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General Church
Moses Kumar, top executive of the General Council on Finance and Administration, addresses the Nov. 14-15 meeting of GCFA board of directors held in Nashville, Tenn. Seated is the North Texas Conference’s Bishop Michael McKee, board president. Photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.
Kathleen Barry

Budgeting for an uncertain future
The board of the United Methodist finance agency approved 2020 ministry budgets based on a dramatic drop in giving.

Editor's Picks

General Church
Eight bishops sign statement calling for “vibrant and missionally effective Wesleyan movement.” Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Group of bishops calling for ‘deeper conversations’
Eight active and retired United Methodist bishops released a statement calling for the church to be open to new expressions of Methodist witness.
Social Concerns
Bishops Harald Rückert and Rosemarie Wenner of Germany recount the role the Christian faith played in the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago. During the Council of Bishops meeting in Lake Junaluska, N.C., bishops were challenged to remove barriers of various kinds. Photo by Heather Hahn, UM News.

Bishops encouraged to break down barriers
Bishops both celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall and agreed to work toward helping refugees overcome roadblocks to settling in the U.S.
General Conference
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.

Latest

Local Church
The Rev. Nicole Reilley (left), pastor of Valencia United Methodist Church and the Rev. Melissa MacKinnon, East District superintendent of California-Pacific Conference, speak to participants at the Fresh United Methodism Summit about the Saugus School shooting on Nov. 14. Photo courtesy of the California-Pacific Conference.

United Methodist churches open doors after school shooting
General Church
The Rev. Joe Kim, Bothell United Methodist Church, Washington, presents his table’s concept for a visioning team to take ideas from the summit and make a report to the 2020 Western Jurisdiction. Photo by Charmaine Robledo.

Gathering dreams of inclusive future
Mission and Ministry
Six-year-old David Usumbu is carried by his mother, Masika Bahati Nehema, after being discharged from a transit center in Beni, Congo, where he was being monitored after showing symptoms of Ebola. He did not have the virus, but the Ulangi family has faced difficulty integrating back into the community. Photo courtesy of the Ulangi family.

Ebola takes toll on United Methodists
Immigration
Ramiro Rameriz speaks at a Nov. 14 press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, protesting the proposed border wall. The wall would run through the property of Jackson Chapel United Methodist Church in San Juan, Texas, and two historic cemeteries. His great-grandfather donated land for the church, established in 1874. Photo by Erik Alsgaard, UM News.

Help sought to save historic church, cemeteries
Social Concerns
Bishop Rodolfo A. Juan (left) prays for a leader (red vest) at a camp for displaced people in Malaybalay, Philippines, in 2017. The United Methodist Church in the Philippines has condemned extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses in the country, as well as protesting the treatment of indigenous people. The church has worked both alone and through ecumenical groups like the National Council of Churches. File photo courtesy of Dan Ela.

United Methodists decry 'red-tagging' of church council
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Multimedia

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,” 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
This roundtable discussion of connectional giving in The United Methodist Church is a video resource designed to help local congregations explain the role of giving in the church.

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Global Health
Rachael Porter and the Rev. David Johnston adopted two children who came from a home with opioid addiction. Johnston serves as pastor of Concord United Methodist Church in Athens, W.Va.

Clergy embrace becoming foster parents
Global Health
Kate Rhodes (left) leads students from House of the Carpenter back from a field trip on Wheeling Island in Wheeling, W.Va. Rhodes was serving as youth coordinator for the program's Pre-Work Camp, which teaches basic employment skills to middle school students. House of the Carpenter is a mission project of The United Methodist Church's West Virginia Conference.

Ministries help children affected by addiction
Evangelism
Wayne Worth (right) embraces Roger outside his home in Fisher, W.Va. Worth, a member of United Methodist Temple in Clarksburg, was passing out flyers containing information about local resources for anyone struggling with addiction, when he met Roger.

Outreach ministry for addiction is simple, effective
Disaster Relief
Isabel João (right) and Maria Lidia António salvage what they can of their corn crop, which was killed before it matured when their field was flooded by Cyclone Idai in Buzi, Mozambique. “Hunger is the number one problem now,” Joao said. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

After the cyclone, faith abides
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Commentaries

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
Bishop Eduard Khegay. Photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops.

Preventing a United Methodist Berlin Wall
Thomas Kemper, general secretary with United Methodist Global Ministries. Photo by Hector Amador for Global Ministries.

Rediscovering Native American-Methodist heritage
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Ask The UMC

Theology and Education
At the time of Jesus, cremation was widely practiced by the Romans, but rarely by Jews and Christians because of their belief that the bodies of believers would one day be physically resurrected. Photo by MaryW, courtesy of Pixabay.
At the time of Jesus, cremation was widely practiced by the Romans, but rarely by Jews and Christians because of their belief that the bodies of believers would one day be physically resurrected. Photo by MaryW, courtesy of Pixabay.

Ask the UMC: How does the church view cremation, organ donation?
Find out the history of cremation from a Christian viewpoint and the church's stance today.

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Theology and Education
Seawall cross and moon at Belin Memorial United Methodist Church, Murrells Inlet, S.C. Photo by Austin Bond Photography.

Ask The UMC: What is The United Methodist Church's view of Halloween?
Theology and Education
Admittance to a Society Meeting required a ticket from a Class Meeting. Around the edges of this ticket from 1814 are several reminders of acts of piety. Photo courtesy of the General Commission on Archives and History.

Ask The UMC: How did John Wesley empower lay people?
Theology and Education
The Rev. Shawn Moses (right) of First Grace United Methodist Church, New Orleans, welcomes a new family joining the church. Photo by Kathy L. Gilbert, UM News.

Ask the UMC: What does it mean to be a member?
Theology and Education
Public domain image from the National Child Labor Committee collection by Lewis Wickes-Hine, courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

Ask The UMC: Why do we have Social Principles? Where did they come from?
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Categories

Local Church
A contractor in protective gear studies one of the last remaining lots being cleared of hazardous soil in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 4, 2019. Wildfires have damaged or destroyed at least 198,392 acres in the state. Photo by Staff Sgt. Amanda Johnson of the California National Guard. Courtesy Defense Visual Information Distribution Network.

Response to wildfires deepens with experience
In his role as a funeral chaplain in Zimbabwe, United Methodist Elison Kamupira uses his faith to comfort the grieving. He serves with a unique combination of compassion and humor. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Funeral chaplain puts faith to work
Girls from the rural Notazana Village in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa receive a donation of sanitary pads from the United Methodist Youth Fellowship. Photo by Nandipha Mkwalo, UM News.

Donation helps rural girls stay in school
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Evangelism
The Rev. Patrik Hipp and his wife, Zuzana Hipp (kneeling, second and third from left), pose with a small group of worshippers of the United Methodist mission congregation in Dolný Kubín, Slovakia. Photo courtesy of Rev. Patrik Hipp.

United Methodists building church in Dolný Kubín
The Rev. Andrew Mhondoro, a tailor and United Methodist pastor, sewed the clergy shirts and gowns for many of Zimbabwe’s United Methodist pastors. Mhondoro died Sept. 29 at age 82. Photo courtesy of The UMC UK Media & Publications.

From making garments to making disciples
Laurence Fishburne stars as Warden Daniel Calvin in the film “Imprisoned,” about a clash between the warden and an ex-con who is tied to a tragedy in Calvin’s past. Photo courtesy of Equitas Entertainment Partners.

Edgier movies for mainstream Christians
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Social Concerns
Teenager Melody Rudairo Nyamadzi, a junior Parliament representative and a member of the United Methodist Youth Fellowship, urges children to let their voices be heard during a special service led by the children’s ministry at St. Dorcas United Methodist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo by the Rev. Taurai Emmanuel Maforo, UM News.

Young United Methodist takes stand against child abuse
United Methodist Bishop Grant J. Hagiya (right) answers questions during a press conference in Lake Junaluska, N.C., after the announcement that the five active bishops from the denomination’s Western Jurisdiction have promised to “protect the full participation” of LGBTQ individuals in the life of the church. He is joined by Bishops Karen P. Oliveto (left) and Elaine J. W. Stanovsky. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

5 bishops pledge LGBTQ ‘safe harbor’

United Methodist Bishop Tracy Smith Malone (left) and Dawn Wiggins Hare celebrate an amendment to the denomination’s constitution that proclaims “men and women are of equal value in the eyes of God.” Ratification of the amendment was announced during the United Methodist Council of Bishops meeting in Lake Junaluska, N.C. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

Church ratifies women's equality amendment
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Mission and Ministry
Members of Buduburam United Methodist Church in Buduburam, Ghana, leave after worship on Nov. 3. The church’s pastor, the Rev. James Y. Kaifunbah, is asking for support from the Liberia Conference and global United Methodist Church to help save the small parish. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Struggling Ghana church seeks support
Children ages 3-7 attend the new Magooli Academy for Children in Lugala, Uganda. United Methodist deacon Joseph Zalambi of Grace United Methodist Church-Magooli opened the preschool to help orphaned and vulnerable children. Photo by Vivian Agaba, UM News.

Deacon opens school for vulnerable children in Uganda
Protesters throw garbage at the entrance of the Immigration and Emigration Direction nel Moise, in the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 28, 2019. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares.

Help for Haitians stymied by political unrest
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General Church
The Wesleyan Covenant Association held its fourth Global Gathering on Nov. 9 at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Okla. Leaders described a breakup of The United Methodist Church as inevitable and planned for the creation of a traditionalist Methodist denomination. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

WCA looks toward new, traditionalist church
Bishop Michael McKee speaks during the United Methodist Council of Bishops meeting in Lake Junaluska, N.C., where the bishops learned that, at the current rate of giving, the bishops will run out of funds in 2024. McKee is president of the denomination’s General Council on Finance and Administration. With him at the podium is Bishop Minerva Carcaño. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

Bishops warned their funding imperiled
The Rev. Yuyuba B. Yoila, Southern Nigeria Conference administrative assistant to Bishop John Wesley Yohanna, speaks about apportionment giving during a special called session of the Nigeria Episcopal Area in Jalingo, Nigeria. Photo by Sharon Adamu Bambuka, UM News.

Nigerian church puts focus on apportionments
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