GC2012 Welcomed by Tampa Mayor

A report from Art McClanahan on Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn's greeting to the 2012 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.


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Worship
Retired Bishop Peggy A. Johnson. Photo courtesy of the author.

Helping people ‘hear the Gospel’ in new ways

May is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month, a good time for United Methodist churches to examine ways to improve hearing accessibility.
Social Concerns
The Rev. Christopher P. Momany. Photo by Kristen Schell.

For every righteous ‘no,’ there must be a holy ‘yes’

Methodism’s Wesleyan-Holiness heritage holds principles that can be applied to today’s struggles around human dignity.
Church History
The Methodist Church’s 1956 General Conference meets from April 25 to May 7 in the municipal auditorium in Minneapolis. On May 4, the first Friday of the legislative assembly, the delegates voted to make women eligible for full clergy rights. “Now it is up to us to prove in clear and deep witness to the whole church our consecration and our loyal devotion to the work of the Kingdom of God,” said Margaret Henrichsen, a General Conference visitor, after the vote. In 1967, she became the first U.S. woman appointed district superintendent. Photo courtesy of Archives and History.

Why the 1956 women-clergy vote matters

Seventy years ago, the Methodist Church supported full conference membership for women clergy — a decision that would have a resounding impact when The United Methodist Church formed in 1968 and even today.

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