I recently shared that I would be retiring after 28 years of ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. My retirement will become effective on April 30, 2022 and will be officially approved at the Annual Conference this June. My…
I read with interest an article highlighted this week in the Harvard Business Review’s “Today’s Tip” on How to Succeed When Your Predecessor Was a Star. The author, Rebecca Zucker, states that new leaders should, “[not] try to take on…
I have been employed by a local church as a lay person or as a clergy person for thirty-one years. (I started at age 19.) Over those years I have served under the leadership of 9 district superintendents (Lloyd, Marilyn,…
What would happen if…we appoint pastors to circuit-based ministries to develop new faith communities, language ministries, innovations, and shared ministry/staffing under the supervision and leadership of a circuit leader? The first church I attended after my conversion at age 13…
This blog entry is part of a larger series about a shared aspiration for the future of the United Methodist Church. These aspirations are framed by three things: 1) making the local church the center of our life together, 2)…
Since the disastrous Special Called Session of the General Conference in 2019, a new longing for a different way of being the United Methodist Church has emerged. In the months since the conference has adjourned, a bevy of new proposals…
I fell in love with maps as a child. As a native Southern Californian, I would read and study the old Thomas Guide map of Los Angeles. Growing up in LA meant learning that there were often many paths to…