United Methodist Church Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Greetings in Christ Jesus:

Earlier this year I spoke to you about 1968 being a watershed year in many ways. That is probably true of every year, depending on your social location and/or your reading of  history. That said, 1968 stands out in my mind as BIG. The assassinations, presidential politics, where we were in Viet Nam and on and on. We who lived through it could regale one another with our recollections.

One of my firm recollections of 1968 is the creation of The United Methodist Church, formally consummated and ritualized on April 23, 1968, in Dallas, TX. It was a number of years in the making and followed a number of years of conversation, relationship building and negotiation. Two churches came together to create a new church, embracing for a new era relationships first kindled in the 18th century. In a real sense, the new church was bright-eyed and full of hopeful possibilities.

So here we are at the 50th anniversary of our church, and I see and...continue reading