The Bishop's Blog
6/5/2020
Curated by Bishop Ken Carter, Dr. Sharon Austin, Rev. Alex Shanks, Dr. Candace Lewis, and Rev. Clarke Campbell-Evans
The Bishop's Blog
5/29/2020
May 7 I express my profound sadness and anger in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. His life mattered and matters. Our annual conference has affirmed this, we have written statements about profiling and responded to Trayvon's death and held vigils and leaned into difficult conversations. Yet the legacy of slavery and supremacy lives on. To my African-American friends in the Florida Conference, some of whom I have spoken to today, I don't live your story and cannot know what this means each time,...
The Bishop's Blog
5/19/2020
Guest Blogger - Alex Shanks Why reopening a church is different
The Bishop's Blog
3/27/2020
Guest Blogger - Paul W. Chilcote, PhD - I recently heard a new description for these unprecedented times in which we are living: “The Great Adaptation.” That label emerges from one of the central questions for a time such as this: What within each of us must adapt for the good of all? If we are fighting a battle against a virus as a human family, we are also fighting a more ancient battle against inherent selfishness.
The Bishop's Blog
3/20/2020
Guest Blogger - Alex Shanks What I am learning as I lead through the COVID-19 Crisis. 10 Thoughts for Leaders from Rev. Alex Shanks
The Bishop's Blog
1/19/2020
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. in a season of violence and racism
The Bishop's Blog
3/8/2019
We are now ten days beyond the conclusion of the General Conference in St. Louis. I have been in churches in the Southwest, Gulf Central and East Central Districts. This Sunday I will preach in a local church in the Atlantic Central District. We offered a webinar about the special session and over 2000 registered. (Click here for webinar.) The decisions and outcomes continue to have a ripple effect in media and social media, in families and local churches, among laity and clergy. Perhaps ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/26/2019
Dear Florida Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Some are grateful for the results of the Special Session. And others sought a different outcome. All of this will take some time to process. Human sexuality is a topic on which our people have differing views. As evidenced by the vote of the special session, we are a global church with very different contexts. We were not able to achieve contextual differentiation as envisioned by the Commission on a Way Forward. By a majority vote, we passed the ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/25/2019
I wrote this prayer two years ago. I share it again today, slightly revised. O God whose nature and name is love: We pray for the light that shines in the darkness, the radiant light that we see in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Give us the faith to grow into his likeness, and give us the confidence to follow him. We pray for the faithfulness of the church—that we would walk in your ways, trusting in your providence, listening for your voice. We pray for the fruitfulness of ...
The Bishop's Blog
2/25/2019
The day began at 7:15 am, when we gathered for the processional into opening worship. I was honored to preach the sermon, which was taken from Ephesians 2, 3 and 4. As I told many people, one of my guiding convictions as I prepared was that it would be a sermon I could have preached in any church I ever served, from East Bend to Charlotte. The Commission on a Way Forward gave their report. I am profoundly grateful for the work they did over 18 months. They are courageous and gifted followers of...
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