United Methodist

Theology shapes who we are and how we organize to transform the world. Especially written for required United Methodist classes, this accessible book uses a Wesleyan theological frame—connection—to help listeners understand United Methodism's polity and organization as the interrelationship of our beliefs, mission, and practice. The book is organized into four parts—United Methodist beliefs, mission, practice, and organization. Polity and organization are primary embodiments of The United Methodist Church.

In this unique introduction to the hidden life in Christ, James Bryan Smith walks listeners through a thirty-day immersion in Colossians 3:1-17. Each of the thirty short chapters of this book bring out the main truth of just one word or phrase of this rich passage. You'll also find a very simple daily practice to take up, reflection questions, and a guide for five weeks of group discussion.

United Methodist people long to love God and serve their neighbors. Unrelenting Grace by Bishop Ken Carter shows us how to come together and embrace grace, seek holiness, and build meaningful connections promoting strength and healing. Unrelenting Grace evokes insights and courage to overcome feelings of isolation, loneliness, and alienation.

Everyone has doubts. Where is God when bad things happen? Does God hear our prayers? Is there a heaven? How can we know? Often we treat such questions as the enemy of faith. But uncertainty doesn't mean our belief is lacking. Doubt can be a path to a deeper, richer encounter with God. In Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith, join bestselling author and pastor Adam Hamilton as he discusses some of our most significant sources of doubt and shows how a steady trust in God can emerge from them.

Pastor Mike Mather arrived in Indianapolis thinking that he was going to serve the poor. But after his church’s community lost nine young men to violence in a few short months, Mather came to see that the poor didn’t need his help - he needed theirs. This is the story of how one church found abundance in a community of material poverty. Viewing people - not programs, finances, or service models - as their most valuable resource moved church members beyond their own walls and out into the streets, where they discovered folks rich in strength, talents, determination, and love.

Jesus came to lift up the lowly. Throughout his ministry to his final days on the road to the cross, we find stories of his relationships with ordinary, flawed, and unexpected people. He met, dined, and traveled with people who were not perfect. Many of them were struggling, some were outsiders or even outlaws. Whoever they were, from those he healed to the outlaws with him at his crucifixion, Jesus brought the good news of God's kingdom to those who most needed to hear it. Adam Hamilton explores the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Luke.

When a 200-pound glass partition fell on Donna Fado Ivery's head resulting in brain injury, disability, and chronic pain, she could no longer count on walking, speaking, or thinking. How would she care for her infant, her preschooler, her husband, and herself? How would she continue to serve as pastor? With humor and humility, this inspirational memoir speaks to Donna’s struggle through medical, social, and church prejudice with the abiding support of family and the Holy Spirit.

An expansive, substantive history of the Wesleyan tradition in the United States, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline offers a broad survey of the Methodist movement as it developed and spread throughout America, from the colonial era to the present day. It also provides an theological appraisal of these developments in light of John Wesley's foundational vision. Beginning with Wesley himself, Watson describes the distinctiveness of the tradition at the outset.

The half century following the American Revolution witnessed the transformation of American Christianity. The passion for equality, says Hatch, brought about a crisis or religious authority in popular culture, introduced new and popular forms of theology, witnessed the rise of minority religious movements, reshaped preaching, singing, and publishing, and became a scriptural foundation for 19th century American individualism.