“God opened so many doors for me. I know I will be serving this country somehow. God wants me here serving in this place, yes, God wants me here.” — Miguel, a father from Honduras, on being granted asylum in the U.S.
NEWS AND FEATURES
Global Ministries
Partnership helps immigrant family win asylum case
ATLANTA — The UMCOR Asylum Project, a partnership that includes the United Methodist Committee on Relief, National Justice for Our Neighbors and Church World Service, has reached a milestone in a years-long mission: winning an asylum case in the United States. Christie R. House has the story of how the project helped a Honduran family fleeing gang violence to find a new home.
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The Unfinished Church
Bishops’ podcast features ‘grandmother of Juneteenth’
FORT WORTH, Texas — Opal Lee is the 95-year-old Texan known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth” for her work to make that day celebrating slavery’s end a national holiday. She was a recent guest on the podcast “The Unfinished Church,” hosted by United Methodist Bishops LaTrelle Miller Easterling, Gregory Palmer and Michael McKee.
Listen to podcast or read transcript
Upper New York Conference
Church discovers connection to famed missionary
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Members of University United Methodist Church recently made a discovery. A family that belongs to the church has ties to prominent Methodist minister and missionary Daniel Coker, who still has multiple namesakes in modern-day Sierra Leone. Kathleen Christiansen reports.
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Religion News Service
Clergy join in D.C. rally to combat poverty
WASHINGTON — Thousands of clergy, union leaders, activists and scholars rallied near the U.S. Capitol on June 18 at a march organized by the Poor People’s Campaign, calling on Congress to take action and address the plight of millions of Americans who struggle with poverty and low income. Among those joining in the march was the Rev. Neal Christie of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Jack Jenkins reports.
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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.
Florida Conference board caused harm
LAKELAND, Fla. (UM News) — The Rev. Dr. Jack Jackson agrees harm was done when an entire 16-person slate of provisional membership candidates did not win approval from the Florida Conference clergy session. But Jackson says the blame belongs not with the clergy session but with the conference’s board of ordained ministry for ignoring church law when trying to advance LGBTQ candidates on the track to becoming ordained elders or deacons.
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Read UM News story: Clergy session vote highlights LGBTQ divide
Apply Wesleyan lens to clergy-session controversy
LAKELAND, Fla. (UM News) — The Rev. Dr. Paul W. Chilcote believes it’s a time for healing, not recriminations, in regard to the Florida Conference clergy session’s decision to disapprove a 16-person slate for provisional membership. Chilcote also sees Methodism’s tradition of “ecclesial disobedience” as key to evaluating a controversy that underscored United Methodist divisions over full LGBTQ inclusion.
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RESOURCES
Rethink Church
5 video games to enrich your faith
DENVER, N.C. — Since its inception, one of the major goals at Checkpoint Church was to make use of the medium of the video game in order to explore the Christian faith, according to its self-described “nerd pastor,” the Rev. Nathan Webb. He recommends a handful of video games that could be used to start a small-group study.
View resource
UM News: ‘Church for nerds’ builds community without a building
RECENT HEADLINES
Striving for equity in pastor salaries
Photo essay: Reflections of a father’s love
EVENTS
Wednesday, July 13-Friday, July 15
2022 Mississippi Annual Conference
Thursday, July 28-Thursday, Aug. 11
Global Ministries EarthKeepers summer training
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