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Theology and Education
The South Central Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church and Southern Methodist University in Dallas have reached a settlement in a long-running lawsuit filed after the university’s board moved to alter its relationship with the denomination. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons.
The South Central Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church and Southern Methodist University in Dallas have reached a settlement in a long-running lawsuit filed after the university’s board moved to alter its relationship with the denomination. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons.

Church, SMU resolve legal dispute
A United Methodist jurisdictional conference and Southern Methodist University have reached a settlement in a long-running lawsuit filed after the university’s board moved to alter its relationship with the denomination.

Editor's Picks

General Church
Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi speaks during opening worship for “Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice” on Feb. 25 at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church in Washington. Moore-Koikoi, who leads the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey conferences, is the convener of the interim committee that is organizing the U.S. Regional Conference. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Bishops name US Regional Conference organizers
The newly named group is responsible for planning the first United Methodist assembly that will make decisions affecting only church members in the U.S.
Social Concerns
Map courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by UM News.

Probe underway of pastor who worked for Epstein
United Methodist leaders learned this week that an ordained elder from Missouri worked briefly as a property manager for the convicted sex offender.
Global Health
Marie Otshumba, one of the beneficiaries of The United Methodist Church’s Maternal, Newborn and Child Health program, holds son Amisi alongside nurses at Lokole United Methodist Hospital Center in Kindu, Congo. After five years of repeated miscarriages, Otshumba said the prenatal care she received through the church program transformed her pain into joy. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

Prenatal care transforms grief into joy for Congolese mothers
In Congo, The United Methodist Church’s health program is restoring hope to women who had suffered repeated miscarriages.

Latest News

Social Concerns
United Methodists are joining with other Christians in Palm Sunday actions across the United States that aim to counter rising authoritarianism with Christ’s call to love our neighbors. Organizers emphasize that the original Palm Sunday, as described in the Gospels, was a political event. Palm leaf image by studio2013, courtesy of Pixabay; illustration by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Across US, churches plan Palm Sunday protests
Congregations
Members of Marvin United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., pose during a bowling outing. Marvin United Methodist Church received a $100,000 grant from neighboring Sherwood Forest United Methodist Church to help make repairs on its building. Photo courtesy of Marvin United Methodist Church.

Church merger results in win-win-win-win
Social Concerns
(From left) United Methodist Deaconess Rubylin G. Litao, Nay Llore Pasco, a leader of the Rise Up for Life and for Rights network, and lawyer Krissi Conti, International Criminal Court-accredited assistant to the counsel of the victims’ families, hold a banner with the faces of victims at a rally in the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands on Feb. 25. Photo courtesy of Rubylin Litao.

United Methodists denounce attacks on deaconess, drug war victims
General Church
The five U.S. jurisdictions, which each consist of multiple annual conferences, first came into being in 1939. While regionalization leaves the current jurisdictions in place, a group of United Methodist leaders are looking at proposing changes to the denomination’s constitution to allow each regional conference, including the U.S., to decide whether to have jurisdictions. Map from The United Methodist Church Handbook 2025-2028 courtesy of ResourceUMC.

Church leaders explore future of jurisdictions
Immigration
Screen shot from video by UM News

When fear knocks, the church answers
Social Concerns
Pastor Laquaan Malachi of Brunswick United Methodist Church in Crystal speaks to the appointive council of the Minnesota Conference and to fellow members of the Wisdom Council, a panel designed to make sure historically underrepresented people have a say in the Minnesota Conference. Image from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Minnesota ‘Wisdom Council’ lifts all voices
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Local Church
The Rev. Mariah Tollgaard, senior pastor of Hamline Church United Methodist in St. Paul, Minn., testifies March 4 before the U.S. House of Represenatives Oversight Committee. Also testifying were Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. Screen shot from U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing via YouTube by UM News.

Minnesota pastor testifies to U.S. Congress
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Evangelism
Taeron Flemming, a mime and community pastor at The Well Church in Washington, D.C., performs Feb. 26 during the Fresh Expressions United Methodist National Gathering 2026 at First United Methodist Church in Ocala, Fla. Flemming teaches mime as a Fresh Expressions ministry. Photo by Brian Rose, Church of the Restoration in Reston, Va.

Fresh Expressions movement gains momentum
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Social Concerns
Filipino United Methodists in the Davao Episcopal Area participated in a four-day United Methodist Board of Global Ministries EarthKeepers training on climate change and environmental conservation. Image from video by Touch Barrientos, Kyla Ragasa, DEA Communications, and Matthan Bang-Asan.

EarthKeepers promote creation care in the Philippines
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Mission and Ministry
Graphic by Ben Ward, photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Podcast: Finding unity in diversity with the Rev. Daniel Hawkins
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General Church
The Rev. Noé Gabriel López, director of social impact and belonging in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey conferences, and his wife, Iliana López Matos, who serves as the Cultural Competency Consultant for the conferences’ Bridges program, take part in “Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice” Feb. 25 in Washington, D.C. The Rev. López chartered buses so church members from the conferences could join in the United Methodist-led event. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Sarah Borgstrom Lee.

With DEI dismantled, ministries still work for diversity
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Commentaries

John W. Coleman. Photo by Corbin Payne.

What comes next after ‘Faithful Resistance’ march?
Susan Clark. Photo courtesy of the author.

Winter guard meets Wesleyan warmth
The Rev. Dr. Javier A. Viera. Photo by Brian McConkey Photography, courtesy of the Rev. Dr. Viera.

Church must do messy work of restoring community
The Rev. Dr. Michael L. Bowie Jr. Photo courtesy of the author.

A clean page for a critical time
The Rev. Mike Hickcox. Photo courtesy of the author.

Celebrate Black History Month by listening to historic voices
The Rev. Christopher P. Momany. Photo by Kristen Schell.

In troubling times, look to ‘higher law’

The Rev. Dr. Jefferson M. Furtado. Photo courtesy of the author.

Martin Luther King Jr. and the work we haven’t finished
The Rev. John Wagner. Photo courtesy of the author.

A plea for ‘costly solidarity’ in Middle East
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Multimedia

Social Concerns
Mei Vader and her grandmother participate in “Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice” in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2026. Vader is the daughter of the Rev. Stephanie Vader, pastor of Capitol Hill United Methodist Church. The church served as a host for the event. Image from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.
Mei Vader and her grandmother participate in “Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice” in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2026. Vader is the daughter of the Rev. Stephanie Vader, pastor of Capitol Hill United Methodist Church. The church served as a host for the event. Image from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

United Methodists take immigration concerns to DC
United Methodists traveled great distances to Washington, DC to stand in witness for the rights of immigrants.

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Social Concerns
The Rev. Shelby Slowey, pastor of South End United Methodist Church in Nashville explains how United Methodist Social Principles apply to current proposed legislation related to the death penalty in Tennessee. Over 200 United Methodists participated in United Methodist Day on the Hill at the Tennessee Capitol. Image from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Churchgoers take Social Principles to lawmakers
Faith Sharing
Photo by Josh Applegate, courtesy of Unsplash; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News

Social media graphics from UM News
Mission and Ministry
Filipino United Methodists living in the United Arab Emirates gather in Dubai for an annual meeting and celebration that included special choir performances and worship. Screenshot from video by the UAE Media Team.

Filipino United Methodists celebrate mission in Middle East
Mission and Ministry
Sister Confianza, a member of the Amigas del Señor (Women Friends of the Lord) Monastery in Limón, Honduras, rides her bike through the village alongside a neighbor. Originally from the United States, Sister Confianza founded the monastery with another woman in 2006. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

2025: The year in photos
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