Like many churchgoers, C. Joseph Sprague finds himself in a quandary: he loves the church but often finds himself at odds with its principles and/or practices. What makes his situation unique is that in addition to his role as worshiper, he is a bishop who is charged with the responsibility of leadership. In Affirmations of a Dissenter, Sprague gives readers a composite of affirmation and dissent, of faith and protest. He writes about his trust in and commitment to God's hospitable, unconditional love for all humankind as well as about his discomfort with discernible public trends in religious institutions, particularly United Methodism. The brief chapters of this book cover a variety of topics: biblical literalism; the power of biblical witness; biblical authority as related to homosexuality, divorce, violence, and women; the nature and person of Jesus; hope in the church; leadership; and racism. "When Joe Sprague ponders the Scripture looking at them through the ministry of our Lord, he grabs your attention. Your mind will race; your heart will beat faster as he walks with Jesus into areas of poverty, injustice, war, and human sexuality. You may not always agree, but you will be brought up short by his openness, his integrity, and his sacrificial commitments. He'll make you a braver, more radical Christian."--Richard B. Wilke Bishop in Residence Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas "A candid and clarion call for United Methodism to embrace its theological, biblical, and ethical roots without being ensnared by fearful right-wing 'neoliteralists' or cynical left-wing 'progressives.' Bishop Sprague challenges the church to a future vision of hope, emphasizing the Gospel's mandate of inclusiveness, justice, and nonviolence. A refreshing and stimulating presentation of basically orthodox Christian beliefs, this book is 'must reading' for every Christian yearning for a renewed and relevant church in the 21st century." --Donald E. Messer Warren Professor of Practical Theology and President Emeritus The Iliff School of Theology "United Methodist Bishop Joseph Sprague's book Affirmations of a Dissenter is the bravest statement I've ever read by a UMC bishop on the topics he's writing about. It says some things that urgently need saying in the church." Barbara Wendland in Connections April 2003

This work examines the development of a “dissenting” perspective on the emerging doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Post-Reformation Protestant thought. By “dissenting,” the author means “beyond the mainstream of thought, sometimes affirming but expanding orthodox positions, but at other times pursuing new directions and images of the Spirit.” A new look is offered at the Puritan-Separatist era in English dissenting traditions, as well as organized dissenters in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Of particular interest are the applications of current philosophic and scientific writers. There are sections on major German thinkers of the nineteenth century and major influential theologians of the last century who laid new foundations in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Readers will be interested in the inclusion of new religious movements in two eras, and creative contemporary ideas of the Spirit. How an ongoing “dissenting” perspective contrasts with mainstream thinking is woven through four centuries of literature on the Spirit. The author contends that we have learned much from the “dissenting” perspective, and he offers seven constructive affirmations of the Spirit of God drawn from his survey and analyses of the previous four centuries. The bibliography is comprehensive of major works on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, plus unusual sources of dissenting thought.

As Protestant denominations are fracturing over whether to ordain gays and lesbians, this work looks at The United Methodist Church's conversations about the issue, in light of Methodism's historic contests over the leadership of African Americans and women, to see what can be learned from these earlier periods of change. Using the uniform context of the Methodist General Conference, where denominational policy is set, the book analyzes transcripts of floor debates in key years of these struggles, letting those who argued for and against the changes speak for themselves. Those arguments are read through the lens of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, whose theory offers a sophisticated model that goes deeper than simple "resistance to change" in articulating a dialectic between social structures and agents that predisposes both to reproduce existing power relationships. This interdisciplinary, historical study seeks to move beyond conscious motivations for the exclusion of these three groups and uncover deeply embedded, misrecognized social dynamics. In exploring these groups' stories, this book examines who holds power in Methodist churches, how changes in authority structures occur, and why it is such a long and painful process.

Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. Jim Morrison. And recently, Amy Winehouse. Each died at 27 as a result of drug abuse, despair, or both. Back when Kurt Cobain took his own life at that age, his mother lamented, €œI told him not to join that stupid club.€ Unplugged imagines a talented and tormented woman whose membership in the club is denied€”barely. Up-and-coming rocker Dayna Clay struggles to make it through the final night of a wildly successful concert tour. Tormented by an ever-deepening depression, the 27-year-old hands her guitar to a fan and beats a hasty retreat. She flies home to Chicago and attempts suicide €¦ but nature seemingly steps in to spare her. Still unsure whether her life is worth living, she forfeits her career and disappears, setting out incognito for parts unknown. Dayna winds up, quite by accident, in the South Dakota Badlands, whose inhabitants€”human and otherwise€”challenge and change her in striking ways. She develops a profound affinity for the jagged, dramatic, semi-stable Badlands formations, which she takes strength from climbing. She forms a bond with the bighorn sheep she finds living on this seemingly unlivable land. And she befriends Drake, a €œwise-acre€ but wise rancher and retired stuntman who himself has struggled with depression, and his mischievous daughter, Kayla€”with whom Dayna begins to fall in love. All the while, Dayna€TMs mysterious disappearance and continuing absence only serve to boost public interest in her€”and to fuel her now-skyrocketing record sales. Laboring to choose between her musical ambitions and the new life she has made, Dayna finds herself stranded, alone, in a far-flung corner of the wilderness she has come to know and love. Saved from suicide earlier by nature, she now may perish by the very same hand €¦. This expanded 15th-anniversary edition of the critically acclaimed novel contains sheet music for the dozen "Dayna Clay" songs that the author composed€”six of them in collaboration with creative partner Maya Kuper, who plays "Dayna" in their adapted live show "Unplugged: A Survivor's Story in Scenes & Songs."

A compendium of more than two hundred classic and modern speeches includes Orson Welles eulogizing Darryl F. Zanuck, George Patton exhorting his D-Day troops, King Edward VIII abdicating his throne, and the never-delivered speech John F. Kennedy was scheduled to give in Dallas.