Wednesday Morning PlainSpoken Briefing (Jan. 8, 2025)

This morning I hope to talk about:

1. “Reflections on My Closing United Methodist Church” by Sarah Stewart of the IRD - https://juicyecumenism.com/2024/09/11/closing-united-methodist-church/
2. Immigration Concern: “Immigrant-Friendly Chicago Church Halts In-Person Spanish Services Due To Deportation Fears Under Trump” by Pedro Camacho of The Latin Times - https://www.latintimes.com/immigrant-friendly-chicago-church-halts-person-spanish-services-due-deportation-fears-under-trump-571047
3. Discipleship vs Social Justice - “The Congregation As Evangelist” by Maxie Dunnam - https://worldmethodist.org/the-congregation-as-evangelist/ and why is it so hard to care for the poor? Mental illness treatment by the Quakers at The Retreat - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2657829/

If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give extended attention and interviews, go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you would like to subscribe to the PlainSpoken Podcast Substack, where I publish articles, video, and audio pertaining to Methodism and the culture war, you can go to plainspokenpod.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!