“America has a way of forgetting the kind of brutality they inflicted on the people who lived on that land. I wish I could forget that my beloved ancestors were treated as brutally and savagely as they were.” — Henrietta Mann, retired professor and Cheyenne prayer woman.
NEWS AND FEATURES
Native immersion explores culture, horrors
CLINTON, Okla. (UM News) — A group of nearly 30 students, United Methodist church members and pastors toured central Oklahoma to learn about the culture and history of Native Americans. The Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference Immersion Experience included tours of museums, modest United Methodist Indian churches and battlefields/massacre sites. Among the speakers was a child psychologist who spoke about the abuse suffered by Native American children at boarding schools. Jim Patterson has the story.
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West Ohio Conference
Congregation uses land to attract members
WORTHINGTON, Ohio — Concerned about waning worship attendance, Chester United Methodist Church strategized to use one of its strengths — land — to build up the congregation. The first move was to update baseball fields and basketball courts on the site of a former elementary school the church owns. Now they have received a grant from the conference to build a trail for walking, running and biking. The church already has seen Sunday worship attendance start to climb. Amy Graham has the story.
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Michigan Conference
Megachurch’s exit vote comes with backstory
CALEDONIA, Mich. — Cornerstone Church, the Michigan Conference’s largest worshipping congregation, has voted to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church and become nondenominational. Still, the congregation does not plan to sever all ties with The United Methodist Church. James Deaton reports.
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Estes Park Trail Gazette
Church gives big to help AIDS orphans
ESTES PARK, Colo. — Estes Park United Methodist Church celebrated the funding of five houses for AIDS orphans in Kenya. The church has contributed $15,000 to the United Methodist-related Center for Health and Hope for building the five houses in Maua, Kenya. The Rev. Don Messer is the center’s executive director. The Rev. Dale Beck has the story.
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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.
When the poor share what they have
ZURICH (UM News) — An agricultural program initiated by The United Methodist Church in Albania to help those struggling economically led to an inspiring act of charity. Those involved in the farming project in the Albanian Mokra mountains barely have enough to live on and yet they were thinking about their struggling neighbors in North Macedonia, writes Urs Schweizer of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. “They shared from the little they have, setting a strong sign of cross-border solidarity, love and hope.”
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RESOURCES
ResourceUMC
Making church digital outreach count
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Math makes a lot of people anxious. But as the old marketing adage has it: “What you don’t measure, you can’t manage.” Jane T. Massey offers tips for managing communications metrics so congregations can reach their digital-outreach goals.
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RECENT HEADLINES
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