General Conference
After traditionalist churches left, UMC may be more — not less — diverse
By Yonat Shimron — April 16, 2024
(RNS) — Even after the departures, 24% of North Carolina clergy remaining in the denomination disagree with allowing LGBTQ people to get married and ordained within the denomination.
Legislation aims to ‘decolonize’ United Methodists, give parity to non-US conferences
By Yonat Shimron — February 6, 2024
(RNS) — A proposed regionalization plan would undo the dominance and control of the US church and make it on par with United Methodist conferences abroad.
The UMC lost a quarter of its churches — most in the South
By Yonat Shimron — January 26, 2024
(RNS) — The same area of the country that tends to be the most politically conservative and Republican-leaning was where most United Methodist churches voted to leave the denomination.
UMC bishops request 2026 General Conference as hundreds more churches disaffiliate
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 8, 2023
CHICAGO (RNS) — To date, at least 2,804 churches have left the United Methodist Church since 2019, according to United Methodist News Service.
Behind the Latter-day Saint church’s vast wealth are two centuries of financial hits and misses
By Benjamin Park — April 5, 2023
(The Conversation) — Joseph Smith encouraged early Latter-day Saints to pool their resources. Two centuries later, one of the results is an investment portfolio estimated at $100 billion.
‘Not a real schism’: Four years later, UMC exodus less a gush, more a trickle
By Yonat Shimron and Emily McFarlan Miller — January 23, 2023
(RNS) — An analysis of departing churches suggests the country’s second-largest Protestant denomination will be weakened, but it is unlikely to break.
United Methodist Church announces date, location for thrice-postponed General Conference
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 7, 2022
(RNS) — The next General Conference will be held April 23 to May 3, 2024, at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
LDS elder — a former college president — may have plagiarized General Conference talk
By Bob Smietana — October 6, 2022
(RNS) — Elder David Bednar, a former BYU-Idaho president, failed to tell listeners he was using material from an obscure religious teacher and other sources in his address.
What happened to United Methodists’ proposal to split the denomination?
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 29, 2022
(RNS) — Before United Methodists could vote on the widely endorsed plan, traditionalists went ahead and launched a new denomination and several representatives of centrist and progressive groups revoked their support.
United Methodist bishops open spring meeting with message of unity amid schism
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 25, 2022
(RNS) — More than 100 bishops from across the globe are gathering through Friday on Zoom to discuss the future of the denomination, according to the Council of Bishops.
Vote delayed again, some United Methodists say they quit. Now what?
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 7, 2022
(RNS) — Some questions will have to be answered by the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court.
United Methodist Church delays General Conference, prompting some conservatives to leave
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 3, 2022
(RNS) — The General Conference already has been delayed twice because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
AME Zion leader Staccato Powell removed as bishop after facing financial accusations
By Adelle M. Banks — July 29, 2021
(RNS) — ‘The Trial Committee recommended Bishop Staccato Powell be disrobed, meaning Bishop Staccato Powell would no longer be recognized as consecrated to the office of Bishop,’ read trial minutes.
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church celebrates paid-off debts at major meeting
By Adelle M. Banks — July 28, 2021
(RNS) — ‘Livingstone College, Hood seminary, and Clinton College — debts have all been satisfied,’ announced AME Zion Bishop George Edward Battle Jr.
Retiring Bishop Vashti McKenzie, first AME Church woman prelate, reflects on a groundbreaking career
By Adelle M. Banks — July 16, 2021
(RNS) — ‘Do I think that women can do this? Yes,’ McKenzie said. ‘Do I think the women that have been elected in my denomination have done an exceptional job? Absolutely.’
Page 1 of 5
