Just posted this on the Facebook page of The United Methodist News Service (here)  :

The United Methodist Church, along with all the other denominations and Christian Communities, need to take their cue from Pope Francis and focus on the reformation that is REQUIRED in Christian theology around the globe. The level of threat to which we have brought the world since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution has made it paramount that the churches do an about face from their acquiescence to the “way of the world” that has resulted in unprecedented global ecological change. This seems to be a major social justice isasue (to put it quite mildly). It requires a recovery of the theological realities that communicate to us an unmistakable awareness of our UTTER DEPENDENCE on the ACTUAL “ways of the world”. The “way of the world” against which scripture warns us is the refusal to recognize limits and ignore social impacts upon the poor and vulnerable. And eventually, the impacts upon ALL OF US. The church MUST awaken to this. As we approach the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation of 1517, we now face the reality that we must undergo a reformation every bit as impactful (and then some) as that instigated by Martin Luther. It not only will fuel a political and social revolution that surpasses that of the Protestant Reformation, but it will bring us to an awareness that humankind has been constructing the ultimate Tower of Babel in this fossil-fuel driven world economy. It requires a deeply grassroots movement to confront this massive economic and political juggernaut.