Daily Digest — August 07, 2015

“When the dust is all settled, we’re all going to have to live together down here.” — The Rev. Alan Milligan, United Methodist pastor assigned to a breakaway congregation.

Conference sues breakaway church over assets

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. (UMNS) — The Illinois Great Rivers Conference filed a lawsuit seeking to keep property being used by a breakaway congregation. The Aug. 6 lawsuit comes on the heels of a highly-publicized property settlement between the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and a fast-growing church that left the denomination. Heather Hahn reports.
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Missouri pastors still fighting racism one year after shooting

FERGUSON, Mo. (UMTV) — Two United Methodist pastors were on the frontlines of racial unrest and protests after 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot in an altercation with police on August 9, 2014. In an interview with United Methodist Communications, they spoke about how their churches are working for change.
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Early morning prayer service draws hundreds

HARARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) — Eggester Jokomo sits huddled near the church pulpit, her eyes closed and her lips muttering an inaudible prayer. Around the 80-year-old, people of varying ages pray. Eveline Chikwanah reports on the daily sunrise service at St. Mark United Methodist Church that now draws as many as 500 worshippers.
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Freeing the world of nuclear weapons

HIROSHIMA, Japan (WCC) — “The first thing that is required of us is to live the courage of our convictions. For the World Council of Churches, our conviction is that the world must be freed of nuclear weapons,” said the Rev. Sang Chang, WCC president for Asia. She spoke at the Nuclear Disarmament Symposium in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, the 70th anniversary of the day an atomic bomb was dropped on that city. Chang is a member of the WCC delegation currently in Japan. The delegation is led by United Methodist Bishop Mary Ann Swenson.
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Watch video with Bishop Swenson in Japan

Building bridges after the shootings

ALCOA, Tenn. (UMNS) — What can churches and church members do right now to build peaceful communities? Annette Spence of the Holston Conference’s The Call asked five United Methodists of diverse backgrounds to address that question following multiple mass shootings, including the attack in Chattanooga that took the lives of five service members.
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Schools association explores Wesleyan identity

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (UMNS) — The National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Church is undertaking two projects — developing essays on what it means to be a United Methodist-related educational institution and putting into action the association’s earlier commitment to justice and dignity. Bonnie Atwood reports for the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
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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.

Sunday, Aug. 9

Joint prayer for peaceful reunification of Korean peninsula —  The National Council of Churches in Korea (South Korea) and the Korean Christian Federation Central Committee (North Korea) have prepared this prayer and an order of worship. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonialism and also its division into two occupying zones, which subsequently led to the Korean War and continued hostilities. Details

Friday, Aug. 14

MountainTalk, a ministry conversation at United Methodist-related HendersonSettlement in Frakes, Kentucky — The theme is “Preaching and Storytelling,” and the settlement is bringing in folks who have spent some serious time thinking about storytelling and preaching in Appalachia. Speakers include authors the Rev. Michael Williams, senior pastor at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee; Loyal Jones, director of Appalachian Studies at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky; and the Rev. Charles Maynard, Maryville district superintendent in the Holston Conference. $35 (including meals); an additional $25 if you stay overnight. Details

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