UM News Digest - Oct. 1, 2025

UM News Digest - Oct. 1, 2025

MARCHA urges: Don’t just pray, organize
Responding after attack on LDS church
Remembering who we are amid US budget fight

“Our faith teaches us that it is not enough to believe; we must act.” — The Rev. Javier A. Viera, speaking at the gathering of the denomination’s Hispanic-Latino caucus.

Emma Escobar, president of MARCHA (Associated Methodists for the Hispanic-Latino American Cause), speaks during the opening ceremony of the caucus’ 53rd annual assembly Aug. 1 in Chicago. Photo by the Rev. Gustavo Vasquez, UM News.

MARCHA urges: Don’t just pray, organize
CHICAGO (UM News) — Clergy and lay leaders from the United Methodist Hispanic-Latino community gathered under unusual security conditions in Chicago to celebrate the caucus’ 53rd annual assembly. The agenda focused on providing tools and information to promote community organizing within congregations, with the goal of fostering support and defending the rights of immigrants. The Rev. Gustavo Vasquez reports.

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Michigan Conference
Responding after attack on LDS church
GRAND BLANC, Mich. — United Methodists in the Grand Blanc area are reaching out to their neighbors after a deadly mass shooting and fire at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grand Blanc United Methodist Church, with the support of Halsey United Methodist Church and other local congregations, is hosting a prayer vigil at 6 p.m. U.S. Eastern time Oct. 1. The Rev. Carol Blair Bouse reports. Bishop David Bard, Michigan Conference, also reflects on recent violence and encourages United Methodists to “speak the truth in love.”
Read Michigan Conference story
Read Bishop Bard’s statement

New Mexico Conference
Café ministry provides more than pie
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Asbury Café has been a fixture at the New Mexico State Fair for over 60 years. This year, the ministry drew volunteers from across the New Mexico Conference. “What makes the Asbury Café (and ministries like it) so special is the way it weaves people together,” writes Alli Newsom, one of those volunteers and the conference’s director of communications.
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Higher Education and Ministry
Global partnership reimagines theological education
EVANSTON, Ill. — A pioneering partnership between Garrett Evangelical-Theological Seminary and Africa University is reshaping how theological education is delivered globally. A $400,000 grant from the Ministerial Education Fund administered by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry made the partnership possible. Wendy R. Cromwell has the story.
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Faith and Leadership
How a clergy respite helped leaders weather Helene
SPRUCE PINE, N.C. — As the strenuous work of recovery began after Hurricane Helene, leaders at the Western North Carolina Conference were aware that their spiritual leaders were themselves traumatized by the natural disaster. The conference collaborated with other United Methodist-affiliated organizations to create spaces dedicated to healing and renewal. Bishop Kenneth H. Carter Jr. and the Rev. Kim Ingram have the story.
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Related: Two churches get closer after disaster

Axios Tampa Bay
No charges for pastors who protested mural removal
TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Prosecutors declined to pursue charges against two pastors who were arrested protesting the removal of the former “Black History Matters” street mural. The Rev. Andy Oliver of Allendale United Methodist Church and the Rev. Benedict Atherton-Zeman of the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg were arrested Aug. 29 and charged by police with resisting an officer without violence. The mural was near the Woodson African American Museum of Florida in St. Petersburg. Kathryn Varn reports.
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UM News: Pastor emulates Wesley in Florida

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.

Remembering who we are amid US budget fight
CARROLLTON, Va. — John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, insisted on justice for people at the margins of society. Bishop Peggy A. Johnson urges United Methodists to remember their Wesleyan heritage as they look at how the proposed U.S. federal budget targets trans and gender-expansive people.
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Discipleship Ministries
The risks and potential of AI
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Will artificial intelligence result in disinformation, lost jobs and unhealthy reliance on technology? Or will it renew collaboration across denominations and produce new tools for ministry? Possibly some of both. Seventy-five in-person participants tried to hash it out Sept. 2-5 at the “Faithful Futures: Guiding AI with Wisdom and Witness” conference in Minneapolis. C. Blake Davis, executive director of marketing and delivery and AI officer at Discipleship Ministries, offers a report.
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