Author Archives: Richard Heyduck

About Richard Heyduck

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

Good News from Indiana – a Challenge to Us

Posted on January 5, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

Tim Stevens reports that their congregation saw 942 people make professions of faith last year. He’s on staff at Granger Community Church, a United Methodist congregation in northern Indiana. In an earlier post he said their average attendance for the … Continue reading →

Posted in church growth, Evangelism, United Methodism | 4 Comments

A New Career Path – Let’s get fired!

Posted on January 3, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

Seth Godin reports: Today, Bob Nardelli, their [Home Depot] CEO, got fired. He probably got fired for insulting his investors (his annual meeting will go down in history) and for alienating employees and customers. He appeared to go out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events | Leave a comment

Being a (Practicing) Christian

Posted on January 3, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

There have been some interesting posts on religion at the Corner this morning. John Derbyshire quotes and comments on a correspondent: From a person who really should know, though he asks that his name and clerical status not be posted: … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Theology | Leave a comment

Thinking/Praying

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

Is there a difference between thinking and praying? I’ve wondered about that since I first heard the phrase, “Our thoughts and prayers will be with you.” Doubtless, much of our prayer life (at least in the UM churches I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Prayer, Spirituality | Leave a comment

Old Year, New Year

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

From a church perspective last year was somewhat stressful. The church had been thinking for years about acquiring the grocery store property across the street. We knew we couldn’t expand to the south (down town), the east (court house & … Continue reading →

Posted in church growth, Leadership, Local church, Spirituality | Leave a comment

Scripture as Means of Grace – first thoughts

Posted on December 20, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

As theologians move beyond the categories inherited from modern theology, the notion scripture first of all functions as a means of grace has become more popular. Billy Abraham (Canon and Criterion) , Ellen Charry (By the Renewing of Your Mind) … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Spirituality, Theology | 1 Comment

Al Qaeda, Taliban, et al.

Posted on December 12, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

Jeff Stein has a bothersome habit of asking our leaders annoying questions. Earlier in the year he discovered that numerous leaders in congress and intelligence bureaucracies didn’t seem to understand Islam, particularly the nature of the Sunni / Shia split. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How Churches Ought to Think of Each Other

Posted on December 10, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

Here’s a comment from Tom Peters on how churches ought to think of each other. Except he’s not talking about churches. To put it briefly: if you lead a church it is a good thing for the other churches around … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Generosity

Posted on December 5, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

It’s nice to see generosity in action. Sunday while I was going around the sanctuary greeting people, a family slipped me a check. “Use it to meet the needs of people.” That’s generosity in action. Last week when I wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Spirituality | Leave a comment

Arguing as a Christian

Posted on November 30, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

Ilaria Morali, a professor of theology in Rome, tells of a recent encounter in the course of “interreligious dialog”: Morali: I recall that last year, at the moment of exchange with the assembly, a person in the audience asked me … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Islam, Theology | 1 Comment