The #BeUMC campaign reminds us of who we are at our best — the spirit-filled, resilient, connected, missional, faithful, diverse, deeply rooted, committed, disciple-making, Jesus-seeking, generous, justice-seeking, world-changing people of God called The United Methodist Church.
United Methodists continue to be renewed and transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Our church is being reborn and renewed. The Spirit helps us communicate across languages and cultures. We work to “translate” the Spirit across ideological divides.
Use the resources here to focus on:
- The Holy Spirit & Pentecost
- Church Renewal
- Communicating Across Cultures
- Communicating Across Ideologies
The Holy Spirit & Pentecost
Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life by Jack Levison. Levison aims to do nothing less than clarify 2,000 years of confusion on the topic of who the Holy Spirit is, what the Holy Spirit does, and why it all matters. A DVD that features Levison introducing and expanding upon each chapter is aso available.
Holy Spirit Here and Now by Trevor Hudson. In this book you will discover: who the Holy Spirit is, what the Spirit does, what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, how the Spirit can bring you alive to God, deepen your relationship with God and other people, teach you to pray, and transform your life.
When God’s Spirit Moves: Experiencing the Life-Changing Power of the Holy Spirit (DVD) by Jim Cymbala. Cymbala shows you how to welcome God’s Spirit in a way that can invigorate your church and infuse a fresh sense of his power in your life.
Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (DVD) by Francis Chan. This DVD study offers a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives.
Chase the Goose: Reclaiming the Adventure of Living a Spirit-Led Life (DVD) by Mark Batterson. Batterson argues that life in step with the Holy Spirit is a little like a Wild Goose chase–mysterious, unpredictable, and adventuresome.
God is Closer Than You Think (DVD) by John Ortberg. Ortberg takes you on a journey that will help you: Experience God’s presence in the busy matrix of your life; Hear God speak in ways you understand; Discover God’s desire to be with you this moment.
Feasts of the Bible (DVD) by Sam Nadler. Nadler was brought up in an orthodox Jewish home and later came to faith in Jesus. He is now considered one of the foremost experts on how the Feasts of the Bible relate to God’s redemptive plan for mankind. This study includes a session on Pentecost.
Christian Reflection: Pentecost. This issue of the journal includes articles related to Pentecost. A free study guide is available.
For Children
The Day When God Made Church: A Child’s First Book of Pentecost by Rebekah McLeod Hutto. This book celebrates the miraculous events that occurred on Pentecost and the ways in which the Holy Spirit shaped and continues to shape who we are as God’s Church.
What Is Pentecost? by Marcia Stoner. Using fun but challenging activities and puzzles, tweens learn the basics of what Pentecost is and what the season means during worship.
Friends and Heroes: No Turning Back (DVD). These animated stories include The First Pentecost and the theme of God’s Inspiration. Includes curriculum and activity sheets.
Church Renewal
A Quiet Pentecost: Inviting the Spirit into Congregational Life by Dwight H. Judy. “Quiet Pentecosts” are happening as Christians engage in spiritual practices. Congregations feel the power of the Holy Spirit at work as they participate in thoughtful reading of scripture, walking the labyrinth, prayerful listening to one another, spiritual direction, and more.
We Are the Church … Let’s Act Like It: A Study on the Book of Acts by Linda Tower Pevey. This 7-week study helps readers see the biblical vision for the church and a vision for what the church can be today. Pevey offers encouragement that the church can truly be a transformative presence in the world, just as the early church was in the book of Acts.
Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church for People Not in Church by Kenneth H. Carter Jr. and Audrey Warren. This book is a group study for church leaders and congregations who are in the grip of Holy Spirit motivation to renew their tradition by reaching people who are dechurched or not yet in a discipleship relationship with Jesus. Fresh Expressions in a Digital Age and Fresh Expressions of People Over Property are also available.
One Faithful Promise: The Wesleyan Covenant for Renewal (DVD) by Magrey R. deVega. A covenant with God is a faithful promise of renewal, and none is more central to the Methodist identity than The Wesley Covenant Prayer, which John Wesley first shared in a renewal service in 1755.
Roadmap to Renewal: Rediscovering the Church’s Mission by Douglas W. Ruffle. Take a journey of rediscovering your church’s true mission and ministry. This book will serve as a valuable guide on this journey, providing plans, questions, exercises, and tools for congregational use.
Navigating the Future: Traditioned Innovation for Wilder Seas by Andrew P. Hogue and L. Gregory Jones. This book shows us how to become immersed in an imaginative engagement with the story of God, how to learn from exemplary organizations and their leaders, and how to discover new skills for integrating character formation through friendships, communities, and institutions in order to nurture a more faithful life and vibrant, life-giving society.
Blank Slate: Write Your Own Rules for a 22nd-Century Church Movement by Lia M. McIntosh, Jasmine Rose Smothers, and Rodney Thomas Smothers. This book provides us with tools we can use to change the landscape of ministry and shows us how to engage our children and our children’s children within the church so that it—and they—can thrive.
The Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow by Sam Rainer. Rainer will walk you and your leadership team through a seven-point checklist–everything from reconsidering your priorities to evaluating your location and facilities.
Communicating Across Cultures
Pentecost Journey: A Planning Guide for Non-Hispanic/Latino Congregations (DVD). This DVD is intended to help congregations, districts, and conferences fulfill Christ’s mandate to make disciples, with a particular focus on helping local churches understand issues related to developing a ministry with Hispanics/Latinos.
Who is My Neighbor? ¿Quién es Mi Vecino? Learning Spanish as Church Hospitality by Joyce Carrasco, Ruth Cassel Hoffman, and Ngoc-Diep Nguyen. This is a field-tested resource through which English speakers of any church and congregation can learn basic Spanish-speaking skills to be able to communicate and provide a welcoming atmosphere to the Hispanic communities surrounding them.
Spanish for Christian Service by Karyn Shander. This book is designed to motivate your desire to learn basic and advanced Spanish through a variety of exercises and puzzles and expand your practical vocabulary to serve with confidence in the Christian realm.
For the Transformation of Us: A Study of Cross-Racial/Cross-Cultural (CRCC) Ministry For Clergy II (Online) by The General Commission on Religion and Race of The United Methodist Church. This resource has been designed for pastors in CRCC ministry and those exploring the call to such ministry.
Many Faces, One Church: A Manual for Cross-Racial and Cross-Cultural Ministry by Ernest S. Lyght, Glory E. Dharmaraj, and Jacob S. Dharmaraj. This manual is designed to help clergy and denominational personnel understand the context, theology, ministry, and mission of cross-racial and cross-cultural pastoral appointments in The United Methodist Church.
Becoming All Things: How Small Changes Lead to Lasting Connections Across Cultures by Michelle Ami Reyes. Reyes focuses on the concept of cultural accommodation in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, and looks at the ways in which we need to adapt who we are in order to become all things to all people.
Black & White: Disrupting Racism One Friendship at a Time by Teesha Hadra and John Hambrick. Authors Teesha Hadra, a young African American woman, and John Hambrick, a 60-year-old white man help us see the various and often subtle ways racism continues to be a part of American culture, but then, using their story of friendship as an example, we learn how racism can be disrupted when we risk forging friendships with those who do not look like us.
Faithful Friendships: Embracing Diversity in Christian Community by Dana L. Robert. Robert tells the stories of Christians who, despite or even because of difficult circumstances, experienced friendship with people unlike themselves as “God with us,” as exile, as testimony, and as celebration.
Communicating Across Ideologies
Dialogues On the Refugee Crisis (DVD). Each video on this DVD is created as a documentary; interviews mixed with motion graphics give viewers an inside look at the center of the topic and how it plays out in real life. Series on Race and Sexuality are also available.
How To Have a Courageous Conversation by Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church. How to have a courageous conversation with biblical examples.
Brave Church: Tackling Tough Topics Together by Elizabeth Hagan. This book seeks to help readers create “brave spaces” in congregations and faith communities so that sharing stories and intentional listening can occur.
A House Divided: Engaging the Issues through the Politics of Compassion by Mark Feldmeir. Through a series of axioms, or principles we can all agree on, Feldmeir seeks to identify those shared values that affirm our commonality and inspire a more creative and collaborative approach to finding practical solutions and healing our divisions.
Rooted in Grace: Essays on Dialogue Without Division edited by Larry Duggins and Andrea L. Lingle. This book is a collection of essays, liturgies, and spiritual exercises focused on staying connected during difficult discussions.
How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church by C. Christopher Smith. Smith shows how church communities can be training hubs where we learn to talk with and listen to one another with kindness and compassion.
A House United: How the Church Can Save the World by Allen Hilton. Rather than asking people to leave their political and theological beliefs at the church door, Hilton promotes a Christianity that brings people together with their differences.
Four (and a half) Dialogues on Homosexuality and the Bible by Donald J. Zeyl. The dialogues’ four characters maintain friendship with each other despite their disagreements, and so the book serves as a model of how difficult, potentially divisive conversations on a controversial topic might be conducted.
Request These Resources
These resources can be borrowed for free by anyone involved with a United Methodist Church in the North Carolina Conference. We will mail them to your home! All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form.