“Lots of churches just didn’t have communion when grapes were out of season.” — Roger Scull, a church historian, on grape juice and the Methodist Church.
Communion and Welch’s grape juice
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMC.org) — Substituting grape juice for wine at Holy Communion might seem an obvious choice for modern United Methodists, but during the temperance movement in the 1800s, that was not so easy. Joe Iovino writes about the connections between Welch’s grape juice and the Methodist Church.
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3 conferences join reproductive choice coalition
MANCHESTER, N.H. (UMNS) — Three conferences — New England, Pacific Northwest and Oregon-Idaho — have now voted to join the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. A fourth conference, California-Nevada, passed a resolution to join the California coalition. The moves are in direct opposition to the General Conference 2016 vote to discontinue membership in the organization.
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Learning how to evangelize baby boomers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — United Methodist church leaders are invited to gather in September to learn new ways to evangelize baby boomers. Boomerstock, Sept. 28-Oct. 1, is hosted by the Office on Aging and Older Adult Ministries at Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church.
Church closes; new start planned
NORFOLK, Va. — Thousands once worshiped at Park Place United Methodist Church, which was at one time the largest Methodist church in Virginia. Now, the church is closing its doors. But, as Joanne Kimberlin reports for The Virginian-Pilot, plans are in the works for the building to serve a new United Methodist flock.
How a Washington church reaches kids, parents
ROCHESTER, Wash. (UMNS) — The United Methodist Church in Rochester makes discipleship a priority through its various ministries that serve the deepest needs in the community. Jesse Love of the Pacific Northwest Conference has a video profile of the church that received the One Matters Award.
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Publishing House honors Georgia Harkness
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — The United Methodist Publishing House has named the library in its new headquarters in honor of theologian and Abingdon Press author Georgia Harkness. Arguably the first woman scholar-theologian in the United States, Harkness (1891–1974) served as a professor and wrote almost 40 books.
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2016 annual conference reports
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — United Methodist News Service is posting reports from annual conference sessions. New reports this week include East Ohio, Eastern Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi, Memphis, New England, North Georgia, Oklahoma, Pacific Northwest, California-Nevada and West Ohio.
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, July 25-Sunday, Aug. 7
BeADisciple online course “Rediscovering Our Spiritual Gifts” — This Lay Servant Ministries course teaches participants about their spiritual gifts and they can help their congregations learn more about theirs. Participants will interact via online discussions, journals and videos throughout the two weeks. Details
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