The Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church has proposed changing its minimum standards for clergy to discourage people over 45 from becoming candidates for ordained ministry. The conference’s board [...]
Read More...UMs offer and find support after Boston Marathon bombings
April 16, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Evil struck on Monday, April 15th, but by Tuesday it was clear evil did not have the last word. United Methodists in Boston and around the globe testified to the [...]
Read More...Two United Methodists recognized by White House as `Champions of Change’ for solar project
April 4, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Two United Methodists have taken an idea for bringing light to people living in darkness from their church altar to the White House in less than a year. Doug McNeil [...]
Read More...Rehabilitating the reputation of Mary Magdalene
March 28, 2013 Posted by 3 Comments
You’ve got to feel bad for Mary Magdalene. Sure, she has fame many of today’s celebrities would envy. She’s played a leading role in works ranging from Renaissance paintings to [...]
Read More...Church: No weddings till UMC changes homosexuality stand
March 19, 2013 Posted by 2 Comments
Leaders of a United Methodist congregation in Winston-Salem, N.C., have decided not to hold weddings in the church building until the denomination lifts its ban on same-sex marriage. Green Street [...]
Read More...Presley’s Methodist moment – Elvis shared space with church agency in 1956
March 12, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—By the start of 1956, Elvis Presley and his recording career had found a new place to dwell. It wasn’t at the end of Lonely Street, but in a building bustling with Methodists. Presley at that point had only regional hits to his name. The giant RCA Records had gambled on the young singer and bought his contract from the small Sun Records. The sounds of the South—rhythm & blues, country and rock—were starting to transform American airwaves. However, RCA did not yet have a studio of its own [...]
Read More...How churches can play role in dating, marriage
March 5, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Matthew Oates and Jennifer Dobbs were born a few months apart in the same hospital. They grew up a few miles apart in southern Indiana; they even went to the same orthodontist. But they never met. They both attended Purdue University from 1996 to 2000, and while there, were involved in various United Methodist ministries. But they never met. It was only after Mr. Oates had been a member for seven years of Trinity United Methodist Church in Lafayette, Ind., that one day Ms. Dobbs showed up as a [...]
Read More...Denomination urged to trust, share leadership
February 18, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Don’t be surprised if you hear church leaders use the phrase “adaptive leadership” multiple times during the next four years. That phrase served as the recurring theme of the 2013 Quadrennial Training Event, which drew nearly 1,000 United Methodists to the Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 17-20. Put another way, the gathering attracted almost as many people as were delegates at last year’s General Conference, the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly. Since 2005, the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship has sponsored the event every four years for annual [...]
Read More...Couples share how ‘Methodist destiny’ brought them together
February 14, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Matthew Oates and Jennifer Dobbs were born a few months apart in the same hospital. They grew up a few miles apart in southern Indiana; they even went to the [...]
Read More...Still there, UM Connectional Table starts anew
February 8, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
The new Connectional Table—a United Methodist governing body that had expected to be defunct by now—met to organize for the next four years. The gathering Jan. 15-17 in Nashville, Tenn., set the tone for the denomination’s leadership for the next four years and may have offered a prelude to proposals that will go before the next General Conference in 2016. The 59-member Connectional Table is where the denomination’s ministry and money come together. It coordinates the United Methodist Church’s mission, ministry and resources. The Connectional Table also spearheaded legislation at [...]
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