Author Archives: Richard Heyduck

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About Richard Heyduck

Pastor of Hardy Memorial Methodist Church, a Global Methodist Congregation. PhD Fuller Seminary MDiv Asbury Seminary BA Southwestern University

Rowan Williams and Sharia?

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

The blogosphere has exploded with vituperation over a recent lecture by the Archbishop of Canterbury on legal theory. You’d think the same kind of crowd was responding to him as responded to Pope Benedict in Regensburg. You know, “Let’s read … Continue reading →

Posted in Clash of Civilizations, Current events, Islam, Rowan Williams, Sharia | 1 Comment

Making Disciples

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

Our purpose as a church is to make disciples. My personal take on that (for my own life) is that I’m here (wherever God has me at any given moment) to make disciples who become disciple makers. I realize that … Continue reading →

Posted in Evangelism, Leadership, Ministry | 1 Comment

Handling our Wealth

Posted on February 5, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

Here are some comments inspired by John the Methodist and commentators at his site: It’s been said, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism, Culture, Economics | 3 Comments

Thinking About Lent

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

The forty days of Lent are based on the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Often when we think of those forty days (described, for example, in Matthew 4), we think of the fasting and the temptations. Christians have … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality | 2 Comments

Looking for a President (or a Messiah?)

Posted on January 23, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

Although the presidential campaign has been in full swing at least a year now, people only started voting this month (unless you count the endless polls). I haven’t seen anyone campaigning in my area. I think I may have seen … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Politics | 1 Comment

Christian Commitment

Posted on January 11, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

I was asked to write a piece about my Christian commitment.  If any of you have any opinions on content, tone, style, etc., I’d love to hear it. Thanks! ************************** Statement of Christian Commitment  My commitment to Christ would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Ministry, Salvation, Theology | 2 Comments

Leadership Addiction

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

A few days ago, in my first post on the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, I noted that one of the strengths of the book was that it didn’t major on offering new ideas. One of my weaknesses is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Edwin Friedman, Five Practices, Leadership | 3 Comments

Overcoming Incommensurability

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

Christian Amondson has an interesting post on issues of incommensurability, i.e., how communication can happen across narratival boundaries. Here’s my comment: Do we want to say that the incommensurability between the Christian world/narrative is essentially different from the incommensurability that … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evangelism, Theology | 4 Comments

Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations: Radical Hospitality

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

Radical Hospitality is the first of the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. That’s evangelism in plain Christianese. This is probably the new jargon I like the least. “Radical” is ok, but hospitality just seems weak in our current context. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Diversity, Evangelism, Five Practices, Ministry, United Methodism | 1 Comment

Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, 1

Posted on December 31, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

Robert Fritz says Creative Tension is produced by the gap between a strongly held vision and a willingness to tell the truth about the present. Like many pastors, I have a strong vision to reach people for Christ: to help … Continue reading →

Posted in church growth, Five Practices, Leadership, Ministry, United Methodism | 2 Comments