Introducing Ask Bishop Jones: A New Methodist Podcast
November 3, 2026
AI Disclosure: This article was written by David Donnan with the assistance of artificial intelligence for grammar, organization, and formatting. The ideas, experiences, and opinions expressed are my own.
I’m very excited to share about a project that is in the early stages of development!
I am working with Bishop Scott Jones to help him create a podcast where he will get to share from his deep wealth of knowledge about all things related to glorifying Christ and Methodism.
Bishop Jones is now retired from active episcopal ministry, and this seemed like the perfect time for him to start thinking about what he could do next.
Since 2019, I’ve been putting together podcasts and longer-form video content. So I consider it a very high privilege to be helping him launch this podcast.
The podcast will be called Ask Bishop Jones, and I’ll have the opportunity to serve as his first co-host.
We Need Your Questions!
Over the next few days, you’ll see some announcements on social media about this new project.
I’d like to ask those of you who read my blog to consider submitting a question for us to discuss on the podcast.
Submit Your Question for Ask Bishop Jones
The podcast is inspired by Ask N. T. Wright Anything and Word on Fire with Bishop Robert Barron. Those are two examples of people who do a great job of sharing their insights while also showing the beauty of their respective branches of Christianity.
My hope is that we’ll be part of a growing stream of Methodism sharing great content online that people will find helpful.
And, personally, I get to have conversations with one of the greatest minds in Methodism, Bishop Scott Jones!
Follow Ask Bishop Jones
If you’d like more information or want to follow along as we develop the podcast, here are the places to connect with us:
- Website and Substack — Subscribe for updates and future podcast episodes.
- Facebook Page — Follow and share announcements.
- YouTube Channel — Subscribe for videos and future episodes.
- Watch Our Introductory Video — Hear more about the project.
- Submit a Question — Send us something you’d like Bishop Jones to discuss.
You can also reach us by email at askbishopjones@gmail.com.
What’s Next?
We’re looking forward to recording episodes over the next few months, with an anticipated launch in January 2027.
I’m excited to see how this project develops and how it might serve the church.
I appreciate your questions, your encouragement, and any prayers you could offer for us as we get started.
Should Global Methodists Pray for Pope Leo XIV?
May 8, 2025
The Roman Catholic church has elected a new leader of their church.
Is it ok for Global Methodist to pray for Pope Leo XIV? Should we?
My short pastoral answer is yes. Here’s why.
#1 Global Methodist Are Ecumenical
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines ecumenical as, “of, relating to, or representing the whole of a body of churches” and “promoting or tending toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation.”
Global Methodist Bishop Scott Jones wrote, “The division of the one church of Jesus Christ into many different denominations, each claiming to be the church, is an ongoing problem… [The ecumenical movement] takes many forms in the world, including grassroots cooperation between congregations, the migration of members from one church to another, and joint action for social justice on the national and international level. The movement also fosters official dialogue between churches that seek to overcome centuries of estrangement so that visible communion might be possible” (Jones Extreme Center 19-20).
Bishop Jones goes onto argue for us to authentically participate in ecumenical dialogue we have to be confident in understanding our own Wesleyan doctrines and beliefs (20-21).
#2 Global Methodist Have Catholic Spirit
One of the more famous sayings of the founder of Methodist movement comes from his sermon on the Catholic Spirit, “But although a difference in opinions or modes of worship may prevent an entire external union, yet need it prevent our union in affection Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion.”
Wesley goes on to say, “If, then, we take this word in the strictest sense, a man of a catholic spirit is one who, in the manner above-mentioned, gives his hand to all whose hearts are right with his heart: one who knows how to value, and praise God for, all the advantages he enjoys, with regard to the knowledge of the things of God…”
Wesley makes clear he is not calling for latitudinarianism (a belief in which anything goes in regards to doctrine). However, Wesley seems to be emphasizing for Christians to be willing to work with those outside of your denominational and theological preferences. Wesley model this with partnerships with the Moravians and traveling and preaching alongside Calvinist George Whitfield.
In worship we say the Apostles Creed in which we affirm we are a part of “the Holy Catholic Church”. This does not mean we are a part of the Roman Catholic church which just elected Pope Leo XIV. It means we are a part of the universal church of all Christian bodies.
#3 Global Methodist Want All Churches to Have Strong Leaders
Shortly after Pope Francis died I saw Anglican Priest Michael Bird say “bless the Catholic Church with a new leader who preaches the gospel and imitates the way of the Lord Jesus.”
I echo this sentiment. I desire for all churches to have strong leaders who preach the gospel and imitate the way of Jesus.
So join me today in praying for:
- ourselves,
- our friends and family who are sick or lost,
- our local church
- all those around the world who suffer,
- our own Global Methodist Bishops and leaders
- and, yes, let’s pray for Pope Leo XIV.
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About David Wesley Donnan
I write online about Methodism, devotional insights, and personal reflections. My primary goal is to organize my thoughts and explore meaningful topics. Along the way, I hope my writing inspires and encourages others on their journey.
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What will the future of Methodism and the Global Methodist Church have in store for the rest of 2023?
I would like to take a moment and share some topics which may be given clarity over the next several months.
Let Me Be Clear
Let me be clear, this is not a criticism of the Transitional Leadership Council or our Bishops. They have done an amazing job of working incredibly hard to get a new denomination up and running. This also is not an attempt to pressure anyone to make decisions any quicker than they feel led.
I also want to highlight that this is a conversation about larger church administration. While we still have important work to do in the wider arena, I celebrate that we have hundreds of churches and thousands of Methodists who are disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly. We have provisional annual conferences on four different continents.
We have men and women clergy who are appropriately credentialed, have health insurance and pensions. We have pastors who are “responsible for ensuring that members are cared for by implementing a discipleship process focused on helping members to ‘go on to perfection’ by loving God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and by loving their neighbor as themselves. They are charged with equipping all the members of a congregation to be in ministry by meeting people at their point of need and offering them Jesus.”
We have significant governance with our Transitional Book of Doctrine and Discipline with accountability from the Transitional Leadership Council and our Presidents Pro Tempore (acting in similar roles of bishops).
The larger church work to be done should not keep us from singing praises to the Lord for the great things happening.
Sneak Peak
Even with all the mission and ministry happening, there are some important chores we need to do before our first convening conference. I am looking forward to clarity around these areas.
#1 Convening Conference Date and Location
At some point there will be a historic convening conference in which delegates representing all the Global Methodist Church from around the world will come together. Much is still to be decided about this conference. I have not seen any clear confirmation on the date (please correct me if I am wrong).
During an interview on Dr. Sterling Allen’s Show Thursday Night Live transitional connectional officer Rev. Keith Boyette said, “we won’t be in a place to hold the convening general conference most likely until the spring of 2025.”1 However, there are others hoping for a 2024 date.
I would like to humbly offer up Glennville, Georgia as the location for the convening conference.
A more serious possibility are cities with international airports to help our overseas brothers and sisters. It is also not outside the realm of possibility that we could hold the convening conference outside of the United States as a way of cementing the global nature of our church.
#2 Annual Conference Sizes and/or Geography
How large will an annual conference be? Will the size of the annual conference be measured by geography, number of churches, number of members or some sort of combination of the three.
This would be helpful to know for administrative purposes. If a transitional annual conference wants to expand or pair up with another conference how would they accomplish this? On the other hand, if an annual conference needs more episcopal oversight how could that be accomplished? Would there be room to appoint an auxiliary bishop to assist an area with a bishop already? Would a conference need to split if it needs more episcopal leadership?
#3 The Role of Bishops
The role of bishops is ongoing. I’ve been impressed with all the interviews I have seen with our bishops so far. I thought Bishop Webb was candid in an interview with John Lomperis:
“One thing I think that Bishop [Scott] Jones, Bishop [Emeritus Mike] Lowry, and I all agree on is that we are not interested in continuing a royal episcopacy. We believe that the role of Bishop, the role of the episcopacy [in] the Global Methodist Church, must be first and foremost a model of servant leadership. And then it needs to be a model where Bishops…defend the faith, cast vision for the church, and come alongside others to help equip them […] to be a part of what God’s already doing uh in their lives. And helping to stir up the gifts that the Holy Spirit has already placed within them to carry out the mission in this transitional time.
You know I keep reminding folks that the convening conference will have a conversation about the role of the episcopacy. The convening conference of the GMC will take what is in the transitional book of doctrines and disciplines, they will add to it, they’ll delete from it [and] they’ll keep some of it the same. So I think the nature of the episcopacy is yet to be fully formed or shaped in the global Methodist church. I’m fully aware that you know in this season all I can focus on […] and I think our commitment as Bishops right now is to try to help lay foundation and groundwork for the things that we want to see move forward moving forward initially and in this season.”2
In Multiplying Methodism Rev. Dr. Jeff Greenway and Bishop Mike Lowery lay down some admiral aspirations:
“We strongly recommend a redefinition of the episcopacy from that of institutional maintenance and leadership–to reclaiming the teaching office of the church… the role of Bishop in the Global Methodist Church will be primarily spiritual–teaching the faith, ordaining clergy, and fixing appointments–but the operational leadership of the more temporal affairs will be delegated to a Connectional Operating Officer.”3
Rev. Dr. David F Watson has nine powerful revisions to the office of Bishop in his Firebrand Article “A Spirit of Governance”: On Bishops in the Global Methodist Church.
In his third point Watson says, “we should not conceive of bishops primarily as managers. We should not hobble them with unending bureaucratic responsibilities. Rather, we should conceive of bishops as pastors, evangelists, and defenders of the faith. The bishop is an office within the order of elders, and the Spirit of governance God pours out upon bishops is for the church’s spiritual care. Let business managers handle business. Let attorneys handle the law. Let bishops lead the church in word, sacrament, and order.”4
#4 The Election of Bishops
The process for electing bishops is still not clear. In the former denomination the elections happened in the jurisdictional (regional) conferences.
Again from Multiplying Methodism the argument is made:
“We recommend the elimination of jurisdictional conferences (which are the residue of institutional racism and the source of the move to regionalized expressions of faith in the United Methodist Church), and that bishops be elected at the General Conference. We recommended bishops be elected for a maximum 12-year term, and if the bishop is not of retirement age, their title is ‘Bishop Emeritus’ when their term ends, and they return to serve a local church.”5
Election at the General Conference is a fascinating possibility. Will there be time to approve the process of electing bishops and have elections in the same convening conference?
#5 The Election of Delegates to the Convening Conference
The process for electing delegates to the convening conference needs to be formalized. It could be as simple as the Transitional Leadership Council asking each conference to develop their plan. However, there will need to be a way to determine how many delegates each area gets.
In conclusion, I have full confidence in our leadership structure in the GMC. We certainly have a firm foundation laid. The future is bright and will only get better as we get clarity on these topics.
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Footnotes
1 Global Methodist Church Thursday Night Live. GMC Thursday Night Live State of the Church 2022 with Rev. Dr. Sterling Allen & Rev. Keith Boyette. Youtube. Rev. Dr. Allen, Sterling. Posted November 17, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjXkU3pQgc
2 The IRD. Global Methodist Bishop Mark Webb interview with John Lomperis. Youtube. Lomperis, John. Posted January 18th, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVuHVm_fzhM&t=1045s
3 Greenway, Jeffrey E., and Mike Lowry. Multiplying Methodism: A Bold Witness of Wesleyan Faith at the Dawn of the Global Methodist Church. 313 Publishing, 2022. p.111-112
4 Watson, David F. “‘A Spirit of Governance’: On Bishops in the Global Methodist Church.” Firebrand Magazine, Jan. 2023, https://firebrandmag.com/articles/a-spirit-of-governance-on-bishops-in-the-global-methodist-church?rq=bishop.
5 Greenway, Jeffrey E., and Mike Lowry. Multiplying Methodism: A Bold Witness of Wesleyan Faith at the Dawn of the Global Methodist Church. 313 Publishing, 2022. p.111
