UMC Bishops Condemn Live-streaming Execution

I am so glad the Council of Bishops are speaking out against this horrible plan for a live-streamed execution.

“What is happening in the United States is a local test of a global faithfulness … Our Lord himself died by public execution, staged by an empire to display its power and frighten the watching crowd. Christians, of all people, should refuse to gather around such a spectacle again.“

You can find a link to it HERE. Or read the whole pastoral letter below.

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A Pastoral Letter on the Proposed Livestreamed Execution at Fort Hood

From the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church

Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr., President
October 12, 2026

To the people called United Methodists in Africa, Europe, the Philippines, and the United States, and to all who seek the way of Christ:
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.

We write about an event in one nation because it holds up a mirror to all of us. Every society, on every continent where our church lives, is tempted to answer violence with spectacle, to bless national power with the name of God, and to make a whole people pay for the crime of one. What is happening in the United States is a local test of a global faithfulness.

On November 5, 2009, 13 people were killed and more than 30 wounded at Fort Hood, a U.S. Army base in Texas. We grieve with the families of the fallen and with the survivors who still carry wounds in body and spirit. Nidal Hasan has admitted to these killings. He must be held fully accountable, and nothing we say excuses what he did.

The U.S. Department of Defense now plans to execute him by firing squad on December 3 and to livestream the execution to the public (BBC). The Council of Bishops opposes this plan. Turning the death of a human being into a public broadcast does not honor the victims. It coarsens the conscience of a people and contradicts the gospel we proclaim.

Survivor Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times that day, supports the sentence and plans to be present. Yet he has said the public should not watch, out of concern for what it teaches the young (BBC). We honor his witness. Justice for survivors does not require a broadcast to millions.

Across our connection, we know this temptation in many forms: crowds gathered to watch public executions, drug wars waged through killings without trial, mob justice in the street, and leaders who claim Christ while dividing neighbors by faith, tribe, or origin. Wherever death becomes theater, people learn that killing is how power settles things. And a livestream reaches every screen in the world. What one nation broadcasts, the whole world is invited to watch.

"An eye for an eye" was given to limit vengeance, not to license it. In Matthew 5:38–48, Jesus calls us further still: do not answer evil in kind; love your enemies; pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of a God who sends rain on the just and the unjust.

Our Lord himself died by public execution, staged by an empire to display its power and frighten the watching crowd. Christians, of all people, should refuse to gather around such a spectacle again.

The United Methodist Church has long opposed the death penalty, because every life bears God's image and remains within reach of grace. We are grateful that Christian leaders from many traditions have also called this plan "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death" (National Catholic Reporter) and a "public spectacle" that fails to uphold "the dignity of every human being" (CBC).

In the United States and in many nations, some voices fuse Christian faith with national power, treating the cross as a banner for the nation rather than the sign of a crucified Lord who loved his enemies. The church of Jesus Christ belongs to no nation. Our first citizenship is in the reign of God, which gathers people from every tribe and tongue.

Where Christians suffer violence for their faith, we stand with them in prayer and solidarity. Where Christians hold power, we must never use it to make others suffer. Hasan claimed to act in the name of Islam, and our Muslim neighbors must not bear the blame for one man's crime. Neither should migrants and minorities anywhere become the scapegoats of a nation's fear.

John Wesley called the world his parish, and he did not wait for slavery to become unpopular before naming it. In Thoughts Upon Slavery (1774), he declared it "as irreconcilable to justice as to mercy." Days before his death, he urged William Wilberforce to keep opposing "that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion" (Christian History Institute). Wesley knew that when Christians bless cruelty, the scandal falls on religion itself.

We urge U.S. leaders to end plans for a livestreamed execution.

We invite every United Methodist congregation, in every land, to pray for the families of the fallen and the survivors, for our Muslim and migrant neighbors, and for all who hold authority. We can hold evil accountable without becoming what we oppose.

Prayer

God of every nation and every people, comfort the families of the fallen and all who carry the wounds of violence. Guard our hearts from vengeance and our eyes from cruelty. Shield the stranger, the minority, and the migrant from blame and harm. Free your church in every land from false allegiance, and give us the courage of those who came before us to follow your Son, who loved even his enemies.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr.
President, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church

The Parable of the Marshmallows

Grace is Not “Fair”

I grew up with three brothers.

I once asked my mother, “why didn’t you keep trying until you had a girl?” She responded, “honey, after having four boys, it wasn’t worth the risk.”

I suppose we were a handful. We often called each other “punk.” On long trips, conversation in the back seat might degenerate into accusations like, “Mom, Richey’s on my side!” After all, my little brother’s favorite complaint was, “Mom, Stephen’s aggravatin’ me!”

But like so many other kids, we had one complaint that could be heard again and again: “That’s not fair!”

One particular moment stands out in my memory. I’ve been pondering for years, to the point that I now call it my own personal “Parable of the Marshmallows.”

I was about eight years old and Richey was about four. We lived in the parsonage in Sheffield.

One day, my mom gave us a partial bag of little marshmallows—the kind you put in hot chocolate. I suppose they were about to go bad. So she gave them to me and told me to share them with Richey.

I dutifully ran upstairs and set up my little metal card table, placing two cups at our places. I began counting them out (after all, I was determined to be fair!). I’d count “one for me” and put it in my cup, then “one for you” and put it in his. Then he’d eat it. I’d count “two for me” and place it in mine, then “two for you” and he’d eat them. And so on.

So at the end of this exercise in diligent fairness,  my little brother saw that I had a cup full of marshmallows, and he had none. He cried out, “Mom, Steve is keeping all the marshmallows!”

I was so mad. I explained to her in great detail how I had diligently counted them out, and he had eaten his. But she ended up consoling my little brother in tears with some extra marshmallows she had in the pantry.

I bet you know what I had to say about that.

It. Was. Not. Fair.

Over the years, this memory has become my own personal version of Jesus’ Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20.

In the story of Jesus, the landowner hires some workers early in the day and agreed on a day’s wage. Then he went back to the market at 9, at noon, at 3, and even at 5 pm to hire some more. When the early birds saw the latecomers get paid a full day’s wage, their sense of entitlement kicked in. They grumbled when they got the same amount too.

The landowner reminded them they had agreed to the day’s wage, and he had every right to be generous to others. It’s a story about how grace isn’t “fair.” 

Likewise, my eight-year-old self could not see that I had received what was promised in marshmallows. I could have simply been grateful. Instead, I was bothered that my brother received a few more.

And since my mom was dealing with a crying four year old, she had every reason to open that other bag. I couldn’t see it until I was older, but she was such a great mom for doing so. She was a mother of grace.

Whether we are taking about the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, or the Parable of the Marshmallows, that’s the thing about God’s grace. Grace is not “fair.” Grace is free. There’s a difference.

For more of my writing, check out Soul Studio at soulstudioministries.com.

FREE New Confirmation Resource

A NEW CONFIRMATION RESOURCE—and it’s FREE!

Introducing “The Great Tree: A Confirmation Curriculum”

After 36 years as a United Methodist pastor—and walking alongside nearly 500 young people through confirmation—I've written down the curriculum that's been "living in my head" all these years.

The idea behind The Great Tree is simple:  confirmation should be more than a classroom course or a stack of worksheets. It can be an immersive journey—a chance for young people to truly encounter the Christian faith, explore the history of the church, and begin to see their own lives as part of God's great story.

You can download it HERE.

WHY AM I GIVING IT AWAY?

I want The Great Tree in as many hands as possible. The PDF is completely free. If you'd rather purchase a physical copy, a paperback edition is also available on Amazon.

Soul Studio is my new ministry of writing, music, and spiritual formation. If you sign up for the free download, I'll occasionally send along new resources, writing, music, and other things growing out of Soul Studio. And if you decide it's not for you, you can always unsubscribe with a click.

But for now, I hope you'll take a look at The Great Tree—and pass it along to someone who might find it useful.

Steve West

Again, you can download it HERE.

Foreword for My Brother's Book

Before my brother Richmond (with the childhood nickname "Richey") died, he had turned in a final manuscript of his book for editing. In his memory, my family decided to have the book competed.

I wrote this foreword in his memory and was delighted to finish out the book project for him.

If you know anyone who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, this book would be an excellent gift for them. It was written by someone who struggled with the same condition and found a way to live life to its fullest, making peace through his writing.

Here is a copy of the foreword I wrote.

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When I read Richmond’s first book, The Deviants, I was sure it was the wildest thing I had ever read. Yet his subsequent books, Your Yesterday Is My Tomorrow and Witch Hunt, did not fail to take me on voyages through the unconventional. His writing is gripping, if out of the ordinary.

Even as his fourth book, Frozen Ghost, was in the process of publication, Richmond’s life ended too early. He died suddenly of a heart attack after spending the day with family touring the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the “Lynching Memorial,” in Montgomery, Alabama. On his very last day, he was longing for justice, something deeply important to him.

My father, my other brothers, and I decided to honor his life and his memory by following through with his plans to have this book published.

I could tell you about Richmond’s relentless love for God, for Christian theology, for world religions, for philosophy, for social justice, and for the Church. I could tell you about his amazing academic accomplishments. But what I really want to tell you is this. He had a brilliant and beautiful mind.

I sometimes say he could waltz into a room and teach a course in world religions that would knock your socks off, but he might not be able to find his own socks.

This is what inspires me the most about his life. The unfolding of his beautiful mind started when he was teaching and involved in his first doctoral program before mom died eighteen years ago. I say that not to call attention to his suffering, oh no. I say that because more than anyone I know, he was an overcomer.

No matter what the obstacles, he was eternally fascinated with theology and philosophy and loved to find hints of it it in movies and fiction. He refused to stop creating. He finished a Ph.D. at Purdue in philosophy and literature, and this was his proudest moment. He simply loved to write.

I once told him his writing “defied genre.” He took that as a huge compliment, which it was meant to be, and had that phrase placed on the back cover of a subsequent book. The threads he could weave between philosophy, comics, vivid memories, fantasy novels, painful past experiences, science fiction, and theology gave me insight into the beauty of his mind. Writing was his way of making sense of things, of finding peace, and of blessing the world.

As I read this book, I muse on his story of the broken mirror, and Richmond saying, “I just looked at it and it broke!” I know that really happened, for I was the brother who teased him about it for years. I ponder the concept of audio pareidolia he mentions, a symptom of his condition I’m sure he was educated about. I remember the conversations we had about the voice of Diana, who sounded much like our mother, speaking to him from across the stars. As always, I find reminders of the intricate way he wove various threads of his life together through writing. It is truly a tapestry.

I have learned more from my brother Richmond than anyone I have ever known about courage, determination, and relentless creativity. I’m delighted that after that long intellectual and philosophical journey of his beautiful mind, he had unwavering faith. In recent years, he loved going to church and being involved in teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, and ministries of addiction recovery.

He died too early. But my heart is full of gratitude that he died happy, stable, creative, and excited about this book.

Richmond would have been thrilled to know that at his funeral, I would close my brief remarks with the famous quote from Captain Kirk at the funeral of his dear, Vulcan friend Spock. “Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most … human.”

And it was.

Stephen Pierce West

Brother of Richmond Pierce West

YOU MAY FIND THE BOOK "FROZEN GHOST" ON GOODREADS AND AMAZON.

John Archibald’s Recent Column

John Archibald’s recent column rekindles my hope.

It reminds me of an experience I wrote about for the Arab Tribune over a decade ago, after visiting the steps of the Alabama State Capital.

You can read my column in the Arab Tribune HERE.

You can read John Archibald's column in AL.com HERE. 

I was born 4 weeks, to the day, after the March on Montgomery arrived at the capital steps in 1965 to promote the Voting Rights Act (the one that our present-day politicians recently started gutting).

After Obama was elected, and I was filled with such hope, I stood on those steps, right where Jefferson Davis was inaugurated and in view of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church that MLK served. I saw the tree planted from seeds George Wallace sent to the moon. 

Oh, the juxtaposition. I imagined the 1965 march as if I were standing at the crossroads of history. In my one little life, we had gone from the fight for the right to vote unencumbered to a successful Black president.

I have not given up on the hope I felt that day, despite the discouraging white nationalist backlash that has ensued since then in American politics.

I do believe the arc of history bends toward justice, and my own derivative of MLK’s phrase: The arc of Christian history bends toward inclusion.

Practicing the Way Course

Are you hungering for an engaging introduction to the life of intentional spiritual formation?

Look no further.

PRACTICING THE WAY COURSE

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Christian Nationalism

 How relevant for us here. Now.

“It is becoming increasingly clear to me that what we are going to get is a big national church that in its essence can no longer be reconciled with Christianity, and that we must make up our minds to take entirely new paths and follow where they lead. The issue is really Germanism or Christianity, and the sooner the conflict comes out in the open, the better. The greatest danger of all would be in trying to conceal this.”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a letter to his grandmother in 1933