Photo Credit: Sue Zakovec, East Ohio Annual Conference In yesterday’s post I lamented the protests I had seen the day before.  They were, I wrote, unnecessary because General Conference bends over backward to make sure everyone has a chance to have their voice heard. In a world of social media I had enough “likes” and […]

Photo by: Rick Wolcott, East Ohio Annual Conference General Conference has become known for many things:  incredible worship, a diverse audience, the chance to rub elbows with United Methodist thinkers and authors with names like Schnase, Hamilton and Slaughter. And in recent years, protests have been added to this list of things to be expected. […]

Yesterday at General Conference we finally made it to our committee meetings. I’m working with the local church group, responsible for how local congregations operate. This is the section of the Book of Discipline that talks about Charge Conferences, committees, all that good stuff. In our first introductory meeting we (and all of the other […]

Yesterday, during the first day of General Conference, I was in a huge exhibit hall of the Oregon Convention Center that will be my home for large chunks of the next 10 days. Looking around realized that it was probably the most diverse group of people I had ever been a part of. I joke […]

The following is a letter sent by many of the United Methodist Foundation Directors in our jurisdiction to our General Conference delegates concerning two areas of potential legislation: On behalf of the undersigned leaders of the United Methodist Foundations across the North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church, we are writing first and foremost […]

Here at the Foundation we manage about $30 million in endowments and other long-term funds for our account holders. All of these investments are in full compliance with the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Guidelines of The United Methodist Church. Specifically we are forbidden in investing in any company that receives more than 10% of its […]

It was a meeting unlike any other in my years in the Foundation. The topic was money, a long-held fund at the church that had always been used for X but the committee was discussing using it for Y. But it wasn’t really about the money; it was about control of the money. It was […]

In less than five months I and others from East Ohio will be at General Conference in Portland, Oregon. During those ten days we will be asked to vote on literally hundreds and hundreds of issues. My committee assignment is the committee dealing with local church property, including endowments. But as you would expect there […]

A month ago or so this country tried to lose its mind when Starbucks unveiled its annual Holiday Cup that was plain red. In a startling victory of common sense, “It’s just a cup” overwhelmed social media and quickly quashed the notion that this disposable vessel of overpriced caffeine was the end of Christianity as […]

Now that your stewardship campaign has passed, it’s time to put stewardship away for the next 9 months or so, right? Hopefully not. Between now and next fall this is what I suggest you get busy with: What did you learn from your campaign? How did this year compare to last year? Are there any […]