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November 2013

November 14, 2013

The United Methodist gay wedding crisis

Thomas Frank, the guy who wrote our textbook on United Methodist polity, has made a...

August 2013

August 20, 2013

What is the burden of proof in the #Methodist #homosexuality debate?

In the American justice system, all defendants are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable...

July 2013

July 17, 2013

Is communion intellectual property?

I learned a hard lesson today. Some of you saw my post where I had...

June 2013

June 26, 2013

Contemplating a church-based living wage campaign

There were three resolutions for the Virginia annual conference of the United Methodist Church this...

May 2013

May 17, 2013

Which do you like better? Scandal or changing the world?

Several months ago, someone from the United Methodist communications office emailed me to see if...

May 14, 2013

The context of “going on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1-3)

I came across the Biblical context of the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection in yesterday's...

February 2013

February 11, 2013

Surprised by mercy: my train-wreck conversion story

I was invited to share an occasion when I was surprised by mercy. It was...

February 08, 2013

Jesus inside the beltway: Glocalization and relationship-rooted causes

On the last day of our GBCS young clergy leadership forum, we learned the term...

February 06, 2013

Jesus inside the beltway: love creates the space for truth

Yesterday, the young clergy leadership forum heard from Bill Mefford, the GBCS point person for...

February 05, 2013

Jesus inside the beltway: “Why are you here?”

I am attending the young clergy leadership forum (#yclf on twitter) with the General Board...

January 2013

January 27, 2013

God's grace in 4 stick figure drawings

We had the first session of our new member class today. During the first class,...

January 27, 2013

God’s grace in 4 stick figure drawings

We had the first session of our new member class today. During the first class,...

December 2012

December 27, 2012

Looking Back on 2012: April-May

In March, I fasted from blogging for Lent. April and May of 2012 were dominated...

October 2012

October 02, 2012

Ministry with the poor and middle-class self-hate

My name is Morgan Guyton and I'm a recovering middle-class self-hater. I also love hanging...

September 2012

September 17, 2012

Why we need to build this meme: #JesusIsMyCandidate

It was only supposed to be a catchy sermon series to attract attention for our...

July 2012

July 03, 2012

Exceptional American: Rev. Lorenza Andrade-Smith

I don't know Methodist pastor Rev. Lorenza Andrade-Smith personally, though she is a facebook "friend,"...

July 02, 2012

Rethinking "Rethink Church"

This past Saturday, I preached on the meaning of church. We're going through the book...

July 01, 2012

The song of God’s power (Ephesians 1:15-23) #rethinkchurch

In the second sermon of our church's "Big Picture" series, we looked at the meaning...

June 2012

June 27, 2012

Did Paul obey his General Conference?

If Peter was the first Pope, then Paul was the first Protestant. In the original...

June 11, 2012

Letter from a gay Christian classmate

This is a letter from a guy named Chase Bannister who went to school with...

May 2012

May 03, 2012

Don’t hate our purple UMC

In 2 Samuel 12, when Bathsheba's first son was dying, David fasted and clamored with...

May 02, 2012

What prevenient grace is and isn’t

"We stand united in declaring our faith that God’s grace is available to all ––...

May 01, 2012

Biblical and inclusive: Methodism wrestles with homosexuality

“No scripture can mean that God is not love and that His mercy is not...

April 2012

April 28, 2012

What must inclusivity exclude?

"All means all." It's a battle-cry that is appropriately Wesleyan. Since we believe in prevenient...

April 27, 2012

How will you avoid creating a CYA culture, #GC2012?

Tom Berlin, a pastor and clergy delegate from my conference for whom I have a...

April 26, 2012

Bullying and humanity at General Conference

First off, I'm aware that I didn't witness what happened tonight in person. Mark Miller,...

April 26, 2012

Anxiety vs. Kingdom in the United Methodist Church

I've been following the "Call to Action" debate on the twitter feeds from the Methodist...

April 18, 2012

Why I’m not afraid of General Conference

I've been thinking a lot about John Meunier's question "What would it take for us...