North Texas Annual Conference

Northwest Texas Conference voters pray for the conference’s 14-member transition team appointed by Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe to educate voters about their options under a proposed plan of denominational separation heading to the coming General Conference. During the Aug. 13-14 Northwest Texas Annual Conference meeting in Lubbock, Texas, voters signaled their hope for the conference to move to a new denomination under the plan. Photo courtesy of the Northwest Texas Conference.

Conference signals its plans post-separation

The Northwest Texas Conference passed a nonbinding resolution indicating aspirations to join a new traditionalist Methodist church under a proposed protocol for separation.

General Church

Former United Methodist Bishop James E. Dorff is welcomed in Kamina, Congo, as part of a delegation that traveled from the U.S. in observance of World Malaria Day in 2010. Dorff died June 7. He was 73. File photo by Lynne Dobson.

Former bishop known for 'reconciling spirit'

United Methodists remember James E. Dorff for his role in the formation of what is now the Rio Texas Conference, his leadership in a variety of ministries and ability to bring people together. He died June 7.

Social Concerns

The Rev. Gilbert Caldwell, a retired United Methodist pastor and civil rights activist who marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., speaks during a Black Lives Matter rally June 7 in Willingboro, N.J. To Caldwell’s right is his wife, Grace Caldwell. To Caldwell’s left is the Rev. Vanessa Wilson, chairperson of the Greater New Jersey Commission on Race and Religion and pastor of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Willingboro. The protest was one of many taking place in the U.S. in smaller cities and towns involving United Methodists. Photo by Aaron Wilson Watson.

Smaller communities affected by protests

United Methodists have been involved in Black Lives Matter rallies in small towns and midsize cities.

Mission and Ministry

A woman in protective gear holds out a swab to a woman who has come for COVID-19 testing at Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Cars lined up early for the June 29 opportunity. Photo by Matt Jacob, North Texas Conference.

Church parking lots fill for COVID-19 testing

More United Methodist congregations are offering space for screenings, hoping to reach groups at special risk.

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