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Mission and Ministry
The Rev. John Wesley Z. Kurewa helps lead Sunday worship during the 25th anniversary celebration for Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, in March 2017. Kurewa, the United Methodist institution's founding vice chancellor, died Feb. 15 in Harare, Zimbabwe. He was 87. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News

Africa University founding father dies at 87
The Rev. John Wesley Z. Kurewa, the first vice chancellor of Africa University, is being remembered for his leadership and vision.

Editor's Picks

General Church
Members of the Michigan Conference vote on legislation in June 2019. The same conference has been called to a special session on March 7 to consider whether legislation for the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation will be presented to the 2020 General Conference in May. File photo by Jonathan Trites, Michigan Conference Communications.

Conferences to vote on forwarding protocol legislation
Sierra Leone, Michigan conferences will soon decide whether to put separation plan for The United Methodist Church on the agenda at the 2020 General Conference.
Social Concerns
Helene Bataku (in orange dress), a member of Mwambangu United Methodist Church in Fizi, has learned to read and write at a new vocational center led by The United Methodist Church in Fizi, Congo. She said the center offers women new opportunities and a chance to catch up to their peers. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

Church helps train marginalized women, youth
More than 100 women and 50 youth are receiving weekly training at a new vocational center that was built through a collaboration between The United Methodist Church in East Congo and the Congolese government.
Chart summarizes and compares proposals to General Conference 2020 about the future of The United Methodist Church. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Comparing plans headed to GC2020
This chart summarizes and compares proposals to General Conference 2020 about the future of The United Methodist Church. The chart does not include plans from individuals and may be updated after all legislation is published.

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General Church
A woman holds an offering plate during a service at Boise United Methodist Church in Boise, Idaho. United Methodist collection rates in 2019 dipped below recent years, but the drop wasn’t as steep as initially projected. Photo courtesy of the Marketing Department, United Methodist Communications.

Church giving overcomes worst fears
General Church
United Methodist Bishops Rodolfo A. Juan (left), Ciriaco Q. Francisco (center) and Pedro M. Torio Jr. preside over a session of the Philippines Annual Conference Cavite, meeting in Tagaytay City, Philippines. The conference endorsed and sent to the 2020 General Conference legislation for the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation and for the Christmas Covenant, two key proposals for the future of The United Methodist Church. Photo courtesy of the United Methodist Youth Fellowship of Philippines Annual Conference, Cavite.

Conference acts on protocol, Christmas Covenant
Local Church
The Rev. Frances Helen Foley Guest speaks at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., after receiving a distinguished alumni award in June 2002. The three and a half years she spent in a Japanese prison camp with her missionary parents helped shape her ministry. File photo by Kenneth J. Guest.

For this pastor, storytelling became a ministry
Mission and Ministry
Jecinta Nairesea, 12, holds her 2-year-old daughter, Dorcus Nchorira, outside Trinity United Methodist Church in Gilgil, Kenya. The young mother was among those who attended the church’s youth camp in December. Jecinta, who was forced to marry at age 9, now attends Trinity Mission Girls High School. Photo by Faith Wanjiru, UM News.

Church in Kenya fights against female genital mutilation
Local Church
The Rev. Donald “Bud” Heckman, accused of sexual misconduct and abuse, reached a resolution with the West Ohio Conference in which he retired under complaint. Young United Methodist clergywomen have circulated an open letter asking the judicial process be reopened. Photo courtesy of the Religion Communicators Council.

Conference urged to reopen misconduct case
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Multimedia

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.
Foto por Mike DuBose, Noticias MU.

Lydia Patterson Institute is a dream maker for young students
The United Methodist college-preparatory school is supported by the South Central Jurisdiction and many local churches and individuals provide scholarships.

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General Church
Jorge João Novo lifts a wooden pole into place to help secure an emergency tarp over his home after the roof was peeled off by Cyclone Idai in Buzi, Mozambique. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

2019: The year in UM News photos
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
Immigration
Jesús, a migrant from Michoacán state in Western Mexico, tries to shield his 1-year-old daughter, Kataleya, from a cold drizzle falling at the tent encampment where they are living at the foot of the Paso del Norte Bridge in Juárez, Mexico. Michoacán is among five states in Mexico given the highest-risk “do not travel” warning by the U.S. State Department.

Summit leads United Methodists to heart of border woes
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

The Rev. Steve West is pastor of First United Methodist Church of Arab, Alabama. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Steve West.

Why I’m not leaving The United Methodist Church
The Rev. Beverly L. Wilkes-Null. Photo courtesy of Highland Hope United Methodist Church.

Living as United Methodists between the radical ends
The Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Christians should defend journalists
The Rev. William B. Lawrence. Photo by H. Jackson/Southern Methodist University.

United Methodists behind closed doors
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Ask The UMC

Theology and Education
Lent is a journey of preparation for following the way of Jesus. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.
Lent is a journey of preparation for following the way of Jesus. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: What is Lent and why does it last forty days?
Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday.

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General Conference
Bishop Warner H. Brown preaches at the opening worship for the United Methodist 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore. File photo by Maile Bradfield, UM News.

Ask The UMC: How are General Conference delegates chosen?
Mission and Ministry
The Adoration of the Magi tapestry dating from 1894 from the Manchester Metropolitan University, England. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Ask The UMC: How do United Methodists understand Epiphany ?
Theology and Education
Green is the color for the Season after Epiphany. Readings during this season offer two distinct paths to follow. Photo by Susanne Nilsson, Flickr, Creative Commons.

Ask The UMC: What is the purpose of the Season after Epiphany?
Church History
Stained glass window featuring Charles Wesley from Grace United Methodist Church in Atlanta, part of the United Methodist Church Global Mission Center. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: Did Charles Wesley write Christmas hymns?
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Categories

Local Church
A member of United Methodist Women learns to make cloth menstrual pads at the group’s annual gathering in Camphor Mission, Liberia. The women have launched a new program to make reusable sanitary pads locally, so that girls from rural areas don’t have to miss school during their menstrual cycles. Photo by Michael Boegley, The United Methodist Church in Liberia communications department.

UMW project helps rural girls stay in school
The Rev. Bud Heckman. Photo courtesy of the Religion Communicators Council.

Clergyman retires ‘under complaint’ of abuse
Obert Chikwato shows off a gift he received from members of The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe on Dec. 13. “This is my first time to get a Christmas gift,” said the 16-year-old, who lives at Good Samaritan Children’s Home, a foster home in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo by Priscilla Muzerengwa, UM News.

Young church members collect gifts for foster children
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Evangelism
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is Jan. 18-25. This year’s theme, selected by representatives from Christian churches in Malta, is “They Showed Us Unusual Kindness.” Poster image courtesy of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute.

Christians should practice ‘unusual kindness’
Elasto Musakanda (right), headmaster at Pagejo Rarubi Primary School, shares a laugh with students and staff at Pagejo Rarubi Farm in rural Zimbabwe. The United Methodist church established on the property has been paying school fees for 20 pupils annually and providing supplies and other support, he said. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Farm churches spread Gospel in rural communities
Josiane Bahi, 33, holds her 1-year-old granddaughter, Grâce Debra, at Ampain Ivorian Refugee Camp in Ampain, Ghana, where Bahi, a United Methodist, has resided since 2012. Her granddaughter was among more than 540 children who received a gift on Christmas Day from The United Methodist Church in Côte d'Ivoire. Photo by Isaac Broune, UM News.

Children at refugee camp get Christmas surprise
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Social Concerns
The Rev. Solomon Rogers speaks to a crowd gathered for a special handoff ceremony Jan. 15 in western Freetown, Sierra Leone. The event marks the end of a seven-year land dispute between The United Methodist Church’s Sierra Leone Conference and neighboring Masantigie community. Photo by Phileas Jusu, UM News.

Sierra Leone church celebrates end of land dispute
Bishop Rodolfo A. Juan (center) and the Rev. Rubynell Estrella lead a candlelight prayer service at United Methodist Church in Manila for Lumad farmers caught in a violent protest at the Spottswood United Methodist Church in April 2016. United Methodist leaders have condemned a recent raid on a mission center that houses 500 displaced Lumad in Mindanao, Philippines. File photo courtesy of Gladys P. Mangiduyos, UM News.

Filipino United Methodists defend Lumad sanctuary
Eric Nyenow (left) and Emmanuel Gbuie, residents of the United Methodist New Life Recovery Center, review their notes during an addiction and substance abuse seminar in Monrovia, Liberia. The United Methodist Church in Liberia hosted the seminar to help local churches expand and strengthen their recovery ministries. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Church in Liberia focuses on addiction ministries
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Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Danson Maganga from Tanzania takes notes during a United Methodist e-Academy weeklong training session in Nairobi, Kenya. The goal of the new e-learning program is to equip people for ordained and lay leadership in rural communities. Photo by Gad Maiga, UM News.

Theological e-Academy is ‘game changer’ in East Africa
The Rev. Henry Luckson Chareka (left) congratulates guest of honor Mwazvita Patricia Katsidzira-Madondo, during the launch of United Methodist Barrington Christian School in Harare, Zimbabwe. Joyce Chikuni (center), board chairperson of the school, watches. The school will be the first private United Methodist institution in the urban part of Harare and the first to be run by United Methodist women. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

United Methodist women plan private school in Harare
The definition of abeyance as listed on dictionary.com. While the proposed “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation” is not a done deal, negotiators are asking for a pause in certain church closings and complaints in the meantime. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Negotiators urge hold on trials, closures
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General Church
Two rings symbolize the marriage union. At least 466 United Methodist clergy have agreed to be part of Marriage Rites, which aims to connect LGBTQ couples with United Methodist wedding officiants. Image by Arek Socha, courtesy of Pixabay.

New effort starts for same-sex weddings
The Rev. Gary Graves addresses the 2020 pre-General Conference Briefing in Nashville, Tenn. Graves was part of a meeting that discussed plans for late-arriving legislation and difficulties with delegates receiving needed visas. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Plans for late-arriving GC2020 legislation
A group appointed to help The United Methodist Church in Germany deal with differences over homosexuality has proposed deleting passages about ordination of LGBTQ clergy and blessing of same-sex marriages from the Book of Discipline during a meeting in Fulda, Germany. Photo by Klaus U. Ruof, Communication UMC Germany.

German church proposes way to preserve connection
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