I grew up in a very United Methodist home.  Going to Christ  United Methodist Church in Alliance on Sunday was never in question.  Dad was the Lay Leader for our church, my brothers and I did Sunday School, UMYF, various choirs and projects.  We earned our Eagle Scout Award from the church’s boy scout troop.  […]

In the past 24 hours I have read many blogs, posts, texts and emails along the lines of, “Now What?” I say now is the time for The One Church Plan. No, not the one you’ve been hearing about. My plan is for you to focus on One Church, yours. In many communities around the […]

About 90 minutes ago the General Conference announced the results of the prioritization vote.  The Traditional Plan had 55% of the voters rate it a high priority for discussion  The One Church Plan had 48%, The Simple Plan 19% and the Connectional Conference Plan 12%.  Incidentally that adds up to 134%. Folks in the conservative […]

Sunday is looking like an interesting day. It’s Sunday morning so we start with worship, of course.  At 7:30 a.m.  Why the early start?  Because one of our rules is that we have to be done by 6:30 each evening.  We’ll have an hour or so for lunch.  They’re planning for a busy day.  And […]

Because we’re the church, we pray.  A lot.  We pray before meetings, we pray at the office pot luck and we pray before General Conference.  But today was different.  An entire day of prayer, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or so.  We sang hymns, prayed in languages I did not understand and prayed in styles […]

When General Conference met in Portland about three years ago we worked under the theme, “Therefore Go,” a shortened version, presumably, of The Great Commission, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” from Matthew 28:19, NIV. That General […]

Our annual grant cycle has begun and we invite you to apply for Foundation grants and scholarships.  Deadline for all is March 1. See our grants and scholarships page for more information. If you are a seminary student or know someone who is there are two options available: The Excellence in Clergy Leadership Scholarship is […]

My neighbor, Rick, loped up the driveway the other day and after a couple minutes of chit chat he said, “Hey I need to get that edger off of you this afternoon.” Now I don’t mind lending out my tools.  Rick’s earned a reputation for taking care of stuff he borrows and prompt returns, but […]

Gift annuities have always been attractive for donors.  They offer a great win-win, with individuals receiving a guaranteed income for life and their churches benefiting at the end of the donor’s life. Here at the Foundation we manage about 45 annuities totaling more than $580,000. Effective July 1, we will increase the payout rate for […]

In the last week or so, stock markets have seen significant volatility, or change, and it has folks worried.  Stocks dropped about 6% early in the week.  Does a bad week make Chicken Little correct, maybe people wonder. The chart above is a great illustration for times such as these.  It was provided to me […]