The Holy Leftovers
Welcome to the New 12th Gate
The “Holy Leftovers” are a community of friends seeking to live faithfully in a challenging world. We are a multi-faith group, but many of our roots are in United Methodist connections. We hold differing perspectives, but intend engaging discussion, not raucous debate. Comments are welcome but subject to editing. First time replies are moderated and must be approved, but then comments are posted directly on blog posts and pages.
We are a variety of persons. Some blog, some comment and some just read. Join us on the journey!
Active Bloggers
Andy Bartel – South Dakota. Andy is a student licensed pastor serving a three point charge in the Dakotas Conference of the United Methodist Church, attending a baptist seminary. He gets a little full of his own high-falutin ideas from time to time, and needs to be reminded who is REALLY in charge. He is a lover of hymns and sacramental theology. Andy also blogs at Unknown Traveler.
Liz Bennefeld – Fargo, North Dakota. Liz has worked as a freelance writer and editor since 1984. She attends the Red River Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) and maintains the meeting’s Web site. She earned a B.A. at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., majoring in English and philosophy. Other interests and activities include include photography, a broad range of reading, writing (mostly poetry), computers, amateur radio, and weather spotting. Liz’s personal blog is The Moments Between.
Lorna Blanc – Rohnert Park CA. Lorna is an active leader in the Sebastopol UMC and has recently been part of the team that led the congregation to declare itself a reconciling congregation. Lorna is interested in finding a way to connect with youth, particularly those on the edge, and be able to bring them the good new, hope and God’s love. Lorna’s website is titled Musings along the journey.
Becca Clark – Montpelier, VT. Becca is the pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Montpelier and Grace United Methodist Church in Plainfield, Vermont. A native (but not *real*) Vermonter, she is happy to be in the Green Mountain State and examining how we might be called to be God’s people at work in this little corner of the world. She is a graduate of Boston University School of Theology and also blogs at pastor becca.
Jayson Dobney – New York, NY. Jayson is a musician. He is an active member of the Reconciling Ministries Network and a member of the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew. Interests include empowering young adults within the UM church and utilizing the Arts to effect social change and ministry.
Marty has been actively engaged with religion for most of his 40-plus years of living, save for an 8-year hiatus. Martin earned degrees in history and religious studies from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro; studied at the American Baptist Seminary of the West and the University of California, Berkeley; took a master’s from the University of Chicago Divinity School; and, finally, did doctoral studies in medieval monastic history and taught at the University of South Carolina. Today, Martin runs DavisCommunications, which handles writing and communications work for clients as diverse as those in the telecommunications industry and the non-profit sector. His writings focus on the problems confronting the modern Protestant church, including the decline of the intellectual life, and the churches struggles with making itself and its arguments relevent in an increasingly secular society. Martin blogs at Faith and Fumbles. Contact him at mdavis@daviscommunications.org.
Michael Jennings – Lockesburg, AR. Michael is an active member in the Fellowship of Associate Members & Local Pastors. He currently serves a UMC in Lockesburg. Michael is interested in reading and golf.
John C. Montgomery – Atlanta, Georgia. John is the site administrator and resident dictator for our site. He is an active layperson in Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the Emory campus. He raises funding to fight hunger. John and his late spouse, Judy Sparks Montgomery have given the world two fine sons. Matthew (23) is an artist and teacher in the Atlanta area. Timothy(26) is a chef in training in Tallahassee. John’s personal web journal is Notes From the Balcony and there he is leading an online Bible study titled Taking A Second Look at Mark.
Jack Montgomery – St. Charles, Missouri. Dr. Montgomery is a retired United Methodist clergy. Through the years, he served two terms as District Superintendent in the former Missouri East conference. Jack attended several General and Jurisdictional Conferences and served on the Board of United Methodist Communications.
Dennis Rice is a retired software engineer with a commitment to adapting religious views to a pluralistic, post-modern world. He has been active in the Unitarian Church (UUCA in Atlanta) and the Methodist Church (Druid Hills UMC). He has been studying with a group at UUCA who have been reading many of the books from the Jesus Seminar
James Smith – Pawnee, IL. James is an IT administrator for a small insurance company. In 2007, James started studying Judaism one day and fell in love with the faith tradition. Now James is on the path to convert to Judaism and hopefully will become a Jew by Choice someday. James is married and has a son who was born in January of 2008. His hobbies are studying Judaism, computers, blogging, and his family. James also blogs on his own site, Religiously Challenged.
Norman Suggs – Stephenville, TX. Originally from Fort Worth, Texas. Norman is a fourth generation Texan, his family having lived there since the days of the Republic of Texas. He has been a clergy member of the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church since 1984. He has served churches in Frost, Weatherford, China Spring, Alvarado and currently is the UM campus minister at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Norman’s campus ministry blog is Through the Wilderness. His hobbies are photography, reading, writing, sleeping and mostly playing with his grandchildren. He loves a good story whether it is told to him or spun by him. He is married to Nancy. They have two children, three grandchildren and three dogs.
