The IGRC Connectional Table is urging churches to revive the practice of First Thursdays and set aside a day to be in prayer from May 2015 to May 2016 for the 2016 General Conference.
The first First Thursday for General Conference will be Thursday, May 7, 2015. While there will be no set devotion for each month, this page provides several resources to assist in personal and corporate observance each first Thursday.
Job, Rueben P. and Alexander, Alexander, Eds. Finding Our Way: Love and Law in The United Methodist Church. Abingdon Press, May 2014. ($14.25)
This book is authored by eight United Methodist Bishops on the various positions United Methodists are taking on the subject of homosexuality. One chapter is by Bishop Gregory Palmer formerly of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference.
Nickell, Jane Ellen. We Shall Not Be Moved: Methodists Debate Race, Gender, and Homosexuality.Pickwick Publications, 2014. ($22.50)
Bishop William Grove says about this historical review of the position of our church through the years, “It may or may not be too much to call (this books) appearance at this particular time an act of providence, but it is surely a gift to our church as we attempt to weather this particular storm.
Wilson, Ken. A Letter to my Congregation. Read the Spirit Books, 2014. ($15.43)
Founding Pastor Ken Wilson of the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor, well- known evangelical minister, writes this book as a “path to embracing people who are gay, lesbian and transgender into the company of Jesus.”
Gushee, David P. Changing Our Mind. Read the Spirit Books, 2014. ($15.88).
Gushee published the evangelical Christian Ethics textbook, Kingdom Ethics, Intervarsity Press, 2003. He argued against the moral acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle. Until very recently… He says now, “I have something different to say. My mind has changed.”
Hamilton, Adam. When Christians Get It Wrong”. Abingdon Press, 2014. ($13.32)
Rev. Hamilton is the Senior Pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. The back cover of this paperback says, “Following Jesus can be more about open doors than locked fences, more about serving people than judging them, more about joyful living than angry fighting.”
Copeland, Verlee A. and Rosenberger, Dale B. Sex and The Spirit: The Romance of Heaven and Earth. The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, OH, 2014.