Methodist

A Methodist Appreciation of Benedict XVI

Many remembrances of Benedict XVI have been written, mostly by Roman Catholics. What follows is a simple remembrance by a Methodist pastor. Continue Reading »

19 Jan 2023

The Future of United Methodism

by Dale M. Coulter

With the United Methodist Church dividing over same-sex marriage, Methodists must search to ground their tradition in a return to Wesleyan catholicity. Continue Reading »

28 Feb 2022

A Strange Split in the UMC

by Carl R. Trueman

The Christian church cannot expect its younger generation to hold the line on traditional sexual ethics if that generation is not properly catechized in the basics of the faith. Continue Reading »

7 Jan 2020

Methodist Schism

by Dale M. Coulter

The two coalitions of the United Methodist Church are already functionally distinct denominations. Continue Reading »

28 Feb 2019

Marriage in The Methodist Church

by Paul T. Stallsworth

Because of God’s faithfulness, our faithfulness to the covenants we make—baptismal and, for many, marital—is possible. Continue Reading »

24 Apr 2018

Since 1987, I have attempted to witness to the Gospel of Life within The United Methodist Church. Every January 22 (or a nearby date), I have gathered with my fellow members of Lifewatch (or Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality) for a service of worship in the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill before joining in the March for Life. Continue Reading »

11 Feb 2015

Atticus Finch in a Skirt

by Mark Tooley

Harper Lee, now age eighty-eight and long out of the public eye, is the legendarily mysterious author of the iconic 1961 novel of southern racial injustice, To Kill a Mockingbird. It inspired an equally beloved film with Gregory Peck as heroic small town lawyer Atticus Finch, who defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. Continue Reading »

2 Dec 2014

The Coming Methodist Revival?

by John Murdock

These days, when outsiders consider Methodism, they tend to quickly assume that it is just withering away on its deathbed. But before checking for a pulse, observers ought to call to mind its history, particularly its vigorous beginnings. John Wesley preached to thousands from his father’s grave after being muzzled by the Anglican Church, and when the movement he spearheaded crossed the Atlantic, American Methodism spread on horseback as its dedicated circuit-riders expanded their territory along with the young nation. According to Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, in 1776, Methodists made up only a sliver of the religious pie, just some 2.5 percent of worshipers. By 1850, however, Methodism was by far the largest expression of Christianity in the United States, claiming over a third of all the nation’s religious adherents. Continue Reading »

29 Oct 2014