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Local Church
Three crosses stand above the cemetery at Israel United Methodist Church near Montrose, W.Va. This year, United Methodist churches are having to show extra creativity in observing Easter and all of Holy Week because of closed buildings and other restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Three crosses stand above the cemetery at Israel United Methodist Church near Montrose, W.Va. This year, United Methodist churches are having to show extra creativity in observing Easter and all of Holy Week because of closed buildings and other restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Churches improvise as different Holy Week looms
With COVID-19 restrictions in place, United Methodists will gather online for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter, keeping the faith in ways old and new.

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General Church
Bishop Sally Dyck presides over a discussion of the church budget during the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. With the next General Conference delayed until 2021, the board of the denomination’s finance agency decided it had no choice but to continue with the apportionment formula approved in 2016. File photo by Maile Bradfield, UM News.

Wrestling with budget after GC2020 postponed
Finance leaders decided they had no choice but to extend the 2016 General Conference’s budget directives. But they also recognize the financial challenges caused by COVID-19.
Mission and Ministry
Susan Logan worships in an empty pew section at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, March 15, 2020, after church leadership encouraged people to worship from home via video livestream in response to the coronavirus. In keeping with the Metropolitan Nashville mayor’s “Safer at Home” directive, the church building has since been closed. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Weddings, funerals altered by virus restrictions
United Methodist funerals, memorial services, weddings are getting postponed or downsized in emergency period.
Chart summarizes and compares proposals to General Conference 2020 about the future of The United Methodist Church. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Comparing plans headed to GC2020
This chart summarizes and compares proposals to General Conference 2020 about the future of The United Methodist Church. The chart does not include plans from individuals and may be updated after all legislation is published.

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Theology and Education
Students and staff practice social distancing in order to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus as they wait to enter the dining hall at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The cafeteria has changed serving and seating arrangements, and meal times have been extended to three hours so those on campus do not all have to be served at the same time. Photo by the Africa University office of Advancement and Public Affairs.

AU shifts to online classes, some students stay on campus
Local Church
Elizabeth Knotts collects the offering at New Hope Valley United Methodist Church in Valley Furnace, W.Va., in 2015. Churches are dealing with tight finances in this time of suspended worship and shuttered businesses because of COVID-19. Still, giving continues. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Pandemic presents challenge to church giving
Evangelism
Lydie Acquah (front) joins in singing during the 10th anniversary celebration for the Voice of Hope (La Voix de l’Espérance), the radio station of The United Methodist Church in Côte d’Ivoire, at Jubilee United Methodist Church in Abidjan. Acquah is the station’s director. Photo by Isaac Broune, UM News.

Voice of Hope radio extends reach in Côte d’Ivoire
Local Church
The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery (center) celebrates his 90th birthday with a song from entertainer Stevie Wonder (right) at the Atlanta Symphony Hall in October 2011. Beside Lowery is his wife Evelyn, who died in 2013. Joseph Lowery died March 27. He was 98. File photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Rev. Joseph Lowery, civil rights leader, dead at 98
Evangelism
The Revs. Eddie Rester (left) and Chris McAlilly produce an episode of “The Weight,” a podcast that discusses serious issues facing The United Methodist Church and society at large. Both are pastors at Oxford University (Miss.) United Methodist Church. Photo courtesy of “The Weight.”

Podcasts give churches ‘germ-free’ way to minister
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Multimedia

Mission and Ministry
Ruth Moreno shows her brother, Lino, how to keep his hands warm as the sun rises behind them on the Santa Fe Bridge over the Rio Grande in Juárez, Mexico. They make the two-hour cross-border journey each school day to attend the United Methodist Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Foto por Mike DuBose, Noticias MU.

Lydia Patterson Institute is a dream maker for young students
The United Methodist college-preparatory school is supported by the South Central Jurisdiction and many local churches and individuals provide scholarships.

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Social Concerns
Bishop Woodie W. White (center) crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, during the 50th anniversary observance in 2015 of Bloody Sunday. With him are his wife, Kim (right), Ruby Shinhoster and Beth Clarke. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

A look back at Bloody Sunday’s 50th anniversary
General Church
Jorge João Novo lifts a wooden pole into place to help secure an emergency tarp over his home after the roof was peeled off by Cyclone Idai in Buzi, Mozambique. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

2019: The year in UM News photos
Local Church
“Faithful Giving in a Time of Change,” a roundtable discussion of connectional giving in The United Methodist Church, is a video resource designed for local congregations to help explain the role of giving in the church. Panelists were (from left) Christine Dodson, the Rev. Reginald Clemons, John Pearce, the Rev. Lyssette Perez, the Rev. Dennis Shaw and panel moderator Vicki Brown. Photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Faithful Giving in a Time of Change
Mission and Ministry
L. Dale Patterson, archivist-records administrator at the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, examines film, one of thousands of carefully filed items at the agency housed on the campus of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. A 2013 file photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Taking church archives from hi-fi to Wi-Fi
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Commentaries

The Rev. Thomas Kim. Photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News

Enforced COVID-19 isolation recalls days in prison
The Rev. Knut Refsdal. Photo by Karl A. Ellingsen

God’s role in times of crisis
The Rev. William B. Lawrence. Photo by H. Jackson/Southern Methodist University.

Possible steps after General Conference delay
The Rev. Michael Kurtz. Photo by Robert Louis Kelsey, courtesy of the Western North Carolina Conference.

Loss always comes with separation, divorce
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Ask The UMC

Worship
Bible scholar Paul Franklyn helps lead the Friendship Sunday school class of Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., by video conference Sunday, March 15, 2020, after church leadership encouraged people to worship from home in response to the coronavirus. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Bible scholar Paul Franklyn helps lead the Friendship Sunday school class of Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., by video conference Sunday, March 15, 2020, after church leadership encouraged people to worship from home in response to the coronavirus. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Ask The UMC: How can we be in ministry when we cannot be together?
While nothing replaces being physically together in ministry, there are tools to help us remain connected when it is impossible for us to meet safely.

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Local Church
The Rev. Eric Folkerth, senior pastor of Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas is recorded with a cell phone during a service March 15. The church is livestreaming their services on Facebook due to the coronavirus or COVID0-19. Photo by Brett Shipp, courtesy of Kessler Park United Methodist Church.

Ask The UMC: How can we livestream worship legally?
General Conference
Spare voting machines rest on a table at the 2019 United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Ask The UMC: How are decisions made at General Conference?
Theology and Education
Lent is a journey of preparation for following the way of Jesus. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: What is Lent and why does it last forty days?
General Conference
Bishop Warner H. Brown preaches at the opening worship for the United Methodist 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore. File photo by Maile Bradfield, UM News.

Ask The UMC: How are General Conference delegates chosen?
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Categories

Local Church
The Rev. Lea Matthews (left), associate pastor of St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church in New York City, offered a “Message for All Ages” about worry in a recent YouTube video, along with her daughter Nora. Churches are using creative ways to connect with and reassure children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Video image courtesy of St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church.

Helping children during the COVID-19 crisis
North Rose United Methodist Church, in North Rose, N.Y., is using social media for worship and for small group meetings during the coronavirus threat. Photo courtesy of North Rose United Methodist Church.

Small churches undaunted by virus challenges
The Friendship Sunday school class of Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., meets online Sunday, March 15, 2020, after church leadership encouraged people to worship from home in response to the coronavirus. Image courtesy of Susan Hay.

Churches overcome social distancing to continue outreach
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Evangelism
The Rev. Josephat Banda congratulates his new district superintendent of diaspora, The Rev. Stephen Mukata (center), as Mukata’s wife, Perpetua Mukata, looks on at Old Mutare Mission in Mutare, Zimbabwe, during his appointment in 2018. Mukata oversees diaspora in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Zimbabwe church keeps diaspora connected
The congregation of Glen-View East United Methodist Church celebrates in worship at the Tichagarika Shopping Center in Harare, Zimbabwe. The church holds lunch-hour services at the market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Photo by the Rev. Taurai Emmanuel Maforo, UM News.

Preaching the Gospel in busy marketplace
The Rev. Jason Martens (left) holds a baby during a baptism at Celebration United Methodist Church in Brandon, South Dakota. This is Martens’ second restart. During his tenure at Unite Church in Salem, South Dakota, attendance increased from 25 to 115. Photo courtesy of Celebration United Methodist Church, Brandon, South Dakota Facebook page.

The difficult process of church restarts
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Social Concerns
United Methodist Bishops Tracy S. Malone (left) LaTrelle Easterling (center) and Gregory V. Palmer take part in a panel discussion on major structural changes being proposed to General Conference and the views of black United Methodist leaders during the Black Methodists for Church Renewal meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Photo by John W. Coleman.

BMCR focuses on separation plans, leadership views
Art from the book “By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, The Father of Gospel Music,” written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Bryan Collier. The story page includes the text, “I still heard spirituals of long ago, Remembered how they moved me so. Hardships woven into hymns I wrote — Every lyric, every note.” Image courtesy of Simon & Shuster.

Spotlighting black heroes in children’s books
People who had submitted briefs to the United Methodist Judicial Council pray prior to a May 2018 oral hearing in Evanston, Ill. From left are the Rev. Keith Boyette, Stephanie Henry, Bishop Scott Jones, John Lomperis and Thomas E. Starnes. Boyette, Jones and Lomperis were among 28 United Methodists who signed a statement from a meeting in Atlanta about the formation of a new traditionalist denomination. File photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

8 bishops join in planning new denomination
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Mission and Ministry
A delegate handles prayer beads during prayer at the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. With the coronavirus delaying the 2020 General Conference, church leaders hope United Methodists can experience more time to pray and be the church. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

In GC2020 delay, leaders see needed pause
The Minneapolis Convention Center — scheduled to host the 2020 General Conference — announced it is now canceling gatherings of 50 or more people through May 10. The decision comes as General Conference organizers already were considering postponement. Photo by Dan Anderson, courtesy of Meet Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Church leaders postpone 2020 General Conference
A visitor to United Methodist Mercy Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone, washes his hands at a wash station before entering the hospital on March 16. Amid coronavirus concerns, the use of handwashing stations, previously used during the country’s fight against Ebola, has been stepped up in public places, including hospitals, banks and schools. Photo by Phileas Jusu, UM News.

Ebola offers lessons in fighting coronavirus in Sierra Leone
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General Church
Bishop Pedro M. Torio Jr., Baguio Area, Philippines, takes part in the Spring 2017 meeting of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries at its Atlanta headquarters. The coronavirus outbreak prohibited Torio and his fellow board members from gathering there for their most recent meeting. Instead, they met online March 20. File photo by Cynthia Mack, Global Ministries.

No travel? Not a problem for mission board
Clergy members bless the elements of Holy Communion during the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. The Commission on the General Conference met March 21 to discuss next steps after coronavirus concerns forced the postponement of this year’s legislative assembly. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Updated: Looking at new General Conference dates
Filipino bishops Ciriaco Q. Francisco (from left), Pedro Torio Jr., Rodolfo A. Juan and Emerito Nacpil (retired) pray during a 2013 meeting of the Council of Bishops. In response to the coronavirus, the active bishops postponed 17 annual conferences in the Philippines indefinitely. File photo by Andrew Jensen.

Coronavirus disrupts 17 Filipino annual conference sessions
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