“We want to give folks a place to land while we wait for the commission to perform its function.” — The Rev. Carolyn Moore on the new Wesleyan Covenant Association.
New group aims to boost evangelical voice
CHICAGO (UMNS) — A new evangelical United Methodist group is taking shape just as the denomination’s longtime homosexuality debate appears to be reaching a turning point. While some worry this marks the start of a new denomination, association organizers say that is not the group’s purpose. Heather Hahn reports.
UMCOR school kits reach rural Cambodia
NEW YORK (UMNS) — Like most children in Cambodia’s rural Kampong Leaeng district, Eang Eng, a fifth-grader, doesn’t take his education for granted. But he was excited by the school supplies provided by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. “Before having this kit, I had only a half pencil and a thin notebook that would last just three months,” he said. “Now I have everything I need to study for a whole year!” Dam Tithiavan reports for UMCOR.
Church brings line dancing to 7th Ward
NEW ORLEANS (UMNS) — Residents of New Orleans’ 7th Ward recently received free line-dancing classes with a well-known local instructor, “DJ Gravy,” thanks to The Spirit Church. It’s just one way this new United Methodist ministry is connecting with its neighborhood. The Louisiana Conference reports.
Survey: Politics from the pulpit common
WASHINGTON — Nearly two-thirds of recent churchgoers in the United States report their clergy have spoken out about at least one social or political issue, a new Pew Research Center survey finds. Religious liberty and homosexuality were chief among the issues they were hearing about, with four in 10 saying they heard from clergy on each of these topics during the spring and early summer.
Read more about the survey
New study finds rising wages for clergy
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The wages of battling sin are getting better for men and women of the cloth. Non-Catholic clergy have experienced significant increases in income even as their workweeks declined by more than 15 percent in recent decades, according to a major new study of clergy compensation. Former UMNS editor David Briggs reports for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
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Correction: Young clergy gather in Washington
An Aug. 9 digest item on the Summer Young Clergy Leadership Forum incorrectly identified the Rev. Carolyn Gillette as a United Methodist pastor. She is co-pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware, with her husband, the Rev. Bruce Gillette.
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.
Monday, Aug. 22-Saturday, Sept. 3
Online course "Biblical Storytelling I" for lay servants from BeADisciple.com — This course’s methods, developed by the Network of Biblical Storytellers International, are for everyone who wishes to learn, to tell and to connect with God and other people through the art and spiritual discipline of telling the sacred stories of Scripture. $65. Details
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