Blogs
1/18/2019
From Separate to Welcoming, Inclusion, and Integration: Parallels Between the Community of People with Disabilities and the LGBTQ Community in the Church Since assuming the role as the LGBTQ+ Advocacy Coordinator, and attending local churches and Reconciling meetings, regional Annual Conference of the OR-ID UMC Conference, and attending the national Reconciling Convention, I’ve been inundated by the use of words like “separate,” “welcoming,” “inclusion,” and “integration,” wondering if everyone ...
Spirit Alive: Can We Be an All Souls Church in a Some Souls World?
1/17/2019
Spirit Alive is a twice a month blog that looks at different aspects of mission and ministry throughout the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference and beyond. January 15, 2019 With Heart, Soul, and Mind: What Will It Take to Transform the World? "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.'" Romans 12: 2 "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." President Theodore Roosevelt Some years ago, when I was at a conference in Washington, DC, I ...
A Kiss
1/8/2019
A Kiss A few weeks ago, sailor Bryan Woodington came home to Jacksonville, Florida, after seven months at sea on the USS Sullivan, and kissed his husband Kenneth, dipping him, like the iconic V-J Day kiss in New York City’s Times Square in 1945. The photograph, which showed both on Facebook and a local television network news feed, while garnering much praise, also drew critics and negative responses by those who were offended by two gay men kissing. All this, because two men kissed, and the...
New Year’s Resolutions in 2019
1/3/2019
New Year’s Resolutions in 2019 In an article from Psychology Today, “Why We Really Celebrate New Year’s Day,” writer David Ropeik writes that New Year’s Day is, logically, simply the movement of the clock, from Monday to Tuesday. However, we put special, symbolic, and emotional charge to it, making one day “2018” and the next day, “2019.” The reason we celebrate New Year’s Day is something that is ubiquitous, tied to something intrinsic to or in our DNA as human beings, in which we give all...
Forward Together, Not One Step Back in 2019
12/31/2018
Forward Together, Not One Step Back in 2019 In the Raleigh (NC) News and Observer newspaper, one of their traditions is to identify a citizen of NC who is “crowned” as the Tar Heel of the Year. This year, 2018, the Tar Heel of the Year is the Rev. William Barber of Goldsboro, NC. He is also well-known for his work with the Moral Monday movement, in which many of us—myself included—participated in ongoing rallies in Raleigh, the capitol of NC, protesting against the Tea Party Republican ...
Spirit Alive: Can We Be an All Souls Church in a Some Souls World?
12/21/2018
What Will It Take to Transform the World?
