In the first in-person annual gathering of the Association of Korean Churches in The United Methodist Church, several panelists questioned whether the church’s membership decline could be attributed to a lack of spiritual renewal and its long-standing conflict over homosexuality.
United Methodist churches in countries near Ukraine rely on volunteers as they work with Ukrainian refugees, but they're also hiring Ukrainians for certain relief-related tasks. One church in Poland is teaching Polish to Ukrainian refugees but also teaching Ukrainian to Poles helping refugees.
Paragraphs 2553, 2548.2, and 2549.3.b outline ways congregations may become disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church. The Council of Bishops expects ¶2533 to be the primary path.
The congregation’s 30 members had belonged to several mainline denominations, as well as nondenominational churches, before joining First Wesleyan United Methodist Church of the Deaf.
