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Local Church
United Methodists, led by the Rev. Recto Baguio, superintendent of the Mindanao Central East District, distribute food to communities struggling during the coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines. The relief packs include rice, canned goods, noodles, sugar, salt, dried fish and soap. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Recto Baguio.
United Methodists, led by the Rev. Recto Baguio, superintendent of the Mindanao Central East District, distribute food to communities struggling during the coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines. The relief packs include rice, canned goods, noodles, sugar, salt, dried fish and soap. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Recto Baguio.

Filipinos on the margins hurt by COVID-19
United Methodists from the three episcopal areas have come together to provide food and other assistance during the pandemic.

Editor's Picks

Local Church
Mwinyi Taluhumbu, president of United Methodist Men in Eastern Congo, checks the corn in a field cultivated by the men’s group. The crop is providing cornmeal for pastors from United Methodist urban churches who are struggling amid the coronavirus confinement. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

African churches ease pandemic’s hunger blow
United Methodist congregations continue to support church members and communities struggling with hunger amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Diane Dyson in full gear as a hospital nurse caring for COVID-19 patients. Dyson is a United Methodist deacon and says her clergy background has helped her to be a better listener as a nurse. Photo courtesy of Diane Dyson.

Clergywoman also is nurse on COVID-19 front line
The Rev. Diane Dyson, a United Methodist deacon, experiences fear and fulfillment as health care worker in the pandemic.
Annual Conferences
United Methodists have always been creative when it comes to meetings but how annual conferences conduct their yearly sessions in 2020 may prove particularly challenging. Photos clockwise starting top left: Kansas East now Great Plains Conference 2013, Britt Bradley; Louisiana Conference 2015, Betty Backstrom; Nebraska now Great Plains Conference 2015; Kenya-Ethiopia Conference 2019, Gad Maiga; Western Pennsylvania Conference 2013; Greater New Jersey special conference 2019, courtesy Corbin Payne; Virginia Annual Conference 2015, Fran Walsh; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Plans vary to get annual conference business done
Some annual conferences are going virtual. Others are determined to meet in person, and some are doing a bit of both.

Latest

Trustees of Southern Methodist University in Dallas voted to remove United Methodist Bishop Scott Jones from their board after he joined the South Central Jurisdictional Conference’s lawsuit against the school. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons.

Bishop Jones removed from SMU board
General Conference
Minneapolis is scheduled to host the next General Conference on Aug. 29-Sept. 7, 2021. United Methodists in the Minnesota and Dakotas conferences have been making plans to host General Conference in Minneapolis since 2013. Photo by Krivit Photography, courtesy of Meet Minneapolis.

New General Conference dates announced
Social Concerns
Camille Cody (left), a volunteer with Centenary Community Ministries Inc. in Macon, Ga., looks over paperwork while talking with a man about the U.S. government’s stimulus check program. Volunteers have to date helped more than 50 homeless and poor people fill out the complicated tax forms and applications required to receive a check. Photo courtesy of Centenary Community Ministries Facebook page.

Churches extend helping hands to homeless
Mission and Ministry
A mural warns residents of the danger posed by the COVID-19 outbreak in the Navajo Nation near Shiprock, N.M. The United Methodist Church’s Four Corners Native American Ministry is helping support tribal members and front-line workers on the reservation. Photo by Andrew Hay, REUTERS.

United Methodist ministry aids Navajo Nation
Mission and Ministry
Volunteer Elyssa Bollinger packages gleaned sweet potatoes for distribution to local residents and for delivery to shut-ins during a socially distanced Society of St. Andrew “potato drop” at First United Methodist Church in Mt. Olive, N.C., where Bollinger is a member. Most of the loose potatoes were placed into pick-up trucks bound for feeding agencies and church food pantries. Photo by Michael Binger, Society of St. Andrew.

Reclaiming more food to fill pandemic gaps
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Multimedia

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.
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
The continued rise of fracking activity in West Virginia has divided not only communities but also churches — usually between those who stand to profit and others concerned about the long-term environmental impact.

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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
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
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. John Oda. Courtesy of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month during pandemic
The Rev. Grace S. Pak. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Pak.

Celebrating Asian/Pacific American heritage
Mike Hickcox is the former director of communications for the Society of St. Andrew and also served as manager of audio initiatives for United Methodist Communications and was director of communications for the New England Conference of The United Methodist Church. Photo by United Methodist Communications.

Share your audio to help preserve United Methodist history
The Rev. Sharon Austin. Photo courtesy of the Florida Conference.

COVID-19 shines spotlight on racial health care disparities
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Ask The UMC

A mosaic for Pentecost features elements of fire. Image by Holger Schué, courtesy of Pixabay.
Foto: Holger Schué, cortesia do Pixabay.

Ask The UMC: What is Pentecost?
The Christian festival of Pentecost, on the 50th day after Jesus’ resurrection, celebrates the gift the Holy Spirit and birth of the church.

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Photo by skeeze, courtesy of pixabay.com; graphic by Laurens Glass, United Methodist Communications

Ask The UMC: What is our end goal as United Methodists?
Theology and Education
Marshall Greene (center) is baptized during the Annual Inlet Baptism in Murrells Inlet off the Belin Memorial United Methodist Church's seawall. Holding him is (left) Austin Bond, director of youth ministries and (right) Walter Cantwell, associate pastor. Photo by Benjamin Coy.

Ask The UMC: How far back does Christian baptism go?
Disaster Relief
A tire swing sways in the wind from Hurricane Rita over the remains of a beachfront home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Ocean Springs, Miss. Rita made landfall in East Texas Sept. 24, 2005, nearly four weeks after Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Ask The UMC: How do we understand suffering from disaster?
Worship
The Rev. Romero del Rosario holds a songbook featuring the lyrics written by Charles Wesley in 1742, "Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown." Photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Ask The UMC: How can I identify public domain hymns?
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Categories

Local Church
Volunteer Alli Carter (left) and Alan Becker (center) of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City load fresh produce into a refrigerated trailer as part of the church’s food outreach program that helps provide free meals to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Ed Doney, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

Tackling food insecurity caused by pandemic
Ten-year-old Britney Sadete performs at Cranborne United Methodist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe, during The UMC’s Got Talent, an annual Zimbabwe Episcopal Area talent show, on July 28, 2019. Britney, who took first place in the under-12 category and second place overall, recently released her first album. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Talented 10-year-old inspires others during pandemic
Wyatt Clarke, 15, plays bagpipes outside the house of a neighbor in Marysville, Michigan. The teen has been playing bagpipes to provide entertainment and solace to residents self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo courtesy of Marysville United Methodist Church.

Helping out creatively during the pandemic
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Evangelism
The Rev. Kellie Sanford (right) practices social distancing while visiting with a resident of the CC Young Senior Living community in Dallas. Sanford, a licensed local pastor in The United Methodist Church, serves as chaplain for the facility. Photo by Jennifer Griffin.

Chaplains comfort and share grief during COVID-19
The Rev. Joel Q. Bengbeng (center), superintendent of the Ilocos South District in the Northwest Philippines, is among the United Methodist pastors from the Baguio Episcopal Area who say they have experienced harassment due to their social justice work. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Hinivuu Pecaat.

Filipino pastors fear for safety
Lydie Acquah (front) joins in singing during the 10th anniversary celebration for the Voice of Hope (La Voix de l’Espérance), the radio station of The United Methodist Church in Côte d’Ivoire, at Jubilee United Methodist Church in Abidjan. Acquah is the station’s director. Photo by Isaac Broune, UM News.

Voice of Hope radio extends reach in Côte d’Ivoire
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Social Concerns
Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old man from Brunswick, Ga., was shot and killed Feb. 23, but it was only after the May 5 release of a video of the incident that Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael were charged in the killing. Family photo courtesy of Twitter.

Georgia shooting sparks call to end racism
In this 2014 photo, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell speaks at the opening of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Community and Government Center in Mashpee, Massachusetts. On March 27, the U.S. Department of the Interior ordered the removal of 321 acres of the tribe’s land out of federal trust. Photo courtesy of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.

Native caucus sounds alarm over tribal land dispute
United Methodist deaconess Cindy Johnson regularly visits with migrants living in a tent camp in Matamoros, Mexico, while they seek asylum in the United States. Fear of the coronavirus has stopped people like Johnson from being able to minister to them face-to-face. Photo courtesy of Cindy Johnson.

Pandemic threatening ministry with migrants
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Mission and Ministry
The Ohouo family (from left, Appolos, Fabrice, Chiadon and Chantal) from Bethel Quartier-Eléphant United Methodist Church partake in the Lord’s Supper during a service in their home. While churches are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, members are conducting services at home with resources provided by their pastors. Photo by John Mel, UM News.

Pastors guide members through pandemic
Artist interpretation of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. As the virus sickened thousands, a U.S. founding father turned to two Methodists for help. Print from Bettmann Archives.

Methodists led response in earlier epidemic
Custodian James Jimmerson disinfects pews to prevent any possible spread of the coronavirus at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday, May 10, 2020, after online worship, which was recorded in the sanctuary. As churches consider returning to in-person worship, cleaning measures are one of many factors leaders will need to consider. “I believe my job, my part in this, is to make sure people are safe in here,” Jimmerson said. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Churches have much to consider before reopening
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General Church

2020 annual conference meeting list
Bishop Robert Schnase presents a motion during an online meeting of the United Methodist Council of Bishops calling for a task force to look at ways to bring financial sustainability to the Episcopal Fund. Screenshot of Zoom meeting via Facebook by UM News.

Bishops look at financial sustainability
Ann Jacob of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference is surrounded by other young people as she reads a statement on church unity at the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. She is among authors of a petition urging General Conference organizers to reconsider rescheduling General Conference at the start of the academic calendar. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Bishops urge attention to GC2021 date request
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