The Bishop's Blog
3/8/2019
We are now ten days beyond the conclusion of the General Conference in St. Louis. I have been in churches in the Southwest, Gulf Central and East Central Districts. This Sunday I will preach in a local church in the Atlantic Central District. We offered a webinar about the special session and over 2000 registered. (Click here for webinar.) The decisions and outcomes continue to have a ripple effect in media and social media, in families and local churches, among laity and clergy. Perhaps ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/26/2019
Dear Florida Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Some are grateful for the results of the Special Session. And others sought a different outcome. All of this will take some time to process. Human sexuality is a topic on which our people have differing views. As evidenced by the vote of the special session, we are a global church with very different contexts. We were not able to achieve contextual differentiation as envisioned by the Commission on a Way Forward. By a majority vote, we passed the ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/25/2019
I wrote this prayer two years ago. I share it again today, slightly revised. O God whose nature and name is love: We pray for the light that shines in the darkness, the radiant light that we see in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Give us the faith to grow into his likeness, and give us the confidence to follow him. We pray for the faithfulness of the church—that we would walk in your ways, trusting in your providence, listening for your voice. We pray for the fruitfulness of ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/25/2019
The day began at 7:15 am, when we gathered for the processional into opening worship. I was honored to preach the sermon, which was taken from Ephesians 2, 3 and 4. As I told many people, one of my guiding convictions as I prepared was that it would be a sermon I could have preached in any church I ever served, from East Bend to Charlotte. The Commission on a Way Forward gave their report. I am profoundly grateful for the work they did over 18 months. They are courageous and gifted followers of...
The Bishop's Blog
2/24/2019
The Cross and the Flame A sermon for the Special Session of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church by Kenneth H. Carter, Jr., President, Council of Bishops on February 24, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/22/2019
Today I gave a reflection to the Council of Bishops on regulating our anxiety and understanding the stress across the church. Years ago I had the blessing of studying for a year with Ed Friedman, the family systems theorist. Friedman wrote, “The overall health and functioning of any organization depends primarily on one or two people at the top, and this is true whether the relationship system is a personal family, a sports team, an orchestra, a congregation, a religious hierarchy or an entire ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/21/2019
We are now in St. Louis for the Special Session of the General Conference of United Methodists. I have invested a great deal in this—not that it is about me, it’s not. My hope is that there will be clarity this week. I never would have imagined that I would have served as a moderator of the Way Forward, or be serving as president of the Council of Bishops, or speak before the Judicial Council, or that I would preach the opening sermon to the General Conference, each of them global bodies. ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/4/2019
Sisters and Brothers of the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church: Grace and Peace to you in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Living Savior, our Judge and our Hope. I serve as the bishop of the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church and in addition for a two-year term, as the president of the Council of Bishops, representing our global denomination. The United Methodist Church will gather in St. Louis for a special session of the General Conference to discern a “way ...
The Bishop's Blog
11/1/2018
True religion according to John Wesley is happiness, and happiness is true religion. It is the necessary integration of the love of God and neighbor, or what he described as gratitude and benevolence. There is no separation of these two. And as we come to love God and our neighbor more fully, the image of God, which is love, is restored in us. This image is deeply Trinitarian: The Father who sends the Son, the Incarnate Son Jesus who bears witness to that Creator and who died on the Cross that ...
On the Move
10/26/2018
New book identifies best practices and offers practical tips and case studies for leading diverse and vital congregations.
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