“I’m here to tell you what you probably already know: Renewal is taking place. The next generation of United Methodists is already here.” — The Rev. Moses Kumar, top executive of the General Council on Finance and Administration.
NEWS AND FEATURES
Finance board votes on bishop, agency pay
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — The board of The United Methodist Church’s finance agency approved a cost-of-living adjustment for bishops and increased the agency employees’ pay scale. The General Council on Finance and Administration board also received an update on giving so far this year.
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Read press release
Holston Conference
Churches work to keep boxes full of blessings
GLADE SPRINGS, Va. — The mini food pantries installed on church properties, called “blessing boxes,” have become a common ministry to serve food-insecure neighbors around the clock. The boxes are often quickly depleted. Annette Spence reports on church members’ work to keep their blessing boxes stocked.
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Oklahoma Conference
Conference appeals ruling on church-exit vote
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Conference announced that it is appealing a judge’s ruling that requires the conference to administer a third disaffiliation vote by the Church of the Servant United Methodist Church. Last fall, the church held a vote and then a reconsideration vote that both times fell short of the two-thirds majority required for disaffiliation. The conference said the ruling “blatantly interferes with an internal matter of church self-governance and should be protected under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Read Oklahoma Conference statement (PDF)
UM News: A look at other court cases
Missouri Conference
Church serves through Garden of Eatin’
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Many churches use community gardens for ministry, but the approaches can vary considerably. Fred Koenig writes about Raytown Chapel Church’s Garden of Eatin’ and provides mini-profiles of four other efforts.
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Michigan Conference
Celebrating Rural Life Sunday
LANSING, Mich. — Rural Life Sunday, one of five Conference Special Sundays in the Michigan Conference, collects donations to fund rural ministry grants and scholarships and training for pastors who work in a rural setting. Churches mark the occasion in various ways beyond contributions, such as having a service to bless animals. James Deaton reports.
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So we, who are many, are one body in Christ (Romans 12:5)
Members of a volunteer team from the Florida Conference gather with local guides from the United Methodist Quéssua Mission at the foot of the cross that looks out over the valley where the mission is located, near Malanje, Angola. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
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COMMENTARIES
UM News includes in the Daily 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.
Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Understanding who are the ‘Nones’
WASHINGTON — The rapid growth in the percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation is drastically reshaping the country’s religious and cultural landscape. Ann Michel of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership interviews Ryan Burge, a leading expert on “Nones,” about the characteristics of the growing cohort of Americans who say their religion is “nothing in particular.”
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Read transcript
RECENT HEADLINES
Regionalization plan heads to General Conference
Korean American faith leaders discuss church future
EVENTS
Wednesday, Sept. 6-Tuesday, Sept. 12
Online course: Congregational Leadership — Church Administration
Monday, Sept. 11-Thursday, Sept. 21
Online course: Awe and Wonder — The Arts in Worship
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