Daily Digest - June 16, 2020

"Angoran was knowledgeable and a key leader in the conversations leading to our integration into the United Methodist family in 2008 and to the ongoing relationships with the global connection." — Côte d'Ivoire Area Bishop Benjamin Boni on the death of Yed Esaie Angoran.

NEWS AND FEATURES

Angoran, a global leader, dies at 73
ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire (UM News) —Yed Esaie Angoran, a leader in both The United Methodist Church and the country of Côte d'Ivoire, died June 13 of a heart attack. He was 73. Isaac Broune has the story.
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Back in church: 'Like Easter and Christmas'
SULPHUR SPRINGS, Texas (UM News) — First United Methodist Church of Sulphur Springs resumed in-person worship June 14, with one member saying it was "like Easter and Christmas combined" to be back. Though the coronavirus pandemic continues, the pace of church reopenings is picking up. Sam Hodges reports.
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Greater New Jersey Conference
Mental health treatment during COVID-19
NEPTUNE, N.J. — In addition to treatment of physical needs of coronavirus patients, mental health issues come up for patients and healthcare workers. Heather Mistretta highlights the work of a counselor, pharmacist, physiatrist and an infectious diseases specialist.
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PRESS RELEASES

Invitation to reimagine United Methodism
CHICAGO — A group of current and former General Conference delegates from four continents invite United Methodists around the globe to start a conversation on a new way of conferencing and a new vision for the denomination. They have released a statement, "Out of Chaos, Creation: Seeds of a Vision for a Renewed United Methodism." They also invite United Methodists to join a webinar July 7.
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Register for webinar

Wesleyan Covenant Association
WCA distributes grants to 11 projects
REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Over the past eight months the Wesleyan Covenant Association has made ministry grants totaling $205,687 to 11 projects in Africa and Russia. The grants were disbursed from the association's Central Conference Ministry Fund, established last year.
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Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Viera to lead Garrett-Evangelical Seminary
EVANSTON, Ill. — The Rev. Javier A. Viera will lead Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary as its president starting Jan. 1, the school announced. Viera, a United Methodist elder currently serving as vice provost and dean of the theological school at Drew University, is the first person of color and first Latino to hold the office of president at the seminary.
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Highland Park United Methodist Church
Pastors to have 'A Conversation in Black and White'
DALLAS — The Rev. Richie Butler and the Rev. Paul Rasmussen will have a June 17 online discussion about racial injustice. Butler is senior pastor at St. Paul United Methodist Church, a historic black congregation in Dallas' Arts District. Rasmussen leads Dallas' Highland Park United Methodist Church, one of the denomination's largest and most affluent churches.
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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 the UM News staff.

United Methodist Communications
Reflections on Afro-Latinidad
WORTHINGTON, Ohio — Andres De Arco has long tried to balance his Afro-Colombian heritage, knowing how often black citizens in Latin American countries also suffer at the hands of institutional racism. De Arco, national assistant director to the United Methodist Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy, writes, "My Blackness is a truth that simply cannot be separated from my Latinidad, yet at the same time, my Latinx community refuses to fully address its existence."
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