Videos and Podcasts

“What if there were no Free Methodists?” Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever wondered what makes us unique and different from other church groups? Have you asked yourself “Why should I be part of this movement?”

The Free Methodist Way is an initiative led by the Board of Bishops to answer those questions, clarifying the values that allow the Free Methodist Church to have a voice now:

– Life-Giving Holiness
– Love-Driven Justice
– Christ-Compelled Multiplication
– Cross-Cultural Collaboration
– God-Given Revelation

In understanding what makes us unique, we are then able to live into our distinct culture and have an impact on a world that is looking for Christians who live what they say they believe.

In this webinar the Board of Bishops (Linda Adams, Keith Cowart, and Matthew Whitehead) share their own perspectives and stories about what the Free Methodist Way is and what it means to them.

Dr. Tali Hairston discusses diversity in the Free Methodist Church. Dr. Hairston has been working with the Board of Bishops, the Diversity Task Force of FMCUSA, and the Seattle Presbytery on community organization, advocacy, and development. For 17 years Tali was the founding director of the John M. Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development at Seattle Pacific University emphasizing research and development of reconciliation, equity, and diversity. The center also provides service-learning and experiential education opportunities in justice, poverty, ethnicity, and cultural literacy for undergraduate students.

Called to engage the work of reconciliation and community development, the work has taken Tali all over the world, working with ministries and leaders from Cambodia to South Africa. Formed by these global experiences and inspired by his own family history as one of the largest enslaved families in American history, Tali is known for his gift to encourage and equip youth and young adults of all backgrounds to pursue God’s call and purpose to be and become.

We all feel the weight of our current pandemic that leaves us with a lingering sense of uncertainty and anxiety. Our present reality is further darkened by the prognostications that this might be our new normal. How do we pastor in this new reality? How does the Church respond? What do I embrace to move forward?

Join your conference superintendents and our special guest, Mike Chong Perkinson (Lamb’s Fellowship Lake Elsinore and Senior Developer at The Praxis Center for Church Development), Thursday, December 3 as we look to Jesus for simple and profound solutions to these questions. In the midst of a time that was filled with its own challenges, Jesus was able to start a movement that is still alive today by focusing on making disciples and developing leaders that would carry that movement around the world. Jesus is not only our way to the Father, he’s the way for us to pastor in and through whatever is next.

During trying times, we need to remember to keep our eyes on the King – Jesus Christ. As Jim Wallis (in his book “On God’s Side”) says, “As people of faith, our challenge is to rise above political ideology and lead on moral grounds. Don’t go right, don’t go left; go deeper”

For the last three years, God has prepared the congregation of Emmanuel Free Methodist Church (Iglesia Metodista Libre Emmanuel) in National City to rise to meet the needs of their community during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Ministry of Jerusalem project. Before the pandemic, the church had developed an active relationship with the San Diego area government and food assistance programs, providing immediate assistance to their neighbors and people in need of food, clothing, and even home construction. When COVID-19 hit, they were ready.

Hear from Reverend Gerardo Ortiz, pastor at Emmanuel Free Methodist Church, and Joe Mendoza, president of Ministry of Jerusalem as they share how God has continued to provide for the people of their community in the form of a food assistance program that feeds hundreds of families every day. Celebrate with them, and find out how you can pray for people suffering both here and across the border.

Find out more about Emmanuel Free Methodist Church at:
https://www.facebook.com/imlemmanuel/

Each year the Free Methodist Church celebrates our incoming ministerial candidates – leaders who have dedicated themselves to God’s work in the world. Janelle Coleman and Howard O’Dell share the story of how each first experienced God in their life, how they made the decision to enter into ministry, and why each chose to serve in the Free Methodist Church.

Dr. Chris Adams, Executive Director for the Center for Vocational Ministry at Azusa Pacific University, shares ways for pastors to develop healthy disciplines and mindsets in the midst of difficulty and challenge. Chris uses the lens of Psalm 37 to remind us to commit to the work God has given us by maintaining perspective, trust and understand our feelings, and rest through healthy routines.

How does the Church respond during a crisis like COVID-19? Do we give in to the impulse to demand to get our way, or do we allow God to soften our hearts and show us what really is “essential” in following Jesus? This series of interviews focuses on the ways Southern California ministry leaders are seeing God move in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hermon Free Methodist Church has been a reminder to their community that we are all in this together and that nobody is alone, even when socially distant. See how one church, in the heart of Los Angeles, is adapting to life during the pandemic and getting ready for what God has next.

Find out more about Hermon Church at:
http://www.hermonchurch.org/