United Methodist News Service

"Your official source of comprehensive information and news about The United Methodist Church."

Top Story

The Rev. Wayne Dickert guides a raft down the Nantahala River near Bryson City, N.C. A 1996 U.S. Olympic kayaker and pastor of Bryson City United Methodist Church, Dickert has conducted riverside services beside the Nantahala for the past 15 years. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Ministry on the river celebrates 15 years

The Rev. Wayne “Wayner” Dickert, a 1996 U.S. Olympic kayaker and pastor, runs a riverside worship service in North Carolina. Their collection money supports clean water projects in Haiti.

Editor's Picks

Mission and Ministry

Tackilar Mawoneke holds one of the chickens she received in a partnership between United Methodists in Zimbabwe’s Makoni Buhera District and Indiana’s Northwest District. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Sisters in ministry nurture one another

United Methodists in Zimbabwe’s Makoni Buhera District and Indiana’s Northwest District share food, prayer support and the blessing of friendship.

Social Concerns

Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan pick through debris piled up by the storm in Tacloban, Philippines, in 2013 while looking for their lost possessions. Young Methodists from around the globe are working together to fight global warming and have focused on equipping vulnerable communities on the front lines of climate change with the resources they need to adapt to the changing world. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Young Methodists raising climate change awareness

Young Methodists have taken it upon themselves to educate as many people as possible about the danger of climate change and ways to combat it. The effort is called Climate Justice for All, or CJ4A.

Annual Conferences

2021 United Methodist annual conference reports

UM News posts the official summaries filed by annual conferences from around the connection. Find the latest reports on our archive page.

Latest

General Church

Bishop Daniel Wandabula, the resident bishop of the East Africa Episcopal Area, gives the conference welcome message during the 2019 Kenya-Ethiopia Annual Conference in Meru, Kenya. The General Council on Finance and Administration board denied the bishop’s request for an emergency grant and urged him to address longstanding auditing issues. File photo by Gad Maiga, UM News.

Bishop urged to resolve auditing issues

Theology and Education

A man breaks a window as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Discipleship Ministries is offering a new Courageous Conversations resource to help United Methodists talk about Christian nationalism in a respectful way. REUTERS/Leah Millis.

Discussing Christian nationalism — carefully

Social Concerns

Anoziva Sisimayi and her son Kudzai Gombakomba receive a goat from the Rev. Austern Chepiri in Mujaji, Zimbabwe. A goat breeding program sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church has helped more than 100 orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe. Photo by Pastor Hillary Mukahanana.

Goat-breeding program benefits vulnerable children

Local Church

A volunteer holds an umbrella for a woman at Crosspoint, a United Methodist church in Niceville, Fla. Ninety percent of the congregation at its South Crestview campus volunteers in some capacity. Video image courtesy of Crosspoint via Vimeo by UM News.

Volunteerism is a priority at Florida church

Church Leadership

The Rev. H. Eddie Fox reads the gospel lesson during morning worship at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Fox, a longtime director of World Methodist Evangelism, died July 28, 2021, at age 83. File photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Rev. Eddie Fox, evangelism pioneer, dies

Human Rights

We Are One Family: Personal Encournters with Racism is a series of commentaries of personal experience with racism and the intersection of faith and justice. Hands image by truthseeker08 courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

We Are God's Family: Personal Encounters with Racism

Sign up for our newsletter!

UMNEWS-SUBSCRIPTION

Help us celebrate the Power of Communication!

This essential work requires financial support. If you believe in our mission, consider a tax-deductible donation of $10-$50-$100 to the work of UMNews through the UMCom Foundation.