Repentance is never a ‘one time’ experience

“An Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous Peoples” will take place at 7:30 p.m. April 27.

In a press conference before the worship service, The Rev. George E. “Tink” Tinker, said he was honored and has so much respect for The United Methodist Church for taking this step because the process is difficult and complex. “It will be my job to explain in 30 minutes how to make right a little over 500 years of Christian invasion and imperialism.”

Tinker, who is a citizen of the Osage Nation and an indigenous advocate and theologian, will be the worship service’s keynote speaker. Tinker is on the faculty at United Methodist-related Iliff School of Theology in Denver and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “Repentance is never a one-time experience,” he said. “Repenting needs to be a way of life."

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Local Church

Lisa Bowser (left), lay leader of Marshallton United Methodist Church in West Chester, Pa., speaks with Christian Boehnke as church members Neal Bowser and Jonah Eckert work in the background to renovate a disability access ramp at St. John United Methodist Church in Bridgeton, N.J. St. John is the fifth-oldest historically Native American church in the denomination. The two congregations have been sharing in ministry and fellowship since 2024 as part of Marshallton’s efforts to address racial injustice toward Indigenous people its area. Photo by David Eckert.

Church addresses historic injustice to Indigenous neighbors

A white Pennsylvania congregation has adopted a land acknowledgment statement and is walking alongside a Native American church in ministry and fellowship.

Social Concerns

Barbara Braided Hair, left, teaches members of First United Methodist Church in Sheridan, Wyo., how to make fry bread. Barbara is the late wife of Otto Braided Hair Jr., a Sand Creek Massacre descendants representative of the Northern Cheyenne tribe in Lame Deer, Mont., who helped educate church members about the 1864 massacre led by Methodists. The dialogue sparked a two-decade relationship between the church’s Native American Committee and the Northern Cheyenne tribe. File photo courtesy of First UMC Sheridan.

Church forges ties with Sand Creek Massacre descendants

Being a consistent presence has helped the Native American Committee of First United Methodist Church in Sheridan, Wyoming, gain acceptance.

General Conference

GC2028 delegate count marks historic shift

Organizers of The United Methodist Church’s top legislative meeting have set the total number of delegates, who for the first time will mostly come from outside the U.S.

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