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Progressive Christian

2012-05-18T05:28:32-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

More on Sexuality, Acceptability and the Church

Last updated on: May 18, 2012 at 5:28 am By Christy Thomas

Here is a good, and a little bit funny, article on the nature of “biblical” marriages. If you don’t want to read the whole article, here’s how the author sums up the nature of “traditional” marriages with a biblical foundation: Traditional marriage is one man with multiple wives, multiple concubines, wives conquered in war and wives acquired in levirate marriage, possibly including girls under the age of ten, but definitely not including anyone of a different ethnic group, in an... Read more

role of women in church

slavery

SSA

theology

2012-05-18T05:28:32-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

More on Sexuality, Acceptability and the Church

Last updated on: May 18, 2012 at 5:28 am By Christy Thomas

role of women in church

slavery

SSA

theology

2019-01-11T16:15:43-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Forty Years Ago I Would Have Demanded the Present “Me” to Recant

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 4:15 pm By Christy Thomas

Forty years ago, I would have called the present “me” a heretic and demanded that the present “me” recant or be expelled. Forty years ago, I would have burned the present “me” at the stake. Forty years ago, I would have gone to holy war over those details because I just knew that I was right. Most of us can agree on major goals. For the church, it is “Love God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul and... Read more

disciples of jesus christ

spectrum of human sexuality

theology

united methodist church

2019-01-11T16:03:49-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mystery Worship Two

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 4:03 pm By Christy Thomas

For Mystery Worship Number Two, I picked the Sunday Evening Contemporary Worship service at Park Avenue United Methodist Church on the upper east side of New York City, After an afternoon near midtown, I arrived by taxi about 6:15 pm for 6:30 worship. I found the doors of the church wide open with a greeter there ready to say hi and offer me a simple order of worship. The bulletin was simple, one/half sheet, printed in color. Like many churches in... Read more

archaic worship language

language of ritual

mystery worship

worship projection technology

2019-01-11T13:41:01-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Stop the Blame Game

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 1:41 pm By Christy Thomas

I received a comment recently on this post where the writer, in defending special privileges for Bishops that are denied other clergy, wrote in explanation of why Bishops do little pastoring of the pastors under their care: “they spend so much time troubleshooting the problem-children of the clergy that there is little time left over for hand-holding.” Now, look at this situation: Bishops blame the ineffective clergy for the reasons they can’t do their job and clergy blame bad or dead... Read more

special privileges for Bishops

united methodist church

2012-05-13T09:02:58-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mystery Worship One

Last updated on: May 13, 2012 at 9:02 am By Christy Thomas

From May through July, I shall use part of my Sabbatical to visit various churches and record my experiences there. My first venture was to Apostles Church, on the Upper East Side in New York City. This choice was easy, as both my NYC sons and families attend there. They willingly agreed with my walking in alone so I would be noticed as a first time visitor. A fifteen minute stroll from the west side of Central Park to the... Read more

2019-01-11T16:15:53-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Final Reflections on General Conference 2012

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 4:15 pm By Christy Thomas

I’ve read all I can find about the final, inconclusive, disturbing and yet almost liberating end to General Conference 2012. I wish I could have been there, but this way from the distance I was free to spend many hours in prayer for the situation. The badly need restructuring just didn’t happen. Huge, scary trust issues, or lack of trust issues, surfaced. Nearly half the delegates walked away saddened and defeated by the church’s continued focus on sexuality as the... Read more

General Conference 2012

kingdom of god

Luke 11

The United Methodist Church

trust

2019-01-11T15:18:50-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Streets of NYC and Thoughts on General Conference

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 3:18 pm By Christy Thomas

I am now in New York City. But today is more a day of rest and continued healing as I’m having trouble with being still enough to let the stitches heal properly from my surgery, nearly three weeks ago. So, I spent a few hours this morning reading blogs again and trying to figure out what on earth was happening at General Conference 2012. Twitter, which I as a rule quite thoroughly dislike, did exactly today what it is supposed... Read more

General Conference 2012

grace

TV shows

united methodist church

walking in NYC

2019-01-11T15:05:13-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lean and Mean or Deep and Wide?

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 3:05 pm By Christy Thomas

I’m sitting on an airplane to NYC to begin my Sabbatical, which will include much thinking and writing about the nature of healthy church culture. I am both pastor and gardener. The first by occupation, the second by avocation. I love both venues. I also often say that there is no place like the church, and the garden, to break my heart. In the garden, weather, insects, weeds, and pestilence often combine to destroy hours, weeks, months of hard work.... Read more

General Conference 2012

kingdom of god

UMC

2019-01-11T15:11:43-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One Thoughtless Move

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 3:11 pm By Christy Thomas

From what I can tell as I read other blogs and reports from General Conference, it was the rigid adherence to Roberts Rules of Order and a case of thoughtlessness that led to the dismantling yesterday of a key element in the United Methodist system. Now, is the current system working well? Nope. But I’m betting the unintended consequences of this move, to give Bishops the power to put clergy on a two year transitional leave, without financial support, without... Read more

General Conference 2012

guaranteed appointment

united methodist church

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