Category Archives: Diversity

Positive and Negative in United Methodism

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Richard Heyduck

Since reading Alasdair MacIntyre’s Whose Justice? Which Rationality? thirty-something years ago, I’ve found great value in the definition of a tradition that he he offers there (p. 12). A tradition is an argument extended through time in which certain fundamental … Continue reading →

Posted in Alasdair MacIntyre, Discipline, Diversity, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, Theology, Tradition, United Methodism | Leave a comment

Thinking about Doctrine

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Richard Heyduck

I have been thinking deeply about doctrine since the 1980s. I wrote my PhD dissertation (revised and published in 2002) on doctrine, specifically with the United Methodist Church in mind. From what I saw then (and now), our official doctrine … Continue reading →

Posted in Diversity, Doctrine, United Methodism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Not So Much Unity

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Richard Heyduck

Lovett Weems sees more unity than I do when he writes, What if the General Conference addressed matters of doctrine, mission, and values and gave freedom (such as Central Conferences already have today) in structure and regulations, including clergy standards? … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Diversity, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, United Methodism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Our United Methodist Mission

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Richard Heyduck

The mission of the United Methodist Church is “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” As a slogan goes, it has deeper rooting in the Christian tradition than our marketing slogan, “Open Hearts, Open Minds, … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Discipline, Diversity, Doctrine, United Methodism | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

What About MOOCs?

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Academia is being shaken to its foundations. There’s the funding crisis: College costs have outpaced inflation for a generation now, and the states and the feds are beginning to grumble. Right next door is the debt crisis: students are graduating … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Current events, Diversity, Education, Higher Education, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Downside of Demonizing

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Richard Heyduck

“Demonizing” our opponents can be great fun. When we demonize groups we offer reasons why any compromise or shared action must be ruled out before we begin. Knowing that over demonization is not politically correct, we never admit to it … Continue reading →

Posted in Alasdair MacIntyre, Clash of Civilizations, Diversity, Ecclesiology, Islam | Leave a comment

Small Town Living

Posted on August 2, 2008 by Richard Heyduck

I just ran across this Chesterton quote at Alexander Pruss’s blog: Chesterton says, “It is not fashionable to say much nowadays of the advantages of the small community. We are told that we must go in for large empires and … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Diversity | 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

Thinking about diversity

Posted on August 16, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

Much of my current research focuses on the connection of Christian political theology with three popular streams of social study/philosophy: Samuel Huntington’s work on the Clash of Civilizations. (I’m familiar with Huntington’s work through his books The Clash of Civilizations … Continue reading →

Posted in Alasdair MacIntyre, Clash of Civilizations, Diversity, Globalization, Robert Putnam, Samuel Huntington, Social Capital, Tradition | Leave a comment