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Breaking News: General Conference postponed to 2022.

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General Church
Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky presides as delegates hone their electronic voting skills during a practice election at the 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore. In response to the Commission on the General Conference’s decision to further postpone the 2020 General Conference until 2022, the Council of Bishops has called a special session of the General Conference to be convened online on May 8, 2021. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.
Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky presides as delegates hone their electronic voting skills during a practice election at the 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore. In response to the Commission on the General Conference’s decision to further postpone the 2020 General Conference until 2022, the Council of Bishops has called a special session of the General Conference to be convened online on May 8, 2021. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

General Conference postponed until 2022
Organizers have postponed the full General Conference, including proposals for a church split, until 2022 when delegates can meet in person. A special one-day, virtual General Conference is planned for May 8.

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Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Clement Kingombe Lutala, Bukavu District superintendent, shares COVID-19 prevention information on Radio Iriba in Bukavu. With the help of the United Front Against Riverblindness, The United Methodist Church in East Congo has led awareness campaigns via community radio in 10 health zones in North and South Kivu. Photo By Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

Church grapples with resurgence of Ebola
As Ebola, COVID-19, malaria and other diseases threaten lives and livelihoods, church leaders in Congo offer assistance.
Mission and Ministry
People seeking shelter from snow and bitter cold are offered Holy Communion in the gymnasium at First United Methodist Church in Hot Springs, Ark. The church is operating the warming shelter in cooperation with the local Red Cross. Photo by Cindy English.

Churches serve as warming centers, shelters
With nearly 3 million homes without electricity in subfreezing temperatures, United Methodists come together to provide shelter, food, charging stations and other help.
General Church
Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the Western Pennsylvania Conference facilitates the U.S. General and Jurisdictional Conference Information Webinar hosted by the United Methodist Council of Bishops on Feb. 13. Screengrab courtesy of United Methodist Communications by UM News.

Scrutinizing the proposed hold on new bishops
United Methodist bishops explained why they recommend delaying U.S. bishop elections until 2024. However, their proposal already faces some pushback.

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General Church
The Rev. Junius B. Dotson records a segment of the “Soul Reset” study series for the Upper Room at United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn., in 2019. Dotson, the top executive of Discipleship Ministries, died Feb. 24, 2021. He was 55. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Discipleship's top executive dies of cancer
Evangelism
The Rev. Tom Berlin (left) presents a copy of his book, “Courage,” to Massachusetts National Guard Chaplain Chad McCabe in the chapel at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington. McCabe, whose unit was assigned to help provide security at the U.S. Capitol after the January riot, contacted Wesley Seminary asking for Bibles, novels and board games for troops stationed there. Photo by Lisa Helfert for Wesley Theological Seminary. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Church responds to chaplain's call to help soldiers
General Church
The pace of groups and individuals issuing statements and opinion pieces about the future of The United Methodist Church has picked up in recent weeks. Globe by OpenClipart-Vectors/Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Church’s future again a hot topic
Mission and Ministry
Vivian Chigweshe sheds tears as she expresses appreciation for her new home in Bikita, Zimbabwe, sponsored by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church. Nearly two years after Cyclone Idai left catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, four families received new homes through the program. Photo by Priscilla Muzerengwa, UM News.

Cyclone survivors receive new houses
General Church
An international group of General Conference delegates invited fellow United Methodists to envision a better way to be the church. Based in part on that feedback, the group is unveiling a new vision map offering ways to make room for all at God’s table. Graphic courtesy of Out of Chaos, Creation.

Delegates map out vision for church future
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Multimedia

Local Church
The Rev. Juhee Lee, Kate Kim and Christine Song on violin, Cheongmoo Kang on bass clarinet, Beverly Rathbun on organ and Da Eun Ryu on piano record free hymns and special music for the Lenten season. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Yohan Go.
The Rev. Juhee Lee, Kate Kim and Christine Song on violin, Cheongmoo Kang on bass clarinet, Beverly Rathbun on organ and Da Eun Ryu on piano record free hymns and special music for the Lenten season. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Yohan Go.

Clergy record free music videos for Lenten season
Two Korean United Methodist clergy shared free hymns and special music that can be used during the Lenten season and on Easter Sunday.

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General Church
Custodian James Jimmerson disinfects pews to prevent any possible spread of the coronavirus at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, May 10, 2020, following online worship, which is recorded in the sanctuary. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

2020: The year in UM News photos
Global Health
Women carry water as the sun rises at Njenjete village near Madisi, Malawi. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

‘Water is Life’ chronicles global struggle for clean water
Faith Sharing
Appalachian Trail chaplain “Chappy Jack” Layfield on the Appalachian Trail in Roan Mountain, Tenn. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Appalachian Trail chaplain shares faith journey in devotional book
Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Carlton R. “Sam” Young is, at 94, still composing and arranging music. Editor of The Methodist Hymnal (1966) and The United Methodist Hymnal (1989), he’s out with a new collection of sheet music called “Today I Live: Hymns and Songs of Remembrance and Hope.” Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

At 94, he’s ‘Mr. Music of United Methodism’
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Commentaries

The Rev. Paul T. Stallsworth. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Paul T. Stallsworth

Can a divided church serve a divided society?
The Rev. Christopher P. Momany. Photo by Kristen Schell.

Reaping a whirlwind: We ignore truth at our peril
The Rev. William B. Lawrence. Photo by H. Jackson/Southern Methodist University.

What would Jesus tell the US Capitol rioters?
The Rev. Reginald E. Lee. Photo courtesy of the South Carolina Conference.

A birthday letter to Martin Luther King Jr.

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Ask The UMC

A portrait of Ida B. Wells-Barnett circa 1893. Photo by Sallie Garrity, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; graphic by Laurens Glass, United Methodist Communications.
A portrait of Ida B. Wells-Barnett circa 1893. Photo by Sallie Garrity, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; graphic by Laurens Glass, United Methodist Communications.

Who are Black women pioneers in US Methodism? (Part 1)
Ida Wells Barnett was a pioneering journalist and Mary McLeod Bethune a pioneering educator.

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Church History
Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. Although Ash Wednesday has ancient roots, it does not appear in the rituals of The United Methodist Church or our predecessor denominations until the 20th century. Photo illustration by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: When did Ash Wednesday begin and why do we celebrate it?
Social Concerns
The Big Garden, founded in 2005 by United Methodist Ministries, cultivates food security by developing community gardens, creating opportunities to serve, and providing education on issues related to hunger. Photo courtesy of biggarden.org.

Ask The UMC: Why do United Methodists observe Human Relations Day?
Mission and Ministry
The Adoration of the Magi tapestry dating from 1894 from the Manchester Metropolitan University, England. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Ask The UMC: How do United Methodists understand Epiphany?
Mission and Ministry
Nativity set from Peru, photographed at the Upper Room Museum in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Mike DuBose, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: Does Christmas have roots in pagan beliefs?
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Categories

Local Church
Stephen Saucerman receives a COVID-19 vaccination from volunteer nurse Jackie Smith, RN, at Community United Methodist Church in Vincennes, Ind. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Churches increase access to COVID-19 vaccines
The Rev. Bob Long speaks Dec. 2, 2020, during Advent at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. The Rev. Long’s Advent and Christmas series was inspired by the memoir of Sanford D. Greenberg, a Jewish philanthropist who has devoted himself to eradicating blindness. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Bob Long.

Blind man’s memoir sparks Advent sermons
The Rev. Junius B. Dotson records a segment of the “Soul Reset” study series for the Upper Room at United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn., in 2019. Dotson, the top executive of Discipleship Ministries, told his staff and board on Jan. 28 that he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but intends to continue to serve as he fights the disease. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Discipleship’s top executive battles cancer
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Evangelism
The Rev. Amy Wilson Feltz, pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in El Paso, Texas, sets up computer equipment to stream a live sermon in the church’s sanctuary in September. Although the pulpit, which is visible on-camera, has the appropriate liturgical color, the banner on the wall was from Lent, when the church had to suspend in-person worship. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Amy Wilson Feltz.

Virtual worship is here for good
United Methodist missionary Innocent Phrytoil Afful and children from the Kinkole Orphanage display gifts they received from a donor. Afful helps care for 475 children at the orphanage in Kinshasa, Congo. Photo courtesy of Innocent Phrytoil Afful.

Church puts love into action amid pandemic
East Congo Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda blesses the new Amani United Methodist Church in Goma, Congo, in October. The church is the 33rd new church built in eastern Congo over the past eight years as part of Unda's "Rise and Build" evangelism campaign. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

Building churches and numbers in East Congo
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Social Concerns
United Nations peacekeepers from Zambia visit with a family while on patrol in the Central African Republic in February, 2020. Following a volatile presidential election there, United Methodists are offering humanitarian aid to people seeking refuge from armed rebels. File photo by Hervé Serefio, United Nations.

Church helps displaced in Central African Republic
Birmingham News columnist John Archibald has a book titled “Shaking the Gates of Hell,” about his United Methodist father, who he thinks did too little to help during the civil rights movement. Photo courtesy of Alfred A. Knopf publishing company.

Book revisits pastor’s reticence on civil rights
The Rev. Susanne Nießner-Brose (right) listens while a 27-year-old Sudanese woman who asked that she be called Fatima relates her story of fleeing Sudan to seek religious freedom in Europe. She was taking asylum in 2017 at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen, Germany, where Nießner-Brose is pastor, and was later accepted as a refugee. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

A less welcoming place for refugees
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Mission and Ministry
Innocent Mushayavanhu (left) and Tariraishe Mubazangi prepare hand sanitizer at The United Methodist Church’s Murewa High School in Murewa, Zimbabwe. “We managed to prepare ministerial-approved sanitizers and face masks for the school of 1,250 learners, 30 workers and 55 teachers,” said Sydney Mapisaunga, the school’s headmaster. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Schools, students struggle with COVID-19 closures
Floodwater from Cyclone Eloise covers much of the ground in Buzi, Mozambique. Four cyclones have hit the country in less than two years. Photo by Eurico Gustavo, UM News.

Amid political unrest, cyclones plague Mozambique
Henry Louis Gates Jr. visits the church he grew up attending, Waldon United Methodist in Piedmont, W.Va., for a scene in the new PBS documentary “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.” Photo courtesy of PBS.

‘Black Church’ film taps United Methodist sources
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General Church
Bishop Skeete, a retired bishop of The United Methodist Church, passed away Feb. 11, 2021. Photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops.

Bishop Skeete, ‘pastor to people,’ dies at 90
The General Conference of The United Methodist Church was originally scheduled to meet last year in Minneapolis. With COVID-19 still a threat, questions remain about whether General Conference can go forward as planned Aug. 29-Sept. 7, whether in Minneapolis or online. Photo by Krivit Photography, courtesy of Meet Minneapolis; image of laptop by Kathryn Price, United Methodist Communications; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

A virtual General Conference faces hurdles
A Scout shows his copy of the United Methodist devotional guide "Strength for Service" to an adult leader at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Glen Jean, W.Va. The General Commission on United Methodist Men supports Scouting and publishes the “Strength for Service” devotional series. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Commissions, UMW adapt to new budget realities
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