PlainSpoken

In May of this year, the Rio Texas Conference of the UMC filed suit against 40 of its own churches because negotiations around disaffiliation had broken down. Both sides have spent a good deal of money on litigation, and it remains to be seen which will prevail. Meanwhile, 17 churches are appearing before their assembled conference body this Saturday, seeking ratification of their disaffiliations from the conference. This segment deals with the history of the conference, the events leading up to the lawsuit and where things currently stand, and the implications of potential legal eventualities. Links:List of the 17 disaffiliating churches on December 2 - https://riotexas.org/events/2023/10/3/special-called-session“Rio Texas Conference Asserts Fiduciary Responsibilityin Legal Suit” - https://peopleneedjesus.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/rio-texas-conference-asserts-fiduciary-responsibility-in-legal-suit.pdfPlaintiff Petition - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54b8639ee4b076c29fb6eae7/t/6463ee52292c436b126e2778/1684270676012/Plaintiff+Original+Petition.pdfMy interview w/ Lloyd Lunceford, church disaffiliation lawyer - https://youtu.be/hxaB8FFGsk0“Five conferences merge to become two” - https://www.umnews.org/en/news/five-conferences-merge-to-become-two“Me & Bishop Dorff” account of Bishop Dorff being somewhat of a pushover for the left - https://loveprevailsumc.com/2015/08/12/me-bishop-dorff/“Rio Texas bishop resigns after admitting wrongdoing” - https://www.umnews.org/en/news/rio-texas-bishop-resigns#:~:text=United%20Methodist%20Bishop%20James%20E,1%2C%202016.Bio on Bishop Robert Schnase - https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/person-detail/2464082Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Sections X-XIV - The Method of Organizing a New Church, Transfer of a Local Church, Shared Ministry, Congregational Fidelity, & Transitional ProvisionsIn this episode, we finish talking through Part Three of the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline, covering church planting, protecting doctrine, exiting noncompliant churches, and allowing for all kinds of interesting relationships between a local church and other denominations and/or other annual conferences. We have a decent conversation around the theology of church planting being at odds with part of disfellowshipping rebellious local churches. There are definitely worse ways to spend your time. We hope you enjoy!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

The United Methodist Church continues closing churches against their will in what Chris Ritter has termed “connectional cannibalism.” Some churches closed lean right or center-right. Yet a couple of weeks ago, the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference closed a Reconciling Ministries church AGAINST THEIR WILL. They saw it coming a mile away, named it, fought it, and the DS came to worship and announced they would be closed and can no longer worship there. In this segment, I read the news articles, show the footage, and read the account of the local church, which has put their story online. I do some analysis about the ideologies at play here and urge folks to pray for those who continue to be crushed by the UMC, and that the UMC leadership would repent. I would like to think it is all worthy. Supporters are hereby encouraged to go to plainspoken.locals.com to support my work and help me to build up the infrastructure needed to spread good and helpful information.Links:“Trinity United Methodist Church in Eugene suddenly and permanently closes” by KLCC - https://www.klcc.org/social-justice/2023-11-21/trinity-united-methodist-church-in-eugene-suddenly-and-permanently-closes“United Methodist Church officials speak on Trinity closure” by KVAL - https://kval.com/news/local/united-methodist-church-officials-speak-on-trinity-closureTrinity’s Website - https://savetrinityeugene.orgAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

The current situation in Israel and its military operations among Palestinian civilians among the Hamas terrorist militants has heightened international tensions around Islamic extremism and Zionism. The specter of a world war is in view for worldly people. For those of the Christian faith, there are also many tensions with apocalyptic import. Many voices in the charismatic and evangelical traditions seem to think that developments in the Middle East directly correspond to biblical prophecy. Other voices in the mainline seem to think those interpretations of scripture are particularly dangerous or unhelpful. I myself have felt intimidated at the prospect of navigating these challenges of biblical interpretation. I needed help.Dr. Vic Reasoner is known by many to be an expert in Wesleyan theology, having published dozens of books on the topic. Among those publications are several dealing with how to properly read prophecy and apocalypse in the Wesleyan tradition. In our time spent together, Vic explains how it is that Methodists have traditionally read scriptures around the final judgment, the millennial reign of Christ, the binding of Satan, and the covenant people of God in the last days. I would like to think I did a decent job at breaking it down for novices in this area. Please forgive me if I failed!Links:Dr. Reasoner’s Methodist Essentials document - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YdVVab_ZLM7q1-PNGXs9LMuDgOKi34hY/view?usp=sharingAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Sections VIII & IX - Connectional FundingIn this episode, we finish talking through the mandatory committees and the work, and we get into how local churches are expected to fund shared ministries.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Section VIII - Local Church Administrative CommitteesVery few people enjoy committees and committee work. Even so, the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline of the Global Methodist Church has adopted a lot of the structure and stipulations spelled out for committees from The United Methodist Church. To our surprise, a lot of this stuff is actually pretty great. In this episode, we talk through the Church Council, the Nominations & Leadership Development Committee, and the Staff-Parish Relations Committee. I explain why it is that pastors are actually sorta idiots for not following these guidelines, as they essentially guarantee healthy functioning of a local church. I also tell a story or two from a dysfunctional church I served. Bigger news: TJ seems to be warming up to the idea that spelling a lot of these things out is actually beneficial. Maybe some of you likewise are considering how much of the old needs to be jettisoned? As always, we enjoy reading thoughts and comments in response to this stuff. If you haven’t already, consider recommending this segment to your GMC church leadership. We know it is a sort of dull topic, but it has huge implications for local churches, so we recommend you make it a priority. Blessings to you and your churches.Help support what we do! Consider joining our Locals community and getting behind the scenes content & connecting with us!https://plainspoken.locals.com/upost/4410860/welcome-to-our-locals-communityGMC Transitional Book Of Doctrines & Discipline: https://globalmethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Transitional-Discipline.2022041257.pdfAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Rev. David Wesley Donnan is a Global Methodist clergy serving in the South Georgia Annual Conference. He has a mind of administration, serving on his conference’s Finance, Administration, Pension, & Benefits committee. He is the elder at Glennville Methodist Church. He ministers to the GMC broadly through his website, daviddonnan.com, where he has links to articles and podcasts that he has published. He also regularly participates in Methodist-centered discussion on X, where his handle is @daviddonnan. David earned a Public Relations degree from Georgia Southern. He got his Mdiv from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2017 and is a doctoral student currently. He has served two Methodist churches since then. He is married to Brandy, a kindergarten teacher, with two young children. David is very into football, but he makes sure to post about Jesus and his church more than football. He enjoys a professional friendship with his President Pro Tempore, Jay Hanson, and many others across the connexion. He recently engaged in a back-and-forth with Chris Ritter on funding models for annual conferences, involving the tithes of active clergy. Yet today he is here to talk about how it is that the GMC will potentially utilize bishops in its new polity, which will be determined at its Convening Conference in September of next year.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Rev. Angela Pleasants grew up in a Metho-Baptist family in North Carolina. She had obvious gifts for pastoral ministry that were eventually acknowledged even by those who didn't have a frame of reference for such a role. She is currently serving a vital and pivotal role in the formation of the Global Methodist Church. In this conversation, we talk about her personal and professional history, the experiences that have informed her along the way, and potential directions our nascent denomination may take. In particular, learning to name our baggage so that we don't reproduce the errors of our past. The conversation is much bigger and of more quality than can be adequately represented here, so I guess you're just going to have to listen to it...Angela's recommended resources on spiritual healing:1. The 5Q Method of Discipleship: five questions that will change your life by Matt Friedeman2. Lord I Want to Be Whole by Stormie Omartian 3. Emotional Survival for law enforcement by Kevin Gilmartin (even though this is for LEO there is so much anyone can learn)4. Emotional intelligence 2.0 is another good read.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Section VII - Organization & AdministrationThis week we dive even further into part 3 of the GMC Transitional Book of Doctrines & Discipline. While most of these paragraphs are mundane organizational framework there does appear to be some problematic language that may be a holdover from the UMC around the gauge language of "Inclusion". Join us and our friend Spencer as we discuss the good and the bad in paragraphs 336 - 342.Help support what we do! Consider joining our Locals community and getting behind the scenes content & connecting with us!https://plainspoken.locals.com/upost/4410860/welcome-to-our-locals-communityGMC Transitional Book Of Doctrines & Discipline: https://globalmethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Transitional-Discipline.2022041257.pdfSpencer's Substack: https://spencertabor.substack.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe

Rev. Dr. Warren Lathem is a Methodist conservative thinker and writer who lives in Georgia. He recently published a piece on the Institute for Religion & Democracy’s website, engaging the critiques of institutionalist United Methodists. While I agree with many of his conclusions, the way he gets there sets up a lot of problems down the line. During my live stream last Friday, while taking a break from the Heartland Convening Conference for the GMC, my brother and I engaged the substance of Lathem’s analysis and held it up against, not just our personal theologies, but our personal experiences leading churches. Our hope isn’t to shut down conversation, but to make it more robust. In the comments, let me know what you think needs to be considered in these issues of how we understand church membership and what Methodist leadership should expect and promote within local church settings with respect to growth.To read Lathem’s article for yourself without my wordy commentary, you can go to: https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/11/01/rev-dr-warren-lathem-on-methodist-changes/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jeffreyrickman.substack.com Get full access to PlainSpoken at plainspokenpod.substack.com/subscribe