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Volunteers bag apples at Neighbors Pantry at Anaheim United Methodist Church, about two miles from Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Like food pantries across the U.S., the United Methodist ministry has seen demand rise this year and is bracing for more with the suspension of SNAP benefits. Screengrab courtesy of the California-Pacific Conference via Vimeo by UM News.

Food ministries sound alarm on rising needs

Even before the federal shutdown, United Methodist ministries across the U.S. faced surging demands. With the suspension of federal food assistance, church pantries plan to step up. But they will need help.

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Church Leadership

Participants at the Facing the Future 2025 conference take a dance break Oct. 7 at Sonesta Los Angeles Airport hotel in Los Angeles. The national conference examined the challenges of cross-cultural and cross-racial clergy. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.

Cross-cultural, cross-racial pastors seek revival

The Facing the Future conference offered space for United Methodist clergy to share challenges, recenter and envision ministry ahead.

Mission and Ministry

Volunteers with the Canaveral Port Ministry welcome cruise ship workers on leave while their ships are docked in Port Canaveral, Fla. The ministry provides respite for homesick seafarers far from their home countries. Video image by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Port ministry offers seafarers home away from home

Members of First United Methodist Church of Cocoa Beach, Florida, provide respite and a “home church” for cruise ship workers.

Mission and Ministry

Leaders of the Korean Ministry Plan stand together on the first day of their meeting, held Oct. 2-4 in Teaneck, New Jersey. (Front row, from left) the Rev. Paul H. Chang, Susan Kim, Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, the Revs. Ju-Yeon Jeon and Jae Lee; (back row, from left) the Revs. Hongyun Won, Hyok In Kwon, James Jaemyung Lee, Miso Park, Prumeh Lee and Ji Min Bang. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Korean Ministry Plan sharpens mission strategies and focus

During the next four years, the plan will emphasize leadership formation, congregational development, next-generation ministries, justice-related work and global partnerships.

Latest News

Social Concerns

Ola Williams sorts through donated produce at the Willow Community Food Pantry in Willow, Alaska. Williams serves as director of the pantry, a ministry of Willow United Methodist Church. 2023 file photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Mission agency, churches work to fill gaps

Church Leadership

Darlene Marquez-Caramanzana (second from left), a Global Ministries area liaison for Asia and the Pacific, leads “A Conversation on Power and Decolonization” during the Asia Mission Leaders’ Summit on Oct. 21 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The session focused on leadership, sustainability and decolonizing mission practices. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Asian mission leaders reimagine future together

Mission and Ministry

Engineer Sabin Mulang, director of the Development and Projects Office for the South Congo and Zambia Episcopal Area, inspects corn crops at an agropastoral site in Kingandu, Congo. Vast fields of corn and soybeans are at the heart of The United Methodist Church’s initiative to combat food dependency in southern Congo. Photo by Christian Kasweka, UM News.

Church farms combat food insecurity in Congo

Mission and Ministry

Women of Substance members sing during a Mountain Prayer Program at Ewanrigg Botanical Gardens in Harare, Zimbabwe. The group comprises single, divorced and widowed church members who participate in training in income-generating projects, prayer retreats and other excursions. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Single church members find support in sisterhood

Global Health

The Rev. Paul Kong, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries Asia-Pacific regional representative, explains how rainwater-harvesting tanks are converted into drinking water during a WASH Academy, held Oct. 13-17 at Hope Vocational School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The training was hosted by Global Ministries and its Korean partner nongovernmental organization Bridge of Hope. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Faith, science converge to bring clean water to Southeast Asia

Disaster Relief

Volunteers prepare trees for planting as part of a reforestation project on the island of Palawan in the Philippines. The flood relief project is sponsored by UMCOR and the Manila Episcopal Area. Jhoanna Ragasa reports.

UMCOR supports tree-planting project in Philippines

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Local Church

Eyesight fading, bishop envisions new role as evangelist

Evangelism

Charles Wesley hymn "Come, Let Us Join our Friends Above;" image by StockSnap from Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News

Social media graphics from UM News

Social Concerns

Illinois State Police Lt. Col. Jason Bradley (left) speaks with the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist pastor who was among a group of clergy on Oct. 10 asking to bring Holy Communion to detainees in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, near Chicago. The following day another group of clergy also made the same request. Both times Bradley reached out to ICE officials, who denied the clergy entry. Photo by the Rev. Britt Cox, First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Ill.

With warm faith, pastors seek to counter ICE

Mission and Ministry

Participants sing praises during the opening worship of the Korean Association of The United Methodist Church, held Sept. 29 at Calvary Korean United Methodist Church in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Pictured (from left): Bishops Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the Greater New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania conferences; Hee-Soo Jung of the Ohio Episcopal Area; Dottie Escobedo-Frank of the California-Pacific Conference; and the Rev. Kyu Hyun Kim, pastor of Berkeley Korean United Methodist Church in Orinda, Calif. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Korean church leaders commit to mission, healing

General Church

Sarah Metroff (left), marketing manager of investment for Wespath Benefits and Investments, speaks with M. Theresa Basile (middle), co-founder of United Methodists for Kairos Response, and Andy Hendren (right), top executive of Wespath, during September meetings at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Wespath organized the summit to foster dialogue about its investments. Photo courtesy of Wespath Benefits and Investments.

Investment debates underway for 2028

Commentaries

Remembering who we are amid US budget fight

Deacons serve diverse, specialized roles

Religious trauma affects clergy too

Honoring our differences while celebrating unity

Love more, fear less, in cross-cultural ministry

The Rev. Joelle Henneman. Photo courtesy of the author.

Church can be sanctuary for trans lives

Silence is complicity: Responding to racist mascots

The Rev. Christopher P. Momany. Photo by Kristen Schell.

Troubled times call for revival of personalism

Multimedia

Faith Sharing

Social media graphics from UM News

Graphic for All Saints Day available to download and share on social media in four languages.

Mission and Ministry

Port ministry offers seafarers home away from home

Disaster Relief

Members of Floris United Methodist Church help Barbara Douglas remove debris from her home in Spruce Pine, N.C., following Hurricane Helene. Video image by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Volunteers still rebuilding 1 year after Helene

Worship

Taking worship into the wild

Disaster Relief

Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Conference.

Louisiana Conference: Hope Beyond the Storm podcast series

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