Three things every family needs and one thing they don’t

by Melissa Collier Gepford

After 18 months of virtual ministry, churches are re-engaging face to face. The question I keep hearing is: “How are we going to get families back to church?” With too many still unvaccinated, during the rise in breakthrough cases from the delta variant, and while the vaccine is inaccessible to young children, a better question to ask is, “How are we going to engage families in our community?” It may not mean butts in pews. It may mean something completely different that we haven’t thought of yet! Regardless of how you shape ministry programming in context – virtual, in person, or hybrid – every family or individual needs three things. READ MORE

Scripture and trauma

by Joni S. Sancken

Preachers and listeners alike are processing traumatic stress and experiences caused by COVID-19, deep interpersonal fissures, and rampant injustice. The Bible is a powerful resource. It testifies to God’s loving presence and intervening power amid suffering and the resilience of God’s people over time. The following interpretive tools emerge from reading the Bible with awareness of trauma and can be used in preaching to create healing connections between the experiences of those with soul wounds and scripture. READ MORE

I’m challenging Methodism (to what end)?

by Vance P. Ross

I believe that being the church is about pursuing the commonwealth of God, the reign of heaven, for all the people of God. This harmony is the concord envisioned in bountiful living for creation. This harmony is the result of the divine vision for creation, even for the universe.

Conjured up for the express intent of economically abusing Black people and other people of color, the notion of race stands in contradiction to this vision. This false idea infects humanity, perverting Whites to believe that, solely by skin color, they are seen as superior while others are diminished. More specifically, racism gives birth to the ideas infecting White supremacy, and for the exclusive purpose of greed and insistent inferiority for anyone not racialized as White.

Infested with this untruth, Methodism often stands outside of its stated mission. READ MORE

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