-
1 week ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Ryan N. Danker |Davison Drumm |Mark Tooley |Methodist Voices
On Monday, April 14, Dr. Timothy Tennent delivered remarks at the Army Navy Club in Washington for the first Annual Tennent Lecture on World Christianity. His topic was “Staying Centered in the Midst of the Shifting Center of World Christianity.” Video of the lecture is available below via IRD’s Facebook page. It will be made available shortly on IRD’s YouTube channel and SoundCloud podcast account.
-
1 week ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Ryan N. Danker |Davison Drumm |Mark Tooley |Methodist Voices
This afternoon American Methodist theologian Tim Tennent visited the IRD offices to discuss Wesleyan theological formation. I provided an update on the work of the John Wesley Institute. Video of our Zoom conversation is below via the IRD YouTube channel, audio is also downloadable in podcast form via IRD’s SoundCloud account.
-
3 weeks ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Sarah Carter |Ryan N. Danker |Mark Tooley |Rick Plasterer
[Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of brief reflections authored by current and past interns about their experience at the Institute on Religion & Democracy. For more information about IRD’s internship program, click here.]After graduation from Wheaton College, I knew I wanted to work in the field of political theology.
-
3 weeks ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Ryan N. Danker |Mark Tooley |Rick Plasterer
On March 28 IRD’s John Wesley Institute hosted a survey of the relationship between the church and monarchy in Britain; past, present and future. Our speaker was The Revd. Philip Corbett who serves as Vicar of St. Silas and Holy Trinity Kentish Town in the Diocese of London. Video of Fr. Philip’s talk is viewable in the video below from the John Wesley Institute YouTube channel.
-
Jan 9, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy |Ryan N. Danker
Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral showcased the best of American civil religion and of American public Christianity. Majestic hymns and choir, beautiful liturgy, solemnity, and reverence in a magnificent gothic sanctuary, with the armed forces honoring the deceased commander in chief. Former presidents and vice presidents who oppose and dislike each other sat respectfully together.
-
Jan 8, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy |Ryan N. Danker |James Diddams
Articles related to United Methodist disaffiliation, local church closures, General Conference, and the new Global Methodist Church were among readers’ favorites as Juicy Ecumenism closed out another year as the Institute on Religion & Democracy blog of church and culture news and opinion. Below are the most widely read articles, in ascending order. 10. What’s United Methodist General Conference Impact?
-
Jan 7, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark L. Clifford |Bethany Moy |Ryan N. Danker |James Diddams
The TroublemakerHow Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared CriticBy Mark L. CliffordSimon & Schuster, 2024. 264 pages. “He has such a love for his life. He never gave up—he was so optimistic. He still believed in hope. What an inspiration this guy is,” Jimmy Lai speaking at a memorial for his friend of 39 years, Glynn Manson in 2015.
-
Jan 7, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Ryan N. Danker |James Diddams |Rick Plasterer
John Wesley is probably best known for his journal and sermons while his brother, Charles, for his hymns. But one prayer of John Wesley’s has become a well-beloved classic, particularly used around the turn of the new year: his Covenant Prayer. In contemporary American Methodist practice, this prayer is associated with a watch night service, a vigil, or some form of it.
-
Aug 31, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Sarah Stewart |Wyatt Flicker |Ryan N. Danker
In her new memoir about her husband and herself An Unfinished Love Story, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin recalls that President Lyndon Johnson in March 1965 needed a voting rights speech to Congress and the nation written within 24 hours. Scores of marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama had just been beaten by state troopers wielding clubs and bullwhips, as the horrified nation watched. LBJ did not want distractions from his Great Society agenda.
-
Aug 30, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Sarah Stewart |Wyatt Flicker |Ryan N. Danker |Jeffrey Walton
Many United Methodists in West Virginia’s Little Kanawha District were devastated by the changes made at this year’s General Conference. Local United Methodist leadership has done little to ease this pain. “I’ll go to church, but I’ll never join a church again” should be words that break the heart of any pastor. Unfortunately, I’ve heard this statement from multiple people in the district.
