“I refuse to believe that our church cannot rise to the challenges confronting us today.” — The Rev. Junius B. Dotson, top executive of United Methodist Discipleship Ministries.
Discipleship exec: 'Stop fixing churches'
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — The top executive of Discipleship Ministries has a message for The United Methodist Church: “Let’s stop fixing churches and start seeing the people Christ called us to reach.” Heather Hahn reports on the agency’s plans to help the denomination make 1 million new disciples in the next four years.
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Taking the lead for peace
UNITED NATIONS (UMNS) — What began as an effort by United Methodist Women in 2015 to bring Ukrainian and Russian women together to talk peace has evolved into a permanent regional forum called the Women’s Peace Dialogue Platform. Linda Bloom has the story.
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Agency details non-discriminatory amendment
CHICAGO (UMNS) — The United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women reports on the proposed constitutional amendment that adds “gender,” “age,” “marital status” and “ability” to the non-discriminatory clause in the membership section of The United Methodist Church’s constitution. The commission proposed the amendment.
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Peace committee organizing North Korea visit
BELMONT, Mass. (UMNS) — The Peace Committee of The Korean Association of The United Methodist Church, which has been actively working to promote peace in the Korean Peninsula, is organizing a program that involves a visit to North Korea. The committee is inviting interested United Methodists to join the trip.
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COMMENTARIES
Understanding renewal, reform group positions
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (UMNS) — Renewal and reform groups say some of their positions are misunderstood or mischaracterized, writes the Rev. Walter Fenton, an analyst for Good News Magazine.
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Can our 'way forward' be reconciliation?
SEDGEWICK, Alberta (UMNS) — For The United Methodist Church to move forward, the denomination needs to reconcile after years spent battling each other, writes the Rev. Lloyd T. Nyarota. Reconciliation takes dialogue and partnership to a new level, he writes.
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LOOKING AHEAD
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.
Tuesday, March 28
The Generosity Ingredient: Not Fundraising, Disciple-Making — 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. CST. This new webinar series will explore how to keep generosity as a key ingredient in the recipe for making faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. It also will consider the tension that exists in the church about the business of stewardship. Led by the Rev. Ken Sloane, United Methodist Discipleship Ministries’ director of stewardship and connectional ministries, sessions are scheduled every other Tuesday morning beginning on March 28 and continuing April 11 and 25 and May 9. Details
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