Clergy deserve 13 weeks of paid leave when they are caring for a new baby, according to members of a grassroots effort to make that the United Methodist standard.
The longtime United Methodist leader was a hymn writer, social justice advocate, encourager of pastors and the first ecumenical officer of the Council of Bishops.
West Virginia United Methodists played an important role at the 2023 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree in Mount Hope, West Virginia. Throughout the 10-day Jamboree many of those Scouts helped assemble 5,000 flood buckets for the church’s West Virginia Conference Disaster Ministries.
Churches and other faith-based groups can provide resources for the formerly incarcerated as well as help reduce the stigma attached to a criminal record.
Kairos Prison Ministry, similar to an Emmaus Walk, brings volunteers into prisons to minister to inmates, while Catalyst Ministries trains the inmates to minister to one another and to the prison administration.
Rising prices are affecting the ministries of United Methodists, especially rural multi-point charges. Pastors also are finding the buying power of their paychecks shrinking.
Maria Chavalan Sut, who lived in sanctuary at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been granted a Stay of Removal for one year.
