family resources

Mission and Ministry
Jennifer Ivey (left) and Carolyn Weaver relax together at the Family Reconciliation Guest House in Nashville, Tenn. The ministry provides a comfortable, safe and free place for friends and families of inmates to stay while visiting loved ones who are incarcerated. The painting on the table was created by Gary Wayne Sutton, a death row inmate whom Weaver visits regularly. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Guest house offers hope, community for inmates’ families

Visiting those who are incarcerated, especially on death row, is a complicated and stressful endeavor. Family Reconciliation Guest House in Nashville provides a comfortable, safe and free place for friends and families to stay.
Church Leadership
The Rev. Jee Hae Song’s son Joshua, 5, dances at her 2023 ordination during the Upper New York Annual Conference in Syracuse, N.Y. Song presented legislation to the 2024 Upper New York Annual Conference to enact a parental leave policy for United Methodists of Upper New York. The legislation would guarantee 13 paid weeks of leave for clergy and church workers whose family are expanding by birth, adoption or foster placement. Photo courtesy of the Upper New York Conference.

Parental leave efforts gaining momentum

Clergy deserve 13 weeks of paid leave when they are caring for a new baby, according to members of a grassroots effort to make that the United Methodist standard.

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