In the US, Maryland church, with $US100,000 in vandalism damage, continues in faith
United StatesRNS Rev Jerome Jones, Sr, is shocked by two things: the extensive vandalism that took place in his church building in Maryland’s capital in early June and the outpouring of support Fowler United Methodist Church has received in the aftermath. On 8th June, the red-carpeted sanctuary of the historically Black church was turned into […]
UMC bishops request 2026 General Conference as hundreds more churches disaffiliate
Chicago, USRNS United Methodist bishops have proposed a five-day meeting of the denomination’s global decision-making body, the General Conference, in May, 2026. The announcement comes at the end of the Council of Bishops’ spring meeting last week in Chicago and a weekend that saw hundreds of United Methodist churches in the United States leave […]
Keep COVID-19 restrictions during in-person worship, US ecumenical guide suggests
RNS Some Americans may be behaving like the COVID-19 pandemic no longer hinders them from socializing with friends and family, many of whom they may not have seen in months. But the Ecumenical Consultation on Protocols for Worship, Fellowship, and Sacraments, a group of clergy, scientists and other experts, advised congregations to take it slower […]
US election: Spotlight mostly bypasses mainline Protestants as evangelicals and Catholics dominate
DAVID CRARY, of Associated Press, reports on how mainline Protestant denominations have been quietly (relatively speaking) going about the work of, among others, fighting racism and voter suppression…
United Methodist Church postpones General Conference amid coronavirus
RNS The United Methodist Church has postponed its 2020 General Conference – where delegates were expected to take up legislation to split the denomination – over concerns about the spread of COVID-19, what’s commonly referred to as the coronavirus. The quadrennial meeting of the denomination’s decision-making body was set to gather 862 delegates and other […]
Evidence of improper voting raises questions about Methodist gay clergy vote
RNS United Methodist Church officials admitted this week that some of the votes cast during its recent special session on sexuality may have been invalid. During a special session of the UMC General Conference in St Louis, Missouri, which met last month, delegates from the largest mainline Protestant denomination made headlines for backing measures to strengthen bans […]
IMMIGRATION: MORE THAN 600 UNITED METHODISTS FILE FORMAL CHURCH COMPLAINT AGAINST US ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS
JACK JENKINS and EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, look at a move by hundreds of UMC clergy and laypeople to rebuke US Attorney General Jeff Sessions amid an ongoing controversy over the Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy…
Hoping to avert schism, United Methodist bishops propose to allow LGBT clergy, same-sex marriages
RNS The bishops of the United Methodist Church have endorsed a plan that would allow individual pastors and regional bodies to make their own decisions on whether to perform same-sex weddings and ordain LGBT people as clergy. The Council of Bishops recommended the One Church Plan, on Friday, after nearly a week of meetings in […]
Black clergy in the US decry Trump policies as detrimental to African-Americans
RNS Rev Jimmie R Hawkins speaks with other faith leaders at a press conference responding to the US President Donald Trump administration’s policies in Washington, DC, on 15th May, 2017. PICTURE: Ray Chen/Office of Public Witness, PC(USA) Black clergy, standing in the shadow of the US Capitol, declared that US President Donald Trump is […]