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Dr. Evans Matiki smiles at Loice Mauna and her new baby while visiting patients at Old Mutare Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe. The United Methodist Church’s mission facilities at Old Mutare and Mutambara are providing improved maternity care, including daily meals for patients at the waiting mothers' shelters. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Mission hospitals give hope to expectant mothers

The United Methodist Church’s facilities at Old Mutare and Mutambara, Zimbabwe, are providing improved maternity care, including daily meals for patients at the waiting mothers' shelters.

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Social Concerns

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.

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

The United Methodist Church’s mission agency is stepping up with grants to help fill food pantry shelves. Churches also are striving to support those going without pay during the shutdown.

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

Global Ministries’ Asia Mission Leaders’ Summit in Cambodia highlights collaboration, empowerment and the Spirit’s call to shared mission.

Latest News

General Church

Horizon Texas Conference Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. gives an update on plans for the Council of Bishops Leadership Gathering, scheduled Oct. 20-24, 2026, in Calgary, Canada. Saenz is co-chair of the gathering’s Design Team. During the online fall meeting, his fellow bishops also elected Saenz as the incoming Council of Bishops president. Screenshot photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops Facebook page.

Bishops plan gathering to follow Spirit’s lead

General Church

During its fall meeting Nov. 3-7, the Council of Bishops announced the ratification of four amendments to the denomination’s constitution — which each passed with more than 91% of the vote. Chief among the changes approved was regionalization, a restructuring of the denomination that de-centers the U.S. Image courtesy of the Council of Bishops.

Regionalization starts taking effect

Social Concerns

Schoolgirls journey home on a homemade raft they guide down a flooded street in Calumpit, Philippines, after Typhoon Carina in July 2024. As climate change continues to impact livelihoods, economies and habitats around the world, the Council of Bishops is reiterating its commitment to creation care. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Bishops prioritize creation care

Social Concerns

“The Sand Creek Massacre: The Betrayal That Changed Cheyenne and Arapaho People Forever” will be on display Nov. 10-Dec. 1 at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill in Washington. The exhibit, normally a permanent installation at the History Colorado Center in Denver, is being co-hosted by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society and Commission on Religion and Race. Photo Courtesy of History Colorado.

Agencies host Sand Creek Massacre exhibit in DC

General Church

Bishop Tracy S. Malone surveys the results of a delegate vote in favor of a worldwide regionalization plan as she presides over a legislative session of the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., on April 25, 2024. The Council of Bishops announced Nov. 5 that annual conference lay and clergy voters have ratified regionalization. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

New United Methodist Church structure ratified

General Church

West Ohio delegates raise their arms in praise during morning worship at the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. From right are the Revs. April Casperson and Dee Stickley-Miner and Tracy Chambers. On Nov. 5, the Council of Bishops announced annual conference voters ratified four ballots of constitutional amendments passed at General Conference. In addition to regionalization, the ratified amendments deal with inclusion in church membership, racial justice and educational requirements for clergy. Casperson helped lead the task force that championed the passage of the amendment on inclusiveness. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Church strengthens stands on inclusion, racism

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Local Church

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

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

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

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

General Church

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Commentaries

The Rev. Dr. Tércio B. Junker Photo courtesy of the Northern Illinois Conference.

Reclaiming faith beyond fear and ideology

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

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.

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

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

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

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