Church Growth

Churches may have shuttered their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, but disciple-making kept going through digital ministries. In observance of Social Media Day, UM News explores how churches are reaching new people through social media and online offerings. Globe by OpenClipart-Vectors, courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Social media takes disciple-making global

Even as the pandemic forced churches to close their buildings, social media opened new doors for United Methodists to make disciples across continents.

Mission and Ministry

The Rev. Amy Wilson Feltz, pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in El Paso, Texas, sets up computer equipment to stream a live sermon in the church’s sanctuary in September. Although the pulpit, which is visible on-camera, has the appropriate liturgical color, the banner on the wall was from Lent, when the church had to suspend in-person worship. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Amy Wilson Feltz.

Virtual worship is here for good

If there’s a positive side to the coronavirus for churches, it’s that many of them have dramatically upped their game online.

Evangelism

East Congo Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda blesses the new Amani United Methodist Church in Goma, Congo, in October. The church is the 33rd new church built in eastern Congo over the past eight years as part of Unda's "Rise and Build" evangelism campaign. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

Building churches and numbers in East Congo

The newly dedicated Amani United Methodist Church is the 33rd church to be built in East Congo as part of Bishop Unda’s ‘Rise and Build’ campaign.

Evangelism

Györgyi Vályi followed the call to lead a small church in Budapest, Hungary, called Hope Church. Her ministry as a mission worker leading the church has come amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Portrait taken in front of the Parliament building by the Danube River. Photo courtesy of Györgyi Valyi.

Church leader finds vocational certainty amid COVID-19

Györgyi Vályi found that even as the Covid-19 pandemic limited church to internet and telephone, Hope Church members grew closer together and that gave her new confidence in her own ministry leading the church.

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