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What makes United Methodists different? Compass 119

Hosts Ryan Dunn and Michelle Maldonado, alongside guest Ashley Boggan, take us on a journey to uncover the distinctiveness of the Methodist faith. Initially produced as part of the United Methodist Podcast-a-thon, this episode offers insightful perspectives from Dr. Ashley Boggan, the general secretary of the United Methodist Church's General Commission on Archives and History.

Ever wonder where the name "Methodist" came from? Why is Welch's grape juice often used in United Methodist communion? What's different about how United Methodists interact with the world? Dr. Boggan provides some historical context around what makes the United Methodist unique and peculiar amidst today's many Christian denominations.

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Episode Notes

Dr. Ashley Boggan hosts the Un-Tied Methodism podcast. And don't forget to check out some of her work on the UMC History TikTok channel--is super fun.

In this episode:

(00:00) Compass podcast explores the uniqueness of United Methodism.
(03:03) Early risers study, pray, hold each accountable. Seek mission beyond Oxford, helping the poor. Methodism: faith in action through love.
(08:34) Methodist women pushed boundaries for equality.
(11:22) Personal holiness requires relational connection with others.
(14:09) Wesley valued personal experiences in interpreting scripture.
(21:52) Methodist legacy: evolving church for community service.
(26:34) Welch's juice and the UMC
(30:48) Interactive Methodist resource with podcast and courses.

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This episode posted on October 4, 2023


Episode Transcript:

Ryan Dunn [00:00:01]:

Hi. This is the Compass podcast where we dive into the divine that is present in the everyday. I'm Ryan Dunn. And in this episode, Michelle Maldonado and I continue on a series about questions people ask regarding their Christian faith. In this particular episode, we get pretty niche as we address the question, what makes United Methodist different or peculiar from other Christian traditions. We get insight in this episode from doctor Ashley Bogan, who is the general secretary of the United Methodist Church's general commission on archives in history. Now most of this episode was originally recorded as part of a livestream event for the United Methodist podcastathon in early October of 2023, as can be expected as part of the excitement and unpredictability of live streaming, we hit a tactical glitch. So the first few minutes of our episode have been lost to the ether.

Ryan Dunn [00:00:58]:

Who knows? We're going to recreate a bit of that conversation and then splice into the real thing. A little bit more about doctor Ashley Bogan, again, she is the general secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History. In this role, she ensures that the United Methodist Church understands its past in order to envision a more equitable future for all Methodists. So let's understand that past in our conversation with doctor Ashley Bogan. Methodist. So let's talk about the origins of Methodism, can you give us, I guess, a snapshot in a certain amount of time? How did this movement get set in motion?

Ashley Boggan [00:01:43]:

So we always go back to, It's when if you have to choose 1 founder of Methodism, which there are technically many. But if you have to choose 1, it's gonna be John Wesley. In I have a name for you. That that's a good thing. So John Wesley, was born in 17/03 in Epworth, England. He is his father was a, minister in the Church of England. His mother is kind of a minister in her own right, But he's raised in this this very Anglican household. And as he grows up, he eventually And I get his own call to ministry, but his call's a little different from his father's.

Ashley Boggan [00:02:21]:

He doesn't want to be a parish

Ryan Dunn [00:02:23]:

priest.

Ashley Boggan [00:02:23]:

Yeah. And he discovers this During his time at Oxford, he was a student there and then later a fellow, which is kind of like just a weird word for a

Ryan Dunn [00:02:31]:

professor.

Ashley Boggan [00:02:32]:

Okay. And his brother is also enrolled at Oxford. And his brother starts this group of of Guys on campus, they were all they were all men. They were all teenagers, in fact. And he brings them together on campus to do Kind of a bible study is what we would call it today. But back then, it was this small group pietistic. They they met weekly. They had a very routinized, way of living their lives.

Ashley Boggan [00:03:03]:

So they all rose early, like 4 AM early, Studied scripture, prayed, fasted, and then they would get together, and they would ask each other how it is with your soul and and hold each other Kind of accountable to continuous work and development of each other's souls. And, eventually, some of the persons who are involved with this group Decide that that just sitting around a table talking about their faith isn't having a full faith. They need to go out and do Mission. And so they start doing that. They they leave the walls of Oxford. They go out into the spaces and places beyond To where the poorer people were, to where the the people who weren't students at Oxford, but the people who were supporting the students at Oxford. And they ask them what their souls need and how they can be in mission and ministry with them. And this begins the process of What makes Methodism kind of unique, at least in its day, of it was faith acted out through love.

Ashley Boggan [00:04:09]:

And because This group did this mission and talked about their faith openly and with each other. They were made fun of on campus. I mean, this was weird back then. They were that group where, you know, you're like

Ryan Dunn [00:04:23]:

They were a little nerd like, religiously nerdy?

Ashley Boggan [00:04:25]:

Religiously nerdy. Yeah. They were called Bible moths. Right? Because they were attracted like a moth to a flame. They were attracted to the bible. Uh-huh. Sacramentarians, because they took the sacraments daily, and eventually, they sorry. They were also called the holy club because, you know, they the around talking about scripture, but not

Ryan Dunn [00:04:49]:

in a good way.

Ashley Boggan [00:04:49]:

Right? Not in a good way. None of these were in a bully. None of these were in a good way. And the name that they eventually get because of this routinized daily life that they had is methodist in Because of the method that they were living and the way that they were incorporating faith into their daily life in this routinized fashion. And It's funny. The the word Methodist had been around, but it'd been used to describe persons of a certain political ilk. And this is the first time it gets used to describe people of faith, and it's that method of doing religion. As methodists, we we can't sit around and And just have faith.

Ashley Boggan [00:05:29]:

We have to do our faith. We have to act it out and live into it. Right on.

Michelle Maldonado [00:05:34]:

Yeah. Yeah. That's really interesting that that's how we got our name. Because I've heard all the the other names, especially the bible moth. Even as a kid, I was like, what in the world But, of course, it makes sense. You know? They were trying to make fun of them, but methodist. Methodists. That is so cool.

Ashley Boggan [00:05:54]:

And it was actually a name that had been around. So purse it was used mostly to describe political persons. The So there was a particular method of doing politics. So some people, as they were, you know, running for different offices, might be considered a Methodist. But John Wesley, it's in his group, it's the 1st time it's used in a religious sense to describe a way of doing, religion.

Ryan Dunn [00:06:17]:

And in And it was pejorative? Like, people were like,

Ashley Boggan [00:06:21]:

oh, you bet Oh, yes. Yes. Methodists for most of John Wesley's life and even early American methodism with Francis Asbury We're considered outcasts. If if you were particularly a member of the landed elite in Britain And let's say your daughter joined the Methodist or were seen at a Methodist society meeting, you would shun her. She would she would in She would be, like, risking her estate and her future livelihood. You know, her dowry might go down. So, being part of of the Methodist was seen as being countercultural. That's because, like, their primary message and John Wesley's primary message was Concern for the poor.

Ashley Boggan [00:07:04]:

And there was such a large social gap and wealth gap back then that Him challenging the landed elite to be concerned and to be in conversation with and mission with those who were not the landed elite really pushed boundaries. I mean, he goes so far as to he gives a sermon. This is at, I think it's Saint Mary's in Oxford, which is like the cathedral of Oxford. And he gives a sermon called, the scripture is it the scripture way of salvation, or is it, It'll it'll come to me. Anyway, where he's preaching to a group of Oxford professors who are all ordained priests in And essentially says, none of you sitting here are true Christians because you do not go out and do mission. In You are not living your faith according to how Jesus taught us to live our faith in the gospels. And so a He was a rabble rouser. Like, people either loved him or hated him.

Ashley Boggan [00:08:12]:

I can see why.

Ryan Dunn [00:08:13]:

Yeah. Right? Imagine sitting in the pews and hearing that message, like, yeah, I'd be a little, like, affronted. Well, are there ways that you see now looking forward that United Methodists are still kinda pushing those boundaries or being countercultural?

Ashley Boggan [00:08:34]:

I would say in certain areas, yes. Historically, when when we look at, like, the 30,000 foot view of of method history, there have been kind of facets and persons within our history who have continued to push those bounds. What always comes to my mind first and foremost are are going to be a a string of Methodist women. Because throughout Methodist history, they have fought tirelessly and boldly for their right to ordination, for their right to have and live into a call, and they've kind of refused to be told no. Mhmm. And so even, you know, at the end of 19th century, when women still were not allowed to be fully ordained, They found creative avenues to live into that call, and a lot of that involved pushing those boundaries For not only women's space and sphere within the Methodist Episcopal Church, but within American society and and around the world. Mhmm. You know, Methodist women We're at the forefront of securing the right to vote for women.

Ashley Boggan [00:09:41]:

They were the secure at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 19 sixties in the United States. They were the 1st to write a charter on racial policies for the Methodist Church and and did all of these things that continue to push and expand the kingdom of God To make sure that it lives into not only that Wesleyan call of an expansive, kingdom, but also into into the true call of Jesus that That everybody is welcome into God's love. Yeah.

Michelle Maldonado [00:10:18]:

So historically Speaking, what are some goals of Methodism?

Ashley Boggan [00:10:28]:

I think the thing that John Wesley one of the spaces that he made the most difference was In convincing people that you cannot have a full faith if you just attend church on Sunday morning. If you are going to fully be a Christian, in Wesley's sense of the term, then then you had to embody sanctifying grace, Which is the Holy Spirit working in and through us and compelling us to go out and do action. Right. In So for Wesley, yeah, you should go to church on Sunday mornings. You should do the sacraments. You should you should pray. You should fast. But in If you weren't as concerned with your love of neighbor as you were with your concern of love of God Mhmm.

Ashley Boggan [00:11:19]:

Then your faith was not full.

Ryan Dunn [00:11:21]:

Mhmm.

Ashley Boggan [00:11:22]:

And so it's it's that simultaneous and intertwined and relational Doctrines of social holiness and personal holiness, and you can't have one without the other for Wesley. So our personal holiness is kind of our Our internal 1 on 1 relationship with God. But to have that and to have it rightly and to have it functioning, in You also had to be in relationship with others. You cannot do religion on your own for Wesley. In And that's one of those things that he's trying to get across to those ministers when he's preaching in Oxford is that y'all may have Faith in God and love of God, but you aren't living it to its fullest because you aren't loving others. You're you're sitting idly by and And watching those around you suffer, and you aren't seeking to to fix it or to be in ministry with them. And that, for Wesley, is one of those spaces where he seeks to intervene. And when you look at the lifetime of his work and his ministry, that's one of those constants.

Ashley Boggan [00:12:29]:

So that continuous engagement with and ministry with and mission with the poor and with the disenfranchised and the excluded is where he seeks to intervene the most.

Ryan Dunn [00:12:40]:

So that idea of faith in action sounds like one of the peculiarities of of Methodism. I mean, it's not totally unique to United Methodist. Yeah. Certainly, other, other traditions express that as well. But are there some other, like aspects of Methodism that are a bit peculiar or stand apart from other other faith traditions?

Ashley Boggan [00:13:05]:

Yes. So Wesley, Wesley didn't use this language, but Albert Outler in the 19 Sixties, seventies kind of developed the Wesleyan quadrilateral. So it's it's this understanding of of how do we orient ourselves towards scripture. And according, at least, to Albert Outler, one of the unique things that Wesley adds, at least for his time, was this notion of personal experience. So back then, a lot of people would've, When it came to theological conversations, would have been concerned with how you interpret scripture, how persons in the past, predominantly Theologians in the past have interpreted scripture and then how we can rationally contextualize, argue, in Synthesize that information. Wesley adds in that notion of experience. So and I I think this is

Michelle Maldonado [00:14:09]:

particular when

Ashley Boggan [00:14:09]:

you look at kind of the amount of writing that he did. We get a really in From a firsthand view of his own experience. So it's not, you know, your everyday experience of, like, I drink this coffee instead of reading scripture. It's It's how do I experience god in my life working in and through me? And so for him, that is a core component of how we then look at scripture and how we interpret tradition. And that was A unique contribution in Wesley's day because up until that point, like, nobody had been telling others that Your experience, especially if you were, you know, a coal miner in the 17 thirties outside of Bristol, no one had dare say that, like, Your personal experience can help you better understand scripture. Instead, the dominant narrative was, here's how you should understand scripture because here's how I understand scripture, and and I am dictating to you what what faith looks like. So it's that empowering again, But but honoring that everybody's experiences are worthy and bring a worthy contribution to the overall narrative of how God works in our lives. Yeah.

Michelle Maldonado [00:15:29]:

It's really interesting. It's almost like Wesley was doing a little bit just a little bit of almost.

Ashley Boggan [00:15:35]:

Just a little bit. A little bit. I mean, right, for for 18th century standards. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he the He he had some of those sprinklings. You know what I mean? He writes about slavery at the height of the Atlantic slave trade. He writes against slavery at the height of the Atlantic slave trade, I should say.

Ashley Boggan [00:15:51]:

In And, you know, he he did some of that kind of barrier breaking work. You know, he empowered Women to preach later on in his ministry and gave preaching licenses to women, which did not happen back then.

Michelle Maldonado [00:16:05]:

Yeah.

Ashley Boggan [00:16:07]:

So time and time again, he is pushing Mhmm. Those those boundaries.

Michelle Maldonado [00:16:12]:

So what are some other kinda, like, surprising little facts or things like that that we might not know about in

Ashley Boggan [00:16:22]:

The Methodist in And and I say that with with so much love and admiration in my heart. One of he he liked to dabble in Science and in medicine, which back then was nothing like it is today. But As he's developing this movement of Methodism across Britain, he's establishing Preaching houses. And preaching houses functioned as mission posts. So sacraments did not happen there. That was reserved for the for the Anglican sanctuaries, but preaching could happen there. And then the mission posts, they didn't have permanent seating so that they be utilized for different things throughout the week. So a lot of times, they became libraries.

Ashley Boggan [00:17:13]:

They would become meeting spaces. They would become medical dispensaries. And John Wesley, I I think it's in about 17 forties, begins writing a book that he rereleased every year with updated stuff called The Primitive Physic. And when we look at it today, I mean, it looks like kind of a a home remedies for common ailments, and it's it's quite Humorous to read at times, and gives you a a a taste for how John Wesley lived his life. He did not like salt. He did not like pepper and he did not like tea. So he lived a very kind of bland Yeah. I don't think he liked flavor.

Ashley Boggan [00:17:53]:

He did not like flavor.

Ryan Dunn [00:17:54]:

This is to

Ashley Boggan [00:17:55]:

stimulating this outfit. Flavor distracted you from the love of God and love of labor and should be not consumed. But On the other surface, like, when you look at other things, he is making theological interventions even with things like the primitive physic. In So up until then, the dominant understanding of our bodies and souls to that point was that they were separate. In Right. It was it was this dualism. Right? You cannot be concerned with your soul and focus on your body. So you This is where, like, asceticism comes from.

Ashley Boggan [00:18:29]:

Right? You deny your body in order to focus on God. So, right, so, like, wearing itchy clothes, fasting, All of these things kind of have root in that ascetic movement. But John Wesley uses his experience and he uses his faith lived out in action And sees as he travels around that people are physically hurting, and they cannot. They do not have the energy to then focus on God because their basic bodily needs are not being met. Mhmm. And so he in Kind of reunites body and soul in the primitive physic. And in other parts of his writings is to say, If you are hungry, you need to be fed first. Mhmm.

Ashley Boggan [00:19:18]:

And then we can talk about some Jesus. Like And and that is such a huge intervention. And you can so when you see it coming across the pyramid of physics, I mean, you know, it's it's Basic things that would be either supplied in the preaching houses or might be common if, you lived in a rural area, Kind of if you're near a garden or some sort of farm, basic herb remedies. My favorite is that if you had an upset stomach, in Lay down on the floor and put a a warm puppy on your belly for 10 minutes. And, like, in my mind, I'm like, Yes. Like, that that would cure probably a lot of things unless you're allergic to dogs.

Ryan Dunn [00:20:03]:

This is I'm just hearing the the conversation that's gonna go down in my house tonight where somebody's gonna have an upset stomach and be like, I heard on your podcast that we need to get a puppy.

Ashley Boggan [00:20:13]:

See? This is my time here. Yes. John Wesley says get a puppy. It it will cure a lot of things. But right. So there was this concern for bodies that had not been talked about, and it it leaks over into how Methodists began to kind of physically experience Methodism because now that their bodies are being cared for by These people called Methodists were running around and giving them food and clothing and helping them find shelter. Now those are the persons who are turning towards the movement and keeping the movement sustained and interacting with it and developing it. And in And now that their bodily needs are being met, for the first time potentially in their lives, they feel physically good, And they feel physically expressive about their faith.

Ashley Boggan [00:21:07]:

And so as their souls are being tended and their bodies are being fed, They began to to be very expressive. And so Methodists began to be known as a shouting Methodists because they began to shout with joy That the love of God was present in them and had reunited body and soul.

Ryan Dunn [00:21:32]:

Alright. So challenge I I don't know if today, like, we would really have the reputation of being Shouting Methodist. But

Ashley Boggan [00:21:41]:

Probably not.

Ryan Dunn [00:21:42]:

Are there other ways that you've seen, this tie of spiritual and physical impressed in how we kinda practice church today as United

Ashley Boggan [00:21:52]:

Methodist. Yeah. So I think one of the the continuous Things that you can see in today's unite in today's United Methodist Church and that we really kinda need to nurture and support Our I mean, today, it's called Fresh Expression Ministries. Back then, I think it would have just been what Wesley was doing. Right? How do you how do you do How do you do church differently in order to serve people in the best way? And that is something that you can see continue throughout Methodist history And that really excites me today. You know, when you see church happening at a coffee shop or Church happening without kind of a a structure or a building, but it's just people coming together and talking about faith And doing mission as they talk about faith. That is at the heart of what it is to be Wesleyan and to be Methodist. And, you know, that's the at the heart of what Jesus did too.

Ashley Boggan [00:22:49]:

Like, that's I know I as a Methodist historian, I always go back to Wesley, but in There are a lot

Ryan Dunn [00:22:54]:

know Jesus Christ.

Ashley Boggan [00:22:57]:

There there are a lot of of ties. John Wesley didn't create These new forms of discipleship out of nowhere. He was a a man of scripture, and he looked at what Jesus was doing, going out into the fields and feeding people in And then talking with them. It was like, oh, that worked then. We aren't doing that now. Yeah. Maybe we need to do that now. And maybe in In 2023, that's that message we need to hear too of you know, we we get so focused on Numbers and financials, and and I get it.

Ashley Boggan [00:23:30]:

Like, as the head of an agency, I get it. But what we should be talking about is Where does church need to happen, and how can we creatively minister in new ways? Where are the people, in And how do we get there? And so one of the the things that really kind of excites my nerd brain, is the potential of virtual ministries and virtual circuits because so much of the younger generation is online. In How do you creatively do ministry when you aren't sitting next to someone, but there's a screen involved or some sort of technology involved? In And that's where I think Wesley would be all over it. Mhmm. He would be thinking creatively about how you connect people Virtually, when that physical can't happen. Mhmm.

Ryan Dunn [00:24:24]:

Yeah. It's kind of the new open air preaching. At least I I've looked at

Ashley Boggan [00:24:27]:

it Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm.

Michelle Maldonado [00:24:31]:

Yeah. So some honorable mentions about the curious things about our history. Do you know the story of the Welch grape

Ashley Boggan [00:24:40]:

juice? I do.

Michelle Maldonado [00:24:41]:

Would you like to share a

Ashley Boggan [00:24:42]:

little bit? Sure. So, Right. Methodists tend to use Welch's grape juice, in our communion as part of our communion elements. And Part of that goes back you know, John Wesley would have used wine. And John Wesley actually like, while he did not like tea, he was okay with the occasional glass of wine. And I think that just goes back to wines and scriptures. So he was like, sure. I don't think tea was.

Ashley Boggan [00:25:08]:

I don't know. Tea is not biblical. Is not biblical? Yeah. But so Welch's has it brings in a lot of different aspects of history, particularly in the American setting, like the 18 sixties, 18 seventies. So you had post civil war United States Kind of co aligned with new processes of, distilling. Mhmm. And so you see a lot more hard liquor being

Ryan Dunn [00:25:36]:

produced.

Ashley Boggan [00:25:37]:

Mhmm. And prior to the civil war, it was really common wherever you walked in there was gonna be, like, a big old tub of cider. And there was 1 common cup, and you dipped your cup in, and you took a swig of cider. Yeah. In Hygiene was not Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Germ theory was also being developed during this time, which contributes to some of this.

Ashley Boggan [00:25:58]:

So you take a swig of the cider, but After the civil war, people have been used to just drinking cider all day, and it was probably about a 2% alcohol, right, like, content. And but they take the same consumption level and and turn to hard liquor. And so alcoholism becomes

Ryan Dunn [00:26:16]:

Yeah. Pretty

Ashley Boggan [00:26:17]:

predominant. Predominant problem. And so the temperance movement begins in the 18 seventies, and Welch was a big Methodist. He lived up in Vinland, New Jersey. He was a dentist

Michelle Maldonado [00:26:32]:

That's

Ashley Boggan [00:26:34]:

spirit But he hears of I think it's Louis Pasteur's process of pasteurization. And up until that point, like, communion wine had still been used because you had to store it for so long because you use a little of it. And so he takes he he kind of uses this this temperance mentality of how do we prevent persons From imbibing in alcohol while still maintaining our our methodist love of the sacraments. And so he starts experimenting with grapes and uses Louis Pasteur's process of pasteurization to pasteurize Grape juice to stay juice and not to Ferment. Ferment. Yeah. And that's how we get Communion juice that's labeled that's created by Welch and is Welch's grape juice and and becomes kind of the dominant Methodist element of communion. Mhmm.

Ashley Boggan [00:27:36]:

So it's really like, Methodists are are all over a lot of stuff. Yeah. You could do the same thing with kinda Coca Cola. Like, the founder of Coca Cola was Methodist.

Ryan Dunn [00:27:44]:

I did not

Ashley Boggan [00:27:44]:

know. I did not know that either. If you if you drink Pepsi. Sorry. That's a list of all. In

Michelle Maldonado [00:27:53]:

But, something about the the Welch Juice, because it is juice, A lot of recovering alcoholics have been able to have communion for the 1st time Yeah. Since they've been sober. Yeah. So that was also like a a Things still today that a lot of churches still use wine, but we stick to the grape juice. To the juice.

Ashley Boggan [00:28:12]:

Yeah. Yeah. It helps keep the communion table as open as it can

Michelle Maldonado [00:28:16]:

be. Right.

Ryan Dunn [00:28:17]:

Are there other just peculiar dungus that you love to tell about Methodist history?

Ashley Boggan [00:28:22]:

Oh my gosh. I could go on and on and on.

Ryan Dunn [00:28:24]:

So we we've probably got

Ashley Boggan [00:28:25]:

time for 1, maybe 2. 1, maybe 2. Let's see. I mean, I would be remiss to do a podcast on Methodist history without talking about Susanna. Oh, yes. So Susanna Wesley was John's mother, And she is by far one of my favorite methodists ever, even though she probably wouldn't have considered herself a methodist. In I like to say she's actually the founder of Methodism because she was John's primary spiritual adviser as he's being raised. She had 19 pregnancies, and 10 of her children survived to adulthood.

Ashley Boggan [00:29:05]:

And, you know, that was Normal for back then. Yeah. So she so John is raised with 7 sisters, and kind of primarily Under the influence of his mother, his mother sat down with 1 of her children, every day of the week And gave them kind of 1 on 1 time where she would do teaching. They would have theological discussions. She would do that spiritual formation, And that was really unique for that time too. Yeah. And so a lot of how both John and Charles Wesley are raised is Because of their mother. And and she, one of my favorite quotes to describe her is that she was a dissenting daughter of descent.

Ashley Boggan [00:29:48]:

So she pushed boundaries. I mean, she preached from her kitchen when John was 8 years old Because her husband, Samuel, was over in London, and the person he left in charge of Saint Andrew's Church, she thought was a buffoon. And so she kinda takes over. So she's used to or she's not used to, but she kind of embodied what it meant to push certain boundaries. In And that's really influential on John, as he's as he's growing up. But, yeah, Susanna Wesley, there needs to be a new biography of her. In And she was a theologian in her own right. I mean, she writes beautiful theology.

Ashley Boggan [00:30:25]:

She taught her daughters to read before she taught them how to sew. She's just Fascinating figure.

Ryan Dunn [00:30:32]:

Yeah. Well, maybe there's a calling in you for that.

Ashley Boggan [00:30:35]:

There's there's a biography that

Ryan Dunn [00:30:37]:

needs to be out there. Speaking of the work that you're doing, like, where do people follow-up on general archives and history? Where do you want people to get a hold of you?

Ashley Boggan [00:30:48]:

So, probably our most, interactive page is gonna be resourceumc.org/archives and history. That is where you can go to find, our podcast, which I'll be shooting live tomorrow. Uh-huh. Our podcast is Untied Methodism where we unravel the past to make sense of today. And we also have online courses, that dive into some of this methodist history. Some of them are free. We are working on a Methodist one zero one course right now to get people back to the roots of what it means to be a Methodist, to kind of Talk about some of the things we talked about in this podcast today, and all of that can be found on resourceumc.org/archives and history. You can also follow us on social media.

Ashley Boggan [00:31:29]:

We are kind of all over Instagram, Facebook, and now TikTok. So if you want some Some fun snippets about Methodist history or to to hear what we're doing, I encourage you to follow us there too. Cool.

Michelle Maldonado [00:31:40]:

And, also, if you wanna see John Wesley's bobblehead in the hands of the pope, You go to social

Ashley Boggan [00:31:46]:

media, you see that.

Ryan Dunn [00:31:48]:

Yeah. The TikTok channel is pretty lit. I get a kick out of it the like all kinds of representations John of John Wesley showing up

Ashley Boggan [00:31:57]:

in kinds of crazy places. So it's very cool.

Ryan Dunn [00:31:59]:

Doctor Ashley, thank you so much.

Ashley Boggan [00:32:01]:

Thank you. Thank

Ryan Dunn [00:32:01]:

you. For the history lesson and for the passion that you're bringing the work too. It's kind of infectious, so I enjoyed it. Thank you. And, thanks for livestream or for tuning in and, and being a part of this podcastathon with us. Next next stop on the United Methodist podcastathon is Faith Revisited. They're gonna start at the top of the hour. I wanna thank Crystal Cavendish who is this sitting off to our side here, she's our our producer for this.

Ryan Dunn [00:32:26]:

Dan McConnell, Debbie Wamsley, and Stacy Hagood for all the production help that they provided. Thanks to Andrew Schleicher, Philip Brooks, Brenda Smotherman, and Patty Dell'Above for publicity and marketing for both this podcast and for the United Methodist Podcast A Thon, we good?

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