http://www.ugumc.com/blog An Ongoing Conversation with the Pastor (Please click on "Comments" to leave yours) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:33:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was so struck by this quote from Dr. John Killinger's new book, Outgrowing Church, I felt like I needed to share it with you. It is my dream, too. I would love to go to church and come home to write to friends and say, “I had a wonderful ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/09/03/john-killinger-on-outgrowing-church-9-3-10/ As I was visiting one of our resthome residents this week, he asked me how many people we, as a church, have who are in resthomes, who are shut-ins, or have health problems which prevent them from coming to church. As I started to name them, the numbers astounded ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/09/02/overwhelmed-but-blessed-9-2-10/ From Brett McCracken: If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that "cool Christianity" is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real. If we are interested in Christianity ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/08/23/words-of-wisdom-from-a-27-year-old-8-23-10/ Found in my inbox this morning after a lively debate in Sunday School yesterday: Steve, SS has opened lots of conversation between my husband and me. Two things I wanted to share. I am constantly reminded that if God had wanted us all to be alike, he would have made ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/08/23/what-you-might-be-learning-in-sunday-school-if-you-were-present-8-23-10/ From Jim Wallis in a recent issue of Sojourners magazine: Arizona's law is a social and racial sin, and it should be denounced by people of faith and conscience across the nation. Arizona is threatening to wage war on the body of Christ. We should say that if you ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/08/19/when-the-law-is-sinful-8-19-10/ After a wonderful two week vacation at the lake, Judy and I are back in UG and it feels good to be back in the saddle again. I began my day with an hour on the bike at 7 am, and I tried to focus on the beauty around ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/26/back-in-the-saddle-again-7-26-10/ Hope you will enjoy this Q and A as much as I did. Very insightful! Dr. Lennart Peterson of Gainesville, Florida, writes: I am professor of physics, emeritus, from the University of Florida and I am a Unitarian. Several years ago, I had a conversation with a man who was doing ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/q-and-a-by-bishop-john-shelby-spong-6-16-10/ Taken as a whole, I really enjoyed my Memorial Day...particularly the annual concert from Washington, DC, presented by Public TV. But my day did not start off well...in fact, it started off with my being about as angry as I ever get. About 9:00 am, when I opened ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/01/seekers-and-purveryors-of-the-truth-6-1-10/ A vote to keep 'them' away from 'us' By Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church & Society The bishops of The United Methodist Church have certified that the proposed amendment 1 to the denomination’s constitution has been rejected by a vote of 25,764-23,614. The proposed amendment read: Inclusiveness of the ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/12/from-the-general-board-of-discipleship-31210/ This one is for the folks who, for good reason or bad, do not come to Wonderful Wednesdays. Let me just start by saying that, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, WW is one of the very best things we have going here at UGUMC. Last night after our Bible ... http://www.ugumc.com/blog/index.php/2010/04/29/on-wonderful-wednesday-4-29-10/