I fly out today for the Free Methodist General Conference (GC15) in Orlando, Florida. I’ll be completely honest, I’m not looking forward to it. I’ve been struggling for months with the fact the denomination has chosen to hold the conference at a resort, which I feel is in direct conflict with the founding principles of the denomination. In the beginning, we focused on the needy. … Continue reading A Reluctant Prophet Heads to GC15
In previous years the General Conference resolutions that approved by the Board of Administration (BOA) to go to the delegates for final approval were posted on the Free Methodist Church of North America’s website. This year each delegate was given a login to password protected website for FMC employees. Unfortunately, almost as soon as it was announced the resolutions were posted, the website experienced technology … Continue reading Free Methodist General Conference Resolutions and Critique of GC Part II
As I have time, I’m beginning to reflect on the words of the early Free Methodists and the writings they published. The Free Methodist General Conference is approaching in July 2015 in Orlando, Florida. I hope these reflections from early church writings will help us prepare for General Conference. At the end of I have some discussion questions if people wish to share this in … Continue reading What Does a Denomination Strive For?
Dear Leaders of the North American Free Methodist Church, In 2008 I discovered why I loved being a Free Methodist – our history of social justice. Namely living out Galatians 3:28. “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with … Continue reading An Open Letter to FM Leaders: Have We Forgotten Our Roots?
Priscilla Pope-Levison’s new book Building The Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era is the most significant contribution to the collective memory of women evangelists in the United States since Janette Hassey’s 1986 book No Time for Silence. As a personal friend of Priscilla I was truly excited to read this important work and, as I read, I kept saying to myself “Why … Continue reading Building The Old Time Religion: Giving Progressive Era Women Evangelists Due Credit
“Heeelll No! What, what are you doing standing outside my door?” demands a woman to my husband. He’s innocently standing in the hall of our hotel waiting for me to grab my coat and join him. “Uh, waiting for my wife.” “Sorry,” I say flashing a smile as we walk by. “It’s okay, you can’t be too careful in D.C.” I thought the woman’s comment … Continue reading Another Side to D.C.
I have to admit something I’ve denied for three months now. I’m 30. As an evangelical woman who is married and doesn’t have kids this is the worst possible age to be. I refused to acknowledge I had a birthday this year. Telling family and friends to just ignore that day and insisting for six months before my birthday that no one … Continue reading I’m a 30 year-old Evangelical Woman Without Kids- What am I thinking?!!
Fall of 2012 my husband and I moved into Toledo, Ohio. We bought an 1899 Edwardian home in the Birmingham neighborhood. Demographically the neighborhood is filled with renters, many of them working for minimum wage or on welfare. There are a lot of single mothers and a lot of kids. Many of my neighbors don’t have the Internet; instead going to the library on Monday … Continue reading Returning to the Urban Ministry of Early Free Methodists
In many Christian traditions such as the Mennonites, Quakers, Amish and various holiness movements dress was an outward expression of faith. However, there was and continues to be a fine line between an individual embracing dress as a form of religious expression and being forced to dress a certain way as a form of legalism. Playing with the Free Methodist history of dress in the late nineteenth and … Continue reading Expressing Faith Through Fashion: Choice, Legalism or Both?
Throughout the Methodist movement in eighteenth century England and in the early Free Methodist movement divine healing was not uncommon. In many of the accounts I’ve read it seems to be more prevalent with women than men, or at least women wrote about their healing experiences more than men did. Perhaps this is due in part to Methodist and Free Methodist women placing a stronger … Continue reading Preaching Divine Healing in Nineteenth Century Free Methodism
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