From Pine View Farm

Proud To Be a Methodist 2

I joined a Methodist Church quite by accident.

No, not that much by accident. I knew what Methodists were and all that.

But I was not looking for a denomination. I was looking for a congregation that had the low-key but friendly feel of the little Baptist Church I grew up in.

And there are some things about the United Methodist Church that drive me a little buggy, such as their relentless drive to rewrite hymns.

Or how, in the Apostles’ Creed, where the word “catholic” appears, they footnote it. The footnote points out that “catholic” means “universal.” Why, I asked my pastor, don’t they just change it to “universal”? “I don’t know,” he said. (Ya know, you just can’t complain about an honest answer.)

Of course, whenever you gather several million persons together in one outfit, there are bound to be areas of disagreement, even though most of those people believe fundamentally the same things.

Nevertheless, this counterbalances any little gripes I might have:

Earlier this month, at the United Methodist Church’s (UMC) Quadrennial General Conference, the UMC’s governing body, voted overwhelmingly — 844 to 20 — to refer a petition to its South Central Jurisdiction. The petition urges the rejection of President Bush’s presidential library which is set to be housed at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

A Methodist University is not a fitting site at which to memorialize a liar.

Well, actually, no legitimate university is.

Now, there’s this room that’s no longer used at the Borgata that would be just perfect . . . .

Via the Booman.

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2 comments

  1. Opie

    May 22, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    Just think Frank, you and I could have been in the same denomination if you people just would have seen that owning slaves was a sin.

    " The founder, Benjamin Titus Roberts, was an outspoken critic of many current practices of the Methodist Episcopal church, including pew rental and other discriminatory practices that favored rich over the poor, the failure of the Methodist church to stand against slavery, and the increasing "formalism" in worship, including the hiring of professional musicians."

    And we’re flexible; we do occasionally hire professional musicians now, at least when we can afford them. But we have not wavered in our opposition to slavery.

     
  2. Frank

    May 22, 2008 at 6:40 pm

    I think that some of my ancestors owned a couple of slaves.  And that has just what to do with what is happening today?