Andy Bryan

You guys! The wedding was real!

❤️

Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Keith Porter, Parady La, Heber Sanchaz Domínguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, and Geraldo Lunas Campos.

Just in January, 2026.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

YouTube video by Rocket Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | Lady Gaga Original

Just listen...

Take care of one another. We'll get there.

#BeUMC #Resist #Advocaate #GetOffScript
6/6

We are in a season of resistance. Evil is in panic mode, thrashing wildly with no regard for who is harmed in the process. And as we unite to resist it, let us also be aware of opportunities to advocate, to create spaces of peace, justice, and freedom.
5/6

Resisting the injustice and oppression currently being instigated by ICE aligns with our baptimal promise. The MAGA response, "Just don't resist, then you won't get shot," is an appalling antithesis to what United Methodists promise in our baptism.
4/6

The key to discernment lies in the objects of the verbs, and staying clear about what you are resisting, and for what you are advocating.
3/6

The baptismal covenant of my denomination includes a promise to resist. The flipside of resistance is advocacy. To paraphrase Qoheleth, there is a time for resistance, and a time for advocacy.
2/6

"Resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves."
AKA:
"Advocate for peace, justice, and freedom and create spaces in which they can emerge."
1/6

I'm excited to be heading to El Paso for a few days for a meeting of the South Central Jurisdictional Episcopacy Committee.
Also meeting is the "Futuring Task Force," a group convened to envision the future of the the UMC in our Jurisdiction.
Please keep us and our work in your prayers!
#BeUMC #scj

Anyone else find yourself wondering if there is a maximum amount of cognitive dissonance the human brain can handle before it explodes? Is that just me?

Because of course there are.

Tomorrow at Maplewood United Methodist Church is about remembering. Remembering baptism. Remembering our relationship with Kwasha School. Remembering who God is and who God calls us to be.
Remembering that in the midst of the struggle, God is with us.
See you in church.
#MakeItMaplewood

So yes, take the risk. Say the thing. Announce the Good News and let it do what it will do.

Offer what you can, dear colleagues. It will be enough. God is with you. God is with us all.
3/3

So wrestle with it. Work on it. Pray over it. Get out of the way and let the Spirit move. God wastes nothing.

You may something that makes someone mad. And that very same thing may cause someone else to weep with joy to have heard it said, finally.
2/3

Dear Preachers,

If you, like me, are feeling anxious about tomorrow's sermon, please know that you are not alone. The chaos is very loud right now, it does not need amplification. And yet even now, the Gospel demands to be proclaimed.
1/3

A pastoral message from Bishop Lanette regarding the shooting in Minneapolis In this message, Bishop Lanette offers words of comfort following the shooting of a young woman by ICE in Minneapolis.

www.minnesotaumc.org/blogdetail/a...

... The church must say clearly: power that is unexamined, unchecked, or unaccountable stands in tension with the way of Jesus Christ." - Bishop Lanette Pollock Plambeck

"Across our nation, we are witnessing a troubling willingness to normalize violence as a tool of order and to resist accountability as though it were a threat rather than a safeguard. ...

Stranger Things was way, way over the top from the very start all the way to the end. Every season was too much. You know, just like the 80s. Totally awesome.
4/4

#StrangerThings #HellfireLives

So many loose ends, possible explanations, various theories for this and that. The last episode left me simultaneously deeply satisfied and frustratingly unsettled. Perfect.
3/4

And since you asked, YES! I loved every minute of it! It started out as a "WTH am I watching right now" kind of show, and that's exactly how it ended.
2/4

I graduated in 1989, the same year as Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, and Max Mayfield. (This is a "Stranger Things" post.)
1/4

A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn!!!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

At the same time, be present with others as they feel what they feel. Give space when space is needed, an empathetic word if that would help. Remember that even though they might not feel the same things you do, their emotions are magnified too.

Let's take care of one another, shall we?
2/2

This season magnifies every emotion. Happiness, nostalgia, grief, wonder ... we seem to feel everything a little deeper this time of year. So allow yourself to feel what you feel; allow this season to do what it does.
1/2

FYI This Sunday morning I'll be preaching in Calibri font.

Because listening to some of our elected officials talk about it, I'm not sure we all do.