Worship

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.

Mission and Ministry

The Revs. Martha E. Vink (left) and Alka Lyall lead a Holy Communion service during an Advent gathering in December 2019 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo. The two are among the collaborators organizing the Liberation Methodist Connexion, a new denomination that held an online launch event on Nov. 29. Photo courtesy of LMX.

New progressive Methodist denomination starts

The Liberation Methodist Connexion is getting off the ground before the United Methodist General Conference takes up a proposed formal separation.

Local Church

A single lit candle in a wreath signifies the first week of Advent. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, United Methodist churches are thinking creatively for the seasons of Advent and Christmas. Photo of Glendale United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., by Steven Kyle Adair, United Methodist Communications.

Salvaging Christmas amid coronavirus concerns

Pastors already dealing with a stressful 2020 now must lead United Methodists through the seasons of Advent and Christmas as the coronavirus pandemic rages.

Mission and Ministry

Ghanaian immigrants gather for worship at Calvary United Methodist Church in Hamburg, Germany. They rent the sanctuary from the Evangelical Church, the state church of Germany. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Ask The UMC: Do United Methodists observe Sabbath on Sunday?

United Methodists do not mandate the practice of Sabbath on the seventh day, but we do call one another to practices associated with Sabbath in Judaism.

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