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Faith Stories
Sisters Daniele (left) and Danica Bell take part in the potato dance, where pairs of dancers with hands held behind their backs hold a potato between their foreheads and try to dance to the beat of a drum without letting the potato fall. The dance, part of the Native Moccasins Rock gathering in Bon Aqua, Tenn., was sponsored by Native American Ministries of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Sisters Daniele (left) and Danica Bell take part in the potato dance, where pairs of dancers with hands held behind their backs hold a potato between their foreheads and try to dance to the beat of a drum without letting the potato fall. The dance, part of the Native Moccasins Rock gathering in Bon Aqua, Tenn., was sponsored by Native American Ministries of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Celebrating 25 years of Native dance, art and friendship
Annual Native Moccasins Rock event attracts Native American and non-Native participants seeking to better understand and recover Indigenous skills and stories.

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Theology and Education
Bishop Ande I. Emmanuel (right center) prays for graduates of The United Methodist Church’s Technical Training Program during a July 1 ceremony in Jalingo, Nigeria, marking the program’s revival after a two-decade hiatus. Seventy-eight trainees graduated the vocational program with skills in electrical installation and welding fabrication. Photo by Joseph Dauda Idris, UM News.

Church relaunches technical training in Nigeria
After a two-decade pause, The United Methodist Church in Nigeria restarted a program that provides vocational training to young people and offers graduates startup money to help launch their own businesses.
General Church
The Horizon Texas Conference has filed a civil lawsuit against Highland Park United Methodist Church, arguing that the Dallas megachurch made changes to its governing documents in ways that violate denominational rules and circumvent congregational oversight. Photo courtesy of Highland Park United Methodist Church via Wikipedia.

Conference sues its largest congregation
The Horizon Texas Conference has filed a lawsuit against Highland Park United Methodist Church, arguing changes the church made to its articles of incorporation violate the denomination’s rules for church governance.
Annual Conferences
Annual Conference Reports

2026 United Methodist annual conference reports
UM News posts the official summaries filed by annual conferences from around the connection. Find the latest reports on our archive page.

Latest News

General Church
The Rev. Matt Tuggle, senior minister of Highland Park United Methodist Church, speaks to the congregation Aug. 16 about a civil lawsuit filed by the Horizon Texas Conference against the church. Tuggle said the church was blindsided by the lawsuit, which challenges changes made to Highland Park’s legal documents. Screen shot courtesy of Highland Park United Methodist Church.

Highland Park pastors, conference address suit
Faith Stories
The Rev. James T. Laney speaks during the Roundtable for Peace on the Korean Peninsula in Atlanta in 2018. Laney, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and lifelong advocate for peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, died Aug. 13. He was 98. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Remembering James T. Laney, a lifelong friend to Korea
Discipleship
Participants toss beach balls around in a time of fellowship during the SCD 2026 — RISE UP: Love, Serve, Lead conference, held Aug. 2-5 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. Discipleship Ministries’ biennial event help equip clergy and lay leaders to plant, revitalize and innovate local churches. Photo by Scott Hughes, Discipleship Ministries.

Church called to ‘rise up’ amid loneliness, AI
The Rev. Adam Hamilton has led Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, for 36 years. Hamilton is currently running for the U.S. Senate. Photo courtesy of hamiltonforkansas.com.

Hamilton honored for connectional leadership
Annual Conferences
Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference delegates have unanimously supported a plan to unify the North Georgia and South Georgia annual conferences into one. The newly united Georgia Conference will begin operations in January 2027. Maps courtesy of the South Georgia Conference, adapted by UM News.

Georgia unification gains final approval
Mission and Ministry

Living the vision
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Local Church
The Rev. Emily Kvalheim speaks on May 30 outside the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, during a protest to draw attention to people being detained because of their immigration status. Kvalheim is a deacon in the West Ohio Conference and a member of the Task Force on United Methodist Immigration Ministries of Ohio. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Emily Kvalheim.

Deacons take God’s work beyond the church
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Evangelism
Bishop Antoine Tambwe Kalema (center) poses for a photo with the 11 district superintendents from the Eastern Congo Conference who received new motorcycles as a gift from the bishop during the 2026 annual conference. Many of the church leaders had spent years traveling on foot or by bicycle to minister to their communities. Behind them is the Mgr. Gabriel Unda Yemba Multipurpose Hall at the Mama Lynn Center in Kindu, Congo. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

Bishop purchases motorcycles for pastors in Congo
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Social Concerns
United Methodist missionary Janet Lahr Lewis (left) visits with Basma Manasra as she and her family harvest olives in 2006 on their farm in the West Bank village of Wadi Foquin. The region has seen increased threats of violence and land confiscation since the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. United Methodists, who have a long partnership with Wadi Foquin, have appealed to the U.S. government to help halt the annexation of Palestinian land and ensure a permanent and equitable peace between Israel and Palestine. File photo by Paul Jeffrey.

Church members urge intervention in West Bank
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Mission and Ministry
Suzette Marzo with the United Methodist Young Adult Fellowship prepares to distribute food to children during a relief operation in Sarangani province, Philippines, after a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Southern Mindanao on June 8, leaving many in the region displaced. The efforts were led by Central United Methodist Church of General Santos City. Photo courtesy of Marife Cambel.

Relief reaches hard-hit areas after earthquake
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General Church
Members of the Interim Committee on Organization for the U.S. Regional Conference, called I-ROC for short, stand together in front of the Upper Room Chapel at the conclusion of their first meeting together July 16-18 in Nashville, Tenn. The group is responsible for organizing the inaugural session of the U.S. Regional Conference, now planned for spring 2029. Photo by JP Penrod, General Council on Finance and Administration.

Planners set time for US Regional Conference
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Commentaries

Dr. Brett McKinley Pardue. Photo courtesy of the author.

When screens become a theological question
The Rev. Dr. Sheron C. Patterson. Photo courtesy of the author.

A United Methodist call to healthy aging
The Rev. Eun Chul Cho preaches at First Korean United Methodist Church in Wheeling, Illinois, in 2023. File photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim.

Why I chose to remain in The United Methodist Church
The Rev. Mark Obrzut. Photo courtesy of Lucy Obrzut.

Rising up and loving boldly
The Rev. Steve Horswill-Johnston. Photo courtesy of the author.

When the doors were not yet open
The Rev. Stephanie Vader. Photo courtesy of the author.

Pastor urges halt to troops’ presence in DC
The Rev. Keri Cress. Photo courtesy of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference.

Love of neighbor drives advocacy in political spaces
Cliff White. Photo courtesy of the author.

Another United Methodist way to look at high court’s voting decision
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Multimedia

Faith Stories
The Rev. Andrea Byer Thomas makes therapeutic soaps and creams to soothe skin allergies. Photos courtesy of Handmade Luxuries.
The Rev. Andrea Byer Thomas makes therapeutic soaps and creams to soothe skin allergies. Photos courtesy of Handmade Luxuries.

A ministry of healing
Faith, resilience and self-care come together in United Methodist pastor’s unique ministry, which includes a vegan skincare line.

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Disaster Relief
Lahaina United Methodist Church on Maui lost its sanctuary in the deadly Maui wildfires, but its congregation never lost its faith. Photo by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

3 years after wildfire, hope spreads in Lahaina
Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Betsy Singleton Snyder offers a blessing to Julia Sugarbaker, a mini goldendoodle, at Pinnacle View United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark. Snyder and co-author Gayle Fiser have written a book on how churches can start successful pet ministries. Photo from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

How churches can adopt their own pet ministries
Faith Sharing
Happy Fourth of July! Photo by Mike DuBose; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Social media graphics from UM News
Mission and Ministry
Holly Petti and her dog Paisley chat with people entering the Sanctuary at Pinnacle View United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark. The church has a designated dog greeter every Sunday in addition to numerous pet outreach ministries the congregation offers. Image from video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Dog church welcomes people and pets
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