IN LAYMAN'S TERMS

General Conference Preview — Rev. Mark Holland

The first in a five-episode series on the upcoming General Conference of The United Methodist Church features Rev. Dr. Mark Holland, the co-founder of Mainstream UMC. He kicks off the series by explaining three priorities his organization has set for the conference, which starts April 23, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

The priorities are regionalization, removal of restrictive language involving LGBTQ+ persons from the Book of Discipline, and stopping further disaffiliations from the denomination.

Nebraska United Methodist Foundation grants

The Nebraska United Methodist Foundation has a series of grants to help local ministries get started, expand and augment their reach to their communities.

This episode tells the stories of three ministries assisted by these grants in Nebraska — an entrepreneurial idea at Connection Point in Lincoln, children’s and youth curriculum for The Vine United Methodist Church in Scottsbluff, and a different way to help Brady UMC in the North Platte area worship without a pastor.

Learn more about the Nebraska foundation.

Civil Rights Immersion — Episode 3

Members of the Great Plains and Louisiana conferences of The United Methodist Church took part in a four-day civil rights immersion trip to the areas around Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, in July 2023.

It was the idea of former Great Plains Clergy Excellence Director Rev. Dr. Dee Williamston, now bishop of the Louisiana Conference. She and Bishop David Wilson of the Great Plains — the first Native American bishop in the denomination — teamed up to lead the group on an educational experience that expanded minds, filled hearts with love — and most importantly challenged the emotions of all who took part.

This is the third of a three-episode series on the trip.

Civil Rights Immersion - Episode 2

It’s Black History Month, and so this In Layman’s Terms podcast is providing a three-part series on a trip made by members of the Great Plains and Louisiana conferences to the areas around Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama — both places that played significant roles in the civil rights movement.

The trip was a civil rights immersion trip to help educate, inspire and stir to action followers of Christ. One of the goals was to give people the tools they need to combat racism and to push for equity in our society.

In this second of three episodes, I think it’s important that we explore the emotions that people felt on the trip — and what has continued to resonate with them since coming home.

Civil Rights Immersion - Episode1

In July 2023, a group of clergy and laity from the Great Plains Conference met up with fellow United Methodists from the Louisiana Conference for a civil rights immersion experience. Over the course of four days, the group lived the history of Alabama.

Our group spent much of its time in Montgomery. We saw the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and walked in the parsonage where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King lived. We spent the better part of a day at the Legacy Museum, a mission of the Equal Justice Initiative (or EJI). It’s an amazing museum that uses the latest in technology to help tell the story of racism — from kidnappings in the African continent to the often-deadly voyage to North America to the brutality of slavery. It also explains the injustice of Jim Crow laws and addresses the modern-day inequity of mass incarceration.

Our group saw the bus station where Freedom Riders were beaten, walked a memorial dedicated to honoring the lives of the numerous people lynched over the years, including right here in Kansas and Nebraska.

We traveled to Selma and walked the bridge where Dr. King, John Lewis and others were abused by white supremacists, including police officers.

In Birmingham, we talked with people who are members of 16^th Street Baptist Church, where four girls were killed by a bomb. And we toured the Civil Rights Institute, which tells the story, decade by decade, of the push for equity in this country.

February is Black History Month, so I wanted to share some of the stories from our trip. I wanted to provide an opportunity for listeners to feel the emotions, embrace the potential for change in our country by hearing the stories of people — Black, brown and white.

And, in this concluding episode of the three-part series, I wanted to convey the ways people believe they have changed — And their hopes and dreams for how our world can change … for the better.

The Ark: Packing Perseverance

As we continue our lessons from the Ark, we'll explore what it means to persevere. We know we'll face storms in life, so how can we be prepared? And how can we endure? Thankfully, we can lean on the Holy Spirit as our traveling companion.

The Ark: Packing Compassion for the Journey

As we continue considering lessons from the ark — as learned through other passages in scripture — we come to compassion. Just a little of it, along with encouragement, can go a long way toward lifting up others.

The Ark: Building Our Spiritual Strength

Our short series on lessons from the ark begins in earnest with looking at our need for spiritual strength when the storms of life arise. And that means we have to prepare. In this and the remaining episodes about the ark, we have a special guest, Rev. Dr. Richard Randolph, a United Methodist pastor and director of stewardship for the Nebraska United Methodist Foundation.

The Ark: Built in the Sunshine

Todd starts a five-episode series on lessons we can learn from Noah and the ark. In this first episode, we explore the importance of faith and of preparation.

The Caring Congregation

One of the most important parts of being the church is caring for one another. But it's not just the pastor's job. Indeed, it's important that laity are heavily involved in providing excellent care for one another. Doing so strengthens the sense of community, shows the love of Christ and helps boost the vitality of local congregations.

The Caring Congregation, an organization founded by retired United Methodist elder Rev. Karen Lampe, aims to teach congregations of all sizes how it can provide better care for one another and the communities they serve. A special online webinar is scheduled for Feb. 23-24 to provide training either for individuals or groups who want to learn more.

You can register for the webinar here.

You can order "The Caring Congregation Ministry: Implementation Guide" at one of these stores:

• The Caring Congregation website
• Cokesbury
• Amazon
• AbeBooks