Daily Digest - March 15, 2024

TODAY’S HEADLINES

Ask The UMC
Understanding the budget coming to GC2024
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Delegates to General Conference will be presented with a proposed budget of about $346.7 million to fund denomination-wide ministries for the next four years. That represents a nearly 43% reduction from the previous General Conference-approved budget. In Part 1 of a series looking at what’s new at General Conference, the Rev. Taylor W. Burton Edwards analyzes what led to the drop and what the budget funds.  
Read analysis 
What’s new for GC2024 series
UM News: Amid church losses, proposed budget slashed 

Great Plains Conference
Church hosts First Nations Choral Festival
LINCOLN, Neb. — Native American music — some of which had never been featured in a concert setting — filled the sanctuary of St. Paul United Methodist Church on March 5. The inaugural First Nations Choral Festival featured Indigenous composers, both traditional and modern. Giving the invocation was Bishop David Wilson, the first Native American elected a United Methodist episcopal leader. David Burke reports.
Read story

World Council of Churches
United Methodist helps lead human-rights effort
GENEVA — The World Council of Churches called upon the United Nations to ensure that counter-terrorism laws and practices in the Philippines do not unjustly curtail legitimate activities or humanitarian work. Leading the call is the Rev. Glofie Baluntong, a United Methodist pastor and member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines. She has long served Indigenous communities in Mindoro. World Council of Churches staff report.
Read story
UM News: Church says clergywoman faces trumped-up charges
 
West Kentucky Star
Tornado-wrecked church gets FEMA funds
MAYFIELD, Ky. — FEMA has approved over $4.8 million in federal funding to help Mayfield First United Methodist Church rebuild after a 2021 tornado destroyed its building. West Kentucky Star staff report.
Read story
UM News: United Methodists respond after devastating twisters

 
PRESS RELEASES

California-Nevada Conference
Guests can attend Pan-Methodist service online
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — United Methodists and other interested guests are invited to attend the opening worship of the Pan-Methodist Commission’s annual meeting. The service is scheduled for 7 p.m. U.S. Eastern time March 15 at Logan Temple AME Zion Church and can be watched via Zoom. Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Bishop L. Jonathan Holston and several others will represent The United Methodist Church at the gathering.
Read press release

Archives and History
Making history fun at General Conference
MADISON, N.J. — At General Conference next month, the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History hopes to help brighten moods and showcase Methodism’s endurance through challenges. At the agency’s booth, attendees can get selfies with life-size replicas of Methodism’s founders. The agency also is selling light-hearted T-shirts about the oft-delayed General Conference and organizing a trivia contest. 
Read press release
Purchase T-shirt
Register for trivia contest

Higher Education Foundation
Scholarship deadline extended into April
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The United Methodist Higher Education Foundation has extended its 2024 scholarship application deadline to April 15. The second extension comes in response to reports of continued delays caused by problems with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The private nonprofit foundation awards $2 million in scholarships annually.
Read press release
To apply


EVENTS

Sunday, March 24
Palm/Passion Sunday 

Friday, March 29 
Good Friday


TOP STORIES FROM THE WEEK

Regionalization a key question for Africans 
HARARE, Zimbabwe (UM News) — The proposed regionalization legislation coming to General Conference on April 23-May 3 is generating a lot of discussion among African United Methodists on both sides of the issue. Their votes could be key to whether regionalization can pass. Eveline Chikwanah reports. 
Read story

Central and Southern Europe Conference 
Art exhibition shows women on Ukraine's frontlines
CLUJ-NAPOCA, Romania — In the fall of 2023, a group of women working in various capacities on the frontlines, or with soldiers on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine, gathered for a two-week retreat with trauma therapists to share their stories and experiences through art. Each painted their face or body for a photography session. On Feb. 24 — the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine — an exhibition was launched to share and reflect on these stories and the process of connecting. The women were brought together by the United Methodist congregation in Cluj-Napoca, which organized the exhibit and raised funds with support from United Methodists in Switzerland. Sarah Putman has the story.
Read story
View Faces of Courage Facebook page
UM News: Ministry offers therapy to Ukrainian refugees

East Ohio adds dorm to Africa University campus
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UM News) — Dozens of female students from across Africa will have safe and secure campus accommodations provided by the East Ohio Conference through the Teach-Reach-Bless campaign. A ceremony was held Feb. 26 to dedicate the new Bishop Tracy S. Malone Hall of Residence. Eveline Chikwanah reports.
Read story

Council of Bishops
Bishops call for cease-fire in Gaza
WASHINGTON — The United Methodist Council of Bishops on March 13 called for a cease-fire in the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza and pledged its prayers and commitment to work for a durable peace for Israelis, Palestinians and all in the region. “The lack of a true cease-fire after more than five months of this deadly conflict compels us to raise our voices now,” the bishops said in their statement.
Read statement