scholarly journals Telling the story of the christian life: the use of the narrative in the sermons of John Wesley and Granger Community Church.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Brown
Keyword(s):  
Church Attendance ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
John Wesley ◽  
United Methodist Church ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Personal Connection ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Narrative Patterns ◽  
Community Church

The case study examines the creative use of narrative in sermons within the United Methodist Church in light of the rapid decline in Christian church attendance. Using narrative theory, the study reviews sermons of John Wesley and the pastors of Granger Community Church for use of narrative patterns, mimesis and diegesis. This study shows both groups used narrative extensively but for different purposes. John Wesley employs narrative to shed light on the biblical text and to encourage his congregants adherence to the principles outline in the Bible. The pastors of Granger Community Church use narrative to create interest in the sermon's message and to establish a personal connection with congregants. Despite their different techniques, both John Wesley and Granger Community Church showcase innovation with their use of narrative in sermons.

scholarly journals Telling the story of the christian life: the use of the narrative in the sermons of John Wesley and Granger Community Church.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Brown
Keyword(s):  
Church Attendance ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
John Wesley ◽  
United Methodist Church ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Personal Connection ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Narrative Patterns ◽  
Community Church

The case study examines the creative use of narrative in sermons within the United Methodist Church in light of the rapid decline in Christian church attendance. Using narrative theory, the study reviews sermons of John Wesley and the pastors of Granger Community Church for use of narrative patterns, mimesis and diegesis. This study shows both groups used narrative extensively but for different purposes. John Wesley employs narrative to shed light on the biblical text and to encourage his congregants adherence to the principles outline in the Bible. The pastors of Granger Community Church use narrative to create interest in the sermon's message and to establish a personal connection with congregants. Despite their different techniques, both John Wesley and Granger Community Church showcase innovation with their use of narrative in sermons.

scholarly journals The adjunctification of United Methodist part-time local pastors : a case study of part-time local pastors in the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amy L. Gearhart
Keyword(s):  
United Methodist ◽  
Full Time ◽  
United Methodist Church ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Labor Conditions ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Demographic Surveys ◽  
Professional Resources

The issue this dissertation addresses is that the fastest growing population of clergy leaders in The United Methodist Church (UMC) are local pastors who are generally not seminary degreed, ordained, or guaranteed employment. And yet, the employment and effectiveness of these local pastors, primarily part-time, is not researched or understood in the context of leadership needs in the 21st century Church. To address this problem, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the unique professional experiences and labor conditions of part-time local pastors (PTLP's) in isolated, rural, and declining communities within the Mountain Sky Conference (MSC) of The UMC. To gather data, artifact review, demographic surveys, and Zoom interviews were conducted with eight part-time local pastors from the Mountain Sky Conference. The data lead to the following themes: types and unique leadership of PTLP's, unique contextual labor conditions, and professional resources needed. These themes are useful for understanding that many of the professional and institutional benefit systems in which PTLP's operate are forged and framed for full-time, lifelong ordained clergy. They need to be adjusted for the unique types of PTLP's and their unique ministry settings.

scholarly journals Lectio continua and biblical literacy within the Methodist Church

Holiness ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-185
Author(s):  
Ed Mackenzie
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Literacy ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Key Skills ◽  
1 John ◽  
Biblical Texts

AbstractLectio continua – preaching through a single biblical book – tends to be less prominent in British Methodism than following a lectionary or a thematic series. In a context of declining biblical literacy, however, lectio continua is a fruitful way of encouraging engagement with Scripture. Following a discussion of the challenges of biblical illiteracy, this article argues that lectio continua can promote biblical literacy through its focus on whole books of Scripture, its consideration of the context of biblical passages, and its invitation to close readings of biblical texts – all key skills for reading the Bible well. A case study demonstrates how such an approach could be applied to preaching through 1 John.

Possessing the Iconic Book

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 309-329
Author(s):  
Claudia V. Camp
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Religious Literature ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Iconic Status ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Woman Wisdom ◽  
Martin Marty

I propose that the notion of possession adds an important ideological nuance to the analyses of iconic books set forth by Martin Marty (1980) and, more recently, by James Watts (2006). Using the early second century BCE book of Sirach as a case study, I tease out some of the symbolic dynamics through which the Bible achieved iconic status in the first place, that is, the conditions in which significance was attached to its material, finite shape. For Ben Sira, this symbolism was deeply tied to his honor-shame ethos in which women posed a threat to the honor of his eternal name, a threat resolved through his possession of Torah figured as the Woman Wisdom. What my analysis suggests is that the conflicted perceptions of gender in Ben Sira’s text is fundamental to his appropriation of, and attempt to produce, authoritative religious literature, and thus essential for understanding his relationship to this emerging canon. Torah, conceived as female, was the core of this canon, but Ben Sira adds his own literary production to this female “body” (or feminized corpus, if you will), becoming the voice of both through the experience of perfect possession.

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