Becoming

Debra J. Mumford

Frank H. Caldwell Assistant Professor of Homiletics

May 8, 2009

1 John 3:1-2

Love is not truly love without action, but love is hard to do and takes time, work, and the honoring of those who critique our acts of love. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Taking the Measure of Things

Dianne Reistroffer
Professor of Ministry, Director of Methodist Studies, and Officer of Institutional Research and Effectiveness

April 3, 2009
Amos 7:8
Isaiah 28:17
Isaiah 34:11-12

Let us ponder the plumb line of the cross, the towel and the basin and the washing of feet, the personal acts of betrayal and faithful companionship, and the God of Love who, despite the multiple ways we fail to measure up, walks with us and never lets us go. Read the sermon in PDF.

Sticking Close to Woman Wisdom

Amy Plantinga Pauw
Henry P. Mobley Professor of Doctrinal Theology

May 1, 2009
1 Cor. 1:18-25
Proverbs 8:32-9:6

God’s wisdom is alive in the world, and it is inseparable from justice and righteousness. Trust God beyond what you can see, beyond what you can understand. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Grawemeyer Lecture: Doing Justice by Remembering Injustice

Rev. Dr. Donald W. Shriver, Jr.

March 4, 2009

Dr. Shriver asks how and why we should remember the negative past. He suggests that this remembering is required to change our relationship to history, and to publicly repent for the sins committed by a country and its people. Dr. Sue Garrett introduces Dr. Shriver. His lecture begins at 6:45 on the recording. Listen to the lecture.

A Wilderness of Imagination

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 27, 2009
Mark 1:9-15

Sometimes along the straight and narrow way that Mark describes, we get lost in the wilderness. At times we find ourselves meandering in the wilderness, unable to find our bearings, or get any forward momentum along the way. At times we find ourselves at a crossroads, unable to resolve which path to take. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Dealing with Life’s Report Cards

Dean K. Thompson
President and Professor of Ministry

Philippians 4:10-13 (NRSV)
Hebrews 11:1-16; 32-40; 12:1-2 (KJV)

This sermon was preached during the season of Lent and on World Day of Prayer. Indeed, the heart of the sermon is a prayer - the so-called “Serenity Prayer.”

O God, give us
Serenity to accept what cannot be changed,
Courage to change what should be changed,
And wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Amen.

Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

What’s Pastoral About Pastoral Counseling?

Loren L. Townsend

Henry Morris Edmonds Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

February 5, 2009

Dr. Townsend’s address for the Convocation of the spring semester looks at how pastoral counselors and pastoral counseling have changed since 1990; what pastoral counselors “look like now; what continues to be pastoral about pastoral counselors; and theological questions that arise as a result of changes in pastoral counselors and their identity. Read the address in PDF.