Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS

Fire destroys church’s building, but not its spirit

May 7, 2013 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

The 111-year-old main sanctuary at Oconee Street United Methodist Church in Athens, Ga., lies in ruins following an April 15 fire. UMNS PHOTO COURTESY OF OCONEE STREET UMC

Sally Curtis AsKew was in Seattle, getting ready for a United Methodist Judicial Council meeting, when she learned about the fire that consumed her beloved church—Oconee Street United Methodist in Athens, Ga. The fire, detected around 10 p.m. April 15, gutted the 111-year-old structure. The cause has not been determined. The blaze apparently started in the basement of the wood structure, Ms. AsKew said. “I am sitting in a hotel room in Seattle, still crying so hard I have to stop to wipe my eyes often,” the Judicial Council clerk [...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Athens, church fire, Georgia, Oconee Street United Methodist

Q&A: Finding a way into Methodism, and the clergy

April 8, 2013 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

Roslyn Lee holds her 4-year-old son, Joel. She serves Dix Hills United Methodist Church in the New York Conference. PHOTO BY WON TACK LEE

Editor’s note: Throughout March, designated Women’s History Month by Congress, United Methodist News Service offered Q&As with notable women in the UMC. Here’s one with Roslyn Lee, a licensed local [...]

To rise from the ashes – Churches face challenge of recovering from fires

March 8, 2013 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

The Rev. Debbye Harrison (center), pastor of Hickory Plains UMC, examines what remains of the church sanctuary along with her son Bryce (l), grandson Christian and a close friend, Ann Brumbelow. ARKANSAS UNITED METHODIST PHOTO BY AMY FORBUS

It’s every congregation’s worst nightmare. Fire strikes and the church building that members have loved for decades is suddenly gone or seriously damaged. Three churches in the UMC’s Arkansas Conference and congregations in six other states understand that nightmare all too well as they recover from recent fires. One fire, ignited by lightning, destroyed the Hickory Plains United Methodist Church near Carlisle, Ark., on May 30, 2012. “Our building was a total loss, even though it took nearly three months before the insurance company made its final decision,” said the [...]

Deployed to help: Churches plan ministries with military families

January 18, 2013 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.—If your congregation is seeking ways to reach out to military families, New Providence United Methodist Church, on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, might inspire you. Just six miles from the Fort Campbell Army base in Kentucky, New Providence is home to many retired soldiers and their families. They know what it is like to have a spouse or parent absent for a year or more. They know how it is to celebrate birthdays with Mom or Dad deployed thousands of miles from home. They resonate with the frustration of a [...]

Arkansas program helps addict ‘let go’

December 17, 2012 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

Proud homeowner Monte Payne stands in front of his brick bungalow in Little Rock, Ark. Mr. Payne credits the programs at Theressa Hoover UMC for his recovery from addiction and his growing faith. UMNS PHOTO BY SONGHAI NELSON/BETTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, INC.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Pointing to a pretty brick bungalow just blocks from Little Rock’s historic Central High School, the smiling, affable man says proudly, “That’s mine. Twenty years ago, I would [...]

Colorado community gathers for prayer

August 3, 2012 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

The Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., where a gunman
killed 12 people and wounded 58 others on July 20.

After a lone gunman entered a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., early on July 20, killing a dozen people, the stunned community rallied to support survivors, pray for those who lost loved ones and prepare for a vigil that evening at the city municipal building. United Methodist-related Iliff School of Theology kept its chapel open for prayer all day. News reports said the shooter tossed tear gas before opening fire on the terrified audience. Dozens of theater-goers, including a 3-month-old baby, were wounded. Federal law-enforcement officers identified the shooter as [...]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Aurora, Colorado, Colorado Shooting

Dakotas couple brings holidays to young

July 19, 2012 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

United Methodist missionaries Mike and Libby Flowers are collecting wrapped gifts for Native American children in the Dakotas conference. Here, a boy opens his shoebox at a 2011 Christmas party on Spirit Lake Reservation in St. Michael, N.D. PHOTO BY MIKE FLOWERS

It all starts with a sturdy shoebox. Add a dash of love—perhaps a fun toy, cozy mittens, a little bag of candy and the story of Jesus’ birth—and the results are smiles from children and gratitude from their parents who cannot provide those small gifts. Through “Shoebox Christmas,” Mike and Libby Flowers, United Methodist missionaries from the Dakotas Annual Conference, brighten the holidays for families in two states. In 2011, the Flowerses distributed—primarily to Native Americans—5,652 shoeboxes. They hope to write their own loaves-and-fishes story and multiply that to 40,000 [...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Shoebox Christmas

Congregations respond to 700 miles of U.S. storms

July 16, 2012 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

Storms with hail and winds up to 91 miles per hour moved through northeastern Indiana on June 29, ripping off the roof of rural Washington Center UMC near Columbia City. UMNS PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID MICHEL

Challenged by a swath of severe summer storms and sweltering temperatures, United Methodists immediately opened their churches as cooling/relief centers and went to work removing debris. According to accuweather.com, a “super derecho” of violent thunderstorms left a more than 700-mile trail of destruction across the U.S. Midwest and mid-Atlantic on June 29. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center received more than 600 damaging wind reports as the derecho took 12 hours to race from northern Indiana to the southern mid-Atlantic coast. A derecho is a line of [...]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Indiana Conference, Spring Heights, storm, Washington Center UMC, West Virginia Conference

Q&A: It takes discipline to edit Discipline

July 6, 2012 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS 1 Comment

Marvin Cropsey leafs through 2008 Book of Discipline with many notes for changes. UMNS PHOTO BY MIKE DUBOSE

It’s said that the two items no one wants to see being made are laws and sausages. Perhaps the United Methodist Book of Discipline should be added to that list. It takes almost six months—and a process defined by the rules of the General Conference—before the denomination knows exactly what happened after its big legislative assembly. The Discipline outlines denominational law, doctrine, administration, organizational work and procedures. The Book of Resolutions contains pronouncements on social issues. Every four years, delegates to General Conference vote on changes to both books. Marvin [...]

Volunteers change world in 1,500 places

June 13, 2012 Posted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, UMNS Leave a Comment

Katie Steele, a General Board of Global Ministries mission intern, receives a sandwich from Maryana Venger during the celebration of Change the World Sunday in Lviv, Ukraine. UMNS PHOTO BY VOLODYA IVANOV

How many United Methodists does it take to change a light bulb? Probably just one. However, when it comes to changing the world, United Methodists proved, once again, the more the merrier. On the third annual Change the World Weekend, May 19-20, United Methodists in more than 1,500 locations around the globe ventured beyond the walls of their church buildings, got involved in their communities and participated in a global push to fight malaria. Folks in the Philippines got the ball rolling. Since May 19 in the Philippines dawned 12 [...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Change the World, mike slaughter, umc, UMNS

Fire destroys church’s building, but not its spirit

Q&A: Finding a way into Methodism, and the clergy

To rise from the ashes – Churches face challenge of recovering from fires

Deployed to help: Churches plan ministries with military families

Arkansas program helps addict ‘let go’

Colorado community gathers for prayer

Dakotas couple brings holidays to young

Congregations respond to 700 miles of U.S. storms

Q&A: It takes discipline to edit Discipline

Volunteers change world in 1,500 places

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