UM News Digest - May 18, 2026

UM News Digest - May 18, 2026

Assembly message • Planting hope • Spain pilgrimage

“My parents taught us our faith is a shield to protect. It is never a sword to strike people down.” — Stacey Abrams, speaking alongside her mother, the Rev. Carolyn Abrams, at the United Women in Faith Assembly.

Stacey Abrams speaks to the legacy banquet during the United Women in Faith Assembly 2026 in Indianapolis on May 16. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, United Women in Faith.

Church women urged to resist authoritarianism
INDIANAPOLIS (UM News) — United Methodists Stacey Abrams and her mother, the Rev. Carolyn Abrams, challenged those attending the United Women in Faith Assembly to disrupt rollbacks to voting rights. Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, also shared her story of bravery in the face of brutality. Heather Hahn reports.

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Following a final communion service on May 17, women celebrate the conclusion of the United Women in Faith Assembly in Indianapolis. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, United Women in Faith.

Coming up: UM News will have an overview of the Assembly.

Students at The United Methodist Church’s Hanwa Mission Secondary School in Hanwa, Zimbabwe, gather around a guava tree they planted at the school. The tree-planting initiative, funded by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, promotes creation care and practical learning. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Students at The United Methodist Church’s Hanwa Mission Secondary School gather around a guava tree they planted at the school in Zimbabwe. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Mission school journeys toward climate justice
MACHEKE, Zimbabwe (UM News) — At The United Methodist Church’s Hanwa Mission Secondary School, students, parents, teachers and church leaders have come together to plant trees, not just saplings, but seeds of hope, resilience and justice. The tree-planting project is providing a living classroom for students while strengthening environmental awareness. Kudzai Chingwe has the story.
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Iowa Conference
Spain pilgrimage a profound experience
DES MOINES, Iowa — Drawn to the famous pilgrimage route in northern Spain by curiosity, faith and adventure, 14 Iowa United Methodists set out for the Camino de Santiago. Some imagined breathtaking scenery or new friendships, but what none of them could fully anticipate was how the rhythm of walking, long conversations and quiet would open unexpected doors. Iowa Conference staff have the story.
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Michigan Conference
Loving and serving like Jesus
LANSING, Mich. — Church and Community Workers are deployed for service as U.S. missionaries by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries to help in communities across the United States that need food, shelter and more. Glenn M. Wagner talks with several workers about their ministries. “Some people have likened what I do to social work,” said Randy Hildebrant, director of God’s Country Community Ministries in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “I help our partnering ministries and many volunteers in ‘doing’ the love of Jesus out in the communities we serve.”
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Native American Inter-Tribal Caucus
Group opposes weakening of voting rights
SELBYVILLE, Del. — The Native American Inter-Tribal Caucus released a statement announcing its “firm opposition to the weakening of protections under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — a law born through sacrifice, struggle and the unyielding demand for dignity, equality and representation.” The caucus also shares steps Americans can take to ensure people have a representative government.
Read statement (PDF)

Boston University School of Theology
Essays address democracy in crisis
BOSTON — Faculty at United Methodist-related Boston University School of Theology will address in essays how a theological education can help the nation to be more democratic. The essays are being posted on the website “For Such a Time as This.”
Read press release
Read essays