What’s Happening To the Methodist Church? Part 5

Scott Field, Pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, recently re-branded “First Church,” next moved on to the impact the late February St. Louis international convention would have on Crystal Lake. First he told a little of … Continue reading

What’s Happening To the Methodist Church? Part 4

Questions and and answers were the next order of business for Scott Field, the minister of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake. I asked why we were sending any money to the Northern Illinois Conference. Part of Field’s … Continue reading

What’s Happening To the Methodist Church? Part 3

Crystal Lake First United Methodist Church Pastor Scott Field explained some of the background of the Methodist Church. It comes from an evangelical theology in which the United Methodist Church requires a three-fourths vote of the membership is required to … Continue reading

What’s Happening To the Methodist Church? Part 2

The United Methodist Church is what is called a “connectional”  church. For starters, that means all churches follow the same standards. Secondly, under the current Church Discipline, Crystal Lake Methodist Pastor Scott Field said, “If I were in a same … Continue reading

What’s Happening To the Methodist Church? Part 1

During the third week of February next year there will be headlines concerning what Methodists do at a special conference in St. Louis. A fight has been going on since 1972 in the church about homosexuality. At issue is whether … Continue reading

Alcoholics Anonymous Celebrates 70th Anniversary at First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake

When I heard my minister Scott Field talk about a 70th anniversary, I immediately thought of the one our family just celebrated of my in-laws wedding. My father-in-law, Vince Giangrasso, has since died, so the mention of a 70th anniversary … Continue reading

Time for Methodists to Talk Amicable Divorce

The term “no-fault divorce” was not used in Pastor Scott Field’s speech to the Northern Illinois Conference Evangelical Association Monday, but the comparison makes sense. The title of Field’s talk was “Somnambulating, Surviving, and Strategizing for the Coming UMC Implosion.”  (“UMC” means … Continue reading

Naperville Church Builder Named Incoming Pastor of Crystal Lake United Methodist Church

From the Staff-Parish Committee of Wheatland Salem Church in Naperville comes this news: Pastoral Transition for our Congregation Bishop Sally Dyck, Regional Bishop of the United Methodist Church in Northern Illinois, after consultation with the Staff-Parish Relations Committee of Wheatland … Continue reading