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Bishops
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton delivers his final address as Council of Bishops president during the bishops’ pre-General Conference meeting April 17 in Charlotte, N.C. Photo by Rick Wolcott, East Ohio Conference.
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton delivers his final address as Council of Bishops president during the bishops’ pre-General Conference meeting April 17 in Charlotte, N.C. Photo by Rick Wolcott, East Ohio Conference.

Bishops urged to prepare for seismic shift
United Methodist Council of Bishops President Thomas J. Bickerton sees potential for big changes coming out of General Conference — including an end to the denomination’s bans related to LGBTQ people. Bishops, he said, will have a role to play in what comes next.

Editor's Picks

General Church
Frederick Hyland, Wespath’s managing director of actuarial services, and Kim Olson, director of retirement plans, discuss Wespath’s Compass proposal, a retirement plan for U.S. active clergy that is going before General Conference voters. If passed, the plan would replace the current Clergy Retirement Security Program with a defined-contribution retirement plan. Hyland and Olson were very clear that the new plan will not affect currently retired clergy. Screengrab courtesy of Live from Wespath.

Big changes proposed for clergy retirement
Wespath, The United Methodist Church’s pension and benefits agency, is asking General Conference to authorize a new retirement program for U.S. clergy.
Human Sexuality
Demonstrators at the May 1 session of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla., call on delegates to defeat or remove legislation that discriminates against people based on their sexual orientation. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Queer Delegate Caucus debuts in Charlotte
Members of the first caucus of LGBTQ delegates at a General Conference believe their time has finally come, but stress their efforts for full inclusion will continue whether or not the votes go their way.
General Church
Dale Jones of Wespath, The United Methodist Church’s pension and benefits agency, discusses the denomination’s pension program during the pre-General Conference news briefing at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida in 2012. Jones and other Wespath staff had a hand in crafting the regionalization legislation going before the 2024 General Conference. Agency staff see the proposed changes as crucial to the work of supporting church workers in retirement. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Why Wespath supports regionalization
The United Methodist Church’s pension and benefits agency has had a hand in crafting the regionalization legislation going before General Conference. Agency staff see the proposed changes as crucial to the work of supporting church workers in retirement.

Latest News

General Conference
United Methodist reporter Heather Hahn offers a recap and a look at what's ahead when delegates meet for a regular session of General Conference for the first time in eight years. Screengrab by UM News.

General Conference recap: Homosexuality debate
Disaster Relief
Women wait for vegetable oil at the Malicha internally displaced camp in Fizi, Congo. The United Methodist Church distributed 74 tons of supplies to survivors of two fires that ravaged the camp in August and October. The aid included rice, corn flour, salt, sugar, beans, soap, toothbrushes and more. Photo courtesy of the East Congo Episcopal Area disaster management office.

Church helps survivors of fire in Congo
Social Concerns
Barbara Boigegrain answers questions during a 2016 General Conference debate about divestment of fossil fuel company stocks. Boigegrain was top executive of Wespath, the denomination’s pension and benefits agency. She has since retired. Wespath continues to oppose efforts to require United Methodist institutions to divest from fossil fuel stocks, saying engagement with such companies is a more effective strategy for combating climate change. File photo by Maile Bradfield, UM News.

Fossil fuels divestment debate returns
Mission and Ministry
Samuel Kasororo stands with mobility aids provided by The United Methodist Church in eastern Congo. Kasororo, a United Methodist father of six, lost his right leg during war in 2006. The gift will enable him to continue his evangelism work, he said. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

Church restores hope, mobility to disabled
Local Church
On March 21, a judge ordered that property seized by a breakaway group from Naperville Korean United Methodist Church be returned to the Northern Illinois Conference. The conference filed a formal lawsuit on Oct. 10, 2023, seeking the return of the property and church funds. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Judge orders disputed church property returned to conference
Faith Stories
Retired Bishop Timothy Whitaker, who served as resident bishop of the Florida Conference from 2001 to 2012, died March 28. Photo courtesy of the Florida Conference.

Bishop faced death — and wrote about it
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Local Church
Sally Vonner addresses the crowd at her July 29, 2023, installation service as top executive of United Women in Faith. That organization, formerly United Methodist Women, is based in New York, but Texas native Vonner’s installation was held at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas. File photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

Women’s agency leader optimistic about its future
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Evangelism
Christians historically have disagreed on when to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. But efforts continue to get everyone on the same page, especially with an important milestone in global Christianity coming up next year. Original image by TC Perch, courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

The calendar controversies behind Easter
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Social Concerns
The Rev. Cynthia Davis (at podium), a retired district superintendent in the Mississippi Conference and executive vice president and director of The Moore-West Center for Applied Theology in Memphis, Tenn., speaks March 2, 2024, at Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., as part of the Mississippi Conference’s End Racism for Good campaign. The Rev. Zachary Beasley (right), pastor of Asbury and Calvin Chapel United Methodist churches in Holly Springs, Miss., welcomed the public to the event and ended it with a benediction. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.

Mississippi church services target racism
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Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Becky Shirley speaks Jan. 18, 2024, at Washington Street United Methodist Church in Columbia, S.C., during the church’s first The WELL service, a monthly worship experience designed for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that affect memory. The WELL stands for Worship, Encouragement, Laughter and Love. Photo courtesy of Washington Street UMC.

Caring for people with memory issues
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General Church
Church leaders discuss issues coming to General Conference. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Pre-General Conference Video Resources
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Commentaries

The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr. Photo courtesy of Wesley Theological Seminary.

Revised Social Principles offer new start
Bishop Ernest S. Lyght. Photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops.

Transformative unmasking paves a way forward
Dr. Kent Millard. Photo courtesy of United Theological Seminary.

Please spare Ministerial Education Fund
Christine Schneider. Photo courtesy of the author.

Central conferences already have exit paths
The Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of the unofficial advocacy group Good News. Photo courtesy of Rob Renfroe.

Traditionalist caucus president speaks to criticism
The Rev. Mark R. Holland. Photo courtesy of the author.

Say ‘no’ to disaffiliation petitions
The Rev. Forbes Matonga. Video image by UM News

African regionalization support hardly unanimous
The Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa. Photo courtesy of the author.

United Methodists in Africa can do their own thinking
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News From UMC Partners

Faith Stories
April is National Donate Life Month which highlights the urgent, widespread need for lifesaving donations of organs Graphic courtesy of Donate Life America.
April is National Donate Life Month which highlights the urgent, widespread need for lifesaving donations of organs Graphic courtesy of Donate Life America.

Church friendship grows from kidney donation
When Diane Boggess needed a second kidney transplant, her church family at Grove United Methodist Church came to the rescue. After hearing a sermon on sacrificial friendship, church member Susan Parno decided to step up as a donor.

Additional Headlines

Congregations
United Methodist churches in the Washington District help make Easter a little brighter for children in need. Photo courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conference.

Churches join forces to provide Easter baskets
Theology and Education
Desire Niyonkuru prepares for a class in the Styberg Libary at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. Niyonkuru will finish his master’s degree in pastoral care and counseling this spring, thanks in part to financial assistance from a scholarship funded by Michigan United Methodists. Photo courtesy of Sarah Pressley.

Burundi student to be counselor
Local Church
A community dinner church offered by Lawrenceville First United Methodist Church, Cannon United Methodist Church, and the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry is proving to be popular. Photo courtesy of the North Georgia Conference.

Dinner church sets table for broader ministry
Local Church
United Methodist churches in Mitchell, S.D., are working together to serve their community. Photo courtesy of the Dakotas Conference.

Cooperation benefits small churches
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Multimedia

General Conference
Church leaders discuss issues coming to General Conference. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.
Church leaders discuss issues coming to General Conference. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Pre-General Conference Video Resources
Leaders from the United Methodist general agencies talk about each agency’s role in the church and legislation they’ve submitted to be considered by General Conference delegates.

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Faith Sharing
John 20:29. United Methodist News. "The Doubting Thomas" by Leendert van der Cooghen, 1654 / Wikimedia Commons. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Social media graphics from UM News
Mission and Ministry
Adriano António Paulino (standing) joins in prayer before lunch at the Quéssua Mission in Angola. A feeding program there serves as many as 700 children from nearby villages. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

2023: The year in photos
Church Leadership
The Rev. Dr. Tori Butler (right) speaks with the Rev. Martha Orphe who contracted sarcoidosis from breathing contaminated air while cleaning out dozens of churches after Hurricane Katrina. Zoom video image courtesy of the Rev. Butler via YouTube.

Hollering for Change: Self-care and the “ministry of rest”
Faith Sharing
The Rev. Dr. Tori Butler (top right) speaks with the Revs. Romal Tune, Joe Daniels and Vance P. Ross about fathers and sons in the latest installment of the “Hollering for Change” series. Zoom video image courtesy of the Rev. Butler via YouTube.

Hollering for Change: Why are men discouraged from being vulnerable?
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World Press Freedom Day - Learn More
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Ask The UMC

General Conference
New legislation from GBHEM makes clergy formation more accessible, while a series of proposals from the Alabama-West Florida Conference would give more power to annual conferences in setting clergy standards. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.
New legislation from GBHEM makes clergy formation more accessible, while a series of proposals from the Alabama-West Florida Conference would give more power to annual conferences in setting clergy standards. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Ask the UMC: What's new for GC 2024, Part 3: Clergy Formation
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry wants to improve access for local pastors, and the Alabama-West Florida Conference wants to center the process of clergy formation in each annual conference.

Additional Headlines

Church History
The first woman among the Methodists to graduate from seminary, Anna Oliver advocated for full clergy rights for women. Original image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Ask the UMC: Anna Oliver: Methodist scholar, preacher, and advocate
Worship
« Oremus et pro perfidis Judaeis » Good Friday prayer for the Jews in Latin and French, from a French Catholic Liturgy. Image courtesy of Wikimedia; edited from original.

Ask The UMC: Three ways to avoid anti-Judaism during Holy Week
Theology and Education
Crowds waving palm branches process through the streets of Port-Bouet, Ivory Coast, on Passion/Palm Sunday. This joyful scene is repeated all over the country by Ivorian United Methodists and Catholics. Photo by Isaac Broune, UM News.

Ask the UMC: Why do we observe Passion/Palm Sunday?
General Conference
The proposed budget for 2025-2028 represents the largest cuts for nearly all areas of ministry in the history of The United Methodist Church. What will this mean for the continuing United Methodist Church? Graphic by Laurens Glass, United Methodist Communications.

Ask the UMC: What's New for GC 2024 Part 1: The Budget
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