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New church bridges ages in college town

Mar 02, 2015

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Local Church
The Revs. Maggie Proshek (left), Ricky Harrison (center) and Taylor Smith are young clergy in the North Texas Conference. All three were ordained at annual conference this summer, Proshek as deacon and Harrison and Smith as elders. The North Texas Conference has become one of the top U.S conferences in percentage of elders 35 and under, a new report shows. Nationally, the number of young elders has declined for three straight years. Photo by Hillsman S. Jackson, North Texas Conference.

Number of elders under 35 dropping
New report on United Methodist clergy age trends in U.S. shows three years of decline for elders in this demographic.
Local Church
This is Burley Middle School in Charlottesville, Va., where the nondenominational church Mission Charlottesville meets on Sundays. UM News photo.

New Charlottesville church draws suspicions
Pastors of nearby churches claim a new church plant is associated with traditionalist United Methodist-connected organizations and is intended to compete with them. Representatives for the organizations deny this, as do church leaders.
General Church
The Rev. Jasmine Smothers, lead pastor of Atlanta First United Methodist Church, has been among the conveners of recent meetings by centrists and progressives to discuss the denomination's future. Photo by Les Scarbrough, Atlanta First United Methodist Church.

Centrists, progressives to discuss church's future
Unhappiness with General Conference 2019 prompts plan for big meeting, with dissolution and ‘gracious exit’ among the options.