Daily Digest - November 17, 2020

"We have to wrestle with the fact the Good News that Jesus proclaimed rarely supported the status quo." — Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, who leads the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

NEWS AND FEATURES

Planning for a more inclusive church
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (UM News) — United Methodists held a virtual Inclusiveness Conference that focused on church efforts to dismantle racism, welcome LGBTQ people and cross international boundaries. One bishop said the church could lose more members over the issue of race than LGBTQ inclusion. Heather Hahn reports.
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Liberian pastors preach about drug abuse
MONROVIA, Liberia (UM News) — The United Methodist Church is taking aim at substance abuse in rural parts of the country. As part of a new campaign, pastors in the Gbarnga District will spend about five minutes during every sermon talking about drug and alcohol addiction. E Julu Swen reports.
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NBC, Virginia Wesleyan
Dean resigns after post about Biden supporters
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A dean at United Methodist-related Virginia Wesleyan University has resigned after a Facebook post that said supporters of President-elect Joe Biden are "ignorant, anti-American and anti-Christian." The school announced that Paul Ewell, a professor of management, business and economics, had stepped down. He had earlier resigned as dean of Virginia Wesleyan's Global Campus. David K. Li and Caitlin Fichtel report for NBC.
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Read Virginia Wesleyan statements

North Texas Conference
UMW fills Thanksgiving baskets
DALLAS — All 99 United Methodist Women units across the North Texas Conference are contributing to Thanksgiving baskets for needy families. They'll be handed out by Dallas Bethlehem Center, a United Methodist-affiliated nonprofit. The need is even greater this year because of COVID-19.
Read conference report

RECENT HEADLINES

Protocol legislation heads top court agenda

Church aids Deaf community amid pandemic

EVENTS

Tuesday, Nov. 24

Raise Up Your Voice Against Racism webinar