UM News Digest - Sept. 10, 2025

UM News Digest - Sept. 10, 2025

Volunteers in Mission embark on new chapter
Africa University restarts malaria program
Church leaders decry U.S. Supreme Court ruling

“Our work is to invite people into enjoying the kingdom of heaven come to earth, here and now.” — The Rev. Jeremy Basset, Horizon Texas Conference disaster response coordinator, on the work of Volunteers in Mission.

Sandi Goodman (right) visits with residents of Mufongo village, part of the United Methodist Quéssua Mission in Angola. Goodman was part of a Volunteers in Mission team from the Florida Conference. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Volunteers in Mission embark on new chapter
GLENVIEW, Ill. (UM News) — United Methodist Volunteers in Mission leaders are planning a long future for short-term missions even as their post-disaffiliation denomination grapples with the challenges of tighter budgets and shrinking federal aid programs. They gathered near Chicago to learn more about VIM, Inc., which allows greater mission collaboration across institutional lines. Heather Hahn reports.

Read story

UM News: What regionalization means for mission

Petros Kawadza, senior insectary assistant for Africa University’s ZENTO program, shows visitors how the lab raises mosquitoes for testing. With funding support from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the university reopened its research lab. Photo by Ben Smith, UM News.

Africa University restarts malaria program
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UM News) — Africa University has reopened its malaria program months after a U.S. executive order abruptly froze international aid. The United Methodist Church’s Board of Global Ministries is providing emergency funding for the Zimbabwe Entomological Support Program in Malaria and is committed to helping to sustain the program to ensure continuity in Zimbabwe’s fight against one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. Ben Smith reports.

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United Methodist agencies
Church leaders decry US Supreme Court ruling
WASHINGTON — Leaders of four United Methodist agencies have issued a joint statement decrying a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows ICE agents to stop and detain people on the basis of race and ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, their work location or their type of work. The ruling “sanctifies discrimination,” says the statement. Signers are the Rev. Giovanni Arroyo of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race, the Rev. Jeff Campbell of Discipleship Ministries, Bishop Julius C. Trimble of Church and Society and Sally Vonner of United Women in Faith.
Read statement

Reuters
Immigrants turn to online worship amid crackdown
CHICAGO — Holy Communion is an act of faith performed every week by millions of Christians in one of the holiest moments of the Sunday service. But for Doris Aguirre it is a lonely ritual. She and other members of Lincoln United Methodist Church are turning to online worship amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants. Nathan Layne reports.
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UM News: United Methodists join suit against Trump policy

Missouri Conference
Putting talent on hold to aid recovery
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — The key to the recovery of entertainer Adam Dean was to temporarily abandon his musical talent. Dean’s ability to sing and tell jokes served as a way to get excused for his drug habits, he says. Now seven years free of substance abuse, he leads CLEARR Ministries at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church. “I only sing for Jesus now,” he said. Fred Koenig reports.
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Upper New York Conference
Engaging in cross-border ministry in Canada
TORONTO — The Rev. Mary Kelly, a district superintendent in the Upper New York Conference, joined two district associates in a cross-border visit to Canada on Aug. 24 to worship at First United Methodist Church of Ontario. The church was established in September 2013 by two Filipino missionary pastors to serve Filipino immigrants in the country. Most Methodists in Canada are part of the United Church of Canada, formed in 1925. The church posted photos of the visit on Facebook.
See Facebook photos
Ask The UMC: Is the denomination in Canada?

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.

Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Clergy age trends relatively stable in 2025
WASHINGTON — The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr. highlights the stabilizing numbers of young clergy in the Lewis Center’s annual Clergy Age Trends Report after dramatic declines last year due to disaffiliations. In a separate commentary, Weems also discusses how the decline in young clergy among post-Boomer generations reflects a changed culture.
Read Weems’ report overview
Read Weems’ commentary
Read Clergy Age Trends Report (PDF)

Wespath
Wespath executive honored
GLENVIEW, Ill. — Johara Farhadieh, chief investment officer of Wespath Benefits and Investments, is among the honorees on this year’s “Influential Women in Institutional Investing” list. “Pensions and Investments” honors exceptional women investment professionals whose leadership and insight are shaping the industry. Farhadieh is also chief executive officer of Wespath Institutional Investments, a Wespath subsidiary.
Read press release

Western North Carolina Conference
Beyond 2025 event heads to North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Western North Carolina Conference plans to host Beyond 2025, an East Coast Regional Conference aimed at helping church leaders move beyond division and uncertainty. The Gathering United Methodist Church in St. Louis, pastored by the Rev. Matt Miofsky, is producing the Oct. 3-4 event.
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