Draft Liturgies Report from the Front Lines
October 5, 2026
This past week, the Global Methodist Church released the Draft Liturgies. Tesia Lee Mallory and I spent some time talking about this! We even offered some practical tips for first time users. I was a first-time user, too.
So, how did using the liturgies go on their first Sunday? I was blessed to use two key elements.
Infant Baptism
I was privileged to already have an infant baptism scheduled before the liturgies were even announced. There is something very special about getting to hold a baby and welcome her into the household of faith.
A few of the unique items about the liturgy which stood out to me.
#1 I think it is possible Miss Sadie Jane Sheffield might be the first person baptized with this liturgy. We welcomed her into the church family at our 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time service. It is pretty neat to think out of the 7,000 Global Methodist churches she might be the first.
#2 I found praying the Wesley covenant prayer a powerful part of the service.
#3 Talking about the Global Methodist Church adds more context and meaning than I anticipated. One of the lines in the baptism liturgy is: In the Global Methodist Church, we believe in God’s initiation of grace in our lives. We welcome infants and children to the baptismal font to be incorporated into God’s covenant people.
At first, I was curious about why it might be necessary to disclose our “team.” However, I found this acknowledgement very profound. It is a reminder we are part of the holy catholic church universal. Yet, it is also a reminder we have significant and unique beliefs as Global Methodists. While we are not the only denomination to celebrate infant baptism, it is helpful to know this is an important belief as Global Methodists.
Communion
Our Sunday morning services used the Sacrament of Holy Communion II Abbreviated Liturgy. The decision to use the abbreviated version was because we were celebrating the infant baptism and starting a new series from Philippians, so we expected to be tight on time.
Our background is that we have tried several communion liturgies since leaving our previous connection, including using some of the ones in current hymnals as well as liturgies for communion from Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. The church is used to some variance for our mostly once-a-month communion celebration.
The communion liturgy was rich and smooth. I know this sounds like a coffee description, but I feel like it is appropriate for the beauty of our service on Sunday. Rich were the words and familiar patterns. Smooth was the process of teaching it to the church and explaining how we were going to make it even if we made a mistake or two.
The only concern I had was having people to stand for the Great Thanksgiving portion. This was not our normal practice. As I prepare feedback for the liturgy, I am considering asking for it to include “may stand” or “may be invited to stand” at the start of the great thanksgiving vs “The congregation is invited to stand for the Prayer of Great Thanksgiving”. However, after asking several people following worship, the majority said they liked standing so this may not be as important as I initially thought.
The responsive reading at the breaking of the bread was new to me, and I am looking forward to trying it again.
The highlight for me is the prayer after communion. It is one more way to include the congregation in the meal Jesus gave us.
In conclusion, my first Sunday with the Draft Liturgies was one of deep gratitude. We have taken another step to the start of a deep liturgical renewal. I am grateful for our denomination and the writing team that has blessed us with this resource.
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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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Philippians 1:1-11 Work to be Done
October 4, 2026
These are my notes used for my sermon. If you watch what actually you was preached you notice some/a lot of variance. There still may be some devotional of information value.
There’s this famous saying of Jesus in the Gospel. It is from Matthew 11
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Here is the thing… this can be hard to believe. I have had several days where I would look at my to-do list, calendar, worry, or circumstances and think, “This does not look like it is going to be a light day, week, or season.”
Maybe you have been there?
So how can this be true? How can the Christian life really feel light? Well I think Paul answers that in our introduction to Philippians.
Today, we begin our journey through the Philippians. I want to encourage you to take the card in your bulletin and memorize this passage (Also, a note, the card is the New Living Translation not the NIV for our eagle eye viewers).
In this series we will spend more time on the background and characters here. For today, Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul, a leader and martyr of the church. Some say Paul is the most important person in regard to the spread of Christianity after Christ.
Paul is not writing to the Philippians from his podcast studio, a nice ivory tower study, or from a fancy mansion. Paul is writing from prison.
Hear these words from Philippians chapter 1, verse 1 through 11.
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
May God add his blessing to the reading of his word.
How many of you feel a little overwhelmed sometimes? I think calling this letter to Philippians is good… but maybe better: Paul’s letter to the overwhelmed, the anxious, maybe even joyless.
Many scholars actually say this letter is about joy even in spite of the hardship faced by the local church.
Well we all have hardship today. Whether it is feeling overwhelmed, the stress of trying to get everything done, the struggles of health and aging.
What Paul has just said here though can help us. He tells us what we can do… nothing… well not exactly nothing.
Let’s look at verse 6 again: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Notice who is going to do the work, who will carry it on to completion: Is it the preacher? Is it the seminary presidents? Is it political leaders? What about Sunday school teachers?
Paul is confident that “he” who began the good work… or as the NLT makes clear “God” will carry it on to completion.
This is what it means to be Holy, we are trusting in God’s work, his grace not our own strength.
This past week Brandy won the Donnan family reunion 5k… now we have some real speedsters in our family. But the 5k was not based on speed. It was based on guessing your finish time then running without a watch and whoever was closest was the winner.
You had to run in faith and see where you ended up.
In a similar way, we do this with our spiritual life. We set out to run our race but we also know there is a part we just do not know. A part we can just not quite know the timing of. Yet, we will see at the end where we ended up.
So how do we actually do this? We can’t throw away our phones and watches every day.
Well we do it together. I saw one of the coolest formations at the Pinewood middle school game on Thursday. Towards the end of the game Phillip (names of youth changed for privacy) was in at running back and Willie was the QB. For a moment it was just the Glennville Methodist backfield. The GMC package. Two Methodists together moving forward.
Church, there is work to be done… but we do not do it alone. We do it beside each other. And most importantly we do it trusting in God.
The work that he began in you… he knows about it. God has not forgotten about it. Christ just didn’t die on the cross and forget about you. The Holy Spirit just didn’t forget about comforting you in your loss.
No, the one who began this good work is still working. Let us trust in God to do this and keep our eyes open to how He is doing this.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Amen.
All About the Global Methodist Draft Liturgies with Dr. Tesia Mallory – The David Donnan Podcast Season 3 Episode 8
September 30, 2026
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or watch on YouTube.
What are the Global Methodist Church’s draft liturgies, and how can your church use them? Dr. Tesia Mallory joins me for all of the information you could want about the draft liturgies. This is your one-stop conversation about what’s included, how the resources were developed, and how pastors and congregations can participate in the feedback process.
Tesia serves as Dean of Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary and helped lead the drafting and editing process. This special episode, created in partnership with the South Georgia Conference of the Global Methodist Church, offers practical guidance for longtime liturgy lovers and those just getting started.
Show Notes:
Draft liturgies discussed on the podcast:
- Baptism for infants and adults.
- Reaffirmation of baptism and confirmation.
- Holy Communion, including a fuller service, an abbreviated service, and guidance for presiding without a formal written liturgy.
- Resources for laypeople taking previously consecrated Communion elements to those unable to attend church.
- Services of death and resurrection, weddings, and church membership.
Questions we explore:
- Why release draft liturgies and invite feedback from the wider church?
- How do shared prayers help shape our theology and identity as Global Methodists?
- How can historic liturgy and Spirit-led worship work together?
- Where can a pastor or congregation begin using these resources?
- Why should worship leaders practice reading the prayers aloud before leading them?
Resources and further reading:
- Tesia Mallory’s Asbury Seminary biography — Learn about her ministry, education, and work in worship and sacramental theology.
- Reflections on General Conference 2026 by Tesia Mallory — Tesia reflects on leading worship and announces the planned October 1 release of the draft liturgies, followed by a three-month review period.
- The Draft Litrugy
- Reflections on Writing Liturgy for a Denomination — Tesia reflects on the process of leading the writing team and writing liturgy for the Global Methodist Church.
Follow Tesia Mallory:
Whether your next service includes Communion, a baptism, or welcoming new members, this conversation will help you begin exploring the draft liturgies and the faith they help us express.
