Mission and Ministry

Church History
The history of Pickett Chapel United Methodist Church in Lebanon, Tenn., goes back almost 200 years. Pickett Chapel is believed to be the oldest African American church building in the state of Tennessee. Photo from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Historic church tells story of slavery, triumph

Pickett Chapel has served both Black and white congregations over nearly 200 years. The fingerprints of enslaved people who built this church can still be seen today.
Theology and Education
Graphic by Taylor W Burton Edwards based on The 2020/2024 Book of Discipline, Copyright 2024, United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

Ask The UMC: Part 1, Local churches, annual conferences, and general agencies

Some are smaller, and some are bigger, but changes have come in the 2020/2024 Book of Discipline for local churches, annual conferences, and general agencies.
Church History
Ashley Boggan, top executive of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, gifts Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, with a John Wesley bobblehead on Sept. 6, 2023, while in Italy for the European Methodist Historical Conference. Seated from left are the Rev. Matthew Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome; Boggan, Ulrike Schuler with the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and Lara Herrmann, a student and Schuler’s granddaughter. File photo courtesy of Vatican Media.

Archives and History sets big plans

Ambitious plans are brewing at the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, in a time when budgets in The United Methodist Church are being cut. Top executive Ashley Boggan talks about those plans and raising the money to pay for them.
General Church
Due to financial constraints and declining demand, the United Methodist Publishing House has announced it will discontinue Korean and Spanish translations of the Book of Discipline unless alternative funding and distribution methods can be found. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Korean, Spanish versions of Discipline halted

Korean and Hispanic/Latino church leaders voice concern about the United Methodist Publishing House’s decision to no longer translate the Book of Discipline due to financial pressures.

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