Daily Digest - December 15, 2017

"You did not have to ask him to enter the fray." — James H. Salley talking about Bishop Felton E. May, one of 26 notable leaders whose legacies we remember. 

Notable deaths of 2017, article by United Methodist News Service. Photo by Silvia and Frank, courtesy of Pixabay.
Photo by Silvia and Frank, courtesy of Pixabay

 

NEWS AND FEATURES
 

2017: Remembering notable church members

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — United Methodists this past year marked the passing of a champion of deacons, a Mississippian born of conviction and a bishop who survived an attempt on his life. Heather Hahn has this collection of 26 remembrances.
Read story

Church donates school toilets in Liberia

PAYNESVILLE, Liberia (UMNS) — The United Methodist Church is building toilets in schools across Liberia to improve the health of students. For World Toilet Day, the church dedicated new toilets at the Love, Caring and Sharing Community Institute in Paynesville, Liberia. Julu Swen reports. 
Read story

North Carolina Conference 
Durham church offers immigrant sanctuary

DURHAM, N.C. — CityWell United Methodist Church has given sanctuary to Samuel Oliver-Bruno, an undocumented immigrant fighting deportation. “Receiving Samuel into sanctuary at CityWell has everything to do with our wanting to receive the ways of Jesus as our way of life,” said the Rev. Cleve May, minister at CityWell. 
Read story

Arkansas Conference
Cowboys, coffee and breakfast

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Cowboy Church. Holy Grounds Community Coffeehouse. Morning Manna. What these ministries have in common is a commitment to reach new people and create community. The Rev. Martha Taylor has the story.
Read story

Archives and History
When missions and war collide

MADISON, N.J. — Gertrude Feely was a Methodist missionary in Japan and the Philippines who was interned by the Japanese during World War II. Dale Patterson, archivist and records administrator for the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, tells the story of a woman so dedicated to her missionary work that she returned to Japan after the war.
Read story

 

PRESS RELEASES

 

Perkins School of Theology
Perkins collaborates with Wesley House, Cambridge

DALLAS — United Methodist Perkins School of Theology has formed an international study partnership with Wesley House, Cambridge, in England. Two recent Perkins graduates are spending an academic year studying at the University of Cambridge through Wesley House. They’re also living at Wesley House, an international community of Methodist scholars.
Read press release

 

COMMENTARIES


Michigan Area
Looking at Mary through a 2017 lens

LANSING, Mich. — The Rev. Jack Harnish offers a Christmas commentary on Mary, the mother of Jesus. And he ties it to events of 2017. “Maybe this year we need to see her as the model of a strong, determined woman who knows who she is and holds her ground,” Harnish writes.
Read commentary

 

RECENT HEADLINES

Santa teaches lesson in grace

 

EVENTS

Here are some of the activities ahead for United Methodists across the connection. If you have a United Methodist event to share, you can add it to the calendar with this submission form.

Thursday, Dec. 21
 

Blue Christmas/Longest Night worship resources

Sunday, Dec. 24

Christmas Eve worship resources

 

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