UM News Digest - Oct. 16, 2026

UM News Digest - Oct. 16, 2026

Signs of growth | Mission consultation | Empowering refugees

“The signs of vitality we are seeing are encouraging, but behind those numbers are people encountering God’s grace, communities being served and lives being transformed.” — Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, who leads the Rio Texas Conference, which saw positive trends in nine growth measurements.

A multigenerational choir and praise band help lead worship Oct. 4 at the 100th anniversary celebration of First United Methodist Church in Portland, Texas, a city on the Gulf Coast. Photo by George Banda, Rio Texas Conference.

Amid decline, US professions of faith rise
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — In 2025, The United Methodist Church continued its decades-long slide in U.S. membership and attendance. However, data collected by the General Council on Finance and Administration also shows signs of growth including a nationwide uptick in professions of faith, small-group participation and volunteers putting their faith into action. Heather Hahn has the story.

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From left, Bishop Chungsuk Kim, president bishop of the Korean Methodist Church; the Rev. Byung-bae Hwang, general secretary of its General Board of Missions; Roland Fernandes, top executive of United Methodist Board of Global Ministries; and Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, an ecumenical officer of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, mark the signing of a mission cooperation covenant Oct. 14 in Sokcho, South Korea. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

United Methodists, Korean church renew ties
SOKCHO, South Korea (UM News) — Building on 141 years of shared missionary heritage, leaders of The United Methodist Church and the Korean Methodist Church signed a new covenant committing their mission agencies to regular dialogue and deeper cooperation in Korea, Asia and worldwide. The Rev. Thomas E. Kim reports.
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Hakim Erezenious Kwenyo (standing) helps a student during a session of the Youth Digital Literacy Project at Ariaze United Methodist Church’s women’s training center in the Rhino Camp Settlement of Uganda’s Siripi Zone. Photo by Mudomo Joseph, UM News.

Computer training empowers refugees
KAMPALA, Uganda (UM News) — A United Methodist initiative is providing 50 young people in Ugandan refugee settlements with hands-on digital literacy training. For many of the South Sudanese participants, it was their first time typing an email or exploring online. A gift from The United Methodist Church’s Holston Foundation funded the seven-month project. The Rev. Juma Denis Daniel and Kudzai Chingwe have the story.
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Highland Park United Methodist Church
Church schedules disaffiliation vote
DALLAS — Highland Park United Methodist Church’s 23-member church council announced that it has unanimously adopted a resolution to hold a congregational vote on Oct. 25 and 26 on whether to cut all ties with The United Methodist Church. “Clergy and lay members are free to choose whether to remain in covenant with The United Methodist Church,” the Horizon Texas Conference said in response. “However, the Book of Discipline does not authorize a local church to unilaterally sever this covenantal relationship. Any attempt to do so does not diminish the bishop and conference’s commitment to continued covenant with Highland Park UMC and its members nor our desire for restoration and reconciliation with this vital community of faith.”
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UM News: Highland Park proposes leaving denomination

United Methodist Foundation of Western North Carolina
Working to preserve legal aid for immigrants
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Inspired by their experience at an immigration march in Washington, D.C., United Methodists in the Western North Carolina Conference’s Blue Ridge District found a way to turn their passion into purpose. The group is making steady progress in supporting legal aid for immigrants thanks in part to its partnership with the United Methodist Foundation of Western North Carolina. Matt Garfield has the story.
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UM News: United Methodists lead witness for immigrants

Florida Conference
Rooted Conference equips youth ministry
FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. — About 65 people who work in young people’s ministry and modern worship ministries throughout the Florida Conference gathered at the Warren Willis Camp for the Rooted Conference. The two-day event was an opportunity for training and networking among youth, children and family ministry leaders. Joe Henderson reports.
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Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome
Methodist-Catholic dialogue moves forward
ROME — The Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission has completed the 12th phase of its dialogue. Commission members have approved the final draft of the report from this phase: “One in Faith and Ministry to the World: Reflecting on Unity and Diversity for the Mission of the Church.” The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty reports.
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Upper New York Conference
Bishop: Social holiness still matters
LIVERPOOL, N.Y. — What does it mean to live faith beyond the walls of the church? In a new six-minute video, Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez reflects on social holiness and how the United Methodist Social Principles can guide churchgoers to engage the world with courage, compassion and love. Burgos is the bishop of both the Upper New York and Susquehanna conferences.
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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.

Passional Church
17 questions for ‘Rebuilding Go-Shaped Methodism’
OCALA, Fla. — The leader of the Fresh Expressions movement for The United Methodist Church has posted 17 questions as part of preparations for the Oct. 20-24 Council of Bishops Leadership Gathering in Canada. The Rev. Michael Adam Beck said he is offering the questions as a contribution to the ongoing conversation about the church’s future. He invited practitioners, scholars and denominational leaders to contribute to the series. “This series flows from my love for The UMC,” he writes. “But I also know I am not alone in holding together a profound love for the church as it is and a deep yearning for the church that could be.”
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