Category Archives: Doctrine

A non-Hauerwasian Interlude

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Richard Heyduck

Last week we looked at this paragraph in Stanley Hauerwas’s essay, “Discipleship as a Craft, Church as a Disciplined Community.” For example, one of the great problems facing liberal and conservative churches alike is that their membership has been schooled … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Discipleship, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, Salvation, Stanley Hauerwas, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hauerwas – “What Do You Mean ‘We’ Kemosabe?”

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Richard Heyduck

The essay we’ve been looking at, “Discipleship as a Craft, Church as a Disciplined Community,” was written with a particular audience in mind. He writes, In this respect it is interesting to note how we—that is, those of us in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Discipleship, Discipline, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, Gospel, Jesus, Liberalism, Stanley Hauerwas, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Willing Participants?

Posted on August 4, 2025 by Richard Heyduck

God invites people to be willing participants in what he’s doing in the world. Sometimes we join in… sometimes like Jonah, we prove to be unwilling participants. There is great blessing in store for those who join in God’s activity.

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Doctrine, Jesus, Old Testament | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Passion for People

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Richard Heyduck

In the book of Jonah we see God’s passion for people. That passion is demonstrated not just on behalf of “his own” people Israel, but even on behalf of their enemies in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Doctrine, Evangelism, God, Jesus, Love, Old Testament | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Discussion on Hauerwas on Church & Discipleship

Posted on July 23, 2025 by Richard Heyduck

Tomorrow is Stanley Hauerwas’s birthday. Coincidently, we began reading his 1991 essay, “Discipleship as a Craft, Church as Disciplined Community” today. This essay from The Christian Century can still be found online HERE. We got through most of page 1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Discipleship, Doctrine, Stanley Hauerwas, Theology, United Methodism | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s Not Just Us

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Richard Heyduck

Or, The Problem of Catholicity The work of the Spirit to make us one body in Christ works against the nationalisms, ethnocentrisms, and individualism that keep us penned up and comfortable with our own tribes.

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Diversity, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Study of Reversed Thunder

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Richard Heyduck

We’re doing a study of Eugene Peterson’s book on Revelation, Reversed Thunder. Below you can find the audio of our meetings:

Posted in Bible, Books, Discipleship, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, Salvation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

GMC Catechism Class

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Richard Heyduck

Since our congregation has recently transitioned to the Global Methodist Church, I thought it would be a good idea to look at the basic doctrine of the denomination. The class uses the GMC Catechism which is based on the Nicene … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Global Methodist Church, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Deepening Accountability

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Richard Heyduck

One of the ways to look at the genesis of the Global Methodist Church is as embodying a desired “return to accountability.” Some hear this and think, “Now we will have bishops and leaders who are accountable and not just … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Discipline, Doctrine, Global Methodist Church | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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