Daily Digest - May 24, 2024

“The quality of his life and his unshakeable faith even in the last moments remain for us the testimony of a life entirely dedicated to the dead and resurrected Lord.” — Bishop Benjamin Boni, on the late Rev. Isaac Broune.


TODAY’S HEADLINES

Isaac Broune led church as journalist, pastor
ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (UM News) — The Rev. Isaac Broune, an influential communicator and pastor who played a significant role at every level of the church, is being remembered in his home country of Côte d’Ivoire and across the global United Methodist connection as a kind person who walked with Jesus. Broune died May 5 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 48. Tim Tanton reports. 
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Western Pennsylvania Conference
Food insecurity program makes a difference
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — Beginning in April, Christ Church launched a food insecurity program called Feed the Burgh. This all-church emphasis was designed with three goals: education, action and advocacy. Members of the congregation participated in several activities throughout the month, including food collection, a letter-writing campaign in support of farm legislation, and educational lessons for all ages. Elaine Frombach reports.
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Michigan Conference
Pastor builds bridges between cultures
LANSING, Mich. — The Rev. Sunhwa Hopgood’s journey to be a cross-cultural pastor started in her native Seoul, South Korea, and led to Richmond, Michigan. She recounts her call to ministry to commemorate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. James Deaton has the story.
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South Carolina Advocate Press
New book tells story of Haitian eye clinic
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new book from the Advocate Press tells the story of the Haitian eye clinic started by United Methodist Volunteers in Mission-South Carolina. The ministry traces back to a 1971 visit by ophthalmologist Dr. Hal H. Crosswell Jr. to the village of Jérémie, Haiti. In the book, Crosswell reflects on the many doctors, nurses and others who joined him in the ministry. 
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No UM News Digest May 27 
In observance of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday, there will be no UM News Digest on Monday, May 27. The Digest will return on May 28. The staff at UM News wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday weekend. 


PRESS RELEASES

Global Ministries
A+ rating for UMCOR
ATLANTA — The United Methodist Committee on Relief is a recipient of the highest possible ranking from CharityWatch, an independent charity watchdog organization. Key factors for the A+ rating include spending 97% of its cash budget on programming for humanitarian relief, response and recovery work and transparency and accessibility of financial data.  
Read press release

The White House
Former pastor named to White House council
WASHINGTON — The Rev. Susan Hendershot, president of Interfaith Power & Light, is among the 12 environmental leaders named to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. She also has served as a pastor at multiple churches, most recently as associate minister of Walnut Hills United Methodist Church in Urbandale, Iowa. Interfaith Power & Light works with multiple faith groups, including United Methodists, on matters of creation care. 
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COMMENTARIES
UM News includes in the Digest various commentaries about issues in the denomination. The opinion pieces reflect a variety of viewpoints and are the opinions of the writers, not UM News staff.

On toward Christian perfection after General Conference
COLUMBUS, Ohio (UM News) — The most significant impact of the recent General Conference is how the decisions that delegates made during the legislative assembly affect people outside the walls, says the Rev. Joelle Henneman. The pastor of the United Methodist Church for All People describes encounters she has had with United Methodist parents of LGBTQ children who now feel like the church sees and embraces their kids. “We have not reached Christian perfection quite yet. However, as we move forward, we do so with a more diverse harmony of voices,” Henneman writes.
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Church and Society
The history you didn’t learn
WASHINGTON — Though the purpose of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is to recognize contributions and positive influence to the shared fabric of the United States, Aimee Hong writes that its roots trace back to the 19th-century murder of an Asian man. “For as long as Asians have been in the United States,” she writes, “they have been seen as perpetual foreigners not to be trusted, with resultant tragic consequences.”
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EVENTS

Sunday, May 26
Peace with Justice Sunday

Sunday, Aug. 4-Wednesday, Aug. 7
See/Create/Disciple conference


TOP STORIES FROM THE WEEK

Defrocked pastor reinstated after LGBTQ bans lifted
WILDWOOD, N.J. (UM News) — During the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference, about 200 ordained clergy voted overwhelmingly to readmit former clergywoman Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud as a full member of its body. Stroud’s ministerial orders as an elder were removed in 2004 after she admitted to being in a committed relationship with another woman. Her reinstatement comes after General Conference delegates voted earlier this month to end decades-old bans on the ordination of “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy and pastors’ officiating of same-sex weddings. John W. Coleman reports.
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Read UM News coverage of General Conference

Renowned Zimbabwean evangelist dies
HARARE, Zimbabwe (UM News) — The Rev. Ellison Kamupira endeared himself to thousands of Zimbabweans through his compassion, sermons and sense of humor. The evangelist and funeral chaplain died May 11 at age 75. Friends and colleagues remember the longtime United Methodist as a mentor who taught invaluable lessons on love, servanthood ministry and Bible study. Eveline Chikwanah reports. 
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Ask The UMC
New series breaks down General Conference action 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — From 2021 to 2023, Ask The UMC produced a series of articles — “Is The United Methodist Church really…?” — seeking to address misinformation about disaffiliation. A new series, called “The United Methodist Church really is …” takes a proactive approach to discuss what The United Methodist Church is doing in light of the actions taken at the recent General Conference. This monthly series will focus first on legislation that has gone into immediate effect in the United States. Part 1 looks at decentering the U.S. and the United States Regional Committee. The Rev. Taylor W. Burton Edwards offers an analysis. 
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Commentary: What we can and can't do for the homeless
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (UM News) — A visit to a ministry for homeless people one evening after General Conference ended for the day was a good reminder that the main point of the meeting is how to impact people who need help, not a struggle for power. Reporter Jim Patterson describes his visit to Hope Chapel.
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UM News: Hope Chapel models Fresh Expressions

Commentary: ‘I want my church to accept them’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — In 2019, Tom Lee received a letter from a former pastor who acknowledged his role in crafting the 1984 legislation barring gay clergy in The United Methodist Church. He said he had come to change his stance and regret his actions. As a delegate in 2024, Lee participated in fulfilling his pastor’s dying wish to eliminate that passage. “His church — our church — accepts everyone,” Lee writes. “The circle is wider still.”
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Commentary: Seeing God’s presence in all 50 states
PASADENA, Calif. (UM News) — Dr. Larry R. Hygh Jr., a lifelong United Methodist, set a goal to visit all 50 states before his 50th birthday. He met the goal two years ahead of schedule with a trip to Idaho. Hygh said he has seen God’s presence in his travels and learned valuable lessons along the way: “One can see God’s handiwork in cornfields, on top of mountains, in the concrete and graffiti in urban areas, and on rural roads.”
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