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UM News Digest - Nov. 26, 2025
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“We’re not simply looking backward with nostalgia or holding on, but we are leaning forward … toward the divine future where we can do vital ministry.” — Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, on plans to revitalize churches and plant new faith communities in Ohio.
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The Rev. Joe Graves (left) baptizes a baby Sept. 21 at Cityview Church. The rest of the McKinley family also were baptized during the service. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.
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Ohio United Methodists aim to plant 100 churches
COLUMBUS, Ohio (UM News) — Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of the East and West Ohio conferences has set a goal of 100 new faith communities planted by 2029. Brad Aycock, executive director of Fresh Starts and New Beginnings for the conferences, travels the state to recruit church planters and support ideas for fresh expressions of church. Jim Patterson reports. |
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Members of Second Chance take a selfie in the courtyard of Franklinton High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 21. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.
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Church plants bloom on different paths
COLUMBUS, Ohio (UM News) — Husband-wife United Methodist pastors the Revs. Joe and Allyssa Graves are reviving the denomination in Columbus using different approaches. The couple started new United Methodist faith communities, one focusing on recovery and the other created by merging a church start and a more traditional congregation. Jim Patterson has the story. |
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South Georgia Conference
When church in a barn looks like love
SHELLMAN BLUFF, Ga. — No steeple. No stained glass. No pews. Just a barn with a ’67 Mustang on one side, two boats on the other, and a group of people who believed that church isn’t about where you gather, but who gathers there. That’s how Shellman Bluff Community Church, a United Methodist congregation, came to life on the Georgia coast. The Rev. Stephanie Smith reports.
Read story
Atlanta News First
Church fills pantries ahead of Thanksgiving
ATLANTA — Cascade United Methodist Church in southwest Atlanta hosted its annual Thanksgiving basket giveaway Nov. 24 with cars lined up down the street before the sun came up. The church first started the Thanksgiving basket giveaway almost 30 years ago and fed 25 families. This year, the church provided a week of food for 2,500 families. Sarah Hammond has the story.
Read story and watch video |
No Digest Nov. 27-28
This is the last UM News Digest before the Thanksgiving holiday. The digest will resume on Monday, Dec. 1. The staff at UM News wishes everyone a blessed Thanksgiving and offers this downloadable graphic for sharing. |
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Archives and History
Fellow will research Indigenous boarding schools
MADISON, N.J. — Jewel Cummins, an American Indian Studies Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arizona, has been named the first Indigenous Boarding School Fellow, charged with researching Methodist-run Indigenous boarding schools. The fellowship is part of the denomination’s effort to educate and own its role in the harm inflicted on Native Americans through the centuries. The United Methodist Commission on Archives and History is financing the one-year fellowship along with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Women in Faith.
Read press release
UM News: Spotlighting UMC’s role in Indigenous boarding schools |
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Centenary University
Bishop tapped as new president of Centenary
HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. — Retired Bishop John R. Schol will lead Centenary University as its new president starting Dec. 1. Schol, a longtime member of Centenary’s board of trustees, succeeds Dale Caldwell, who was recently elected lieutenant governor of New Jersey. Schol retired last year as the bishop of the Greater New Jersey Conference.
Read press release |
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| UM News includes in the Digest various commentaries about issues in the denomination. The opinion pieces reflect a variety of viewpoints and are the opinions of the writers, not UM News staff. |
On World AIDS Day, church called to bold action
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (UM News) — The world is now at a dangerous crossroads in the longtime battle against AIDS and HIV stigma, writes the Rev. Dr. Donald E. Messer. As Dec. 1 marks World AIDS Day, Messer urges United Methodists to step up in their HIV response and live into the denomination’s vision to "love boldly, serve joyfully and lead courageously."
Read commentary |
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Mississippi Conference
4 bishops offer Advent study
JACKSON, Miss. — Bishops Sharma D. Lewis Logan, Kenneth L. Carder, Robert D. Farr and Debra Wallace-Padgett have published “Advent in Four Words: An Advent Study by Four United Methodist Bishops,” which follows the 2025 Advent lectionary. Proceeds from the book go to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the denomination’s humanitarian aid and development arm.
Learn more
Order book
Council of Bishops
New book revisits Christianity’s core creed
WASHINGTON — To mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the Convening Table of the National Council of Churches in the USA has published “Nicaea: The Council and Creed that Defined Christianity.” David N. Field, a United Methodist theologian who serves on the ecumenical staff of the Council of Bishops, contributed to the book. His chapter, titled “A Means of Grace: The Transformative Challenge of the Migrant ‘Other,’” draws on insights from John Wesley, among others.
Learn more
Order book |
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Video image by Lilla Marigza, UM News
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Food pantry digs deeper to overcome challenging year
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Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News
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Asian young adults embrace servant leadership
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