Entries by Katy Kiser

Rooted in Christ: Women Being the Church

July 29, 2017 in , /by

The Rev. Kelly Brumbeloe of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church. Photo by Donna Lachance.   What should be the business of the church? For the women of the Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta Georgia, it is providing women with the opportunity to become Rooted in Christ. Their women’s ministry places equal emphasis on the spiritual and material needs of women, realizing that a poverty of either can be devastating. They actively make Christ known to those in their own pews, their community, and the world. Their women’s ministry is one of the most successful in The United Methodist […]

Is the Moral Teaching of Christ really “tired Christian lady stuff?

June 14, 2017 in , /by

Is the Moral Teaching of Christ really “tired Christian lady stuff?” Good News is celebrating 50 years in the renewal movement of the United Methodist Church. If you haven’t read the magazine’s excellent articles in the last two editions – please do. They informed my deep appreciation for the role Good News has played to bring about renewal and revival of classical Wesleyan doctrine. As our church in the states has become more influenced by secular agendas in our decaying culture, Good News has been faithful to proclaim the gospel and challenge the church to be faithful to the faith […]

New Opportunities for Women’s Ministry

May 2, 2017 in , , /by

New Opportunities for Women’s Ministry March 20, 2017 “The Lord gives the word of power; the women who bear and publish the news are a great host.” – Psalms 68:11 The 2016 General Conference was good news indeed for women’s ministry in The United Methodist Church. Legislation developed by the Renew Network, the women’s arm of Good News, was adopted to allow ministries to women and men in addition to UMW and UMM. For some, the addition to paragraph 256.7 opens the door for churches to welcome women’s ministry that meets the unique needs and gifts of their particular congregation […]

Holy Week Update 2017

April 19, 2017 in , /by

April 10, 2017 Dear Renew Network, It is Holy Week as I write this update. I can’t help but wonder what the disciples were thinking in the days leading up to Christ’s resurrection? Did they experience despair; did they want to give up and leave? Given that many of them fled and hid in fear, I think it safe to say they did. Certainly the crisis of the disciples when Jesus was arrested is different from ours in the UMC. But ours is a crisis all the same, and many of us have become impatient and fear it is too […]

Fall 2016 Renew Update – Accommodation or Transformation

October 31, 2016 in , /by

October 26, 2016 Dear Renew Network, Since my last Newsletter, much has happened in the church. But by far, I believe the most transformative event for our church is the creation of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which met in Chicago in early October. As one young pastor from Texas put it, “It is not often that you get to be part of history.” Indeed, history was made, and you can read more about that HERE. I like how Bishop Mike Lowery described the meeting when he wrote, I experienced the event as a movement of the Holy Spirit. Prayer was […]

My Experience at Mission U: The Bible and Human Sexuality: Claiming God’s Good Gift

October 18, 2016 in , , /by

The UMW Spiritual Life Study: The Bible and Human Sexuality: Claiming God’s Good Gift. August 3, 2016 Newsletter Dear Renew Network, By now, you most likely have heard that the Western Jurisdiction elected Karen Oliveto, a married lesbian to the episcopacy. I want to thank the Renew Network for your response to the Good News statement concerning the crisis this action has escalated. If you have not already, please read and sign the statement at http://methodistcrossroads.org. This action is a serious breach of the covenant that holds the United Methodist Church together. I think a word needs to be said […]

General Conference Update

April 28, 2016 in , , , /by

May 2016 Greetings Renew Network, Since our beginning, Renew Network has sought to encourage women to know Christ and to make Him known through various outreach programs. As John Wesley told Thomas Coke when he departed for the American colonies, “Offer them Christ.” That mandate is just as true and important today as it was in the late 1700s. Unless we ourselves are transformed and have a deep relationship with Christ, how can we hope to further the Mission of the UMC to make disciples and transform the world? We cannot give what we ourselves do not have. The world […]

Winter Newsletter – Hope from John 15 and 16

February 5, 2016 in , /by

Winter Newsletter – Hope from John 15 and 16 February 2016 Dear Renew Network, In the United Methodist Church, all eyes are focused on General Conference. The delegates have been chosen and legislation has been prepared. The stakes are high for the Church. Will the United Methodist Church preserve its integrity or bow to the demand of our culture? I am discouraged, if not dismayed, that our denominational leaders continue to bend over backward to accommodate the LGBTQ agenda to change the Church’s time- honored teachings on morality and sexuality. The bishops have allowed this group to disrupt the last […]

2015 Christmas Greetings – Hark the Herald Angels Sing

January 14, 2016 in , /by

  Hark the herald angels sing “Glory to the newborn king Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled” As I write this update to you, it is already the second week of Advent. This past Sunday in our church, we lit the candle of peace and sang that great Wesleyan hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Each year at this time, our family receives at least one Christmas card wishing us “Peace.” Often it pictures a wolf lying down with a lamb or a lion with a calf. This year the thought of obtaining the goal of […]

Methodist Protest Caucuses: “We Are Coming For the Institution” By Katy Kiser

October 9, 2015 in , /by

“We are Coming for the Institution, and like a mighty river, we will sweep it away with the might of our love,” said Rev. Sara Thompson Tweedy at the close of her remarks at the “Gather at the River” conference held in San Antonio for progressive United Methodists.  The heavily LGBTQ-focused conference was sponsored by Reconciling Ministries Network and the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Many in the United Methodist Church have been exploring ways to hold together two diametrically opposed views of human sexuality.  At General Conference 2012 the church defeated a proposal to agree to disagree on this […]