Reading List

Bolded Titles are New Materials

• Conference Mission Insight Initiative
  • Church Conference Presentation
  • Workshop Step 1:  Compilation and Comparison Chart
  • QuickInsite Report (5 Mile Radius)
  • Mission Insite:  Quick Insite Group Workshop
  • Scranton/Wilkes-Barre District Mission Insite Guide for Church Conferences
  • Church Conference Guide for 2021 Mission Insite Report
• Pope Frances’ Book:  Let Us Dream:  The Path to a Better Future
  • Framework
    • Opening Remarks to Looking at a New Path to a Better Future
    • The Path to a Better Future
    • Notes from The Path to a Better Future
• Reading Material on Possible Topics
  • Pri 1:  Being a Christian
    • Ministry Matters:  The Four Rules of Helping
    • Ministry Matters:  Do No Harm
    • Ministry Matters:  Think Like a Wesleyan
    • Ministry Matters:  How to Be a Christian Woman (According to Men)
    • Compassions Fruit
    • SPRC Training:  The Culture of the Call
    • Culture of the Call – “The Why”
• Pri 2:  Being a Church
  • Ministry Matters:  Are Aging Churches a Bad Thing?
  • Ministry Matters:  Misunderstanding the Small Church
  • UM News:  Don’t Count Out Small, Rural Churches
  • Ministry Matters:  Three Stubborn Obstacles That KeepYour Congregation Stuck                                                                                                                                        
  • Ministry Matters:  The Heart of the United Methodist Crisis:  Passio Dei
  • Looking Back to Move Forward
  • Not Dead Yet
  • Ministry Matters:  Is Church Attendance Linked to Higher Rates of Coronavirus?
  • Grace Upon Grace
  • Ministry Matters:  Imagining New Methodism:  A Denomination that Prioritizes Small Churches
  • Ministry Matters:  Guidelines for In-Person Worship
  • Ministry Matters:  The Good News of Complete Desperation
  • Ministry Matters:  The Modest Expectations of a Rural Pastor
  • Ministry Matters:  How to Help Country Church Folk Feel Like They Matter
• Pri 3:  Climate Change
  • U.N. Climate Report Sounds “Code Red for Huimanity”
  • Key Takeaways from the U.N. Climate Panel’s Report
  • National Geographic:  We Have to Stop Emitting Immediately
  • 7 Steps You Can Take Now to Help Avert the Worst Climate Change Consequences
  • Ministry Matters:  Climate Change and Love of Neighbor
  • National Geographic:  Taking the Long Road Back to a Stable Climate
  • National Geographic:  There’s Hope Along the Road to Fixing Climate Change
  • National Geographic:  What We Can Save
  • National Geographic:  One Way We’ve Adapted to Climate Change
• Pri 4: Division
  • Ministry Matters:  Being the Church in Divisive Times
  • Ministry Matters:  Angry Americans:  How Political Rage Helps Campaigns But Hurts

Democracy

• Ministry Matters:  The Politics of Accountability
  • Ministry Matters:  Politics, Ethics and the Voice of the Church
  • How One Pastor is Bridging the Political Divide
  • Ministry Matters:  3 Ways the Church Can Respond to the Capitol Riot
  • Church & Politics
  • Ministry Matters:  Why It’s a Sin to Not Wear a Mask
  • Ministry Matters:  Freedom of Religion Doesn’t Mean Freedom from Mask Mandates
  • Scranton Times-Tribune, 9 October 2021:  Top 1% of Earners Hold More Wealth Than the Middle Class
    • This article addresses the growing financial divide in the country which “is at the core of some of the country’s major political battles.”)
• Pri 5:  Bigotry
  • Racism
    • Dismantling Racism:  Now, Christians, Let’s Have a Real Conversation
    • Ministry Matters:  The Most Vital Step Your Church Can Take to Address Racism
  • LGBTQ
    • Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science – Association for Psychological

Science

• The Bible, Homosexuality, and the UMC-Part One
  • 5 Things the General Conference Could Do Regarding Gender Marriage-Part Two
    • A Hopeful Path Forward?-Part Three
  • Immigrants
    • What Your Bible Says About the Treatment of Immigrants
• Other Considerations
  • District Superintendent’s Invitation to TUMC Following 10/20/20 Church Conference
    • Pastor Beth’s email of 21 October 2020
      • Rev. Walker’s email of 20 October 2020
  • 2020-2022 TUMC Ministry Plan
    • Mission Statement (Our Purpose in Life)
    • Vision Statement (Where We Want to Go, What We Want to Become)
    • Core Values (What We Believe)
    • Our Current Goals
      • Healthy, Growing Relationships
      • Nurture Our Church Family
      • Make Disciples
      • Local and Global Service
      • Bishops’ Pastoral Letter
        • Pandemic Poverty
        • Pandemic Disease
        • Environmental Degradation
        • Proliferation of Weapons (Not Currently a Goal)
        • Proliferation of Violence (Not Currently a Goal)