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Global Health
The Rev. Jeremias Dumaya (left) has blood drawn for HIV screening during a symposium on HIV and AIDS education at Wesleyan Third Millennium United Methodist Church in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. Photo by Gladys Mangiduyos, UMNS.
The Rev. Jeremias Dumaya (left) has blood drawn for HIV screening during a symposium on HIV and AIDS education at Wesleyan Third Millennium United Methodist Church in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. Photo by Gladys Mangiduyos, UMNS.

Partnership focuses on HIV/AIDS in Philippines

United Methodist leaders, health office aim to create a sustainable program and services for people living with the disease and their caregivers.

Editor's Picks

Global Health
In photo on left, Grace Mutsago (left) and Adja Muzama carry water from a well at Mutsago Primary School in Zimbabwe. In photo on right, teacher Memory Maseure fills a bucket from the new tap at Mutsago Primary School. The United Methodist Church in partnership with Chabadza Norway Community Development Program is helping bring clean, piped water to two schools. Photos by Kudzai Chingwe, UMNS.

Water project saves lives, boosts economy in Zimbabwe

Chabadza partnership between The United Methodist Church in Norway and Zimbabwe brings clean water to schools, community.
Annual Conferences
United Methodists in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference approve a resolution calling for end to separating immigrant families. At least 18 of the 54 U.S. conferences approved resolutions in support of welcoming immigrants. Photo by Barry Doyle.

Conferences unite on welcoming immigrants

Annual conference voters have various takes on how the church should address homosexuality. But on immigration, they have a common message.
Immigration
Native American scholar Henrietta Mann (left) and leaders of The United Methodist Church’s Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, the Revs. Donna Pewo (center) and David Wilson, conduct a prayer ceremony for immigrant children held at the Casa Padre detention facility in Brownsville, Texas. The three prayed in a grassy median outside the facility, a former Walmart. It is the largest shelter in the U.S. for minors caught crossing the border illegally. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Native Americans pray at child detention center

Members of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference held a prayer service outside Casa Padre, a detention center for young, mostly unaccompanied immigrant boys.

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General Church
The special 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church — set for Feb. 23-26 in St. Louis — will attempt to find a way forward for The United Methodist Church by considering the three different plans included in the report developed by the Commission on a Way Forward. The full report and all the legislation are part of the docket. Image by United Methodist News Service.

Top court sets October oral hearings
Social Concerns
Delegates to the Global Young People’s Convocation in Johannesburg, South Africa, vote on legislation that will be presented by youth and young adults at the United Methodist General Conference in 2020. Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UMNS.

Young people address migration, child marriage
General Conference
The Alternative Plan Task Force, the Central Committee and the executive committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church pray together at a joint meeting held in August 2-3, 2018. Photo by Thomas Kim, UMNS

Korean United Methodists choose prayer over plans
Evangelism
The Rev. Alan Ashworth (right) visits with Appalachian Trail thru-hikers at a free hiker feed sponsored by New Hope Union United Methodist Church near Bastian, Va. Volunteers set up a temporary shelter where the trail crosses a gravel parking area and offered hot sandwiches, salads and cold drinks to weary hikers. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Small churches, big ministry
Mission
The ability for all generations to help pack meals for Rise Against Hunger is appealing to congregations like Dunwoody United Methodist Church, as demonstrated at last year’s “Foodstock” event. The metro Atlanta congregation has assembled more than 2 million meals since 2012 for the ministry. Photo by Bryan Jordin, Overtone.

Feeding millions of children in need
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Multimedia

Global Health
Ernest Tokpah recalls the toll Ebola took on his family during 2015 and 2016 in Ganta, Liberia. "Ganta was on fire because of the Ebola," he said. "We stopped eating together, we stopped shaking hands, and people practically stopped talking to each other.” Tokpah, a faculty member at Ganta United Methodist School, is raising four children left orphaned when his sister and her husband died of the disease. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
Ernest Tokpah recalls the toll Ebola took on his family during 2015 and 2016 in Ganta, Liberia. "Ganta was on fire because of the Ebola," he said. "We stopped eating together, we stopped shaking hands, and people practically stopped talking to each other.” Tokpah, a faculty member at Ganta United Methodist School, is raising four children left orphaned when his sister and her husband died of the disease. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Church institutions continue to aid post-Ebola Liberia

In the two years since Liberia was declared Ebola-free, United Methodist schools and hospitals have helped the country recover.

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Local Church
Bermondsey Central Hall Methodist Church serves a diverse congregation of about 320 and houses the South London Mission, which has been supporting the community since 1889. The modern London Shard skyscraper rises behind the church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

British Methodism: Staying Relevant in Wesley’s Homeland
Evangelism
Edmond Assamoi directs the choir at a recently opened United Methodist church outside Agboville, Côte d'Ivoire. The church is so new that it has not yet been named. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Singing the gospel in Côte d’Ivoire
Evangelism
A statue of Saint John of Nepomuk looks out over the Main River in the historic Höchst district of Frankfurt, Germany. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

German Methodism: A strong Christian voice
Wesley “Gabby” Jones and Ted Barnett sing the spiritual “Stand Still, Jordan” during an April 23 service at Chubb Chapel United Methodist Church, in Chubbtown, Georgia. The church’s sanctuary dates to 1870, and the community was founded by the Chubb family, who came to the area as free blacks before the end of the Civil War. Photo by Sam Hodges, UMNS.

Little church looms large in black history
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Commentaries

Courtesy photo of the Rev. Terrence O’Neill.

Commentary: Church turns to crowdfunding
Photo of William B. Lawrence by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Commentary: Threat of schism hangs over jubilee of church
Photo of Kathy L. Gilbert by Kathleen Barry, UMNS.

Commentary: Addiction, Mother’s Day and God’s grace
Leicester R. Longden

Commentary: Rescuing Outler's 'Visions and Dreams'
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Ask The UMC

Church History
A view of Kingswood School in England. Neil Phillips Photography, courtesy of Kingswood School. Used by permission. Do not reuse.
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?

Wesley believed everyone should have access to education regardless of gender or class. He championed education as a way to assure that leaders would act ethically and responsibly.

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Church History
In his sermon Original Sin, John Wesley said, "By grace ye shall be wholly renewed." Photo by Darby Jones, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: How did John Wesley understand original sin?
Church History
Pews and hymnals photographed inside Monroe Street United Methodist Church in historic Germantown, Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications

Ask The UMC: Why does The United Methodist Hymnal include more than songs?
Theology
Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect - Matt. 5:48. File photo by Kay Panovec, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: What did John Wesley mean by ‘moving on to perfection?’
Church History
Image of a circuit rider, courtesy of the General Commission on Archives and History for The United Methodist Church, Drew University.

Ask The UMC: Why do United Methodist pastors change churches?
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Categories

Local Church
A praise team helps lead worship at St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, during an interdenominational prayer for peace in the country following election-related violence. Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UMNS.

United Methodists join peace prayer in Zimbabwe
Clergywomen gather in fellowship outside the Kwang Lim Chapel at African University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, during the July 10-14, 2018, African United Methodist Clergywomen Leadership Development Conference. Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UMNS.

African clergywomen making great strides
The United Methodist Board of Church and Society is helping fund civic education for young people in the area of election violence prevention. Photo by Chadrack Londe, UMNS.

Congo young people strive to prevent violence at election time
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Evangelism
The screen of a smartphone communicates a message of comfort from East Congo Bishop Gabriel Unda Yemba. The text, delivered as part of the church’s UMCONNECT platform, is translated from French to English in this photo illustration. Original photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UMNS.

End of Ebola outbreak declared in Congo
Translators (from left) Katherine Jolly, Maria Sonnleithner and Deborah Detka work together in the German translation booth at the Global Young People’s Convocation in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UMNS.

Translators connect young people at global event
The Rev. Moses Kumar shares a children’s sermon on July 8, his second Sunday as pastor of Lillard Chapel United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The top executive of the denomination’s finance agency, he is also a newly licensed local pastor. Photo by Heather Hahn, UMNS.

Finance agency exec answers call to pulpit
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Social Concerns
The Rev. Phil Woodson, associate pastor for outreach and witness at First United Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Va., attends a Charlottesville Clergy Collective meeting on July 25, 2018, at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church. The interfaith group has continued to respond after a white supremacist rally and counter protest in Charlottesville turned deadly on Aug. 12, 2017. Photo by Richard Lord.

Charlottesville clergy hope for peaceful weekend
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had faced official church complaints from fellow United Methodists, but those were dismissed by a district superintendent in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Justice.

Complaints against Sessions dismissed
Supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party block a street on Aug 1 in Harare, Zimbabwe. In the wake of soldiers opening fire on the protesters, United Methodist bishops and other church leaders called for prayers for peace. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko. Do not reuse. One Time Use.

Prayers for Zimbabwe after election violence
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Mission
Children from the Little Seed Center orphanage in Cacuaco, Angola, gather to celebrate donations of food and other goods provided by young adults from Bethel United Methodist Church in Luanda. Photo by Paulo do Rosario.

Angola young adults aid struggling orphanage
Arvid, Janet and Pamela Liebe (left) pose for a photo with the Rev. Lloyd Marange, and Bob Pudwill (right) at Mutambara Mission in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Arvid and Janet Liebe, from Central United Methodist Church in Millbank, South Dakota, have helped revitalize the farm, hospital and school at the mission. Photo courtesy of Mutambara Mission.

South Dakota couple pour love into Zimbabwe mission
The newly commissioned Jalingo United Methodist Hospital in Jalingo, Nigeria, is one of the best-equipped private hospitals in the region. The 30-bed facility, which opened to the public last month, is expected to treat more than 10,000 people annually. Photo by Sharon Adamu Bambuka, UMNS.

Church in Nigeria opens modern hospital
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General Church
William Nicholas' new book "Go and Be Reconciled" describes Alabama Methodists' struggle to integrate their conferences amid major civil rights events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham. Image courtesy NewSouth Books.

Alabama bishop met race challenge
The Rev. Brian Atkins (second from right) speaks about the plans on offer from the Commission on Way Forward during the For Everyone Born gathering in St. Louis. Fellow commission members (from left) Dave Nuckols, Matt Berryman and Scott Johnson (furthest right) spoke about their work. Randall Miller (center) moderated the conversation. Photo by Heather Hahn, UMNS

LGBTQ advocates conflicted on way forward
The special 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church — set for Feb. 23-26 in St. Louis — will attempt to find a way forward for The United Methodist Church by considering the three different plans included in the report developed by the Commission on a Way Forward. The full report and all the legislation are part of the docket. Image by United Methodist News Service.

Plans prayerfully pondered by United Methodists
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