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Meeting Beneath the Arch with a Dream
On Thursday, we began to leave for St. Louis. Delegates, alternates (like myself), and observers are beginning to make the journey to the Called General Conference of The United Methodist Church, which will take up questions of human sexuality and the future structures of the denomination. I’m thirsty for this! We will spend Saturday in… →
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Heartlands Resources for the United Methodist General Conference 2019
If seems like we’ve been writing about the Called General Conference in St. Louis for years, it’s because we have. Below is a collection of links to material that has appeared on Heartlands since its inception in January 2017: Essays & Book Reviews: What if We Can’t ‘Get Past’ Sex?: A Review of Entangled – a… →
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In the Dreamtime that was Portland – Poetry Before General Conference
At the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Oregon, I watched a group of children playing in a fountain and was moved to write a poem about the struggle my church was going through. I still hold on to the dream that we can breathe again as the 2019 Called General Conference convenes in… →
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A Book You Shouldn’t Read: The Unfortunate Autobiography of Carson McCullers
The title promises more than it delivers. Illumination and Night Glare, the unfinished autobiography of Carson McCullers, purports to be a chronicle of the artistic process, giving us insight into the inspirations (illumination) and trials (night glare) of McCullers’ life. There is some of that in this slight book, but it retains its interest… →
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How Bonnie and Clyde Helped Make Me a Methodist Preacher (or Getting to Know Your Community Can Transform Your Church)
Bonnie and Clyde get a little credit for my seminary experience. The Depression Era gangsters got their start in Eagle Ford, a flood-prone neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. While they gained a lot of notoriety for their exploits, when they were killed by law enforcement agents in a Louisiana ambush in 1934, everyone recognized the tragedy… →
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Why a Story of Fugitive Slaves May Not Just Be History
In light of the current Great Divide, there is no innocent reading of history. We mine every thesis about the Constitutional Convention or the Civil War for evidence of another agenda. History becomes covert commentary on Trump and the Resistance. So when Andrew Delbanco’s wonderful new book on fugitive slaves in antebellum America landed in… →
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Race, Virginia, and Jesus’ Circle of Favor
It has been a disturbing week in Virginia government. Once again, we are struggling with how we address questions of race and racism. This time Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring are both confronted with incidents from their past involving appearances in blackface, a remnant of minstrel shows where the entertainment came… →
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My Restless Year with Wendell Berry
I decided to spend a year with Wendell Berry. He spent 33 with me, walking the circuits of his Kentucky River valley farm on a Sunday, sharing the fruit of his Sabbath poems written between 1979 and 2012. What I’m saying is that it was a slow year. I received This Day: Collected & New… →
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Grey Goblin of a Morning – Friday Poetry
Grey goblin of a morning, raining on my parade, What fancies do you offer as a token substitute? Or should I expect the dim return of my dark shadows? Depression and all its nearer kin? Not today. –Alex Joyner →
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The Parable of Stuckey’s: A Story of Church?
Despite the fact that one of my most traumatic childhood episodes happened in a New Mexico Stuckey’s, I have always been in the thrall of the teal blue roofs that promise Mexican blankets, cheap sandwiches, and lots of pecan-themed candies. The trauma came as a result of Stuckey’s time-honored practice of placing fragile novelty knick-knacks… →
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