When I think of being called into ministry, I think of my father. Oh, he wasn’t a pastor. He was a mechanic who quit school in the eighth grade and was mostly a “home” Baptist. That means he did not go to church very much. He was “spiritual” but not “religious” long before those were sociological categories.
Read MoreThe horrendous mass shooting this past Saturday night at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, breaks my heart and calls me to cry out, “How long, O Lord?”
Read MoreOn the final day of the North Central Jurisdictional Conference (NCJ), the Committee on Episcopacy assigned Bishop Dan Schwerin to the Northern Illinois Conference, effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Read MoreWe can press on—or be a footnote in the annals of history, so I stopped by to tell you that Jesus is real!” Bishop Julius Trimble called the North Central Jurisdictional Conference to labor side by side during his sermon on day three of the session. He said, “you may consider yourself left-leaning or right-leaning, but we all better be leaning on the everlasting arms!” He exhorted the body that it is time to stand up with the good news because Jesus is real!
Read MoreLooking at the possibility of a shared episcopal area, Rev. Alka Lyall and Krysta Deede, delegates from Northern Illinois and Wisconsin conferences, brought forth a joint statement at the North Central Jurisdictional (NCJ) conference on Friday afternoon. The statement is in response to the challenges facing the United Methodist Church and how it will best continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Read MoreThe delegates of the 2022 North Central Jurisdictional Conference were on their feet, proclaiming in song that these dry bones will live as they opened their session in worship. Bishop Bruce R. Ough continued this theme in his opening sermon, naming the question we all might be asking: how do we press on when we are overwhelmed by disaffiliation, souls are parched and we are so very, very tired? He went on to proclaim, “I think God has us right where God wants us. God has given us a word. It is never too late for dry bones to live!”
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