Methodist Episcopal Church

than being born into it. I am so glad that I selected the United Methodist Church because in large part I strongly support the church’s doctrinal and theological positions on many important issues. I have learned much about my church and my faith during my spiritual journey. Attending various seminaries and through theological studies has been a great blessing for me, it will help me to be a blessing to other United Methodists church members of all ages. I believe I am called to utilize my…

states it this way: “[H]uman beings have a corrupted nature” (Jones 151). My experience in ministry exposes me to this brokenness quite often. Last year, our secretary called me at home to inform me of a young man sleeping on a covered porch at the church. The next day, when I arrived, he remained there sleeping on the porch. I went out to talk to him and offered to buy him lunch at a fast food restaurant across the street. I talked with Tarron as he ate his lunch. He moved to Alabama…

the first Methodist conference, but left after a short period of time. Whitefield preached to thousands, riding from New York to Charleston on horseback. Like Whitefield, Francis Asbury also rode many miles on horseback each year, and preached throughout the colonies. Asbury…

As one dives into the book, “The Next Christendom”, one can be completely inspired, disappointed, or even challenged to make a difference in the world. Phillip Jenkins writes a marvelous piece about the spread of Global Christianity, and some of the challenges and trends over the years. In addition to the past, Jenkins goes as far as projecting the future of Christianity in the years 2050. For Jenkins writes, since the 1950’s theologians, Christian scholars have seen a large trend / vision of…

Dr. Patricia Borstoff is an associate professor of Management at Jacksonville State University. She completed her graduate international business studies in Japan, the Czech Republic and Hungary and other various countries. She holds a B.A. summa cum lade from Stanford University, M.A. in history from the University of Albama, MBA from Jacksonville State University and a Ph.D. from Auburn University. Religion plays such a vital role in the principles that people embrace. Over the last few years…

ingrained a sense of giving back to the community. While involved in the free summer lunch program at First United Methodist Church, I was educated about the economic struggles in my surrounding area. My eyes were opened to the alarming fact that many children in my local area do not have adequate nutrition during the summer months.. Following this positive experience through my church, I now volunteer my time on Sunday mornings to teach Sunday school. When I first started, I worried if the…

Revival offers the response of on African American church to the social and religious segregation we learned from last weeks reading of Methodists and the Crucible of Race. As a licensed Nazarene pastor, I enjoyed that we were also given a reading that revealed the Holiness movement’s response to the dark times of segregation in our country. In The Azusa Street Mission and Revival Cecil Robeck’s explains that the worship practices of the black church tradition sparked a revival in the midst of…

towards following in the ways of Jesus. History of Common Ground Common Ground was founded in 2004. Some of their volunteers have been investing within the Cedar Grove neighborhood before the nonprofit was established. Grace Community United Methodist Church was the facility in which Common Ground started out of…

Southern Methodist University has been my dream university for many years. Achieving admission to this spectacular university was a miracle in itself; however, the cost of attendance is a struggle of itself. Receiving this scholarship would help enable myself to educate my mind at one of the nation’s and state’s best universities. I have lived in Lindale all my life, went to the same church and school, and even lived in the same house, but attending this university would forever shape my life…

John Wesley was a mighty pillar in the Christian church following the Reformation. Though there were many things in which Wesley agreed with other reformers, there were also areas in which Wesley saw a need for change. He saw a need for grace to be expounded upon. One of the things in which John Wesley is probably most known for, and Methodists across the globe would be “Grace”. Wesley believed there to be three components of “Grace” at work in ones life. Those components were: Prevenient Grace,…