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Disaffiliation Rumors, Myths, and Opportunities – #11: Three General Conferences?
A version of this post first appeared on my Facebook Page on March 22nd, 2023. A UM News Article about some Judicial Council rulings. They came down in one decision. The first ruling is that we can have elections if there are vacancies in the delegations for whatever reason. The second, and more interesting thing… Continue reading
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Disaffiliation Rumors, Myths, and Opportunities – #10: The Western North Carolina Lawsuit
This originally appeared on my Facebook page on March 21, 2023 The lawsuit filed by several churches in the Western North Carolina Conference to sue the conference and Bishop has been dismissed. It has been dismissed, from my understanding, on grounds that the UMC has it’s own mechanism for handling the issues at play and… Continue reading
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Disaffiliation Rumors, Myths, and Opportunities – #9: Eurasia
A version of this post originally appeared on my Facebook Page on March 21, 2023. UM News reported that the Eurasia and Estonia United Methodists Churches have begun the process of leaving the denomination. However, if you recall, there was a Judicial Council ruling that stated that Annual Conferences could not leave as a whole,… Continue reading
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Bless this Land
Bless this land to which we’re boundBy gravity of joyful soundFeed the hearth and feed the herdHope must stand on every word -Emily Scott Robinson “Men and Moons” This song lyric spoke to me as it closed out the concert I attended last Friday. Emily Scott Robinson wrote the song “Men and Moons” as an… Continue reading
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Bread Ties and Homemade Banners
In my time off this weekend, we went to the Mint Museum in Charlotte. It was there I came across a piece of art made from bread ties. It reminded me of my love for pop art, found object, and even some of Dada, because it uses the things we see each day and lifts… Continue reading
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Rural recognizes Rural
(This post originally appeared on my Facebook – facebook.com/j.lemastersmith on February 16, 2023) A friend and I went to a concert last night. It was a smaller venue, but it was a sold out crowd. The opener was from Oklahoma, and the main performer, Charles Wesley Godwin was from West Virginia. The feeling I got… Continue reading
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Missions in the Rural Church
One rural reality that seems to be overlooked is mission and service. Often, denominational bodies continue to push mission as this singular thing a church does. For a while it was going on a mission trip, and then “big event” missions, and then it is regular service as a group in the community. However, if… Continue reading
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Hospitals and the Rural Community
(An older version of this post first appeared on my Facebook – facebook.com/j.lemastersmith on March 2, 2021) The combination of my current reading, my current experiences, and the articles talking about the pandemic impact on rural healthcare is weighing on me today. Rural healthcare systems are already strained and many communities have lost hospitals and… Continue reading
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Disaffiliation Rumors, Myths, and Opportunities – #8: The Lewis Center Report
There is a report going around from the Lewis Center ( a church and ministry research and leadership development center at Wesley Theological Seminary). It gives us a quantitative look at some of the aspects of the disaffiliating churches so far. Here is a concise summary from the report (full report linked here): The areas… Continue reading
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Persistent Leaves
As someone who loves to hike, no matter the season, the American Beech tree is a welcome site among the brown and grey winter woods. The American Beech trees leaves die like all deciduous trees, but they do not drop their leaves, instead the leaves turn a off-white paper color and stay usually until new… Continue reading
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Jonathan LeMaster-Smith 