly officiate at same-sex ceremonies in protest of church policy. In response, theological conservatives have sought formal complaints against the defiant clergy, which could lead to church trials. One scholar has warned that Methodists are "retreating into our various camps" instead of seeking a resolution over an issue...

John Zachary created a Nativity scene for Claremont United Methodist Church that employs a figure of Trayvon Martin as a commentary on gun violence. Previous scenes have had Mary and Joseph as a homeless couple and as war refugees. “You try to put it in a context of how it would be today,” Zachary said.Nativity scenes have a few standard elements: a manger, swaddling clothes, happy parents, sheep, maybe the Three Wise Men. They don’t generally include Trayvon Martin. But there he is, wearing a hoodie, a stream of blood pouring from his chest onto the straw-covered floor of the...

A minister has refused to wear a poppy when she conducts this year’s remembrance service because she believes the symbol “advocates war”. Patricia Jackson told other clergy that she would be happy to sport a white poppy during the proceedings on Remembrance Sunday, but will not wear a red one. Her decision has upset many parishioners at Hadley Methodist Church in Telford, Shropshire, who claimed that the American-born priest “doesn’t seem to realize” the importance of the poppy. …

In Easton, Md., an untold story of free African-Americans is being discovered through bits of glass, shards of pottery and oyster shells. Piece by piece, archaeologists and historians from two universities and the community are uncovering the history of The Hill, which they believe is the earliest settlement of free African-Americans in the United States, dating to 1790. Treme, in New Orleans, is recognized as the oldest free black community in the nation, dating to 1812. But researchers say that could change based on findings from the Easton dig. "It's not just a black story. It's an American story," said...