United Methodist Church
Religious conference planning continues amid COVID-19, socially distant or online
By Adelle M. Banks — March 24, 2021
(RNS) — Religious conference planners are waiting to hear whether their meetings will go on as expected this year and contemplating how they will look as the pandemic continues.
United Methodist bishops cancel virtual special session of General Conference
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 22, 2021
(RNS) — The special session in May was meant to allow delegates to suspend the rules to allow the use of mail-in ballots to keep the denomination running through its postponed General Conference meeting in 2022.
United Methodist Church names its ninth Appalachian Trail chaplain
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 18, 2021
(RNS) — 'Our main goal is to represent Christ and to be with Christ’s people — to represent God and to be with God's people while we are in God's creation,' said the chair of the Appalachian Trail Chaplaincy board.
Schism decision on hold, United Methodist bishop addresses way forward
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 18, 2021
(RNS) — Bishop LaTrelle Easterling addressed the Baltimore-Washington Conference as United Methodists around the world make sense of recent announcements about protocols, postponements and a proposed Global Methodist Church.
Why Congress needs to act on immigration: It’s our nation too
By Luis Velasquez — March 11, 2021
(RNS) — I’ve opened my heart to America; I pray America will do the same for me.
Conservative United Methodists announce new name, logo, website for planned denomination
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 1, 2021
(RNS) — The planned denomination said it will split from the existing United Methodist Church no matter what the General Conference decides in 2022.
Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm
By Joseph Hammond — February 25, 2021
(RNS) — The church’s gesture has brought condemnation from talk radio hosts who chided the Methodists in a segment that included Islamophobic rhetoric.
United Methodists reschedule meeting — and decision on splitting — again
By Emily McFarlan Miller — February 25, 2021
(RNS) — In the meantime, bishops have called for another special session.
Black pastor leads his white North Carolina church toward a fuller reckoning on race
By Yonat Shimron — December 7, 2020
SALISBURY, North Carolina (RNS) — In one of the most conservative cities in North Carolina, a United Methodist pastor gingerly approaches racial issues without alienating his flock.
Progressive United Methodists announce new denomination: Liberation Methodist Connexion
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 30, 2020
(RNS) — Correct doctrine is less important to the new denomination than correct action, collaborators said during Sunday’s presentation.
William Bobby McClain, leader in United Methodist Church and civil rights movement, dies at 82
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 19, 2020
(RNS) — McClain was a pastor and professor who not only shaped the lives of the students he taught but also countless United Methodists with the creation of the groundbreaking hymnal 'Songs of Zion' and as an original member of the group that organized Black Methodists for Church Renewal.
COVID-19, food crisis give new life to ancient practice of gleaning
By Elizabeth E. Evans — October 23, 2020
(RNS) — In recent years, gleaning has made a comeback as a solution to the problems of persistent hunger and the lack of fresh produce options.
Texas United Methodists take up call to replace denomination’s logo over association with racist imagery
By Emily McFarlan Miller — September 23, 2020
(RNS) — One of the United Methodist Church’s regional conferences has taken up the call to replace the denomination’s ‘Cross and Flame’ logo because of its association for many with the racist imagery of a burning cross.
Rev. Gil Caldwell, United Methodist civil rights and gay rights activist, dead at 86
By Adelle M. Banks — September 8, 2020
(RNS) — Caldwell said his application to Duke Divinity School was rejected in the mid-1950s because of his race. He visited the campus some 60 years later.
Black clergy testify to outrage and hope in demonstrations across Washington
By Jack Jenkins — June 15, 2020
(RNS) — Citing recent killings by police as well as the ravages of the pandemic, leaders of several faiths called on the government to take responsibility.
