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| Friday, December 21, 2012 | |||||
Note: We at the United Methodist News Service wish you and your loved ones a joyous Christmas and new year. The UMNS Daily Digest will return on Jan. 7. "This gives me hope at least. I'm so close to my kids, and that's all I want is just to see my kids one more time." - Nancy Romero, participant in Las Posadas, which brings together families separated by the U.S.-Mexico border. Border separates families at ChristmasTIJUANA, Mexico (UMNS) - United Methodist missionaries are part of an effort to unite families divided by deportations and immigration policies. For nearly 20 years, families have gathered at Christmas at Friendship Park in San Diego for a re-enactment of the Nativity called Las Posadas. A fence keeps families separated but they are able to make contact through the barrier. Faith leaders join call to end gun violenceWASHINGTON (UMNS) - United Methodist Bishop Peter Weaver will join other religious leaders at the Washington National Cathedral Dec. 21 to honor those lost in the Newtown, Conn., school shootings and call for an end to an epidemic of gun violence. Houses of worship around the country are asked to join along as the cathedral's funeral bell tolls at 9:30 a.m., exactly one week after the tragedy that left 28 people dead, including the shooter. 2012: Judicial rulings play big roleNASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - To hear some United Methodists tell it, a handful of Judicial Council rulings this year have turned the denomination's polity on its head and made the top church court the most powerful branch in church government. Others, of course, disagree. 2012: A year's worth of disastersNEW YORK (UMNS) - A late-season hurricane that swept the U.S. Northeast coast and a typhoon flooding the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines capped disaster-response efforts by United Methodists during 2012. 2012: The year in picturesNASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - View images from around the world showing the church in action. The images are from the United Methodist News Service archives. Remembering to see Jesus through the eyes of a childFRANKFURT (UMNS) - Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, reminds us that God becomes a child. Jesus puts children at the center and tells us that they are teachers in matters of faith. It is, therefore, in our best interest to pay more attention to children in church and society. UMTV: Trash trees for ChristmasNEW YORK (UMNS) - Members of New York City's Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist turn Hula Hoops, Styrofoam and bottle caps into must-see Christmas trees. "Especially around the holidays, people need to see maybe it's not all about money and spending and buying and pretty trees and lights and stuff but just &ellipsis; a bottle cap tree created. It just makes them smile," says church member Jordan Nieblum. Here we raise our EbenezerCOLUMBIA, Mo. (UMNS) - You won't find many boys called Ebenezer in the United States, but you will find plenty of churches with that name. It's not a reference to "A Christmas Carol," but to a far older text. Fred Koenig of the Missouri Annual (regional) Conference offers the rock-solid truth on this far from miserly name. CorrectionAn item in the Dec. 20, 2012 digest misspelled the publisher of "Flames of Love: Hell and Universal Salvation" by the Rev. Heath Bradley. The publisher is Wipf and Stock. | |||||
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