Daily Digest - July 11, 2016

"Events like these make our collective leadership far more important, and I’m not just talking about clergy — I’m talking about the people of the church, lay and clergy." — The Rev. Andy Stoker, pastor of First United Methodist Church Dallas, on the shooting of five police officers in his city.

United Methodist-supported interns

flee rally where police shot

DALLAS (UMNS) — United Methodists joined in the anguished response to the killing of five police officers in Dallas. Some 20 interns in the United Methodist-funded Project Transformation program were at the Black Lives Matter rally when the shootings occurred. The students were unharmed, but trapped downtown until two United Methodist pastors used a church van to get them back to Southern Methodist University. Sam Hodges reports. Read story

‘Embolden us to understand and act’

Louisiana prayer service after shooting

BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) — Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey and about a dozen pastors led a prayer vigil after the shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man killed by police here this week. “We offered a witness that God cares about injustice and that the church cares about injustice,” said the Rev. Susie Thomas. The Rev. Todd Rossnagel reports for the conference.
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No pause by conferences on sexuality debate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — The agreement reached at General Conference 2016 didn’t inspire compliance among the denomination’s conferences as some pledged ‘non-conformity’ with the church’s stance on LGBTQ people. Kathy Gilbert has a roundup of various actions from annual conference meetings.
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Commentaries: What do conference votes mean?

Widening the divide over sexuality

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (UMNS) — In a commentary on the meaning of annual conference votes on sexuality, the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht of Good News writes that the votes are jettisoning the connectional covenant and moving the denomination toward schism.
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Conferences progress toward LGBTQ equality

CHICAGO (UMNS) — Matt Berryman of Reconciling Ministries Network, in another commentary on the meaning of annual conference votes on sexuality, writes that conference votes not to conform with anti-LGBTQ policies and to endorse openly gay candidates for bishops are moving the denomination toward justice and equality.
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Death of Kathleen Thomas-Sano

OAKLAND, Calif. (UMNS) — Kathleen Thomas-Sano, the wife of Retired United Methodist Bishop Roy Sano, died July 6. Thomas-Sano, a native of Hawaii, served numerous positions within the church, including staff positions with the Board of Global Ministries, the California-Nevada Conference and the Commission on Religion and Race. She was a former executive director of the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists.
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Ramadan with New Jersey church

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (UMNS) — Eight members of Trinity United Methodist Church recently joined a Muslim family for Iftar, the dinner that breaks the Ramadan fast. The interfaith meal is just one way the church is trying to build bridges between Christians and Muslims. Josh Kinney of the Greater New Jersey Conference reports.
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Looking ahead

Here are some of the activities ahead for United Methodists across the connection. If you have an item to share, email [email protected] and put Digest in the subject line.

Sunday, July 31

Discount deadline for HopeFest 2016: Building Hope for Humanity — Christian music fest to benefit Habitat for Humanity on Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 27-28. Milford United Methodist Church, 327 North River Road, Milford, New Hampshire, is the host. Overnight wooded camping sites are available. Performers include Mark Schultz, Jonas Woods, Epic Season, Ryan Stevenson and Rock My Soul. $35 for adults until July 31. Children under 12 are free. Details

More upcoming United Methodist events