“It is a theological affirmation that we are moving away from tenant and landlord relationships and into a deeper relational ministry ‘with’ the people God is giving us to make Christ known.”— The Rev. Dan Schwerin, assistant to Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of the Wisconsin Conference, on the conference’s commitment to cross-cultural appointments.
NEWS AND FEATURES
Bilingual appointments boost declining churches
KENOSHA, Wis. (UM News) — The Wisconsin Conference has begun a creative new type of appointment, known as a bilingual appointment, to help respond to the trend of declining Korean and other ethnic churches. While such appointments can be challenging for pastors, there are benefits to assigning clergy to two congregations with different backgrounds. The Rev. Thomas E. Kim has the story.
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South Georgia Conference
Work-Out Bible Study aims to firm body and soul
FITZGERALD, Ga. — Like many at the beginning of a new year, Kindall Strahan resolved to take her health more seriously. She decided to use her lunch break to exercise and study Scripture. That effort gave rise to Central United Methodist Church’s Work-Out Bible Study. Kara Witherow has the story.
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Greater Northwest Area
Finding new ways to serve the vulnerable
TUKWILA, Wash. — When COVID-19 brought in-person worship to a screeching halt, it didn’t halt the community-focused work of many local churches. Riverton Park United Methodist Church found new ways to serve the most vulnerable, including becoming a warming, cooling and recharging center. Greater Northwest staff have the story.
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Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Medical helicopter crashes near church
DREXEL HILL, Pa. — Some are calling it a miracle. When a medical helicopter crashed next to Drexel Hill United Methodist Church, no one on board — including the baby patient — suffered serious injury. The infant was transported to a nearby hospital and is in stable condition. No one at the church or in the dense residential neighborhood was injured. John Coleman has the story.
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PRESS RELEASES
United Theological Seminary
Seminary welcomes bishop-in-residence
DAYTON, Ohio — Retired Bishop J. Michael Lowry is the first bishop-in-residence at United Theological Seminary. Lowry retired in 2021 as the resident bishop of the Central Texas Conference. Union Theological Seminary is a United Methodist seminary.
Read press release and interview
Watch installation
COMMENTARIES
UM News includes in the Daily Digest various commentaries about issues in the denomination. The opinion pieces reflect a variety of viewpoints and are the opinions of the writers, not the UM News staff.
Wespath
Investment insights from Wesley and improv comedy
GLENVIEW, Ill. — In his first Investment Insights blog post as Wespath’s top executive, Andy Hendren writes about the United Methodist pension agency’s approach to sustainable investing. He sums up that approach using a lesson he learned from studying improv comedy.
Read commentary
RESOURCES
Council of Bishops
Scholarships available for unity workshop
WASHINGTON — The Council of Bishops is offering scholarships to seminary students and first-time attenders to participate in the National Workshop on Christian Unity and UMEIT: USA 2022. UMEIT: USA stands for United Methodist Ecumenical and Interreligious Training in the USA. The national workshop is scheduled for May 3-6 in Anaheim, California.
Learn more
Florida Conference
Free music offered for churches
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Florida Conference has put together the Worship Warehouse, a trove of free video material that churches can use to supplement their worship or midweek classes. There are about 100 items on the site now, but conference staff expects that number to grow as word spreads about what is available. Joe Henderson has the story.
Read story
Register for Worship Warehouse
RECENT HEADLINES
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EVENTS
Sunday, Jan. 16
Human Relations Day
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