Connections back issues listed by topic
Barbara's purpose and journey
Christian discipleship and church purpose
Dealing with disagreement
Dealing with diversity
Gender roles and sexuality
Increasing churches' effectiveness
Jesus
Lay and clergy roles
Life in the institutional church
Personal growth and change
Social issues
Tradition and the need to update church methods
Worship
All back issues are available from Barbara at $5 for a year's issues or a dozen issues from a mixture of dates. For fewer issues, pay whatever amount you consider appropriate. Mail your check to Barbara at 505 Cherokee Drive, Temple TX 76504, letting her know which back issues you want.
Back issues shown below with hyperlinks are available on this web site at no cost.
Connections is not copyrighted, because Barbara's aim is to reach as many church members as possible in order to stimulate discussion and thought about the topics she writes about. You therefore are welcome to make copies of Connections. Many recipients do, for distribution to friends, Sunday School classes, and other church groups.
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Barbara's purpose and journey |
| Nov. '92 - We're connected—Barbara tells who she is and why she is writing Connections | |
| Nov. '93 - Our stories connect us, but telling them is scary | |
| Nov. '95 - Looking back, looking forward—Barbara reviews her main concerns about the church |  |
| Nov. '98 - Birthdays—times for growing | |
| Nov. '99 - A personal story—Barbara's favorite scriptures and the story of her spiritual journey | |
| Mar. '00 - The insider-outsider gap | |
| July '00 - Sharing spiritual family trees | |
| Aug. '00 - Seeing how faith grows | |
| Nov. '00 - Journeys, physical and spiritual | |
| Jan. '01 - Pilgrims, tourists, and wise travelers in search of God | |
| May '01 - Which worldview do you choose? |  |
| June '01 - Why Connections? | |
| Aug. '02 - Food for the journey--favorite books | |
| Oct. '02 - Ten years of Connections | |
| Dec. '03 - Why I Am a Christian | |
| Jan. '04 - Why I Am a United Methodist | |
| Oct. '04 - Thinking about prayer | |
| March '06 - The shock of the truth | |
| Oct. '06 - Leaving without leaving | |
| Aug. '08 - Rethinking Connections |
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Personal growth and change |
| Feb. '93 - Kindred spirits—God speaks to us through other people | |
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Apr. '93 - Step into new life—a tiny step can be crucial |
| Sept. '93 - Prayer in a busy world | |
| July '94 - We can't stop with what we learned in kindergarten | |
| Sept. '94 - God speaks through our dreams | |
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Sept. '95 - Reading under the eye of God |
| Sept. '96 - A desert journey | |
| Dec. '99 - The most important holiday for Christians | |
| May '00 - Letting our lives speak | |
| July '00 - Sharing spiritual family trees | |
| August '00 - Seeing how faith grows | |
| November '00 - Journeys, physical and spiritual | |
| January '01 - Pilgrims, tourists, and wise travelers in search of God | |
| March '01 - Ideas for reading | |
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May '01 - Which worldview do you choose? |
| Aug. '03 - The journey toward mature faith | |
| Sept. '03 - Walking a path to God | |
| Dec. '03 - Why I Am a Christian | |
| Feb. '05 - The search for the Real | |
| May '05 - Wisdom—a life-transforming tradition | |
| June '06 - Empowered by God to resist | |
| Nov. '07 - A vision that became reality—"Living the Questions" |
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Christian discipleship and church purpose |
| July '93 - A pebble can be powerful when used for God |  |
| Dec. '93 - The church and the world | |
| June '94 - God's priorities and ours | |
| Mar. '96 - Who qualifies as a Christian? | |
| May '98 - A challenge—summarizing Christianity | |
| July '00 - Sharing spiritual family trees | |
| Aug. '00 - Seeing how faith grows | |
| Sept. '00 - Money talk--taboo for churches but not for God |  |
| Oct. '00 - What to do with money--an easy question or a hard one? | |
| July '01 - Joining what God chooses to bless | |
| July '02 - Patriotism and Christianity | |
| Jan. '03 - Who's entitled to throw stones? | |
| May '03 - Should culture and the arts matter to Christians? | |
| Sept. '03 - Walking a path to God | |
| Dec. '03 - Why I Am a Christian | |
| Feb. '04 - Prophetic voices in the wilderness (The Unauthorized Bible) | |
| Oct. '04 - Thinking about prayer | |
| Feb. '05 - The search for the Real | |
| Jan. '06 - A welcome book about prayer | |
| Apr. '06 - Giving money to God | |
| Sept. '06 - Making disciples | |
| Oct. '06 - Leaving without leaving | |
| Nov. '06 - Purpose driven? Undriven? | |
| Feb. '07 - Signposts of renewal | |
| Mar. '07 - More signposts of renewal | |
| Apr. '07 - Our pictures of God—reasonable, or just comfortable? | |
| June '07 - What makes someone a Christian? |  |
| Aug. '07 - Empire, then and now | |
| Sept. '07 - Empire—still present today | |
| Oct. '07 - Empire and the realm of God | |
| Nov. '07 - A vision that became reality—"Living the Questions" | |
| Jan. '08 - Hearing the spiritually homeless |
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Jesus |
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Dec. '94 - Here comes Jesus! |
| Aug. '95 - Finding the real Jesus | |
| July '99 - Picturing Jesus | |
| Aug. '99 - Jesus talk and Jesus pictures—helpful for some but not for all | |
| Dec. '00 - What would Jesus do? | |
| Aug. '07 - Empire, then and now | |
| Mar. '08 - Jesus's politics and ours | |
| Apr. '08 - Using the strategies Jesus used |
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Tradition and the need to update church methods |
| Mar. '93 - Tradition—it can lead us to God or away from God | |
| Oct. '93 - What century is this? Christians don't seem to know | |
| Oct. '94 - Who's feeding today's sheep? We often offer things they can't recognize as food | |
| Nov. '94 - Broadcasting and narrowcasting—many of our methods are guaranteed to reach only a few people | |
| July '95 - What do these stones mean? |  |
| May '96 - Our traditions aren't God | |
| Aug. '96 - The language of heart, spirit, and hope | |
| Nov. '96 - New ways of being the church | |
| Dec. '96 - Reminders of the early church | |
| Apr. '99 - Kicking harmful church habits | |
| June '99 - Sending horses against tanks | |
| Feb. '01 - Fundamentalism in the church | |
| May '01 - Which worldview do you choose? |  |
| Sept. '02 - Communion, change, and community | |
| Nov. '02 - Standing by a river, dying of thirst | |
| May '04 - Surviving through thick and thin | |
| March '06 - The shock of the truth | |
| May '06 - What kind of God? | |
| Feb. '07 - Signposts of renewal | |
| Nov. '07 - A vision that became reality—"Living the Questions" | |
| Feb. '08 - Nets that can't hold water—images for God |
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Increasing churches' effectiveness |
| Jan. '95 - God calls us into community | |
| Mar. '95 - The church can learn from business | |
| June '95 - Rocking the church boat | |
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June '96 - Silence isn't always golden |
| July '96 - Making conversation | |
| Apr. '97 - We want members, but why? | |
| July '97 - Making what's important interesting | |
| Aug. '97 - Evaluating effectiveness | |
| Oct. '97 - Challenges to the church | |
| Nov. '97 - A golden opportunity for the church | |
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Mar. '98 - Spiritual discernment in the church |
| Apr. '98 - Discernment—connecting faith claims with church life | |
| June '98 - Help for today's churches, from John Wesley | |
| July '98 - Conference—Christian conversation | |
| Aug. '98 - Accentuating the positive | |
| Sept. '98 - Dialogue, discussion, debate, discernment | |
| Apr. '01 - Finding hope in change | |
| July '01 - Joining what God chooses to bless | |
| Feb. '02 - The missing misfits | |
| Nov. '02 - Standing by a river, dying of thirst | |
| Jan. '05 - Reaching today's people | |
| Feb. '07 - Signposts of renewal | |
| Mar. '07 - More signposts of renewal | |
| May '07 - Vital signs | |
| Nov. '07 - A vision that became reality—"Living the Questions" |
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Worship |
| Feb. '94 - "Do this in remembrance of me" |  |
| Mar. '94 - Many ways to worship | |
| Oct. '96 - What makes worship effective? How does using the lectionary help? | |
| Mar. '97 - The worship wars |  |
| Jan. '99 - Thinking about worship | |
| Feb. '99 - The church's most important activity | |
| Mar. '99 - What's missing from our worship? | |
| Oct. '01 - Disaster raises questions | |
| Feb. '02 - The missing misfits | |
| Sept. '02 - Communion, change, and community | |
| May '04 - Surviving through thick and thin | |
| Oct. '04 - Thinking about prayer | |
| Aug. '05 - A disturbing disconnection | |
| Sept. '05 - Connecting with worship | |
| Oct. '05 - Personalities influence worship | |
| Nov. '05 - Worship at different stages of faith | |
| Dec. '05 - Seeking community and truth | |
| May '06 - What kind of God? | |
| Oct. '06 - Leaving without leaving | |
| Dec. '06 - Worship that revives | |
| June '08 - Welcoming worship for today |
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Lay and clergy roles |
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Aug. '93 - Lay Christians at work |
| Aug. '94 - Lay voices in the church | |
| Apr. '95 - A letter to a beginning pastor | |
| Oct. '98 - By our love or by our clothing? | |
| Sept. '01 - Sermons--views from a pro | |
| March '05 - Loving and serving—pastors' first responsibility? |
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Life in the institutional church |
| Dec. '92 - If I were a Bishop |  |
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| Jan. '93 - Power in the church | ||
| May '93 - Insiders and outsiders in the church | ||
| Apr. '94 - Sunday School | ||
| Feb. '95 - Seminaries—the church's seed beds |  |
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| May '95 - Who will speak for the church? (electing United Methodist General Conference delegates) | ||
| Apr. '96 - Christians in ministry (United Methodist Church General Conference issues) | ||
| May '97 - Two different systems (United Methodist clergy appointments and Annual Conference sessions) |
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| June '97 - Two different reactions (to May '97 contents) | ||
| Sept. '97 - Following the party line | ||
| Feb. '98 - Religious tourists or real Christians? | ||
| May '99 - A dangerous policy—refusing to let church members have lists of representatives to church decision-making bodies |  |
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| Jan. '00 - Y2K—a time for seeing clearly | ||
| Mar. '00 - The insider-outsider gap | ||
| Apr. '00 - Hearing all the voices | ||
| June '00 - Choosing bishops--whom shall we send? | ||
| Aug. '01 - Thinking about sermons | ||
| Sept. '01 - Sermons--views from a pro |  |
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| Feb. '02 - The missing misfits | ||
| Apr. '02 - Christian misfits--lifelines for each other | ||
| May '02 - The most divisive issue for Christians | ||
| June '02 - Misfits again | ||
| Jan. '03 - Who's entitled to throw stones? | ||
| Apr. '03 - Affirming and dissenting |  |
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| June '03 - Anger in the church | ||
| July '03 - Responding to anger in the church | ||
| October '03 - Looking at what connects us | ||
| November '03 - The unheard minority | ||
| January '04 - Why I am a United Methodist | ||
| March '04 - Dropping out, staying in | ||
| April '04 - Covenants with God and each other | ||
| July '04 - Mainline or margins? | ||
| August '04 - Joining God on the margins | ||
| September '04 - Personal stories in the church | ||
| November '04 - Seeing the Bible with open eyes | ||
| March '05 - Loving and serving—pastors' first responsibility? | ||
| April '05 - What is effectiveness? | ||
| June '05 - Vitality in turmoil | ||
| Dec. '05 - Seeking community and truth | ||
| Feb. '06 - Churches hiding truth | ||
| Aug. '06 - Church conflict--how can we help? |  |
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| Sept. '06 - Making disciples | ||
| Jan. '07 - Wrappings, old and new | ||
| Feb. '07 - Signposts of renewal | ||
| Mar. '07 - More signposts of renewal | ||
| Dec. '07 - What should seminaries do? | ||
| Sept. '08 - Connections readers speak | ||
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Dealing with disagreement |
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Jan. '94 - When Christians disagree |
| May '94 - Christians aren't God's police force | |
| Oct. '95 - Heresy | |
| Dec. '97 - Conflict in the church | |
| Jan. '98 - Uncontrollable voices | |
| Dec. '98 - Searching for unity | |
| Feb. '02 - The missing misfits | |
| Apr. '02 - Christian misfits--lifelines for each other | |
| May '02 - The most divisive issue for Christians | |
| June '02 - Misfits again | |
| Jan. '03 - Who's entitled to throw stones? | |
| Feb. '03 - A great separation | |
| Mar. '03 - Connecting religion with reality | |
| May '04 - Surviving through thick and thin | |
| June '04 - Pebbles and steamrollers | |
| July '06 - Becoming the healers we need | |
| Aug. '06 - Church conflict--how can we help? |
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Dealing with diversity |
| June '93 - God creates us with differences |  |
| Jan. '97 - Today's generation gaps | |
| Feb. '97 - Generation X— Christian or unknown? | |
| Sept. '99 - All spirituality isn't the same | |
| May '00 - Letting our lives speak | |
| Oct. '01 - Disaster raises questions |  |
| Nov. '01 - What kind of school prayer? | |
| Dec. '01 - Christians relating to other religions | |
| Jan. '02 - Pluralism--sinful or faithful? | |
| Feb. '02 - The missing misfits | |
| Apr. '02 - Christian misfits--lifelines for each other | |
| May '02 - The most divisive issue for Christians |  |
| June '02 - Misfits again | |
| Apr. '03 - Affirming and dissenting | |
| Nov. '04 - Seeing the Bible with open eyes | |
| Feb. '05 - The search for the Real | |
| Oct. '05 - Personalities influence worship | |
| Nov. '05 - Worship at different stages of faith | |
| Dec. '05 - Seeking community and truth | |
| July '07 - A time that changed the world |
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Gender roles and sexuality |
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Dec. '95 - Women aren't second-class people in God's sight |
| Jan. '96 - God isn't one of the guys | |
| Feb. '96 - Seeking God's will about homosexuality | |
| June '04 - Pebbles and steamrollers | |
| August '04 - Joining God on the margins |
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Social issues
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