Tag Archives: Doctrine

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 →

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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.

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Thinking about “Once Saved Always Saved” as a Wesleyan

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Richard Heyduck

In our culture Baptists may be the loudest proclaimers of the teaching, but it’s rooted in the Calvinist/Augustinian teaching of the “Perseverance of the Saints.” If salvation is ONLY a matter of what God does, if God’s grace is irresistible, … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Sustaining Institutions over Time & Collective Identity

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Richard Heyduck

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor recently wrote on “Political Identity and the Problem of Democratic Exclusion” for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Opinion page. He argues for the need for greater cohesion and unity among “the people” than is commonly found in … Continue reading →

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Against Separation, Part 2

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Richard Heyduck

The United Methodist Church is a large, bureaucratic institution. “Connectionalism,” is one of our highest values, “congregationalism” one of the vices we most loudly decry. These aspects of our polity mean that what happens at the top really matters. When … Continue reading →

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