First United Methodist Church of Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 35:1-16, Luke 1:46-55 One of the characteristics of the life of faith is the experience of counterintuitive joy. Just when the logical response to external circumstances would seem to
(Chicago, Illinois) — The progressive grassroots Church Within A Church Movement in the United Methodist Church, met October 14-16 in Chicago for its regular semi-annual Coordinating Team Meeting. The agenda included joining a larger meeting of multiple progressive United Methodist caucuses to learn more ways
Press Release After sharing publicly that she is a lesbian in a covenant relationship with a partner, The Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud will face a United Methodist church trial beginning on December 1, 2004. The purpose of the trial is to determine if Rev. Stroud
Every four years the United Methodist Church (UMC) has a general conference where church rules and future plans are established. The UMC has generally been regarded as a more liberal denomination but, at the 2000 conference, it took a strongly conservative stand against homosexuals. Since
Recently, just as an ecumenical gathering was commencing, a secretary rushed in shouting, “The building is on fire!” The Methodists gathered in a corner and prayed. The Baptists cried, “Where is the water?” The Quakers quietly praised God for blessings that fire brings. The Lutherans
Co-authored with Stephen Swecker, editor of Zion’s Herald Northwestern, one of America’s great universities, was begun by the Methodist Church in 1850 outside Chicago in a church parsonage. The school had outstanding football teams in the early years of the 20th century and came to
Despite the United Methodist Church’s restrictive policies regarding homosexuality, many gays and lesbians remain in the denomination because they feel accepted at their local churches. That’s a key finding of a study conducted by Jamie Bigham Stroud of Philadelphia, a marriage and family therapist licensed
A Seattle clergywoman is pursuing an assignment within the United Methodist Pacific Northwest Conference of Seattle, despite coming out officially as a lesbian. Karen Dammann, a United Methodist Church clergywoman since 1991, declared on March 25 that she intends to pursue a church assignment guaranteed
March 27, 2001, Olympia, WA – A Pacific Northwest advocacy group of United Methodists today accused their denomination’s national lawmaking body of heresy for its anti-homosexual legislation. The charge came from The Reconciling Ministries Network in the Pacific Northwest, a coalition of lay and clergy
Northaven United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas Reading: John 6:25-40 First in a series of sermons on a proposed new mission statement “We, the children, youth and adults of Northaven are called to be a community urgently devoted to the God whose gift is love and