William B. Lawrence
United Methodist Schism and the ‘Protocol’ of 2020
The Rev. Dr. William B. Lawrence, past president of the UMC's Judicial Council, weighs in on the political and technical aspects of the "Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation." Read more
United Methodists Behind Closed Doors
United Methodists ought to be meeting in the open, with very few exceptions, writes the Rev. William B. Lawrence. Read more
Four, Three, Two, One
The Rev. William B. Lawrence, past president of the Judicial Council, shows how actions of the 2019 General Conference violated not only United Methodism's highest laws, but also its greatest theology of God's grace. Read more
Commission on General Conference Added to Confusion
The Rev. William B. Lawrence, past president of the Judicial Council, contends that the Commission on General Conference shouldn't have considered allegations of GC2019 voter fraud behind closed doors. Read more
Two Decisions, One a Danger
The Judicial Council's most recent decision poses a greater threat to the future of United Methodism that may appear at first, writes the Rev. William B. Lawrence, former president of the UMC's "high court." Read more
Historian: Potential UMC Split Ignores Questions of Doctrine
United Methodism faces a critical threat in its headlong rush to divide the denomination because it has "ignored, neglected or abandoned" its official doctrine about being a church, asserts the Rev. Dr. William B. Lawrence. Read more
Dismissal of Charges Against Sessions Perplexes Some UMC Leaders
Bishops and church legal experts express dismay and confusion over the rationale behind dismissing church charges against U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a United Methodist layman. Read more
The Stakes Are Higher in 2019 than We Thought
Two eminent United Methodist jurists warn that the church is facing a constitutional crisis as its leadership has violated church law in the Way Forward process and other events. Read more
'A Methodist Requiem' Offers History, Analysis, and Hope
Using the Christian sense of "requiem" as both death and resurrection, the Rev. Dr. William B. Lawrence lays out hope and options for The United Methodist Church in its unity struggle. Read more
Photo illustration by Mike DuBose, UMNS
What Does It Mean to Be Evangelical?
People with widely varying theological viewpoints claim to be "evangelical," writes Heather Hahn of United Methodist News Service. Just don't call them fundamentalist. Read more