-
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.
-
1 month ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Rick Plasterer |Mark Tooley |Davison Drumm |Sarah Carter
Jeremy Barker, Associate Vice President for International Strategy at the Religious Freedom Institute moderated a panel concerning religious freedom in Iraq at the International Religious Freedom Summit on February 4. He said that legislation to protect religious freedom in Iraq is being formulated to be presented in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. It aims to protect all religious, and especially minority communities for “long-term survival” in Iraq.
-
1 month ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Davison Drumm |Sarah Carter |Methodist Voices
United Methodism’s schism in Africa resulted in the brief incarceration of Methodist leader Jerry Kulah, who led 100 churches (of 500 in Liberia) out of the denomination. Kulah is well known as a leader of African delegates at several United Methodist General Conferences across the years reaffirming traditional teachings. Kulah and his churches in Liberia have aligned with the new Global Methodist Church.
-
1 month ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Davison Drumm |Mark Tooley |Sarah Carter |Methodist Voices
Many of our social, political, or personal issues we name “evil” are not truly evil at all but perversions of the good. Though I wish to present some new, brilliant opinion, it may very well sound old. I hope it does sound slightly old precisely because the ideas are old. They were developed and given to us by prominent Christian intellectuals of the 20th Century. We have simply not listened or chosen to forget.
-
2 months ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Sarah Stewart |Davison Drumm |Sarah Carter |Mark Tooley
Since the last General Conference took place, the United Methodist Church in West Virginia (WVUMC) has insisted that all viewpoints on sexual matters will be respected and that individual churches can act in accord with their conscience. Recent conference actions demonstrate that this is not the case. The WVUMC chose to update its Safe Sanctuaries policy to include a section on “LGBTQ+ Youth” and, despite its vague language, it is anything but inclusive.
-
2 months ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Davison Drumm |Sarah Carter |Mark Tooley |Rick Plasterer
Participants in the year-long program in which I serve, The Falls Church Anglican Fellows, assist the church through leadership of youth small groups. This past weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to serve at the youth program’s yearly retreat, “Breakaway.”At Breakaway, I witnessed firsthand the pain inflicted on younger generations by secular identity ideologies as well as the hope and relief found in authentic biblical identity.
-
2 months ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Sarah Carter |Mark Tooley |Rick Plasterer
Misrepresented for being born chiefly out of King Henry VIII’s divorce, Anglican reformed teaching was in actuality “a wave breaking on the shores of England that had been building for some time,” according to a prominent reformed clergyman in the Anglican Church in North America. The Falls Church Anglican (TFCA) Rector Sam Ferguson spoke on doctrinal reforms and expounded upon the history and practice of the English Reformation at History and Hope: Reformed Theology in the Anglican Tradition.
-
2 months ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Rick Plasterer |Sarah Carter
Today’s federal holiday honors George Washington’s birthday. An exhibit at Mount Vernon portrays Washington wearing a crown and royal ermine, with a mace. It symbolizes what the nation’s preeminent Founding Father rejected. He would not be king, either literally or figuratively. After the Revolution, Washington could have sought power as a military dictator. Instead, he resigned and went home.
-
2 months ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Rick Plasterer |Mark Tooley |Sarah Carter
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International gathered a panel of experts to discuss the continuing effort to restrict the freedom of traditional religions in the West at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington on February 4. Sean Nelson, Legal Counsel for Global Religious Freedom with ADF International introduced the panel.
-
2 months ago | 
juicyecumenism.com | Riley Case |Mark Tooley |Sarah Carter |Davison Drumm
A line from Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress keeps running through my mind: “And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us…” I generally have been quite optimistic about my faith, my church (United Methodist), Christianity, and life in general. Some of my premillennial dispensationalist friends argue that the Lord must be coming soon because the world is continually getting worse. I disagree. And yet…and yet.
