RMN: A movement of love for LGBTQ+ United Methodists

The Rev. Beth Richardson, an early leader in what would become the Reconciling Ministries Network, tells her story of the beginning years of creating a space where LGBTQ+ United Methodists could feel safe and loved, be affirmed and find advocacy.

Today’s episode was livestreamed as part of the 2023 United Methodist Podcast-a-thon produced by United Methodist Communications.

To learn more about today’s guest, visit BethARichardson.com.

Learn more United Methodist history by visiting umhistoryhub.teachable.com.

Explore the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History at ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

The Entanglement of The UMC with White Supremacy

In the new book, “Our Hearts Were Strangely Lukewarm,” author and retired United Methodist pastor John Elford calls out the white American Methodist church for its involvement with White  Supremacy since the 18th century to the present. In this podcast episode, Dr. Ashley Boggan D. and Elford discuss the denomination’s troubled history and also share how United Methodists today can take a stand for racial justice in our churches and communities.

Learn more about or order a copy of “Our Hearts Were Strangely Lukewarm,” at JohnElford.com.

Learn more United Methodist history by visiting umhistoryhub.teachable.com.

Explore the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History at ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

Back to School: Methodists and Education

How have Methodists approached education in the past? John Wesley was a highly educated Oxford don whose mother embedded the importance of universal education in him from a young age. How did universal access to education become a driving part of the Methodist mission, particularly in America?

GUESTS:

Dr. Linda Ryan is a graduate of the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History and author of John Wesley and the Education of Children: Gender, Class and Piety

Dr. Marco Robinson is an Assistant Professor of History at Prairie View A&M University and Assistant Director of the Ruth J Simmons Center for Race and Justice in Prairie View, Texas.

Dr Audrey McCluskey is professor emeritus of African American and African Diasporar Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. She is the author of many books including A Forgotten Sisterhood: Pioneering Black Women Educators and Activists in the Jim Crow South

HOST:

Dr. Ashley Boggan D., general secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church.
Boggan earned her PhD from Drew Theological School’s Graduate Division of Religion, specializing in both Methodist/Wesleyan Studies and Women’s/Gender Studies. She earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, specializing in American Religious History. She has previously worked as staff at the General Commission on Archives and History (2012-2014) and the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church (2014-2016). She was the Director of United Methodist Studies and Assistant Professor Christian History at Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, NC), an AME Zion Seminary, from 2017-2019 and was the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies and Assistant Professor of Religion at High Point University (High Point, NC) from 2019-2020. Boggan is a lay member of the Arkansas Annual Conference and the daughter of two ordained United Methodist ministers. She is the author of Nevertheless: American Methodists and Women’s Rights (2020) and Entangled: A History of American Methodism, Politics, and Sexuality (2018).

Choosing to live a life of honesty and the trial that followed

Nineteen years later, the Rev. Karen Dammann remains one of the few United Methodist clergy to be acquitted after being charged with violating church by openly coming out as a lesbian. Dammann and her clergy counsel, the Rev. Robert C. Ward, reflect on the events that led to the trial and the years since the historic moment of her acquittal.

Learn more United Methodist history by visiting umhistoryhub.teachable.com.

Explore the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History at ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

Methodism in Zimbabwe: A conference borne out of a mountain

In the first “Un-Tied Methodism” international podcast, Dr. Ashley Boggan D. speaks with United Methodist leaders from the Zimbabwe West Annual Conference, Zimbabwe East Annual Conference and Africa University’s archivist and church historian to learn about the fascinating history of Mt. Makomwe, a Methodist mission started in 1905 that remains a pillar of Methodism throughout the region.

Learn more United Methodist history by visiting umhistoryhub.teachable.com.

Explore the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History at ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

First UMC of Honolulu: Reclaiming its heritage with hope

Dr. Ashley Boggan D. discusses the history of The United Methodist Church in Hawaii with the Rev. Amy Wake, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Honolulu, who details the colonialism surrounding the arrival of Methodism to the islands and how the local church has persevered to maintain its culture across the decades.

Learn more United Methodist history by visiting umhistoryhub.teachable.com.

Explore the United Methodist General Commission on Archives & History at ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

La Trinidad UMC: Using history to preserve the future

La Trinidad UMC , founded in 1876, is the longest serving Mexican American congregation in The UMC. Dr. Ashley Boggan D. talks with the Rev. John Feagins about how this historic church in San Antonio, Texas, redefined itself by rediscovering its rich cultural identity.

Learn more United Methodist history by visiting umhistoryhub.teachable.com.

Explore the United Methodist General Commission on Archives & History at ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

Reclaim. Revive. Renew: A playbook for the future of The UMC

Bishop Thomas Bickerton, president of the Council of Bishops, and David Worthington, director of Global Relationships at John Wesley’s New Room, discuss the importance of our local church histories with Dr. Ashley Boggan D. and share how our denomination’s future could be influenced by remembering our legacy.

Learn more about the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History by visiting ResourceUMC.org/archivesandhistory.

Jackson UMC: ‘Downtown for good’

Dr. Ashley Boggan D., host of “Un-Tied Methodism” discusses the history of First United Methodist Church of Jackson, Tenn., with the Rev. Sky McCracken. In addition to being the city’s oldest church in continuous operation, the church has a rich Civil War-era history as the building that housed a hospital and stable for Union forces. In 1870, the church played a major role in organizing the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Chicago Temple: The UMC’s chapel in the sky

First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple can boast a number of distinctions, including oldest congregation in the Windy City where the chapel is atop a skyscraper. On this episode of “Un-Tied Methodism,” host Dr. Ashley Boggan D. talks with David Foster as he shares the story of the Chicago Temple, a downtown church that stayed put throughout a century of change.