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Annual Conferences
A view of GNTV Media Ministry’s video control room during the Baltimore-Washington Conference annual gathering shows multiple computer screens, audio equipment and busy technicians. Photo courtesy of GNTV Media Ministry.​
Conference shows multiple computer screens, audio equipment and busy technicians. This year, because of the pandemic, most U.S. annual conferences of The United Methodist Church have joined Baltimore-Washington in shifting to virtual meetings. Photo courtesy of GNTV Media Ministry.

Conference sessions go virtual, with mixed results
Pandemic-prompted online gatherings offer efficiencies, but technological glitches have occurred and delegates miss being together.

Editor's Picks

General Church
More than seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial outlook for conferences is decidedly mixed. But even with reduced giving, conference treasurers are saying the situation is not as dire as it appeared in the spring. Photo by Kathryn Price, United Methodist Communications; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Conferences persevere under financial strain
United Methodist conferences are offering churches relief and finding ways to still minister amid pandemic-caused hardships.
Evangelism
Györgyi Vályi followed the call to lead a small church in Budapest, Hungary, called Hope Church. Her ministry as a mission worker leading the church has come amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Portrait taken in front of the Parliament building by the Danube River. Photo courtesy of Györgyi Valyi.

Church leader finds vocational certainty amid COVID-19
Györgyi Vályi found that even as the Covid-19 pandemic limited church to internet and telephone, Hope Church members grew closer together and that gave her new confidence in her own ministry leading the church.
Local Church
Billie Jean Baker has an apartment now but for about three years had no home of her own and often slept outside Dallas’ Oaklawn United Methodist Church. She recently received a Harry Denman Evangelism Award for helping the church expand its ministry with the homeless. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

Evangelism award winner slept outside church
Billy Jean Baker is honored for using her personal experience with homelessness to help Dallas’ Oak Lawn United Methodist Church open its doors wider.

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Social Concerns
Tink Tinker (wazhazhe, Osage Nation) helps lead an "Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous Peoples" at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. Tinker is professor emeritus at The Iliff School of Theology. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Facing up to a grotesque book at Iliff
Mission and Ministry
A group of beneficiaries in the Goromonzi Circuit in Harare, Zimbabwe, celebrates after receiving food hampers provided through a United Methodist Committee on Relief Sheltering in Love grant. More than 7 million people in Zimbabwe are facing food insecurity in 2020, according to the World Food Program. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Confronting pandemic-related food insecurity
Social Concerns
Bishop Joaquina Filipe Nhanala helps lead a worship service sponsored by the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women during the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. Nhanala spoke about having to deal with sexism in the church during the commission’s virtual women’s leadership summit Oct. 8-10, 2020. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Forging stronger ties as women of faith
Social Concerns
Grandmother Alice Makore (from left), a lay leader at Nyamutumbu United Methodist Church, and parents Linda Munyori and Munyaradzi Makore mourn the loss of 7-year-old Tapiwa Makore, who was murdered in a suspected ritual killing in Makore Village, Zimbabwe, on Sept. 17. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Boy with United Methodist ties dies in ritual killing
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
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Multimedia

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.
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’
The Rev. Carlton R. “Sam” Young — composer, arranger, scholar and two-time hymnal editor — is out with a new collection of sacred music.

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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.

Pandemic challenges music ministers, choirs
Racism
Speakers for the Sept. 16 panel discussion on the theological roots of racism and colonialism are (left to right) the Revs. Mai-Anh Le Tran, Edgardo Colón-Emeric and Willie James Jennings. The United Methodist Church held the livestreamed discussion as part of its Dismantling Racism series. Photos courtesy of Tran, Jennings, and photo of Colón-Emeric by Les Todd; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Grappling with how racism coexists with faith
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
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
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Commentaries

The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr. Photo courtesy of Wesley Theological Seminary.

Young elder numbers near historic low
The Rev. David Maldonado. Video image courtesy of IMU Latina (Iglesia Metodista Unida Latina) via YouTube by UM News.

Racism and Latinos: The wall of separation and fear
The Rev. Ian Straker. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Straker.

Embracing whole truth about Methodism and race
The Rev. Mel West. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Mel West.

A new reformation? Look to the NGOs
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Ask The UMC

Theology and Education
A view of the statue "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Scripture is Matthew 5:44. Photo by Jose Guertzenstein, courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, United Methodist Communications.
A view of the statue "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Scripture is Matthew 5:44. Photo by Jose Guertzenstein, courtesy of Pixabay.

Ask The UMC: How do we love our enemies?
Many Christians struggle with this question. Even when it's hard, we are called to love our enemies.

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Social Concerns
Since the Church’s inception, Methodists have been actively involved in social and political matters in order to build a more peaceful and just world. Graphic by Laurens Glass, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: Is The United Methodist Church involved in politics?
Church History
A view of Kingswood School in England. Neil Phillips Photography, courtesy of Kingswood School.

Ask The UMC: What was the first school started by Methodists?
Social Concerns
Members and supporters of the Coalition of Immokalee (Fla.) Workers pray in Nashville, Tenn., at the conclusion of a protest against the Publix supermarket chain's refusal to join a farm workers' rights labor program. The Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church demands that employers "treat farm workers and their families with dignity and respect.” Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Ask The UMC: Does the church support workers' rights?
Theology and Education
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?
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Categories

Local Church
Members of the Kivu Annual Conference, meeting in Goma, Congo, pray for 19 civilians killed in a massacre in Mamove. Among those killed were six United Methodists who were traveling to a church meeting. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

United Methodists among 19 dead in Congo massacre
Caton Darling, 17, secures a tarp over the roof of his family’s home in Lake Charles, La., after Hurricane Laura toppled trees that damaged the roof.

Amazing grace comes in many ways for storm survivors
Oretha Goyanvator receives a certificate during training led by United Methodist Women in Monrovia, Liberia. As part of the new Village Saving Scheme program, participants learned to make soap, detergent and sanitary pads to help them earn and save money during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Empowering women in Liberia amid COVID-19
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Evangelism
A composite of historical photos from the Korean Methodist Church in Honolulu, Hawaii. Clockwise (from left), The Honolulu Korean Methodist Church, Korean Methodist Mission and the SS Gaelic. Photos courtesy of Christ United Methodist Church, Honolulu, HI. Composite by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

New statistics provide snapshot of Korean United Methodists
Children from the United Methodist congregation in Debrecen, Hungary, gathered for vacation Bible school in a new building recently bought by the church council. Photo courtesy of the Rev. László Khaled.

Debrecen church has new home
The coronavirus pandemic has presented unique challenges to the U.S. census this year. Robbinsville United Methodist Church is one of the churches trying to help make sure everyone counts. Photo illustration by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Churches see census as part of their mission
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Social Concerns
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver II (right) spoke with Erin Hawkins during The United Methodist Church’s fifth online discussion about eradicating racial injustice. Cleaver, a United Methodist pastor who represents Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, said he is heartened by diverse crowds of young people coming together to march against racism. UM News graphic.

Moving voting rights 'from ideal to reality'
Beneficiaries in Mutum-Daya in the Wurkun Central District in Nigeria receive rice, beans, Maggi seasoning and salt as part of The United Methodist Church’s COVID-19 outreach. The Nigeria Episcopal Area received a Sheltering in Love grant from the UMCOR COVID-19 Response Fund. Photo by Richard Fidelis, UM News.

Sheltering in Love grant alleviates hunger
Volunteers carry a child ashore on a beach near Molyvos, on the Greek island of Lesbos, on Oct. 30, 2015, after a group of refugees crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey in a small overcrowded boat provided by Turkish traffickers to whom the refugees paid huge sums. The refugees were received in Greece by local and international volunteers, then proceeded on their way toward western Europe. File photo by Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth Pictures.

Fix broken migration policy, religious leaders say
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Mission and Ministry
Jazel Resurreccion Lustre, a volunteer teacher in Bulacan province, helps a child from the Longos neighborhood, which was devastated by fire. The September blaze destroyed 28 of 108 homes in the impoverished community. Photo by Emily Sison.

Philippines youth respond to fire victims
Winnet Mandikisi, 19, works at a sewing machine at Home of Hope, the orphanage at Nyadire United Methodist Mission in Mutoko, Zimbabwe. Mandikisi, a college student, has been leading efforts to teach fellow orphans how to make masks to fight against COVID-19. Photo by Chenayi Kumuterera, UM News.

Zimbabwe orphan pays it forward during pandemic
Coronavirus deaths worldwide reached 1 million on Sept. 28. United Methodists are among those who have died and those still fighting the illness. Candle image by Andreas Lischka, courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Stories from the front lines of the coronavirus
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General Church
Many annual conference gatherings scheduled for the first half of 2020 in Central and Southern Europe have been postponed again and some moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic. A decision is pending on the final form of the Hungary Provisional Conference, shown here in 2019. That meeting is now planned for the end of October. 2019 file photo by Urs Schweizer, Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe.

Many European conferences still unable to meet
The Rev. Moore Ganda, senior pastor, prays for the congregation at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. Due to COVID-19 and the country’s economic crisis, the congregation is being asked to help augment clergy salaries. Photo by Priscilla Muzerengwa, UM News.

Laity giving pastors a boost during pandemic
With the deadline for voter registration rapidly approaching in many states, United Methodists are helping register voters for Election Day on Nov. 3 in the U.S. Photo by Kathleen Barry; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Want to have your say? Churches urge voting
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