Well, according to the picture above from a prominent United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, it's fiction. I'm not surprised they feel that way -- my sainted fundamentalist Friends grandmother often warned me about hanging around with Methodists. "Why," she exclaimed, "the only time you ever hear the name Jesus in a Methodist church is when the pastor falls down the steps."Me and my peeps, as true believers, hold to the veracity of the Christmas story ... down to the donkey that Mary rode to Bethlehem.
Holiday Blessings on us, one all.
-- Brent
4 comments:
A most blessed Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord to you and yours, Brent, and abundant hope for the New Year 2011.
As a United Methodist pastor I can say with some authority that the UMC does in fact believe in Jesus' birth story. We also boldly proclaim the name of Christ in every worship service, gathering, mission project, and prayer. I'm not clear on the intent here; perhsps it is just a tongue-in-cheek remark. But it is obvious from other posts that you have caused some confusion. Aren't we all supposed to work together to transform the world through God's love?
This was meant firmly tongue-in-cheek. I served in two UMC congregations while in college, so am well aware of UMC belief.
I would also point out the irony of a Quaker defending a portion of the Christmas story (Mary's donkey) that isn't in the Bible -- especially in light of the fact that Quakers did not have anything to do with celebrating the Christmas season for over 200 years.
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