Articles Archives | World Methodist Evangelism

How Church Personalities Reveal Epiphany Living by Priscilla Hammond

Priscilla Hammond January 9, 2019

Churches have personalities, expressed through their organization, Christian education
processes, preaching, and worship. Each can have strengths and challenges, but the diversity is reflective of the differences we see in people, including the
Apostles.

Instead of focusing on which
organizational structure or form of worship we prefer, we need to ask if our church is manifesting Christ

Our Greatest Leadership Challenge of the New Year by James Petticrew

James Petticrew January 1, 2019

I have often thought when hearing of another nose-dive from ministry, “not him?” but underlying that has been a naive attitude that has assumed that it won’t ever be me.

Finding Joy and Peace this Christmas Week by Michelle Bauer

Michelle Bauer December 24, 2018

Christmas is almost here! Thinking backing over the last few weeks, when have you felt the most peaceful? When have you felt the most stress or anxiety? As you think ahead to the coming week, what are you looking forward to? What, if anything, are you dreading? Offer those things into God’s care.

Gaudete by James Petticrew

James Petticrew December 17, 2018

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent, called Gaudete Sunday; “gaudete” is Latin for “rejoice.” Even a cursory reading of the Bible reveals that joy and rejoicing are an inevitable overflow in the lives of people who have understood and experienced God at work in their lives.

Advent, Esther, & the Absence of God by Jackson Lashier

Jackson Lashier December 16, 2018

As good as the story of Esther is, however, it presents us with a problem: God is absent. Unlike other Old Testament stories, where we read of God appearing to Abraham or working behind the scenes to foil the plans of the Pharaoh, the story of Esther never mentions God. Rather, the characters in Esther appear to be acting on

Looking to Share Your Faith? Slow Your Pace by Rob Haynes

Rob Haynes December 10, 2018

We live in a culture that wants to move faster and faster still. But, is faster always better? There are some things about going slow that you cannot get when you are moving fast. When I was serving as a youth minister, I took the youth group hiking to the top of a small mountain. At the end of the

Hope in a Diner Booth by Karen Bates

Karen Bates December 10, 2018

At a time in my life when things were not like I wanted, I sat in a restaurant booth across from a friend as tears streamed down my face explaining how everything was going wrong. The holidays were around the corner. I was short on cash. I was helping other people but no one asked me if I needed help.

Founder’s Chic by Barton Price

Barton Price December 5, 2018

I’m a historian by training. It is what I do and how I think. This training orients my own spiritual formation as well. I think about the past as a way to make sense of God’s faithfulness and to consider my Christian duty as well as others’. Thinking like a historian tends to consider how we narrate our stories and

Celebrating Advent as a Family: Las Posadas by Michelle Bauer

Michelle Bauer December 3, 2018

Many families enjoy re-telling the events that happened around the time that someone was born – the mad dash to the hospital, nervous pacing in the waiting room, funny names that your parents almost gave you. Luke begins his gospel by telling the story surrounding Jesus’ birth. Did you know that Jesus was born next to animals? That’s unusual isn’t

Emmanuel: God Wants To Be With Us by Edgar Bazan

Edgar Bazan December 1, 2018

Christmas is around the corner, and for the Christian church this is the beginning of the Advent season. Advent is a season when we are reminded that God is with us. In fact, one of the names for God that we hear often during Christmastime is Emmanuel, which means: God with us. (Isaiah 7:14) However, many times we don’t feel

Money, Money, Money by James Petticrew

James Petticrew September 14, 2016

The danger of our silence is that if we ignore the subject of money, both the mission of the Kingdom of God and the spirituality of God’s people will ultimately be impoverished.

The Gospel in Jamaica: Where Are the Men? by Kimberly Reisman

Kim Reisman September 14, 2016

If we really believe that in Christ there is no male or female, it should trouble us deeply that so many men are missing from our midst.

Helicopter Pilots or Farmers? by Cole Bodkin

Cole Bodkin September 12, 2016

Hypermobility. Transience. Individualism. Consumerism. Nationalism. Add to those descriptors the second half of the great commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. And what do you get? Helicopter love. Helicopter Love* A helicopter love, or lifestyle, is one in which a person has a place to live (a safe haven), but they hop into a virtual helicopter to fly to the various

Our Story Is for All Ages by Tammie Grimm

Tammie Grimm September 10, 2016

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass, they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may

Outsiders & Underdogs: Interview with Tom Fuerst

Tom Fuerst September 8, 2016

Advent reminds us that Christmas is not a sentimental, consumerist, family-friendly holiday, but is a season of radical political subversion, the downfall of the mighty, and an upturning of the hierarchies of the world. Seeing Christmas in fresh perspective begins with participating in the biblical narrative of God’s preferential option for the poor, forgotten, and imperfect.

Why Can’t We Just Be Humanitarians? by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner September 7, 2016

The brilliance of the World Methodist Conference is still shifting through my mind, light through a suncatcher hanging on a window. The days in Houston were color, sound, faces, laughter, weeping, worship, intensity, frustration, revelation. I met people and forgot names. I met people and remembered names. I saw textiles woven with Methodist patterns, saris shimmering, archbishop caps velvety and

The Global Neighborhood: World Methodist Conference by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner September 5, 2016

What neighborhood, out of all the ones you’ve lived in, has been your favorite? Was it a quiet small town street lined with tall trees? Was it a bustling corner of a large, noisy city? Was it a distant, rural farm, the air scratched with the clucking of chickens? Was it a small cottage on the edge of the windy

Lead Like Jesus by Otis T. McMillan

Otis McMillan September 1, 2016

Are you content to have unfulfilled needs in your life? Most of us aren’t. We want enough for today, plus extra stored away for the future. Yet our longing for more than enough is often limited to what we can see and touch. Jesus told us that these things would never satisfy. He taught that only God can fulfill our

Baptism and the Missing Mind: My Baby by Matt Douglass

Matt Douglass August 31, 2016

But such things apply to Joy, if at all, in a far diminished way. I sing the Lord’s Prayer to her, but she’ll never learn to pray. We’ll bring her to church, but she’ll never learn the basics of the faith. We’ll take care of her physically, but to what extent can we really meet her spiritual needs?

Leadership In The Wesleyan Way: Interview with Aaron Perry

Aaron Perry August 29, 2016

Recently Wesleyan Accent spoke with Dr. Aaron Perry on Leadership in the Wesleyan Way, a volume he edited with Dr. Bryan Easley. Wesleyan Accent: This summer, you and Bryan Easley published a 450-page collection of essays on “Leadership the Wesleyan Way: An Anthology for Forming Leaders in Wesleyan Thought and Practice.” It’s been praised by notable voices like Dr. Jo

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