2025: The year in photos

United Methodists around the world are living into the denomination’s new vision to "love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.” UM News, the denomination's official news service, documented a year in the life of United Methodism worldwide.

Sister Alegria (right) and Sister Confianza, members of the Amigas del Señor (Women Friends of the Lord) Monastery in Limón, Honduras, pray during evening compline. They moved from their remote monastery to a house in the seaside village because of Sister Alegria's illness, which confines her to a bed. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.Originally from the United States, the women founded the monastery in 2006.

Sister Confianza (center) chats with her neighbors outside a store in Limón, Honduras. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Sister Alegria (left) and Sister Confianza pray before a meal in their home. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Sister Confianza cuts brush with a machete around the monastery's Motherhouse, located in the mountains outside Limón, Honduras. She and another nun live in the village after moving from their remote monastery because of illness. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Sister Alegria (left) and Sister Confianza pray on the porch of the house where they currently live in Limón, Honduras. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

United Methodist nuns blend spiritual traditions

One day in February, 2006, two United Methodist laywomen climbed aboard a bus in Portland, Oregon, headed south. They traveled by bus and train, quietly singing Psalms and reading aloud from a book on monastic life. After two weeks on the road, Beth Blodgett and Prairie Cutting climbed off a bus on the Caribbean coast of Central America, determined to start a new spiritual community in a remote corner of Honduras. Almost two decades later, they are still there. Paul Jeffrey has the story and photos.

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The Rev. Ismael Ruiz Millán, director of connectional ministries for the North Carolina Conference, takes the hand of another participant to pray and intercede for each other's needs during the closing service at MARCHA’s annual meeting Aug. 3 in Chicago. Photo by the Rev. Gustavo Vasquez, UM News. Clergy and lay leaders from the United Methodist Hispanic-Latino community gathered under unusual security conditions in Chicago to celebrate the 53rd annual Assembly of MARCHA (Associated Methodists for the Hispanic-Latino American Cause). The Rev. Ismael Ruiz Millán, director of connectional ministries for the North Carolina Conference, takes the hand of another participant to pray and intercede for each other's needs during the closing service at MARCHA’s annual meeting Aug. 3 in Chicago. Clergy and lay leaders from the United Methodist Hispanic-Latino community gathered under unusual security conditions in Chicago to celebrate the 53rd annual Assembly of MARCHA (Associated Methodists for the Hispanic-Latino American Cause). Photo by the Rev. Gustavo Vasquez, UM News.

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 asking to bring Holy Communion to detainees in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., 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.

Josélyne Kubwimana, a graduate of the Burundi Conference’s tailoring school at Nyabugogo United Methodist Church in Gitega, sews a clerical stole. Kubwimana completed three months of training and now sews clergy attire and school uniforms to support herself and raise funds for the United Methodist Women’s Center. Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UM News.

Lindsey Dye pauses to wipe away Laura Smotherman’s tears as the couple renew their wedding vows during a service for three gay couples at Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. The couples, all leaders in the congregation, were previously unable to wed at their church home because of United Methodist bans that were overturned last year. Officiating is the Rev. Eric Mayle, Edgehill’s senior pastor. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.Lindsey Dye pauses to wipe away Laura Smotherman’s tears as the couple renew their wedding vows during a service for three gay couples at Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. The couples, all leaders in the congregation, were previously unable to wed at their church home because of United Methodist bans that were overturned last year. Officiating is the Rev. Eric Mayle, Edgehill’s senior pastor. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Couples kiss after renewing their wedding vows at Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. From left are John Brown, the Rev. Deen Thompson, Lindsey Dye and Laura Smotherman. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Lindsey Dye (center) and Laura Smotherman are showered with bubbles after they renewed their wedding vows at Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Members of the congregation and invited guests cheer Lindsey Dye (left) and Laura Smotherman after the couple renewed their wedding vows during a Pride Month celebration at Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. At right are the Rev. Deen Thompson (in striped shirt) and his husband, John Brown, another of the three couples honored during the event. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Wedding ban gone, church honors 3 gay couples

On June 8, Edgehill UMC will host a wedding vow renewal service. Three couples from three different generations — including Rev. Deen Thompson and lay leader Lindsey Dye — will participate in this meaningful celebration. Held during Pride Month and one year after The United Methodist Church officially became fully inclusive, this service marks a significant moment of healing and joy for these couples. Heather Hahn reports with photos by Mike DuBose.

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The Rev. John Shaver (left) and his friend, Rabbi Mark Blazer, look out at the rubble left of Community United Methodist Church in Pacific Palisades, Calif., where Shaver is pastor. The community of Pacific Palisades was mostly destroyed by the Palisades wildfire. Photo courtesy of the Rev. John Shaver, California-Pacific Conference.

Persons experiencing homelessness often sleep on the lawn outside Trinity United Methodist Church in Asheville, N.C. The church houses the Deep Time ministry, which recruits former prisoners to roast coffee and operate a small coffeeshop. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Timothy "GA" Underwood hugs the Rev. Dustin Mailman in the recently opened coffee shop at the Deep Time ministry. Underwood serves as minister of social enterprise for Deep Time and Mailman is its founding pastor. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Shilone Knight, 17, describes his dreams for the future while working as a barista at the Deep Time ministry. Knight says he wants to become a computer engineer. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Timothy "GA" Underwood prepares to roast coffee at the Deep Time ministry. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

The Rev. Dustin Mailman founded the Deep Time ministry and serves as pastor of family ministries and missions at Trinity United Methodist Church in Asheville, N.C. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Coffee fuels a future for former inmates

While many believe avoiding former prisoners is prudent, the Rev. Dustin Mailman seeks them out and hires them. His Deep Time ministry recruits former prisoners to roast coffee and run the small business marketing and selling. The latest addition is a coffee shop located in the church, and he has other plans, too. Jim Patterson reports.

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Preacher Simbarashe Soza (right) helps lead worship at Donzwe United Methodist Church, near Mudzi, Zimbabwe. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Atha Brown (left, front) joins with other communion stewards in praise during worship at Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Slidell, La., some 20 years after Hurricane Katrina flooded the sanctuary. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

The Rev. Tiffanie Postell blows a kiss to parishioners as she prepares to bless the elements of Holy Communion at Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Slidell, La. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Julius Smith, 84, remembers Hurricane Katrina as “one of the most devastating events in my lifetime.” Smith is a member of Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Children dance during vacation Bible school at Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. From left are Kyree Nichols, Zion Stevenson, Reagan Ordogne and Skylar Faulk. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Children watch a video presentation during vacation Bible school at Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. From left are Kobe Nichols, Kyree Nichols, Aspen Newberry and Landry O’neal. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Children perform a skit during vacation Bible school at Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. From left are Kobe Nichols, Landry O’neal and Aspen Newberry. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Proud fathers record their children performing a skit during the graduation ceremony for vacation Bible school at Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. From left are Fred Washington, Michael DuPlessis and Eric Harrison. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Katrina: 20 years later

This year, a team from UM News returned to some of the areas hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina to talk with church leaders and members who recall the devastation and the power of the United Methodist connection. Through photos, videos, interviews and podcasts, see how the people of The United Methodist Church have brought and sustained hope out of an unthinkable tragedy.

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Sarah Mushamba holds her baby, Clarence Rinomhota, at the newly renovated Chindenga rural health clinic in Mutoko, Zimbabwe. The center is the final clinic under the United Methodist Nyadire Mission Hospital to be renovated. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Members of Second Chance take a selfie in the courtyard of Franklinton High School in Columbus, Ohio. Second Chance is a new United Methodist faith community focused on people recovering from addictions. It frequently worships in the building, which previously housed a United Methodist church. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.

Bishop Knut Refsdal, who leads the Nordic-Baltic-Ukraine Area, baptizes Aksel, as the baby’s parents, Håkon and Astri Helen Madland, look on. The newly elected bishop chose Flekkefjord, Norway, as his first visit in a strong sign of solidarity with the United Methodists there. Photo by Karl Anders Ellingsen, UM News.

United Methodist Deaconess Joy Prim prays before a meal in a shelter run by Bethune House in Hong Kong. The shelter houses women, mostly migrants working as domestic servants, who have been abused or lost their employment and have no other housing options. Bethune House, which operates two shelters in Hong Kong, has long received support from United Women in Faith. Prim is a United Methodist missionary, working with the Mission for Migrant Workers in Hong Kong. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

A Chinese woman pushes a cart of cardboard along Chater Road in Hong Kong on a Sunday morning. Migrant workers from the Philippines rent the cardboard for the day as they relax and visit with their friends. Sunday is the only day off for most of the women, who work as domestic servants throughout the city. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Migrant workers from the Philippines gather on Sundays in Hong Kong along Chater Road to relax, eat, and visit with their friends. Sunday is the only day off for most of the women, who work as domestic servants throughout the city. They often sit on cardboard that they rent for a few hours from Chinese women. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Members of Star Pinoy, a Filipina dance group made up of migrant workers, practice on Chater Road during their only day off. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Amy Toreno (right) teaches other migrant workers about their rights using a book, "Know Your Rights & Responsibilities," published by the Mission for Migrant Workers, to guide the discussion. A migrant worker herself, Toreno is a volunteer with the group, which receives support from United Women in Faith and the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

A migrant worker pushes an elderly Chinese man in a wheelchair along a street in Hong Kong. The workers, primarily from the Philippines and Indonesia, have been coming to work as domestic servants in Hong Kong for decades. Yet as city's the population grows older, they are increasingly being hired specifically as caregivers for the aged. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Jovie Cantre (front) and another migrant worker from the Philippines dance in the streets of Hong Kong on a Sunday when they gather along Chater Road to relax, eat and visit with their friends. Cantre has worked in Hong Kong since 2009, and has become an activist for workers’ rights. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Supporting migrant workers in Hong Kong

A United Methodist pastor from the Philippines and a deaconess from the U.S. work to empower migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. The migrants are mostly women who often face difficult challenges in both their workplace and their relationship to families back home. Paul Jeffrey has the story and photos.

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