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2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Mashero ◽  
Ernest Van Eck

The organisational structure of the United Methodist church shares many features with the early catholic institutions. Increased institutionalisation, that is, authority connected with office, is the clearest sign of Early Catholicism. By the late first century, the titles of bishop (ἐπίσκοπος), elder (πρεσβύτερος) and deacon (διάκονος) denoted specific leadership and service functions in the church. This study stresses the ethical qualifications and diaconal duties of these office bearers, applying it to the duties and responsibilities of United Methodist pastors, district superintendents, bishops and laity. It is argued that candidates for ordination should be aware of their calling to the divine ministry and their calling should be authenticated and recognised without a test of authenticity by the Church. In the Early Catholicism period, qualified leadership was established to preserve faith and combat false teaching. This must also be the case in the United Methodist Church.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110494
Author(s):  
Amanda Edwards-Stewart ◽  
Tim Hoyt ◽  
Sam Rennebohm ◽  
Fiona B. Kurtz ◽  
John S. Charleson ◽  
...  

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) is often utilized to assess the suitability of ordination candidates by a religious organization. Published MMPI-2 scale scores for Roman Catholic priest, Episcopal, Presbyterians, and United Methodist ministry samples exist. However, previous research has not provided MMPI-2 scale scores for Free Methodist ordination candidates and has not provided a statistical comparison of scale scores between religious groups. The this study reports on MMPI-2 scale scores for Free Methodist ordination candidates and compares this group’s scores to Roman Catholic priests, Episcopal and Presbyterian ordination candidates, and a United Methodist sample. We found statistically significant differences between Free Methodist and Catholic Priests, Episcopal, Presbyterian ordination candidates on MMPI-2 Hs, Pd, Pt, and Sc scales and L, Pd, Mf, Pa, Pt, Sc, and Ma differences between Free and United Methodist groups. These results seem to indicate that Free Methodist candidates have fewer non-organic health concerns, less obsessive thoughts, positive social relationships, and more readily submit to authority when contracted with other comparative ordination candidates or ministry sample.


2021 ◽  
pp. 98-130
Author(s):  
J. Russell Hawkins

Chapter 4 traces the transformation of segregationist theology into the blossoming ideas of colorblind individualism in the early 1970s. This chapter narrates the integration of the United Methodist denomination to demonstrate how some white evangelicals adopted a language of colorblindness in an attempt to subvert racial integration. The story of South Carolina’s Methodists illuminates ways that religious ideas can adapt to the imperatives of the culture in which they reside. Accordingly, this chapter demonstrates that while many evangelicals were still influenced by traditional notions of segregationist theology, the growing acceptance of racial equality in American society dictated the need for new rhetoric to keep segregationist Christianity in line with cultural benchmarks of acceptability. Colorblind individualism proved to be such rhetoric.


2020 ◽  
pp. 274-281
Author(s):  
Daniel Smith

The Styberg Library has offered support to the LGBTQ+ community in a variety of ways. This work stemmed from larger seminary commitments and statements which served as an impetus for the work. As an institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church, we recognized how the current impasse in the denomination had affected our community. In response, we offered ourselves as a place of affirmation and support. First, we curated several displays to highlight relevant resources and services that may be of interest to the queer community. We also created an LGBTQ+ LibGuide to highlight library resources/services and online community resources. Then, we began the process of constructing an archive to document the history of the seminary’s LGBTQ+ community after realizing our archive lacked these documents. We continue to explore further ways to extend support. This poster highlighted various aspects of this work.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amy L. Gearhart

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.


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