One of my biggest fears about the whole Penn State child sex abuse scandal is that in all our sanctimony and schadenfreude, we may be making future situations worse. Particularly in terms of transparency. Now that the NCAA has punished Penn State with massive penalties, I wonder if other institutions, in the future, will allow for independent investigations, create open … [Read more...] about More Punishment, More Problems?
Double Standard
The joy of seeing a well respected pastor from my annual conference elected bishop was tempered by tweets complaining that Bishop Webb was a white male. Here is the most egregious and overt tweet: I understand we need to be concerned about inclusivity. We need to wrestle with issues of power. As a church we need to worry about what voices are not being heard on all … [Read more...] about Double Standard
The Case for Labels
I have been following an online conversation about labels with great interest. It started with Ross Douthat's article on the Episcopal church. Diane Butler Bass then wrote a response. Ben Gosden than wrote a response to both of them. In his response Ben critiques both Douthat and Bass and comes to the conclusion, "however, they both get it wrong for me because they continue … [Read more...] about The Case for Labels
Common Good
It was about this time last year when I listened to a sermon on the common good. The pastor argued we had no concept of it now in America. He preached that the common good is a theme in the Gospels. His sermon named a concern I have about modern American life. I started wrestling with it when I was introduced to the concept of the tragedy of the commons. The tragedy of the … [Read more...] about Common Good
Statistics and Divination
I read Thomas Long’s essay in the Christian Century today about “Future Fatigue” and it led me to think about my annual one-on-one with my district superintendent. Part of our discussion will be on how to get the churches in the charge I serve to give goals for ministry. How will they improve their statistics for 2013? It is part of a larger movement in the United Methodist … [Read more...] about Statistics and Divination