Behind the scenes with the Council of Bishops Two authors who have served as a United Methodist bishop (William B. Oden) and as General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History (Robert J. Williams) collaborate on a history of the Council. They set the context for the development of what became the Council of Bishops in 1939 and recount the evolution of that body in recognition of its 75th anniversary. Includes photographs, a complete listing of all bishops of The United Methodist Church and predecessor bodies, the names of Council officers and bishops who delivered the Episcopal Address at General Conference, and an index.
In 2003, Methodists celebrated the 300th anniversary of the birth of their founder, John Wesley. Today, there are more than 300 Methodist denominations in 140 nations. Covering the activities of this group that plays an important role in the ecumenical movement through its many social and charitable activities in world affairs, this book offers more than 400 entries that describe important events, doctrines, and the church founders, leaders, and other prominent figures who have made notable contributions. It also includes: a list of commonly used acronyms, chronology of historical events, introductory essay on the history of Methodism, 15-page black-and-white photo spread, bibliography, listing of important libraries and depositories of Methodist materials. The impressive list of contributors includes more than 60 specialists who are academics, administrators, pastors, and theologians.
"Commissioned by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry for use in United Methodist doctrine/polity/history courses." This in-depth analysis of the connection between United Methodist polity and theology addresses ways in which historical developments have shaped--and continue to shape--the organization of the church. This revised edition incorporates the actions of The United Methodist General Conference, 2004. The book discusses continuing reforms of the church's plan for baptism and church membership, as well as the emergence of deacon's orders and other changes to ordained ministry procedures. The text is now cross-referenced to the Book of Discipline, 2004, including the revised order of disciplinary chapters and paragraph numbering. Denominational statistics are updated, along with references to recent works on The United Methodist Church and American religious life.
Beginning in 1760, this comprehensive history charts the growth and development of the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren church family up and through the year 2000. Extraordinarily well-documented study with elaborate notes that will guide the reader to recent and standard literature on the numerous topics, figures, developments, and events covered. The volume is a companion to and designed to be used with THE METHODIST EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA: A SOURCEBOOK, for which it provides background, context and interpretation. Contents include: Launching the Methodist Movements 1760-1768 Structuring the Immigrant Initiatives 1769-1778 Making Church 1777-1784 Constituting Methodism 1784-1792 Spreaking Scriptural Holiness 1792-1816 Snapshot I- Methodism in 1816: Baltimore 1816 Building for Ministry and Nuture 1816-1850s Dividing by Mission, Ethnicity, Gender, and Vision 1816-1850s Dividing over Slavery, Region, Authority, and Race 1830-1860s Embracing the War Cause(s) 1860-1865 Reconstructing Methodism(s) 1866-1884 Snapshot II- Methodism in 1884: Wilker-Barre, PA 1884 Reshaping the Church for Mission 1884-1939 Taking on the World 1884-1939 Warring for World Order and Against Worldliness Within 1930-1968 Snapshot III- Methodism in 1968: Denver 1968 Merging and Reappraising 1968-1984 Holding Fast/Pressing On 1984-2000 A wide-angled narrative that attends to religious life at the local level, to missions and missionary societies , to justice struggles, to camp and quarterly meetings, to the Sunday school and catechisms, to architecture and worship, to higher education, to hospitals and homes, to temperance, to deaconesses and to Methodist experiences in war and in peace-making A volume that attends critically to Methodism’s dilemmas over and initiatives with regard to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and relation to culture A documentation and display of the rich diversity of the Methodist experience A retelling of the contests over and evolution of Methodist/EUB organization, authority, ministerial orders and ethical/doctrinal emphases
Stories from the women and men who have served alongside Methodist and United Methodist bishops. When a bishop is elected in The United Methodist Church, it is not only the one elected who is asked to serve but his or her spouse and family as well. Hear the stories of how Methodist and United Methodist episcopal spouses have adjusted to and navigated this life-changing journey. While dealing with the full range of human experience—births, deaths, relationship struggles, and illness—they also travel the world, participate in mission and ceremonies, meet interesting people, and stand up for justice. Through hardships, celebrations, and everyday struggles, these spouses find their own paths of ministry, answering the calls that are also placed upon their lives. In these ways and many others, they also serve. Praise for They Also Served A meticulous labor of love by Jane P. Ives, They Also Served remembers faithful unsung Christians by chronicling previously unrecorded details of the spouses of episcopal leaders. Sometimes in the spotlight, often in the shadows, the bishop's spouses struggled to fulfill unpaid roles and undefined responsibilities in the church, usually far from family and friends. Ives empatheticlly highlights how these persons, usually without voice or vote, helped shape the church's mission and ministry. - Dr. Donald E. Messer, Executive Director, Central for Health and Hope: Focusing on Global HIV and AIDS, Centennial Colorado. Bishops may ebb and flow in their popularity based on their decisions, but their spouses are almost universally loved and admired. Jane Ives helps readers understand why that is the case with her comprehensive story of the impressive, diverse, and thoroughly dedicated women and men who have contributed so much to God's work. —Lovett H. Weems, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC In the gospel of Luke, Jesus sent the disciples out, two by two, to every town, and country, every charge and conference. Ives' book records the wisdom of sending two, and restores the names of those often forgotten in the story of the people called "Methodists," the spouses. These are remarkable oral histories as well as timelines of social holiness and global service. This is not a book about survival in ministry and marriage; it's a testimony to those who thrived in their calling. —Heather Murray Elkins, Professor of Worship, Preaching, and the Arts, The Theological School of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey This is a book about discipleship. It is also a book about ministry and itinerancy. It tells stories of how God sometimes calls two people to the work of episcopacy, people who happen to be married to each other. It is a book that will make you laugh and cry! This book is an important addition to the literature of Methodist episcopacy. And it is a hard book to put down! —William Boyd Grove, Bishop (Ret.) of The United Methodist Church Jane Ives has given the Methodist family a priceless treasure. Through an astonishing effort to collect memories and explore archival material, she has compiled a comprehensive record of episcopal spouses, their stories, accomplishments, and contributions to the church. But this book is more than a biographical dictionary. It offers a poignant, insightful account of the lives of bishops, their spouses and families, and the impact of the church's expectations on all of them. As a little boy, I knew firsthand the phone call: get on a train to New Orleans with your sister; your Daddy is going to be a bishop. Allow me to testify, then, that this book is the real deal -- genuine, human, and rich with faith and Spirit. —Thomas E. Frank, Associate Dean for Continuing Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Laity and clergy active in United Methodist life and their spouses will want to immerse themselves in this "corporate" autobiography, which provides an overview of Methodism through almost 80 years of personal experiences and cultural change. Jane Ives, an episcopal spouse, has amassed here narratives, reports, and communications crafted by her spousal "colleagues," living and dead, as well as by those who have known them. For page after page, the reader will relive Methodism's sometimes gradual, sometimes dramatic evolution and its struggles with race, gender, inclusivity, and global relationships. The bishops' spouses have shown great creativity in making the most of their opportunities to be together during Council meetings: sharing ideas, establishing covenant and interest groups, and adjusting their organization to respond to changing needs. Ives has devoted the final third of the book to profiles of the spouses, some quite famous and others whose names are not even known. These vignettes illustrate how different episcopal spouses have lived out their own calling and how they have impacted the church and the world. —Russell E. Richey, Dean Emeritus of Candler School of Theology and William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Church History Emeritus, Durham, North Carolina
This book explores Methodist episcopacy in the U.S. and reviews notions of and expectations about episcopal leadership held by United Methodists today. After a careful historical study, Richey and Frank give helpful perspectives on a current proposal to the 2004 General Conference by the Council of Bishops to elect a bishop who will serve a four-year term as the Council's president. More generally and for the longer term, this book examines the need for organizational change and theological reflection on the office of bishop, while reviewing the implications of such reorganization of the Council of Bishops including the election process. By examining what Methodists have meant by the words "itinerant general superintendent," the authors discuss the polity of the Church and explore the constraints, concern, and possibilities for episcopal leadership.
Published in 1986, this selected bibliography considers private schools that are religiously affiliated. Divided into several sections the book open with chapters covering the most influential general books on religion and schooling and offers summaries and analysis of court decisions and commentaries on the issues of government aid and regulation. The book goes on to provide entries of the schools operating in the United States by seventeen religious groups, entries are annotated by experts from the field. The final section of the book considers statements on religious schools made by both public school educators and religious school advocates; formal and informal interactions between the public and religious schools; and the concept of the education of the public by religious and public schools. This work pulls together a wealth of reference material, mainly on religious schools, and provides a much-needed resource for those interested in religious schooling, whether researcher, scholar, student or policy-maker.
Reveals the triumphs and struggles of contemporary Christian congregations to express female imagery of God in worship. Many Christians do not know the Bible contains female images of God because they have never heard nor seen them in church. In Women, Ritual, and Power, Elizabeth Ursic gives the reader insight into four Christian communities that worship God with female imagery, both as a worship focus and a community identity. These Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Catholic congregations operate within their established church denominations and are led by either ordained Protestant ministers or vowed Catholic sisters. Because expressing God-as-She can expose strident claims for maintaining God-as-He, this book shows not only how patriarchy continues to operate in churches today, but also how it is being successfully challenged through liturgy. Women, Ritual, and Power is an important contribution to the theological world. Elizabeth Ursic sheds light on what has enabled churches to include female images for the divine and provides multiple narratives of the negative reactions to such images. As she displays how gender is understood in Christian worship with evidence that some churches do include feminist imagery, the continuing presence of patriarchy is also revealed. The book is basically about the constructive function of the inclusion of feminine images for all. One of the main reasons we need this book is that Ursic perceives there is a much wider/larger group of Christians who would love to have more feminist images than is recognized in churches and church practices. Mary McClintock Fulkerson, author of Changing the Subject: Womens Discourses and Feminist Theology
