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Daily Digest - April 23, 2015

"There is not one organization that will get rid of malaria. We will do this together. This is a cause worth fighting for." — Bishop Thomas Bickerton, chairman of the United Methodist Global Health Initiative.

 

United Methodist Church donates
$9.6 million to Global Fund

WASHINGTON (UMNS) — A $9.6 million check presented April 22 by the people of The United Methodist Church is the largest contribution from a faith-based organization ever received by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Crystal Caviness reports.
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Pennsylvania bishops support anti-discrimination law

HARRISBURG, Pa. (UMNS) — Pennsylvania’s three bishops are calling on state lawmakers to extend protection against discrimination to all, including gay and transgender people.
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Students trickling back after Sierra Leone Ebola scare

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (UMNS) — Schools in Sierra Leone have seen low numbers of students since re-opening April 14. The country’s schools had been closed since June 2014 due to the Ebola crisis. Phileas Jusu has the story.
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15 ministries get Peace with Justice grants

WASHINGTON (UMNS) — The United Methodist Board of Church and Society has awarded $41,400 to 15 Peace with Justice ministries around the world. The grants are in conjunction with the denomination’s Peace with Justice Sunday, which promotes programs that advocate peace and justice at home and around the world. Observed on May 31 this year, Peace with Justice Sunday is one of the denomination’s six United Methodist Special Sundays with an offering.
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Prison ministries helped ex-offender find grace

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (UMNS) — The only child of an absent alcoholic father and a co-dependent mother, Erin Wagner spent her youth navigating a broken home and layers of guilt and abuse. She was eventually incarcerated, and the ministry she experienced as a prisoner led her to turn her life around. In a story for Interpreter magazine, Jessica Brodie reports Wagner finds grace and liberation as a minister to prisoners.
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Looking ahead

Here are some of the activities ahead for United Methodists across the connection. If you have an item to share, email [email protected] and put Digest in the subject line.

Thursday-Saturday, April 23-25
Training event "Worship + Service: Where Effective Worship Intersects with Community Transformation" — St. John's Downtown, a United Methodist congregation, 2019 Crawford St., Houston, will host a training event on creative ways to reach and engage urban communities, to do housing development, to have food distribution programs and to design an innovative worship experience. The training also will emphasize operating under the principle of unconditional love. Registration is $100. Details.

Transform Network National Gathering on Urban Transformation — The Institute for Community Engagement at Wesley Theological Seminary's downtown Washington campus will host a conference that focuses on urban ministry from the lens of missional theology. Speakers include the Rev. William Barber II, leader of the Forward Together Moral Movement; Lisa Sharon Harper, chief church engagement officer at Sojourners; Liz Butler, network organizing project director at the Movement Strategy Center; and the Rev. Joe Daniels Jr., lead pastor of the Emory Fellowship in Washington. Details.

You can see more educational opportunities and other upcoming events in the life of the church here.


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