untiedmethodist.com

Welcome to www.untiedmethodist.com

Dear Friends:

Untied Methodist has moved to this new location. I hope this blog will be easier to read than my former blog (which is still posted here).

I have moved most of the posts from my old blog to this one, but I was not able to move the comments.  I hope you add new ones.

If a couple of you who are subscribers could leave a comment or e-mail me to let me know the bloglet subscription service is working, I would be appreciative.

Please notice the new link lists. I hope they are helpful. I hope to add to them. Let me know if there is anything you think would be particularly helpful.

Also notice the RSS feed called "50wordsorless" in the right hand column.  The feed is from a simple blog I have begun for short items and referrals. To comment on these items, click through to the "50wordsorless" blog.

Another improvement is that you do not have to register to comment. At least I think not. If I am wrong, please let me know. 

I very much appreciate the many friends I have met in the blogging community as well as the Foundry members and other friends who stop by here. Thank you.

Welcome Faithwriter, Steve Swecker, to Methodism's Blogosphere

Steve Swecker, editor of Zion's Herald, has begun a blog at www.faithwriterblog.com/.

Swecker is an excellent editor and Zion's Herald is an important magazine. It is good to have him blogging.

It has long disappointed me that United Methodism has such a minimalist independent press.

The United Methodist Reporter is independent, sort of. Much of its income comes from annual conferences and local churches that contract with the Reporter to produce their conference newspapers, including pages of national news and opinion provided by the Reporter. Alienate the leaders of those conferences and churches, and your publication could go down the tubes pretty quickly.

Zion's Herald truly is independent. Although it is underwritten by an endowment, it is not obligated to any part of the structures and hierarchies of United Methodism.

Don't get me wrong; I think United Methodist News Service does an excellent job. I am also very impressed by the professionalism of the editors of our conference newspapers throughout the denomination. These are people who love the United Methodist Church and who, at the same time, are committed to the highest standards of honesty, full disclosure, and objective reporting. Yet, if the bills are paid by the General Conference or the annual conference, there will always be a sense that the news and commentary in our publications will tend to represent the interests of the church hierarchy.

Zion's Herald is special because it is beholden to no one. I wish we as United Methodists were willing to pay reasonable (or even generous) subscription fees to more independent publications so that they could have enough income to pay the salaries of editors and reporters to tell us the good and bad news about United Methodism and to provoke discussion and debate even when it ruffles feathers.

Bloggers help us learn more about the church and stimulate good discussion, but most of us blog in stolen moments. We are not reporters or editors. So I value Zion's Herald, and look forward to reading Swecker's blog. Welcome.