’Tis the season – Less debate, more worship for some annual conferences

Delegates to the Kansas East Annual Conference in 2012 voted on a resolution by holding up their voting cards. During sessions last year, the Kansas East, Kansas West and Nebraska conferences approved a measure to merge into one conference by the start of 2014. PHOTO COURTESY KANSAS EAST CONFERENCE

In the past, delegates headed to Annual Conference might carry copies of Robert’s Rules of Order for long hours of legislative sessions and budget debates. This year, delegates might do better to pack hymnals, work gloves and sneakers. With the seven-week annual conference season under way (having begun with the May 16-18 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center) many such gatherings will spend less time on business and more worshipping, learning, performing mission work and even fostering healthy habits. “You will hear fewer reports, shorter reports and [...]

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Q&A: The ‘Quiet Pentecost’ of spiritual formation

Dwight Judy

United Methodists worried about declining church membership may be overlooking a more subtle renewal that’s underway, writes the Rev. Dwight H. Judy in his new book, A Quiet Pentecost: Inviting [...]

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Bringing it home – ‘One Mile’ model helps focus mission

As part of their One Mile Mission focus, members of First UMC in Arlington, Texas, have gotten involved in the schools within a mile of the church. Pictured: Church member Tolli Macalik (l) works with a parent and student to clean up and landscape the school. PHOTO COURTESY FIRST UNITED METHODIST ARLINGTON

For years, members of First United Methodist Church of Grapevine, Texas, tried to organize a Wednesday night supper—with little success. People were too busy. Volunteers were hard to find. They tried having the meal catered. Nothing worked. Then, in 2009, the church launched “One Mile Mission,” encouraging every group in the church to find some way to serve within a 1-mile radius of the church. That new focus led leaders to try giving the Wednesday night suppers a new spin. “We realized we were trying to feed people who weren’t [...]

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AFTE names 2013 John Wesley Fellows

Nathan Jones

Press release from AFTE announcing 2013 Fellows: Three United Methodists have been awarded John Wesley Fellowships to support their doctoral studies, A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) announced Friday. John [...]

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UMs warming up for Home Run movie

In Home Run, Scott Elrod (r) stars as Cory Brand, a baseball player who ends up in a Celebrate Recovery group when an alcohol addiction starts to derail his career. Some scenes were shot in two United Methodist churches in Tulsa, Okla., and many of the extras were recruited from UM congregations. PHOTO COURTESY HERO PRODUCTIONS/IMPACT PRODUCTIONS LLC

The Rev. Jorge Acevedo is heading to the movies this weekend with a group of folks from his church. They’ll see Home Run, a fictional film portrayal of a ministry that’s at the core of his United Methodist congregation, Grace Church in Fort Myers, Fla. Home Run, which opens in 400 theaters on April 19, tells the story of Cory Brand (Scott Elrod), a professional baseball player whose alcoholism and anger issues send his career into tailspin. When he runs into trouble with the law, his agent (Vivica A. Fox) [...]

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UMC in Boston to host prayer service

Rev. LaTrelle Miller Easterling

All local United Methodist runners in yesterday’s Boston Marathon are accounted for and fine, according to the Rev. LaTrelle Miller Easterling, superintendent of the Metro Boston Hope District, after two bombs exploded yesterday near [...]

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Q&A: U.S. still religious, but not a ‘Christian nation’

Jon Meacham

Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and contributing editor to Time magazine, recently delivered the Bolin Family 2013 Public Life/Personal Faith lecture at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. Mr. Meacham lectured on “American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation,” also the title of his bestselling 2007 book. More recently, he wrote Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012). Mr. Meacham spoke by phone with staff writer Mary Jacobs; here are edited excerpts. Given some of the recent controversies in the news—such as whether [...]

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Gift of life: Passionate UMC advocates emerge for organ donation

Ann Meixner (left), a member of First United Methodist Church in Laurel, Md., received a kidney donation in January 2011 from her pastor, the Rev. Chris Owens (right). PHOTO BY BLAIRLEE OWENS

As Bob Young talks about organ donation, he recalls the years he served as a hospital corpsman in Vietnam, treating villagers during the day and wounded Marines at night. “There’s no greater high than saving someone’s life,” he said. Mr. Young, 64, wants more United Methodists to experience that “high.” He’s a passionate advocate for organ donation at his church, First United Methodist in Santa Rosa, Calif. “There’s no greater gift you can give someone than their life,” he said. As a denomination, he believes: “We should be doing everything [...]

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Author Lamott to speak at UMC in Fort Worth

anne lamott

Author Anne Lamott will speak at Arborlawn United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 2. We’ve got the press release here.

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Holy Week in the Tate household

Holy Week will be hectic for the Rev. Sara Tate and her husband Craig. Between them, they're serving as pastors of six churches, he's attending seminary, and they're raising their 15-month-old son, Cooper.

Together, the Rev. Sara Tate and her husband, Craig, serve as pastors of six different United Methodist churches in the Memphis area. Given that Mr. Tate is in seminary, and [...]

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