The Church Hoppers Podcast

The Church Hoppers break down a statement by Ken Carter, the bishop of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, in which he gives 7 reasons "Why I believe The United Methodist Church will remain united."  We, frankly, found the reasons unconvincing at best, and offensive at worst. So, we decided to do YET ANOTHER podcast about the Methodists and their sex problem...but hey, why not? They've been having "holy conversations" about it for decades.  The first step, church, is admitting you have a problem. You can check out Bishop Carter's video on the Florida Conference website.

The Church Hoppers return to weigh in on the recent decision by the highest church court of the United Methodist Church that a jurisdiction of the church cannot appoint bishops in violation of the Discipline of the UMC.  Sound complicated?  It isn't...just a new headline for what has become an increasingly exasperating topic within the UMC.  We discuss why many "Progressives" in the UMC aren't, and what a real, substantive response would be for affirming clergy in any denomination, but specifically within the Methodist structure.

This week we talk theories of the atonement of Jesus.  We discuss some major models of atonement, many of them substitutionary and most of them blood atonement in some fashion.  We talk about the illustrations we use to teach these theories and how they all get conflated.  By no means do we address all theories of the atonement of Christ.  But we do ask the question again and again...did Jesus really HAVE to die?  Why?  For whom?  To what end?

HOME is our new "sermon series" where we break down what the phrase "spiritual home" or "church home" means to various people.  In the series, we will hear the experiences of a lot of people who are at home today in a very different place than what they called "home" before.  Join us and find yourself in their stories.This week, we talk with Scott. After 20 years in ministry as a Baptist pastor, Scott left the church altogether.  He explains why he could no longer be at home, not just in a Southern Baptist church, but in any local church at all.  He speaks to the church about priorities and loving neighbor, and he speaks words of encouragement to those who just can't go to church anymore.  Ultimately, home is right where it's always been--where the heart is. Check out Scott's blog entry about his leaving http://scottwelch.blogspot.com/2015/12/why-do-you-care-so-much-about-my-choices.html

We interrupt our "sermon series" on HOME to sound off on the recent meeting of the Primates of the Anglican communion.  In light of episode 047, we felt it a good supplemental episode.  We feebly try to explain for the non-anglican layperson how the polity of the Communion works, and what exactly did and didn't happen at the Primates 2016 meeting in Canterbury, England.  We discuss homophobia, unity, provincial churches, sanctions and censure, and options that we as outsiders see that were available to the Primates but rejected in favor of their move to censure the Episcopal Church U.S.A.  We end by calling to the church to what the Presiding Bishop of the ECUSA, Michael Curry, called "the high calling" of drawing the circle wide...at least as wide as the women and men and children that are already a part of us...but hopefully even wider than that.  Amen.