In this episode we hear the perspective of the Philippines, particularly related to the proposed Christmas Covenant and the initiative to regionalize the organization of the United Methodist Church. Regionalization would make the Philippines, Africa, the United States, and Europe into co-equal regions of the United Methodist Church with the authority to make their own Book of Discipline, moral teachings, ordination requirements, and rites of the church.
Our guest is Dr. Luther Oconer, Associate Professor of Global Wesleyan Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Wesleyan/Methodist Studies from Drew University. Last year he was President of the Wesleyan Theological Society and was also the previous editor of the Wesleyan Journal for Religious Studies. He has been an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, an organizer for the Wesleyan Covenant Association in the Philippines, and was recently named as the President Pro Tem of the MEGA MANILA Provisional Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church.
He has written several book chapters and journal articles on the history of global Methodism, the intersection between revival and missions, and the connections between Methodism and Pentecostalism. In 2017, he published his book, Spirit-Filled Protestantism: Holiness-Pentecostal Revivals and the Making of Filipino Methodist Identity. It was awarded the Wesleyan Theological Society’s Timothy L. Smith and Mildred Bangs Wynkoop Book of the Year Award in 2018.
Short Takes on Hot Topics: Methodism in the Philippines