From riding a horse to studying the Bible, we offer 18 selfie‑worthy things to do to connect with our United Methodist heritage in the New Year.
Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications
From riding a horse to studying the Bible, we offer 18 selfie-worthy things to do to connect with our United Methodist heritage in the new year.
18 ways to be more United Methodist in ‘18
A UMC.org Feature by Joe Iovino*
When making New Year’s resolutions for 2018, we hope you will consider joining us in participating in several of these very United Methodist activities in the months ahead.
1. Visit historic sites
As you plan the route of your spring break and summer road trips, include visits to historic United Methodist sites. We’ve compiled a couple of lists of some of our favorites (one | two), and United Methodist Archives and History has a comprehensive list. In certain areas, you may be able to plan a vacation that includes a visit to a historic United Methodist site every day.
There are many good books for United Methodists to read and share. Photo by Joe Iovino, United Methodist Communications.2. Read
John Wesley may have considered himself “a person of one book,” but he was also a prolific writer and voracious reader. Grow your faith by reading good books, Wesley’s sermons, classics, histories, theologies, or whatever feeds your spirit. (You could also subscribe to an awesome podcast!)
3. Ride a horse
John Wesley, Francis Asbury, and every circuit-riding preacher in the early days of Methodism, traveled thousands of miles by horseback. Many were skilled enough to read and write while riding. Don’t emulate them while driving your car! Wesley even had a chamber horse—a riding simulator—in his London home to use when the weather was bad.
4. Serve somebody
Wesley encouraged Methodists to practice acts of compassion by serving someone. Go on a mission trip, volunteer at the local food bank, meet the needs of your neighbor, and reach out to someone you pass on the street. Serve Jesus by serving your neighbor (see Matthew 25).
In places like Sierra Leone, motorcycles have replaced the horses of the early circuit riders.Photo by Phileas Jusu, United Methodist Communications..5. Join a small group
Small groups are at the heart of United Methodism. The Methodist movement began not as a church, but as a collection of connected societies, classes, and bands (oh my!). These gatherings were places where Christians would “watch over one another in love.”
6. Enjoy a shared meal
Few things are more United Methodist than a shared meal, sometimes called a potluck supper or covered dish dinner. If you grew up in the church, you know the joy of sampling from a table filled with Crock-Pots and casserole dishes, then enjoying these favorite family recipes with your church friends. Consider hosting a shared meal in your home!
7. Stick to a budget
John Wesley gave some amazing advice for how we should handle our money: (1) make all you can, (2) save all you can, (3) give all you can. Make this the year you take control of your money, simplify, and live generously.
Part of our call as United Methodists is working toward justice for all people. Photo by Kathy Gilbert, United Methodist Communications.
8. Stand up for another
Loving our neighbors includes working to right social wrongs that oppress them. Go to a rally. Write your government officials. Attend schoolboard and town council meetings. Get involved in working for justice in your community, region, nation, and world.
9. Hold family devotions
John and Charles Wesley’s mom Susanna made special time for her children each week to mentor them spiritually. Some of John Wesley’s very first class meetings met on Thursday evenings, which was his time with Susanna as a child. Coincidence?
10. Join a committee
As United Methodists, we’re addicted to committees. Our congregations even have committees to form committees. While we joke about it, these are some of the best ways to get involved in your congregation, district, annual conference, and beyond. Serve your church by joining a committee.
8. Stand up for another
Loving our neighbors includes working to right social wrongs that oppress them. Go to a rally. Write your government officials. Attend schoolboard and town council meetings. Get involved in working for justice in your community, region, nation, and world.
9. Hold family devotions
John and Charles Wesley’s mom Susanna made special time for her children each week to mentor them spiritually. Some of John Wesley’s very first class meetings met on Thursday evenings, which was his time with Susanna as a child. Coincidence?
10. Join a committee
As United Methodists, we’re addicted to committees. Our congregations even have committees to form committees. While we joke about it, these are some of the best ways to get involved in your congregation, district, annual conference, and beyond. Serve your church by joining a committee.
UMCOR serves people during very difficutl times. Photo by the Rev. Deborah Coble, West Virginia Annual Conference.11. Give to UMCOR
The United Methodist Church offers great opportunities to participate in ministries that serve people around the corner and around the world. Give to the United Methodist Committee on Relief on UMCOR Sunday (March 11, 2018) or anytime to help with their relief work.
12. Deepen your devotional life
Wesley said that two means of grace every Methodist should practice are “searching the Scriptures” and prayer. Find some helps from the Upper Room, Cokesbury, or elsewhere, to assist you as you listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the Scriptures, and in prayer.
13. Eat spicy food
We cannot force an experience like the one John Wesley had near Aldersgate Street on May 24, 1738. The best we can do is simulate it with a good, spicy meal that will give us a different kind of heartwarming sensation.
14. Tell your mom you love her
Although his dad was the pastor, John Wesley’s mom was probably the biggest influence in his life. Her spiritual leadership taught him to encourage women and men to lead in the Methodist movement. John often sought his mother’s advice. Other times, it was unsolicited—like her encouragement to use lay preachers—and her son followed anyway.
From this desk in his home in Bristol, England, Charles Wesley composed many of his more than 6,000 hymns. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.15. Write a hymn
Charles Wesley, John’s brother, wrote over 6,000 hymns in his lifetime! Surely, you and I can write one. Change the words to favorite tune to reflect a spiritual truth. It may not be publishable, but it can be something just between you and God.
16. Follow the rules
Following in the footsteps of John Wesley, we United Methodist like to follow rules. The very first societies were given three simple rules that we sometimes summarize as (1) do good, (2) do no harm, and (3) stay in love with God. It seems best if rules come in threes (see “Stick to a budget” above).
17. Attend worship every Sunday
Hearing the Bible read, joining our voice in song, hearing a sermon, receiving communion, and praying with others, are important ways we grow individually and together. Never miss an opportunity to worship.
18. Enjoy some coffee
Although John Wesley might disagree—he knew water was the healthiest drink—we United Methodists are known for our coffee consumption. Use the Sunday morning fellowship time before and after worship (even if you’re not a fan of coffee) to greet your neighbors and connect with your church family.
And if you are searching for a group of United Methodists to join you in trying these tips, you can always try the Find-A-Church tool. Have a terrific new year!
*Joe Iovino works for UMC.org at United Methodist Communications. Contact him by email or at 615-312-3733.
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Elvis Presley’s Methodist moment
You may know that the King of Rock and Roll was born on January 8, but do you know about his connection to United Methodist history?
Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress.
Elvis Presley promoting Jailhouse Rock.
Elvis Presley’s Methodist moment
A UMNS Feature By Heather Hahn
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
By the start of 1956, Elvis Presley and his recording career had found a new place to dwell. It wasn't at the end of Lonely Street, but in a building bustling with Methodists.
Presley at that point had only regional hits to his name. The giant RCA Records had gambled on the young singer and bought his contract from the small Sun Records.
The sounds of the South — rhythm & blues, country and rock — were starting to transform American airwaves. However, RCA did not yet have a studio of its own in the burgeoning "Music City" of Nashville. Instead, the record company leased studio space in a building it shared with the Methodist Church's Television, Radio and Film Commission — one of the predecessors of today's United Methodist Communications.
So it was that on Jan. 10, 1956 — two days after his 21st birthday — Presley arrived at the Nashville studio at 1525 McGavock St. for his first recording session with his new label.
The session would prove one of the most momentous in Presley's career. It was also a highlight in a little-known chapter of Methodist Church history — when the denomination's communications agency shared its office and studio space with a major record label.
Suspicious minds
The future King of Rock 'n' Roll got off to a somewhat rocky start with RCA, recounts Scotty Moore, Presley's guitarist and first manager, in his autobiography "That's Alright, Elvis."
Overseeing his first session at the Methodist building was legendary guitarist Chet Atkins. At the time, Atkins was both a staff guitarist and producer for RCA. He eventually would head the label's Nashville operations.
A lifelong gospel fan, Presley had asked Atkins to bring in the Jordanaires gospel quartet as his backup singers. But RCA had just signed a new gospel quartet called the Speer Family. Atkins — eager to throw some work to the Speers — devised his own trio for the session that included two members of the Speer Family and Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires.
That was not all right with Presley, who pulled Stoker aside and said he would insist all four Jordanaires be part of his next RCA session. Atkins, for his part, had his doubts about Presley's talent. Stoker later recalled that Atkins had said "the kid from Memphis ... he's a passing fad."
Despite Presley's and Atkins' mutual suspicions and some early bumps, Moore said that the actual recording session went relatively smoothly. Atkins even sat in on guitar.
OTHER MUSICIANS AT THE METHODIST BUILDING
Elvis Presley was not the only famous musician to record at 1525 McGavock St. when it was shared by RCA and the Methodist Church's communications agency.
RCA shared facilities with the Methodists from January 1955 to late October 1957, said John Rumble, senior historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Among the popular songs recorded there:
"Yonder Comes a Sucker" and "Four Walls" - Jim Reeves
"Mr. Sandman" - Chet Atkins
"I Want to be Loved" - Johnnie (Wright) & Jack (Anglin)
RCA had chosen the studio because it allowed the record label to bring in its own engineers and custom-designed equipment, Rumble said. Most of the musicians - including Presley - recorded at night, recall people who worked for the Television, Radio and Film Commission.
Interactions between the Methodist and RCA staff were minimal. But Edie Loveland, who worked on the commission's switchboard in the summers of 1956 and 1957, recalls meeting the Everly Brothers when the duo came to record.
RCA, by the late 1950s, also needed more space for the number of artists it was signing.
Ultimately, Atkins and Steve Sholes, who had signed Presley to RCA, succeeded in getting the record label to leave 1525 McGavock St. and purchase a studio of its own in 1957. The result was RCA Studio B, which offers tours and still hosts recording sessions today.
It's now or never
Altogether, Presley and his band cut five songs over two days — a cover of Ray Charles' "I've Got a Woman," "I Was the One," "Money Honey," "I'm Counting on You" and, most famously, "Heartbreak Hotel."
"Heartbreak Hotel" was the creation of songwriters Mae Boren Axton and Thomas Durden. According to oft-repeated music lore, the songwriters took inspiration from a newspaper article about a man who had committed suicide and left behind a note that said, "I walk a lonely street."
Moore recalls that Atkins and an engineer created "Heartbreak Hotel's" forlorn-sounding echo effect by adding a delay to Presley's vocal and re-recording the song in an office hallway with a speaker at one end and a microphone at the other. Atkins kept out any curious Methodists with a sign on the door that said, "Don't open the door when the red light is on."
Still, as Moore tells it, the RCA executives in New York were uncertain any of Presley's Nashville material would sell.
Moore suggests that the record executives ultimately decided to go with a little less conversation and a little more action because Presley and his band were about to make their national television debut.
On Jan. 27, 1956, RCA released the single "Heartbreak Hotel" with "I Was the One" on the flipside. The next night, Presley appeared on CBS' "Stage Show," which was produced by Jackie Gleason and hosted by big band leaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. His rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" drew squeals of delight.
On Feb. 11, he finally performed a brassy version of "Heartbreak Hotel," along with "Blue Suede Shoes," to an enthusiastic audience during what was his third of six appearances on the show.
By then, the single was on its way to selling more than a million copies. By that spring, it hit No.1 on the Billboard pop and country charts and No. 5 on the R&B chart.
Many teens could not help falling in love with Elvis Presley.
Too much
Presley and his band — now with a gold record to their names — returned to the Methodist building on April 14 for another Nashville recording session.
RCA still had not brought in the entire Jordanaires quartet as Presley had requested. The group would join him later that year. With the same configuration of backup singers as before, a frustrated Presley managed to record only one song, a ballad titled "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You."
You may know that the King of Rock and Roll was born on January 8, but do you know about his connection to United Methodist history?
Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress.
Elvis Presley promoting Jailhouse Rock.
Elvis Presley’s Methodist moment
A UMNS Feature By Heather Hahn
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
By the start of 1956, Elvis Presley and his recording career had found a new place to dwell. It wasn't at the end of Lonely Street, but in a building bustling with Methodists.
Presley at that point had only regional hits to his name. The giant RCA Records had gambled on the young singer and bought his contract from the small Sun Records.
The sounds of the South — rhythm & blues, country and rock — were starting to transform American airwaves. However, RCA did not yet have a studio of its own in the burgeoning "Music City" of Nashville. Instead, the record company leased studio space in a building it shared with the Methodist Church's Television, Radio and Film Commission — one of the predecessors of today's United Methodist Communications.
So it was that on Jan. 10, 1956 — two days after his 21st birthday — Presley arrived at the Nashville studio at 1525 McGavock St. for his first recording session with his new label.
The session would prove one of the most momentous in Presley's career. It was also a highlight in a little-known chapter of Methodist Church history — when the denomination's communications agency shared its office and studio space with a major record label.
Suspicious minds
The future King of Rock 'n' Roll got off to a somewhat rocky start with RCA, recounts Scotty Moore, Presley's guitarist and first manager, in his autobiography "That's Alright, Elvis."
Overseeing his first session at the Methodist building was legendary guitarist Chet Atkins. At the time, Atkins was both a staff guitarist and producer for RCA. He eventually would head the label's Nashville operations.
A lifelong gospel fan, Presley had asked Atkins to bring in the Jordanaires gospel quartet as his backup singers. But RCA had just signed a new gospel quartet called the Speer Family. Atkins — eager to throw some work to the Speers — devised his own trio for the session that included two members of the Speer Family and Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires.
That was not all right with Presley, who pulled Stoker aside and said he would insist all four Jordanaires be part of his next RCA session. Atkins, for his part, had his doubts about Presley's talent. Stoker later recalled that Atkins had said "the kid from Memphis ... he's a passing fad."
Despite Presley's and Atkins' mutual suspicions and some early bumps, Moore said that the actual recording session went relatively smoothly. Atkins even sat in on guitar.
OTHER MUSICIANS AT THE METHODIST BUILDING
Elvis Presley was not the only famous musician to record at 1525 McGavock St. when it was shared by RCA and the Methodist Church's communications agency.
RCA shared facilities with the Methodists from January 1955 to late October 1957, said John Rumble, senior historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Among the popular songs recorded there:
"Yonder Comes a Sucker" and "Four Walls" - Jim Reeves
"Mr. Sandman" - Chet Atkins
"I Want to be Loved" - Johnnie (Wright) & Jack (Anglin)
RCA had chosen the studio because it allowed the record label to bring in its own engineers and custom-designed equipment, Rumble said. Most of the musicians - including Presley - recorded at night, recall people who worked for the Television, Radio and Film Commission.
Interactions between the Methodist and RCA staff were minimal. But Edie Loveland, who worked on the commission's switchboard in the summers of 1956 and 1957, recalls meeting the Everly Brothers when the duo came to record.
RCA, by the late 1950s, also needed more space for the number of artists it was signing.
Ultimately, Atkins and Steve Sholes, who had signed Presley to RCA, succeeded in getting the record label to leave 1525 McGavock St. and purchase a studio of its own in 1957. The result was RCA Studio B, which offers tours and still hosts recording sessions today.
It's now or never
Altogether, Presley and his band cut five songs over two days — a cover of Ray Charles' "I've Got a Woman," "I Was the One," "Money Honey," "I'm Counting on You" and, most famously, "Heartbreak Hotel."
"Heartbreak Hotel" was the creation of songwriters Mae Boren Axton and Thomas Durden. According to oft-repeated music lore, the songwriters took inspiration from a newspaper article about a man who had committed suicide and left behind a note that said, "I walk a lonely street."
Moore recalls that Atkins and an engineer created "Heartbreak Hotel's" forlorn-sounding echo effect by adding a delay to Presley's vocal and re-recording the song in an office hallway with a speaker at one end and a microphone at the other. Atkins kept out any curious Methodists with a sign on the door that said, "Don't open the door when the red light is on."
Still, as Moore tells it, the RCA executives in New York were uncertain any of Presley's Nashville material would sell.
Moore suggests that the record executives ultimately decided to go with a little less conversation and a little more action because Presley and his band were about to make their national television debut.
On Jan. 27, 1956, RCA released the single "Heartbreak Hotel" with "I Was the One" on the flipside. The next night, Presley appeared on CBS' "Stage Show," which was produced by Jackie Gleason and hosted by big band leaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. His rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" drew squeals of delight.
On Feb. 11, he finally performed a brassy version of "Heartbreak Hotel," along with "Blue Suede Shoes," to an enthusiastic audience during what was his third of six appearances on the show.
By then, the single was on its way to selling more than a million copies. By that spring, it hit No.1 on the Billboard pop and country charts and No. 5 on the R&B chart.
Many teens could not help falling in love with Elvis Presley.
Too much
Presley and his band — now with a gold record to their names — returned to the Methodist building on April 14 for another Nashville recording session.
RCA still had not brought in the entire Jordanaires quartet as Presley had requested. The group would join him later that year. With the same configuration of backup singers as before, a frustrated Presley managed to record only one song, a ballad titled "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You."
Rubble remains after the demolition of the studio once owned by the Methodist Church's Television, Radio and Film Commission at 1525 McGavock St. in Nashville, Tenn. The demolition was complete in 2006. A web-only photo courtesy of The Tennessean/John Partipilo.After that session, Elvis left the building for good — but not without leaving something behind.
Lyman White, who was a film editor with the Television, Radio and Film Commission for 20 years, shared the story.
During one of his recording sessions at the building, Presley left a package at the receptionist's desk but departed without ever retrieving his package.
When the receptionist finally opened the package, she found a pair of pants, White recalled. The receptionist eventually wrote to the popular television game show "I've Got a Secret" with the secret that Presley had given her his pants.
"What happened was, they wrote back and said, 'Your secret is not acceptable,'" White said with a chuckle. "It was too risque for that time period."
You're the devil in disguise
Presley himself soon would prove too risque for some audiences. On June 5, 1956, he gyrated into newspaper headlines across the United States with a blistering performance of "Hound Dog" on NBC's "The Milton Berle Show."
His pelvis-shaking performance left many church folk all shook up. A headline in the national Jesuit magazine America warned "Beware of Elvis Presley."
Later that summer, Moore recounts, a juvenile court judge warned Presley he would be charged with "impairing the morals of minors" and jailed if he tried his hip-swinging antics at a Jacksonville, Fla., concert. Under the watchful eye of police, Presley stood still that night.
But the accusations distressed him. "I don't do no dirty body movements," he told a reporter.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BUILDING?
In 1959, the Methodist Church's Television, Radio and Film Commission bought the building at 1525 McGavock St.
However, its successor, United Methodist Communications, in 1981 sold the building and moved to its present location, 810 12th Avenue South. In 2006, the auto dealership that owned the property had the old studio demolished to make way for a parking lot.
However, the United Methodist and Kingswood Production departments at United Methodist Communications still produce videos and music.
Clients include other United Methodist agencies, conferences and congregations as well as secular organizations and musicians. The main requirement is that any production must be in keeping with the denomination's social teachings.
Non-United Methodists who have used Kingswood services include the Southern Baptist Convention's LifeWay Christian Resources as well as Nashville musicians Alabama, Jim Ed Brown, Amy Grant, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire and Marty Stuart.
Stuck on you
The Methodist Church never took an official position on Presley in particular or rock 'n' roll in general. Like United Methodists' views on pop culture today, individual Methodists had varied reactions to Elvis fever.
Retired Bishop Melvin Talbert, who was the same age as Presley, was among his fans.
Presley helped popularize musical forms that African-American musicians had developed.
"I think African-Americans looked at him and said, 'Hey, that white boy is doing well with our music,'" Talbert said. "I personally had no difficulty with him. He was doing his own thing. ... What I've discovered is our music is not just our music. It belongs to the world."
The controversy Presley's dancing sparked was long forgotten by the time Phil Arnold joined the Television, Radio and Film Commission in 1967.
"There was this excitement that Elvis recorded here," said Arnold, who is still a sound engineer on contract with United Methodist Communications. "That was our calling card when people came in."
Though Presley was never himself Methodist, he had deep Christian roots. His parents met at an Assemblies of God church, and he grew up in the Pentecostal movement. The rock star took inspiration throughout his career from the music and practices of the church.
John Rumble, senior historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, said Presley would periodically join one of his friends in prayer.
So perhaps it is fitting he recorded his first big hit in a building shared with church work.
"Elvis may have been imperfect," Rumble said. "But he was certainly a believer."
Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org
This feature was originally published February 18, 2013
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(Thank you. Thank you very much.)
“Help us to make room for the blessings that are in store for us in the coming months.” Read and share this printable prayer to help focus on faith as 2018 begins.
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
The new year is a great time for reflections, prayers, and getting together with families, friends, and loved ones.
Downloadable prayers for your home
The new year is a great time for reflections, prayers, and getting together with families, friends, and loved ones. Here are some printable posters you can use to be mindful of God's place in our lives.
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Thank you, Gary for this post. For more on Wesley and the young Francis Asbury, please visit the website for the Asbury Triptych book series at www.francisasburytriptych.com. Enjoy the numerous articles, podcasts, pictures, videos, and details of the book series. The opening book in the series, Black Country, details the young Asbury's ministry in the Black Country of England.
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