Chris Ritter

New Post: As #ACNA bishops prepare to meet in the wake of high-profile controversies related to episcopal leadership, this post explores how the #GlobalMethodistChurch is structured differently. #GMC #GlobalMethodist peopleneedjesus.net/2026/01/07/epi…

⛪️As the 2026 General Conference of the Global Methodist Church in Johannesburg approaches, annual conference delegations are invited to provide three important inputs to the election/assignment process for bishops. 🖱️Visit beautyofholiness2026.org to view the discernment guide.

I officiated Steven’s wedding several years ago and have loved watching him do so well on Jeopardy, (especially on the Bible questions.)

@emf1947 @TalbotDavis Just a friendly recommendation. “Or else you won’t get the benefit of reading it”?

@RitterChris @TalbotDavis Never got an answer to this, so I’ll just assume that nothing untoward will happen to me if I don’t read the book review.

You should definitely read the @TalbotDavis review of Bishop Will Willimon's new book on the #UMC disaffiliation of Buncombe Street Methodist Church in South Carolina. baptistnews.com/article/this-i…

I like him already. northernirelandworld.com/news/people/wh…

Links to news, views, podcasts, and posts related to the growth of the Global Methodist Church can now be found at a home facebook.com/profile.php?id… #GMChurch #GlobalMethodist @GlobalMChurch

Ken Chitwood writes for @CTmagazine on Global Methodists helping to relight the fires of Christian discipleship in Europe. #GMChurch christianitytoday.com/2025/04/spirit…

Here's my review of Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline by Dr. @kevinwatson peopleneedjesus.net/2025/03/21/kev…

@laura_nelson8 Having $9 million in debt as a local church is helpful in getting conference leaders to work collaboratively with your congregation.

@RitterChris Wait, so Embrace Church is out here representing 20% of the total worship attendance like it's the most popular kid in the UMC conference? 😂 And somehow, they cracked the code to Par. 2549 without angering the judicial council? Who’s got the secret sauce for that kind of grace?

Embrace Church in Sioux Falls represented some 20% of the total worship attendance of its #UMC conference. Chancellors determined that Par. 2549 can be used for its intended purpose without violating recent Judicial Council rulings. dakotasumc.org/news/dakotas-c…

New Post: "Muscular Methodism?" peopleneedjesus.net/2025/01/21/mus…

@TalbotDavis @baptist_news @WillimonTweets @DrCurtisFreeman @DukeDivinity @CarolynCMoore @joshtmcc It has now been picked up by UM Insight, too.

"Don't speak ill of the dead," sage advice rejected by @baptist_news, @WillimonTweets, @DrCurtisFreeman & @DukeDivinity as this piece remains live, speaking ill of the dead in a way that both insults & deceives: baptistnews.com/article/meddli… @CarolynCMoore @joshtmcc @RitterChris

@twbe @echrisroberts @revstephenfife @TalbotDavis Funny you should mention abuse and disappointment. There’s plenty of both going around these days. What the Discipline forbade just a few weeks ago these churches are now required to fund.

Church court rules that congregations cannot leave the #UMC with their property. This shuts down exit processes in conferences where churches were promised an exit if they just stuck around to see what happened at General Conference. umnews.org/en/news/church…

@twbe @wknipp3 @PlainSpokenPod @WesleyWanderer Or is that simply when the disaffiliation paragraph expired? Here is Bishop Beard saying most took his advice to wait see what would happen at General Conference. "I appreciate the restraint and the trust." igrc.org/blogpostsdetai…

@wknipp3 @PlainSpokenPod @WesleyWanderer @twbe Here is a UMC presenter suggesting (23:00) that he believes the BOD will not change on human sexuality and, instead, a clearer process for exit will be crafted. youtube.com/watch?v=PRWWqb…

@PlainSpokenPod @WesleyWanderer @twbe @RitterChris Local churches in the 2553 discernment process were chastised by some, "Why are you leaving when nothing has changed yet?" Others stayed to see what happened, having been promised they could leave. Some of us knew better.

@twbe This nuance was commonly not offered! Here it was said “don’t worry about Par. 2553 expiring, there’s always been ways to leave the UMC.” Par. 2549 has been used for decades for those few congregations that wanted to exit as a unit while retaining their property, they said.

Episcopal Assignments in the Global Methodist Church are announced. globalmethodist.org/global-episcop…

@markdtooley Not great or surprising. I met a GMC pastor yesterday serving a two-point UMC/GMC parish (with the UM bishop's blessing). The reality in micro rural churches is that pastors must be locally sourced. This takes us back to pioneer days when federated churches were the norm.

Learned today of small exited United Methodist church that technically joined Global Methodism but hired Baptist pastor who’s rebaptizing etc. Laity never learned Wesleyan distinctives. Baptist is now USA default evangelicalism unless other distinctives robustly taught.