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Social Concerns
The Rev. Isaac Collins, a United Methodist pastor, co-leads a Bible study, “Swords into Plowshares: What the Bible says about injustice, idolatry, and repentance,” at the base of the Robert E. Lee statue on Market Street Park, Charlottesville, Va., on June 11, 2020. The steeple of First United Methodist Church is visible over the trees in the background. In 2019, Collins and the Rev. Phil Woodson first offered the Bible study using Confederate statues as sites and subject matter. Photo by Phil Woodson.
The Rev. Isaac Collins, a United Methodist pastor, co-leads a Bible study, “Swords into Plowshares: What the Bible says about injustice, idolatry, and repentance,” at the base of the Robert E. Lee statue on Market Street Park, Charlottesville, Va., on June 11, 2020. The steeple of First United Methodist Church is visible over the trees in the background. In 2019, Collins and the Rev. Phil Woodson first offered the Bible study using Confederate statues as sites and subject matter. Photo by Phil Woodson.

Seeing removal of statues as ‘doing no harm’
United Methodists in Virginia and North Carolina are among those calling for Confederate monuments to be moved away from public spaces.

Editor's Picks

Evangelism
Everlyne Kukah Esther, an Africa University student from Kenya, hands over food to Charity Chikukwa, a beneficiary of the Feed a Family program in Gimboki, Zimbabwe. The Rev. Joseph Charinge (red shirt) and AU student Fiston Okito from Congo look on. Esther and her classmates started the campaign to help vulnerable families struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo by Chenayi Kumuterera, UM News.

AU students skip meals to feed struggling families
A group of international students at the United Methodist university has started a Feed a Family campaign to donate food and money to communities in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Paul Escamilla takes to the pulpit at Lauren Heights United Methodist Church, in San Antonio, on June 14. The church reopened for in-person worship that Sunday but closed again the following Sunday and has remained closed because of high COVID-19 case numbers locally. Photo by David Smith, courtesy of Laurel Heights United Methodist Church.

Virus spikes close doors again at some churches
Decision to reopen for in-person worship is being reversed in areas with sharply rising COVID-19 numbers.
Evangelism
Mundenda United Methodist Church in the Mutasa Nyanga District of Zimbabwe holds small classes outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic to social distance and avoid the need for sanitizing the sanctuary, which can be costly. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Turning to Wesley’s class model amid pandemic
Churches in Zimbabwe embrace small sessions to keep attendance in check and encourage spiritual growth at home.

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Worship
The Rev. Tom Hudspeth of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church leads a Wednesday night Zoom devotional and prayer gathering in American Sign Language. It’s one way that the Dallas church, which has a long history in Deaf ministries, has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Sam Hodges, UMNS.

Deaf ministries navigate COVID-19 challenges
Mission and Ministry
Rudo Sarah Mazamani, a United Methodist farmer in Headlands, Zimbabwe, uses a tippy-tap foot pedal device to wash her hands. The hands-free device is more hygienic than a traditional water tap. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Africans rely on survival skills to fight COVID-19
Global Health
Dr. Antoinette Williams secures a sample swab from a patient at a drive-thru testing site for COVID-19 at St. Luke Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tenn. Williams is a resident at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. Volunteer teams from the United Methodist-related school have been offering free testing at area churches on Saturdays. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Meharry faces off with COVID-19
Mission and Ministry
A $2 million gift from Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, helped construct a new student union building at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The building was dedicated July 20. Fall semester classes at the United Methodist university will begin online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Africa University.

Africa University shifts fall semester online
Local Church
Linda Dobbyn, a parishioner at Vincennes First United Methodist Church in Vincennes, Ind., uses a new service called Sermon by Phone to listen to a sermon by the Rev. Matt Swisher titled “Leading by Serving.” Photo by Richard Dobbyn.

Churches weigh options to reach seniors
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Multimedia

Worship
Michael Vaughn, director of music ministry at A&M United Methodist Church in College Station, Texas, has directed and edited virtual choir videos, including with his church’s children’s choir. United Methodist music ministers are coming up with creative ways to keep music going and keep choir members engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Michael Vaughn.
Michael Vaughn, director of music ministry at A&M United Methodist Church in College Station, Texas, has directed and edited virtual choir videos, including with his church’s children’s choir. United Methodist music ministers are coming up with creative ways to keep music going and keep choir members engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Michael Vaughn.

Pandemic challenges music ministers, choirs
With singing identified as a spreader of COVID-19, there’s a scramble to keep church music going and choir members engaged.

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Mission and Ministry
A well pad for a hydraulically fractured gas well lies at the end of a gravel access road near Plum Run, W.Va. Aerial photography flight courtesy of SouthWings.

Photo Feature: Preaching creation care in the land of fracking
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.

Lydia Patterson Institute is a dream maker for young students
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
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
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Commentaries

Bishop Joel Martinez. Photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops.

Daniel Rodríguez left legacy of servant leadership
Minju Cindy Oh. Photo courtesy of Minju Cindy Oh.

Korean peninsula and 'Amazing Grace with Peace'
The Rev. David Maldonado. Video image courtesy of IMU Latina (Iglesia Metodista Unida Latina) via YouTube by UM News.

Dangerous combination: Virus, poverty, immigration
The Rev. John Oda, director of the Asian American Language Ministry Program, Global Ministries. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

COVID-19 support for Asian American churches
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Ask The UMC

The word shalom is Hebrew for peace and describes harmony between humanity and all of God's good creation. Photo by RÜŞTÜ BOZKUŞ, courtesy of Pixabay.
The word shalom is Hebrew for peace and describes harmony between humanity and all of God's good creation. Photo by RÜŞTÜ BOZKUŞ, courtesy of Pixabay.

Ask The UMC: What does ‘peace’ mean in the Bible?
The Hebrew word “shalom” is translated as “peace.” In the Bible, shalom does not mean feeling calm or without conflict, but rather it is the result of right relationships with God, one another and creation, writes Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications.

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Theology and Education
A portrait of John Wesley standing in a graveyard is on display at the Museum of Methodism located beneath Wesley's Chapel in London. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: What would John Wesley think about the critical issues of our time?
Aerial view of the Duke University Chapel in the center of the Duke campus in Durham, N.C. Completed in 1932, this gothic-style chapel seats over 1,800 people and stands 210 feet, making it one of the tallest buildings in Durham County. Photo by Estlin Haiss Photography. Haiss is a graduate of Duke University.

Ask The UMC: Where do church terms like narthex and nave come from?
Theology and Education
National Child Labor Committee collection by Lewis Wickes-Hine, courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

Ask The UMC: Why do we have Social Principles? Where did they come from?
Mission and Ministry
The Old Rectory in Epworth, England was built in 1709 following the "Great Fire" and was the home of John and Charles Wesley along with their parents and siblings. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Ask the UMC: Where is John Wesley's birthplace?
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Categories

Local Church
The Rev. John Edgar, executive director of Community Development for All People in Columbus, Ohio, adds a gallon of milk to a food box packed for one of the hundreds of customers who get food each day from the organization. Photo courtesy of Community Development for All People.

‘Triple whammy’ of issues challenges pastors
A view of the Granger, Ind., campus of Granger Community Church, which has left The United Methodist Church. It has been one of the denomination’s largest and best-attended churches, but leaders wanted to control who would be the next pastor. Photo courtesy of Granger Community Church.

Indiana megachurch leaves denomination
A woman in protective gear holds out a swab to a woman who has come for COVID-19 testing at Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Cars lined up early for the June 29 opportunity. Photo by Matt Jacob, North Texas Conference.

Church parking lots fill for COVID-19 testing
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Evangelism
United Methodist clergywomen pray with patients and staff at Primary Health Care Center, a government-run maternity clinic in Karim Lamido, Nigiera, during an outreach visit in July. Photo by Ramson Danjuma.

Women clergy extend hand to patients, prisoners
The Rev. Rosemary Iseren, pastor of Dirakho United Methodist Church in Busia, Kenya, is preaching to her congregants in their homes and rural villages during the coronavirus pandemic. She dubbed the outreach “D2D,” and other pastors in the region have followed her lead. Photo by Gad Maiga, UM News.

Kenyan pastors take worship door to door
Ruth Moreno (in red sweatshirt) and her brother, Lino, make their way to school as the sun rises behind them on the Santa Fe Bridge over the Rio Grande in Juárez, Mexico, in November 2019. They made the two-hour cross-border journey each school day to attend the United Methodist Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas, before in-person classes were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Surviving tribulations part of school’s history
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Social Concerns
The Rev. Jeremy Wicks (front) takes part in a Black Lives Matter demonstration in northern Michigan. Wicks has served as a police chaplain, a reserve police officer and a Black Lives Matter organizer. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Jeremy Wicks.

Pastors with a badge advance police reforms
Veronika Mwale (right) pumps water from a borehole in Thako village in Mchinji, Malawai. The borehole, which supplies water for three villages, was built through a partnership between Ankeny United Methodist Church in Ankeny, Iowa, and the Malawi Provisional Conference. Photo by Francis Nkhoma, UM News.

Clean water efforts aid villagers during pandemic
The Rev. James Lawson says the Black Lives Matter movement is the most important nonviolent campaign since the civil rights movement. 2016 File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Lawson: Black Lives Matter a religious movement
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Mission and Ministry
Grace Choi, current Global Ministries missionary in residence and a Yonsei alumnus, stands by a pile of donated masks. Choi worked at Yonsei Severance Hospital before she became a missionary. Photo courtesy of Grace Choi, Global Ministries.

Korean hospital sends 10,000 masks for missionaries
A churchgoer’s temperature is taken before she is allowed into the worship service at Charles Davies United Methodist Church in western Freetown, Sierra Leone, on July 19. Wearing masks and temperature checks are among the new guidelines for churches as the government lifted the ban on congregational worship. Photo by Phileas Jusu, UM News.

Pastors ‘overjoyed’ as churches reopen in Sierra Leone
Children from The United Methodist Church’s orphanage in Jalingo, Nigeria, hold some of the foodstuffs they received from Young Africa Leadership Development as part of its COVID-19 awareness campaign. Photo courtesy of Peter Cibuabua, Young Africa Leadership Development.

Young African leaders unite for COVID-19 campaign
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General Church
The Paycheck Protection Program is a U.S. government loan program designed to help small businesses and nonprofits keep their workers on the payroll. More than 740 United Methodist entities have received loans of at least $150,000. Coronavirus image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; money image by Gerd Altmann, courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Millions in federal dollars boost ministries
Bishop Kenneth H. Carter gives the sermon and benediction during opening worship for the 2019 United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis. File photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Delegates: Use GC2020 delay for new vision
Delegates hold hands and pray during the Feb. 23, 2019, opening plenary of the special session of General Conference held in St. Louis. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Q&A: What delay means for General Conference
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