Daily Digest - February 11, 2013

"The church is not the building or the facility, it's the people. So when we go outside of our facility we're still the church. We eat together, we pray together and we worship together...." - Tom Strohbeck of Maumee United Methodist Church.

UMTV: Bowling church hits a strike

MAUMEE, Ohio (UMNS) - An unusual approach to church became an instant hit for Maumee United Methodist Church near Toledo. The "bowling church" attracts all ages and those unsure about traditional church.
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Mozambique flood relief needs grow

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - "At this stage, food is the priority No. 1," wrote the Rev. Joao Sambo, pastor of Liberdade United Methodist Church in Maputo in an email Feb. 8. "Rain is still devastating... . The media is showing frightening images of desolation. Lives are being lost; crops, houses and public infrastructures destroyed while fewer are the resources to cope ... the number of affected grows daily." Mozambique has been hard-hit by flooding since late January. The United Methodist Church in Mozambique, in partnership with the Missouri Conference's Mozambique Initiative, is working to help the more than 140,000 families affected.
Contributions can be made through UMCOR
or the Missouri Mozambique Initiative

What's the Christian connection with St. Valentine's Day?

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - The American University United Methodist Community shares the story of the two early church leaders named Valentine, who might be at the heart of this holiday for lovebirds.
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Social action agency welcomes gun violence report

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - The United Methodist Board of Church and Society welcomed the findings released Feb. 7 by the U.S. House of Representatives' Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which support Vice President Joe Biden's task force in proposing a strong plan to reduce gun violence in the United States. The agency urged Congress "to work on this issue immediately so that no more lives are lost to such unnecessary tragedies."
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Volunteers weatherize church building

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (UMNS) - Facing annual heat and electric bills of up to $38,000, Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church is looking for almost any way to reduce energy costs, the Courier-Journal.com reports. Volunteers recently spread out around the massive church to caulk windows, cover panes with plastic, insulate doors and install energy-efficient lighting in a project sponsored by Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light, a nonprofit group connecting "theology and ecology."
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