Recommended Viewing: Manuel Kalimbue Testimony

The Florida Annual Conference, which has a partnership with the East Angola Annual Conference, recently posted a video interview with Rev. Manuel Kalimbue. Rev. Kalimbue is the pastor of Central Malange UMC in Angola and dean of the Quessua School of Theology. In the video, which is just under 20 minutes long, Rev. Kalimbue recounts (in Portuguese with English subtitles) his early life story and eventual call to ministry.

As a child, Rev. Kalimbue was displaced by the civil war in Angola, lived in an international refugee camp, was separated from his family while escaping the camp and was enslaved, escaped enslavement and reunited with his family, and lived through the death of his mother and the rejection of him and his siblings by his father. It is a dramatic life story, and it is well worth listening for its human interest.

It is also worth listening for the questions it raises about intercultural theology. Again, Rev. Kalimbue is dean of the Quessua School of Theology. Certainly his teaching about theology is shaped by his life experiences and the similar life experiences of others in his context, as it should be. Yet those life experiences are very different than the life experiences of most US United Methodists.

How do such different life experiences impact the way in which United Methodists do theology and then communicate about that theology with one another? To give just one instance, trauma-informed theological education is a hot topic in North American theological education. What are the connections between trauma-informed theological education in the US and theological education among Angolans who have been shaped by the traumas of war, displacement, and slavery? There are potentially rich conversations to be had there and mutual learning to occur.

The future of United Methodist theology depends upon mutual recognition of the unique contexts that shape specific instances of United Methodist theology, and it also depends upon our ability to communicate about our theology across those contexts.

Recommended Viewing: American Society of Missiology 2024 Conference Plenary Videos

The American Society of Missiology, the premier ecumenical professional organization dedicated to mission studies in North America, held its annual meeting a couple weeks ago. This year's theme was “Mission with Children, Youth, and Young Adults.” The theme was chosen by 2023-2024 President (and Association of Methodist Professors of Mission member) Rev. Dr. Benjamin L. Hartley.

The conference included a schedule of plenary presentations and paper presentations, all focused on the yearly theme. The plenary presentations were videotaped and have been posted on the society's YouTube channel. They are well worth viewing, especially Hartley's fine presidential address.

Benjamin Hartley: John R. Mott amidst the Students

Dwight Radcliff, Jr.: Remixing the Center

Andrea Toledo Baker: Sacred Spaces

Recommended Viewing: Global Ministries on Emily Explains

UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott recently appeared on an episode of "Emily Explains" in his capacity as Director of Mission Theology and Strategic Planning for Global Ministries. "Emily Explains" is a series of short videos created by Emily Allen, a General Conference lay delegate from the California-Nevada Annual Conference. The videos are created to help inform United Methodists about various aspects of the church related to General Conference and the global connection.

In the episode, "What Is the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries?" Scott shares some overview information about Global Ministries and also some information specific to Global Ministries and legislation before General Conference.

Recommended Viewing: Methodists in Climate Mission Videos

The UMC in Switzerland (Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche [EMK] Schweiz) has been producing a series of videos about Methodist (and broader Christian) involvement in climate-related work. These #MethodistInClimateMission videos are part of a larger #MethodistInMission series produced by the EMK Schweiz. The three videos released thus far are in a mix of German and English, sharing stories of Methodists around the world engaged in climate-related mission. They are a useful resource for those looking to expand the conversation on climate mission across cultural and national borders.

Part 1 is primarily interviews in German of four EMK-Schweiz members (Michael Hari, Rev. Sarah Bach, Christian Rolli, and Thomas Oczipka) but features an English-language interview at around the 12:45 mark with Frances Namoumou of the Ecological Stewardship & Climate Justice Program of the Pacific Council of Churches.

Part 2 is primarily in English with interviews of three European Methodist leaders: Daniel Steinvig of the United Methodist Church in Denmark, Filipa Teixeira of the Methodist Church of Portugal, and Hamish Leese of the Methodist Church of Great Britain.

Part 3 is primarily an extended interview in English with Dr. Carmody Grey, a Catholic theologian at the University of Durham in England.

Recommended Listening/Viewing: Thursdays at the Table

For over a year, Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling of the Washington Episcopal Area has conducted a video podcast called "Thursdays at the Table." Bishop Easterling's conversation interview style makes for engaging and thoughtful theological material.

Two recent episodes, both embedded below, are likely to be of particular interest to United Methodists who are interested in mission and service to others. First is a conversation with Rev. Janet Wolf about shifting from charity to partnership understandings of service. Second is a conversation with Fr. Gregory Boyle, SJ, about the spiritual underpinnings of transformative work in society. Both episodes are well worth their hour-long length.

Practicing Resurrection with Janet Wolf

Going to the Margins with Gregory Boyle

Recommended Viewing: Rev. Musi Losaba on African Assets and Aspirations

A couple months ago, the Methodist Church in Britain released a video interview with Rev. Musi Losaba. Rev. Losaba is the Director of the Mission Unit of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. The MCB and MCSA have a historic relationship and an on-going partnership.

The first part of the ~11-minute interview described the situation of the MCSA and some of the current challenges the church is facing, including recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, a common theme for churches around the world. This first part of the interview is certainly worth watching for a better sense of the global Methodist family.

Then, at 5 minutes into the video, Rev. Losaba begins to talk about what he sees as the church's assets and its aspirations. He talks about the church's land and its people as important assets that the church possesses for mission. He talks about the need to redefine partnership among African churches and churches in the West, away from a focus on finances in which the West gives to Africa and towards a mutuality of sharing of various gifts by all partners. Rev. Losaba names relationship as the ultimate goal of mission partnership.

Rev. Losaba's vision of mission theology is one to be affirmed. It's also strikingly similar to themes raised up by United Methodist leaders at the African Partners Consultation convened by Global Ministries in Maputo, Mozambique, in April. Leaders there also talked about African assets, including land and people, and the need for more mutual partnerships.

The vision for a new approach to mission is not lacking. It only remains for all of us - regardless of location and denomination - to live into it.

Recommended Listening/Viewing: Thursdays at the Table on Whiteness, Privilege, Racism, and Faith

Bishop LaTrelle Easterling and the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference have launched a new podcast, "Thursdays at the Table." According to its official description, the podcast "makes space for intimate, authentic conversations that stir our curiosity about how our faith, culture, and ideas intersect to create meaning, transformation, and wholeness."

The first episode of the podcast is entitled, "The Courage of Our Voice," and features Bishop Easterling in conversation with three white men about their personal and church-related experiences with whiteness, privilege, racism, and faith. The three guests include David Abbott, Director of Stewardship for the United Methodist Foundation of New England; Bill Waddell, an attorney from Arkansas who provides legal counsel to The United Methodist Church; and Dr. David Scott, blogmaster of UM & Global and Director of Mission Theology for the General Board of Global Ministries.

The episode is an hour long and is available on Spotify, YouTube, and other sources.

Recommended Viewing: UWF Voices from the Philippines webinar

United Women in Faith recently hosted an episode of their "Voices from the Field" series with Emma Cantor, UWF regional missionary for the Philippines. In the episode, Cantor describes how Filipina women are engaging in mission, especially in mission with women focused on leadership development, economic development, combating gender-based violence, and assisting migrants. The episode also features pre-recorded presentations by other mission leaders from the Philippines, including Andelin Louisa Anolin of the Batis Center and Nora Guevara of Kapatiran Kaunlaran Foundation, Inc. (KKFI). The episode is a good depiction of the many ways in which Filipina Methodist women put their faith into action today.

Recommended Viewing: Christ Above All Podcasts on Liberian UMC

Over the past two years, members of the Liberian United Methodist diaspora in the United States and United Methodists in Liberia have been collaborating on a series of podcasts/webinars featuring United Methodist (and other Christian) leaders in Liberia. These video podcasts, which each run about two hours long, provide an in-depth window into life in the Liberian Annual Conference of the UMC.

While there is great value in the sort of cross-cultural conversations between Americans and Africans as featured in this blog's previous post, the Christ Above All podcasts are an excellent opportunity to hear a variety of African United Methodists (at least from Liberia) speak on their own terms about the topics that matter most to them.

Videos for the webinars are on the personal Facebook page of Goumah Conde, one of the hosts. The organizers, including Ms. Conde, Samuel Barbay Gaye, Jr., and Thomas Teah Swen reflect on the highlights of the show here. Full episodes thus far include the following:

Bishop Arthur F. Kulah on the 30th anniversary of Africa University

Ne-Suah Beyan-Livingstone, Founder and Executive Directive Director of REACH, a program supporting at-risk youths in Liberia

A roundtable on the Zogos crisis of at-risk youths in Liberia

A conversation among former members of the LAC/UMC United Methodist Youth and Young Adult Gathering

Caleb S. G. Dormah, Head Pastor of Metro Harvest-The Church Without Walls, talking about ministry beyond the walls of the church

Mrs. Yei R. Wuor, former principal of J.J. Roberts United Methodist School

Rev. Dr. Levi C. Williams II, historian of Liberian United Methodism

Leaders from the Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Liberia Annual Conference, of the United Methodist Church

Rev. Dr. Pianapue Early on the church and African culture

Nana Kpaan-Allison on women in church leadership

Rev. Jerry Kulah on whether the church should split over human sexuality

Rev. John N. Punni on his ministry as a pastor, district superintendent, and assistant to Bishop Kulah

A panel including Rev. Margaret Kartwe on whether the church should split over human sexuality

Bishop Arthur F. Kulah, retired bishop of the Liberia Annual Conference, on his life and leadership

Rev. Dr. Julius J. S. Nelson, Jr. and Dr. Muriel Nelson on their ministry

Recommended Viewing: American UMs Interviewing African UMs

The African bishops' statement earlier this fall caught many Americans by surprise. In some instances, though, the release of the statement motivated American United Methodists to want to better understand dynamics in The United Methodist Church in Africa. Two such United Methodists have released video interviews of their conversation with African United Methodist leaders.

Rev. Jeffrey Rickman of Nowata and Delaware UMCs in Oklahoma has started a video podcast called "Plainspoken." As part of that podcast, he has interviewed three African leaders:

Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah of the Liberia Annual Conference

Rev. Ande Emmanuel of the South Nigeria Annual Conference

Mr. Simon Mafunda of the Zimbabwe East Annual Conference

Rev. Rickman intends to produce more such video interviews as well.

Rev. John Stephens of Chapelwood UMC in Houston has a long-running video podcast, "Pod Have Mercy." Recently, he interviewed Bishop Mande Muyombo of the North Katanga Episcopal Area.

The interviewers and interviewees all have distinct views on and vested interests in the present situation in The United Methodist Church, as do many United Methodists. Thus, some claims may need to be taken with a grain of salt or compared with others across the interviews for a comprehensive picture.

What is particularly interesting about the interviews, though, is two things:

First, to see the interactions between American and African United Methodists when Americans come to those conversations with a real interest in learning, as Revs. Rickman and Stephens do. More such conversations need to be happening in the denomination.

Second, it is interesting to see how, although the four Africans interviewed have very different takes on denominational politics, they do affirm some common themes: the need for Africans to have a greater voice in the denomination, the desire to avoid American control or manipulation of the church in Africa, and the potential problems introduced by American money into the relationship between Americans and Africans. They may differ on the politics of realizing such a vision or what the roadblocks to that vision are, but the vision articulated has significant commonalities.

Recommended Viewing: Global Discipleship Webinars

Earlier this year, Discipleship Ministries hosted a series of six Global Discipleship Webinars featuring United Methodist leaders from around the world talking about ministry in their contexts. Videos from several of those webinars are available on Discipleship Ministries' website. In particular, videos from the following webinars are available:

Discipleship and Community Engagement in a Post-Christian Society with Rev. Barry Sloan

This webinar talks about Rev. Sloan's work in Germany

Discipleship Among Immigrant and Diaspora Communities with Rev. Jonavern Lungub

This webinar talks about Rev. Lungub's work with Filipino and African immigrant communities in the Gulf States of the Middle East.

Discipleship and Evangelism in a Christian-Minority Country with Rev. Lun Sophy and Rev. Andrew Lee

This webinar talks about Methodism in Cambodia, which is a fruit of joint ministry by The United Methodist Church, the Korean Methodist Church, the Methodist Church of Singapore, and the World Federation of Chinese Methodist Churches.

It is hoped that Discipleship Ministries will post the other webinar videos as well.

I found the conversation about immigrant groups in the Middle East particularly interesting, since it represents a growing area of United Methodism, but one that is beyond the experience and outside the information streams of most United Methodists in the United States.

Recommended Viewing: Fresh Expressions Webinars

Discipleship Ministries is sponsoring a year-long series of monthly webinars on Fresh Expressions, the movement to start new forms of church in new places for new people. According to the description, "Fresh Expressions UM is a distinctly Wesleyan Spirit-led movement of new Christian communities that serve the present age. We are seeking to cultivate inclusive, accessible, transformative, and connectional communities of love and grace for people currently neglected by the church."

The announcement notes, "The structure of the symposium is a series of free live-streamed events using Zoom. Each speaker will consider a core theological distinction that needs to be reappropriated to “serve the present age,” and then respond live to your questions. The recordings from these conversations will be made available with a study guide for your teams to work through together."

The webinars will occur the first Thursday of each month. The first webinar will be Nov. 3, featuring Michael Beck talking about "The new 'field preaching': Intercultural hermeneutics and dialogical preaching" and Brian Russell talking about "Idolatherapy: Reading Scripture for Deep Formation in the Love of God, Neighbor, and Self." Registration for the entire series can be found here.

Recommended Viewing: Panel on the Challenges of Methodism in Latin America

Over the past several weeks, UM & Global has been running a series of posts about mission and evangelism in Latin American Methodism originally published by the Centro Metodista de Estudios Wesleyanos (CMEW) of the Iglesia Evangelica Metodista Argentina (IEMA, Evangelical Methodist Church Argentina). The posts were originally published in Spanish and have appeared here in translation through the permission and support of CMEW. Two more translations remain to be published on UM & Global, but the Spanish-language versions are now all available.

As a follow-up to that series of posts, CMEW and IEMA are hosting a free online panel (in Spanish) on the topic of "The Challenges of Methodism in Latin America." The panel will be hosted by Revs. Claudio Pose and Viviana Pinto (both of whose essays in the series will appear on this site soon). It features as panelists Rev. Dr. Daniel Bruno of CMEW along with Rev. Dr. Miguel Ulloa Moscoso of Chile, Director of the Methodist Seminary of Chile, and Dr. Nancy Cardoso of Brazil, Professors of the Study of Religion and Theology at the Methodist University of Angola. The conversation should be excellent.

The panel will be at 7:30pm CST this Friday, September 30. Free online registration can be found here.

Recommended Viewing: "A New Era of United Methodism" Documentary

J. J. Warren has produced a documentary called "A New Era of United Methodism," documenting his trip along with Helen Ryde and Rev. Kimberly Scott to visit Rev. Kennedy Mwita in Kenya for the dedication of the new sanctuary of First UMC Moheto. First UMC Moheto is the first reconciling congregation in Africa, and Warren, Ryde, and Scott all attended the dedication as representatives of Reconciling Ministries Network. The hour-and-a-half long document shows both exceptional and representative elements of world-wide Methodism, only one of which, though, has to do with the congregation's status as the first reconciling congregation in Africa.

Rev. Mwita and First UMC Moheto are certainly exceptional in some ways, the most notable of which is their work to become a reconciling congregation and to create a space of welcome for LGBTQ persons in a culture that is often not very welcoming.

But Rev. Mwita is also remarkable in the size of the vision he has for what God can do around and through First UMC Moheto. He has big ambitions for how God can use the church and the others in its circuit to be a blessing to its surrounding community. In part, that is through its status as a reconciling congregation, but it also involves a lot more traditional development work - a school, a clinic, water and electricity projects.

While Rev. Mwita's holy ambitions are notable, they are also in many ways representative of the sorts of visions for the church and its relationship to the wider community that many United Methodists hold across countries in Africa. United Methodism in most places in Africa is a form of Christianity that is oriented towards benefiting the community through a holistic gospel that combines evangelism, social justice, education, health, development, and agriculture.

First UMC Moheto and the other circuit congregations under the leadership of Rev. Mwita, his wife Pastor Elnora Mwita, and Rev. Benedict Odiambo -- Christ Chapel United Methodist Church in Oyani and St. Paul’s Giosahi United Methodist Church in Kuria West -- are also representative of so many churches throughout the continent of the Africa in their assets for and their struggles in trying to implement the holistic vision of church and community proclaimed by United Methodism. They have multiple assets - intelligent, hard-working, visionary leadership; enthusiastic and generous members; land; and local resources. Yet they also struggle with obtaining other necessary resources, not always because of poverty but because of a combination of logistics, supply lines, and regulations.

The documentary also show something else remarkable, though, and that is cross-cultural conversation between the three Americans and the Kenyans. Especially around the half hour and one hour marks of the video, there are recorded conversations about the nature of justice in its many forms and about the church's role in development respectively. The future of the UMC depends upon such cross-cultural conversations with equal exchange and mutual learning becoming more common.

Therefore, the feature-length documentary is well worth taking the time to watch -- both for the ways in which what it shows is remarkable and the ways in which it is not.

Recommended Viewing: David W. Scott on Colonialism and the Church

Dr. David W. Scott, Director of Mission Theology for Global Ministries and blogmaster of UM & Global, was invited to present to the Council of Bishops last week on the topic of colonialism and the church as part of the council's on-going Task Force to End Racism, led by Bishop LaTrelle Easterling.

In his presentation, Scott offered some remarks about the definition of colonialism, briefly reviewed three ways in which The United Methodist Church and its predecessor denominations have historically been entangled with colonialism -- settler colonialism in North America, European and especially British imperialism around the world, and American expansion around the world in its various forms, looked at how that history continues to impact the church today, and then offered some thoughts on how the church should address that legacy. Scott's presentation also included some question and answer interactions with the bishops.

Scott's presentation can be viewed on the Council of Bishops Facebook page as part of the livestream of that session. It begins at the beginning of the livestream and lasts approximately 50 minutes.

Recommended Viewing: Bishop Everald Galbraith Interview

Bishop Everald Galbraith, Connexional President of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and Americas, was recently in Ireland at the Conference meeting of the Methodist Church in Ireland. While he was there, Heather Morris of the MCI interviewed him for the MCI's "Living Wholeheartedly" podcast. The podcast is available in video format. Over the course of the interview, Bishop Galbraith touched upon several things that may be of interest to readers of this blog: the international connections that exist between the MCCA, MCI, and Methodist Church in Britain, his cross-cultural experiences as a young adult living in Ireland, the challenges that the MCCA is facing, and his hopes for the future of Methodism in the Caribbean and Americas. The interview is approximately a half hour in length.

Recommended Viewing: Max Marble's Mission Musings

Many in the United States will be traveling this weekend to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. So, in the spirit of travel, here is a recommended set of video resources related to mission and travel. Rev. Max Marble is a retired member of the Missouri Annual Conference. He is the son of Methodist missionaries to India. Over the past 14 years, he has maintained a YouTube channel. The channel is a mix of content, some of it personal, but much of it related to his involvement in mission. Marble made a long-running series of "MissionCast" videos on topics related to his work and that of the Missouri Annual Conference. He has made videos about his on-going connections to India, including several trips there. Most recently, he has been serving with NOMADS, traveling the country to participate in short-term mission projects with other retirees. In his videos, Marble is a charming and personable voice for a United Methodist life devoted to mission.

Recommended Viewing: Nazarenes Plan Regional Caucuses before General Assembly

The Church of the Nazarene recently announced plans related to their upcoming 30th General Assembly in 2023. The General Assembly is the denomination's highest body, analogous to The United Methodist Church's General Conference.

General Assembly had been scheduled for 2021, but the Nazarenes announced in June of 2020 that, due to travel difficulties and visa restrictions, General Assembly would be postponed until 2023. Like the UMC, the Nazarenes determined that an electronic or virtual meeting would not allow them to accomplish what was required by their Manual (the equivalent of the Book of Discipline). At the time of the postponement, they named "significant global participation via attendance and an appropriate emphasis on the health and safety of visitors and delegates" as goals for holding General Assembly.

In their recent update about General Assembly, the Church of the Nazarene acknowledged that, even though General Assembly is still over a year away, visa delays will prevent some delegates from attending. Delegates to General Assembly come from a very wide range of countries. The Church of the Nazarene will, however, continue with plans to hold General Assembly in June 2023, and still does not believe a virtual or distributed conference is feasible. Nevertheless, the Nazarene leadership emphasized that representation of all districts is important.

Fortunately for the Nazarenes, their Manual allows for several solutions: It provides more latitude for districts to select alternate delegates who already have visas. But more importantly, the Manual allows for early regional causes. Therefore, Nazarenes in regions outside the United States will gather by region before General Assembly meets to deliberate on the business of the General Assembly, make nominations for denomination-wide positions, and convey the results to the General Assembly via the delegates that can attend. While voting on final legislation is not possible at the regional caucuses, the recommendations will be taken into official consideration by the relevant legislative committees.

The Board of General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene recognizes that this arrangement is still "not ideal." Nevertheless, it is a way to balance the stated value of global participation and the need to hold a General Assembly.

This plan is only possible, though, because the provisions of the Nazarene manual allow for it. The United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline does not make similar provisions for early regional caucuses. Thus, this is not an alternative that the UMC could have taken to allow General Conference to meet in 2022.

But, it is a model that the UMC would be wise to keep in mind as it continues to develop its polity. I have previously suggested that regionalization would have prevented some of the problems with delaying General Conference 2020. The Church of the Nazarene shows that greater regionalization can also help address issues around equality of representation at denominational gatherings.

While the UMC cannot go back in time to prevent some of the problems associated with a delayed General Conference 2020, it can and should take steps to ensure that the next time General Conference is unable to meet or to meet fully--whether that is because of a future pandemic, war, climate disaster, or other reason--the church is able to be more flexible and respond better.

Recommended Viewing: Thoughts from a United Methodist Pastor in Ukraine

The Minnesota Annual Conference on Wednesday posted a 25-minute interview (in English) with Rev. Volodymyr Prokip, UMC pastorin Lviv, Ukraine. Rev. Prokip reflects on his experiences and the experiences of his church in Lviv, the role of the larger Methodist connection in the present crisis, how to make theological sense of the war, and how United Methodists can help. Rev. Prokip is interviewed by Rev. Fred Vanderwerf, a district superintendent from Minnesota with a history of relationship with the congregation in Lviv. This is an excellent chance to hear directly from a Ukrainian United Methodist about realities in the country.

Recommended Viewing: Missionary Interviews

United Methodist Communications and United Methodist Women have both recently posted interviews with United Methodist missionaries and mission leaders serving around the world.

As it has in years past, the "Get Your Spirit in Shape" podcast produced by United Methodist Communications has recently featured a series of interviews with Global Ministries missionaries. The podcasts, which range from 20 to 36 minutes, feature a range of missionaries doing a range of work. The three recent episodes are as follows:

Desiree Segura-April, a Resource Person for Children at Risk Ministries in Latin America and the Caribbean

Helen Roberts-Evans, director of the Department of General Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church in Liberia

Rev. John Calhoun, who pastors the English-Speaking United Methodist Church of Vienna (ESUMC)

In addition, United Methodist Women recently posted the latest episode in its "Voices from the Field" series. This 20-minute episode features women leaders from Mozambique.