Theology and Education

Mission and Ministry
Larry and Jane Kies pose for a photo in Vumba, one of the scenic areas outside Mutare, Zimbabwe. Behind them is a Zimbabwean indigenous tree called Musasa.  As United Methodist missionaries, the couple contributed to the development of agriculture and education in the country at the church’s Nyadire Mission and Africa University. Photo courtesy of Larry Kies.

Missionaries leave mark on agriculture, education

Larry and Jane Kies retired last year after serving for three decades in Zimbabwe at United Methodist Nyadire Mission and Africa University.
Theology and Education
Graphic by Taylor W Burton Edwards based on The 2020/2024 Book of Discipline, Copyright 2024, United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

Ask The UMC: Part 1, Local churches, annual conferences, and general agencies

Some are smaller, and some are bigger, but changes have come in the 2020/2024 Book of Discipline for local churches, annual conferences, and general agencies.
General Church
Due to financial constraints and declining demand, the United Methodist Publishing House has announced it will discontinue Korean and Spanish translations of the Book of Discipline unless alternative funding and distribution methods can be found. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Korean, Spanish versions of Discipline halted

Korean and Hispanic/Latino church leaders voice concern about the United Methodist Publishing House’s decision to no longer translate the Book of Discipline due to financial pressures.
Faith Stories
The Rev. Russell E. Richey speaks during a panel discussion on theological education at Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville, Tenn., in 2015. Richey, who died Jan. 19 at his home in Durham, N.C., was a professor at Duke Divinity School in Durham, and former dean of Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Richey, influential historian, remembered

The Rev. Russell E. Richey, who died Jan. 19, was praised by colleagues, friends and former students as an amiable yet exacting historian who steered scholarly research of the denomination toward sources beyond the minutes of General Conference.

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