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Mainline Protestantism is actually categorized by pluralism in varying degrees, it's one of the things that 'separates' us from Evangelical Protestants. That's worth noting. "Pluralism" can mean a lot of things. From inclusivism (there's one right way, but as God's grace is infinite, God may...

I serve a two point charge in Rural Missouri. I do better with specific questions than just trying to define what day to day looks like. Ultimately, the job of a Pastor is to equip the saints. Day to day, I try to think about how, today, I'm going to equip the people of my church to do...

We still have a few appointment announcements being made here, and it's coming down to the wire! It's worth noting that, officially, all United Methodist appointments last for one year. As opposed to being appointed somewhere until we're appointed elsewhere, we're RE-appointed each year to the...

How would you answer the following questions? Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin? Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they...

Do you have specific questions? The gist of it is this; each local congregation in the United Methodist Church does not adopt it's own bylaws or set it's own doctrine. All United Methodist Congregations are bound by the denominations doctrine and law, found in "the Book of Discipline". That...

To provide some background info: "Full Communion" has little to do with "Holy Communion", and, yet everything. It's ultimately a recognition of authority. It doesn't mean that you can receive communion in one or the other; you can already do that. Full Communion means that an Episcopalian...

To paraphrase Martin Luther; no, Baptism isn't necessary for salvation. It's also not optional. I think that would sum up the way most UMC folks feel about the issue, and is pretty consistent with our views. The UMC doesn't believe that Baptism is a pre-requisite for Salvation in the sense...

Just to throw a comment out about "wine", "wine" could in many contexts indeed mean grape juice. No, I'm not about to go down the factually incorrect "The wine they used back then was very weak" rabbit hole. Just that "unfermented wine" was a thing until we decided to stop calling it "grape...

Worth noting that there are actually a couple of other options. You can do Course of Study and Advanced Course of Study, and then complete a handful of Seminary courses and then become Ordained. It's pretty universally understood though that Seminary will be a far easier route than that (and...

The discussion is a little nuanced. United Methodists don't venerate Saints or Mary; and we wouldn't feel that praying to saints or asking them to intercede on our behalf would be appropriate. I understand many Roman Catholics are also moving away from that belief; but not all. I'm not sure...

We do believers baptism too; we just don't use any water, we call it Confirmation, and it's preceded by months of theological education and service! I think Confirmation is an important reminder. For Methodists; Baptism isn't a "once and done", it's a lifetime thing. We don't rebaptize, for...

I think it's great; I wrote a similar letter and sent it to my congregation a couple weeks ago; reminding them of their responsibility in confirmation. I'm fond of the phrase "Confirmation is not a graduation".

A lot of it is religious dogmatism. Christianity has had a long history of opposing gambling. The moral root of the issue with gambling has little to do with it being an unwise way to spend ones money (There's that too, but that's a small part). Rather, throughout history; whether it be John...

It's worth noting that there's a level of dogmatism in arranged marriages that probably do contribute to the lower divorce rate. While Christians also tend to look down on divorce; we know that Christians as a whole aren't very good at applying the tenants of our faith to ourselves (we're more...

They certainly have a better success rate! I think we need to get away from the notion that EVERYONE needs to be married / have children / etc. Even if most are, not all are called to such things. But it's hard to ignore the reality that arranged marriages tend to last longer; and that...

Correct. In Missouri you either have to be a judge or a wedding officiant. The latter is wide open. Anyone can be a 'church' and anyone can claim to be a 'minister'. In a sense, it's as it should be; the state doesn't need to be in the business of deciding which religious institutions are...

I've found in my own ministry that many United Methodists confuse their own beliefs with that of the church. In other words; they think that what they believe is what the church believes. We're not dogmatic; you're free to dissent from the denomination. But as we are connectional and bound by...

I recognize there is quite a lot of challenge to Mary's virginity; including whether she needed to be and even whether the first Disciples even believed she was (there's a lot of suggestion that the virgin mary is a 'later invention'). My comment was really about the use of language in the...

The fascination with sex and sexual organs is bizarre. An while it goes back that far, it's still ever evolving. Today, for example, with breasts and breast feeding. 100 years ago, while women didn't necessarily walk around topless; breastfeeding in public was common. I've even seen old...

In the recent scandal surrounding businesses wanting to refuse gay persons there were some pranksters who ordered wedding cakes featuring a man and three women, "Happy Divorce" cakes ordered, etc., and none were (reportedly) objected to. It is interesting how "Biblical Marriage" has come to...