New Book Finished

I took the time this week to sit at my computer long enough to finish my second Bible study.

Remember, at the beginning of the year, I published an eight-week Bible study course entitled, “The United Methodist Christian.” It was a kind of primer on the Christian life, highlighted by references to the life and ministry of John Wesley. Alexis translated it into French and it has been the core curriculum for adult confirmation here in Cameroon since.

I have followed it up with “The United Methodist Community,” also written as an eight-week course. This time, the book focuses on the life of the worshipping community, with an emphasis on what makes United Methodism distinctive from other churches. The eight chapter topics are: the meaning of membership; the mission of the local church; the pattern of worship; baptism; communion; stewardship and the use of money; connectionalism and conferences; and ecumenism.

As in the first book, each chapter opens with a story from Wesley’s life, then moves into a Biblical exposition of the topic, and is followed by an explanation of the specific practice of the local United Methodist Church.

I am still very pleased with the response from the first study. I haven’t been keeping an exact count of how many copies have been distributed; after all, I’ve just been making double-sided photocopies and stapling the books together. But I know that probably a couple hundred people have either completed, or are currently working on, the course. My dream is to eventually take each one of the studies to a printing press and have a large number run.

If you would like to peruse a Microsoft Word copy of the rough draft of this study, write me at preachpeace@hotmail.com.