“We can bless people and help them change in Christ, and we can bless the church and help it find his its vitality again. We can do both.” — Florida Conference Bishop Tom Berlin, on the Fresh Expressions movement.
NEWS AND FEATURES
Hope Chapel models Fresh Expressions
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (UM News) — Hope Chapel illustrates how United Methodism can move with the times by embracing the street-level Fresh Expressions movement. The tiny chapel, part of the Word on the Street ministry run by the Rev. Charles DiRico, feeds and clothes people without judgment or intent to recruit them as church members. Jim Patterson reports.
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UM News: Fresh expressions needed in funding, too
Archives and History
Remembering Frances Willard
MADISON, N.J. — Frances Willard, a prominent Methodist in the temperance movement of the 19th century, is profiled by United Methodist Archives and History to celebrate Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of the United Methodist Building in Washington, D.C. Ashley Boggan D., the agency’s top executive, says Willard “was a political genius of her day.”
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Northern Illinois Conference
Pay It Forward projects help community
CHICAGO — The pastor of First United Methodist Church in Belvidere passed out $100 bills to 60 members of his congregation and asked them to “do good” with the money. The resulting projects included buying a loom to makes mats for homeless people, starting a scholarship with additional funding and purchasing fitness equipment for people at risk of obesity. Liliana Smith, Lisa Smith and the Rev. Matthew Smith report.
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Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Churches honor Black History Month in special ways
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Several Eastern Pennsylvania churches culminated their Black History Month celebrations on the last Sunday of February. There were oral and visual presentations of African diaspora history and culture, displays of art and artifacts, themed sermons and liturgy, spirituals and gospel music performances and even Black Christian comedy. John W. Coleman reports.
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Looking for United Methodist eclipse watchers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — Is your United Methodist church planning a watch party or some other event related to the April 8 solar eclipse? If so, Sam Hodges of UM News would like to know for a possible article. He also would welcome hearing from United Methodists who have a keen interest in the eclipse and are going out of their way to watch it. Email him at [email protected].
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.
African regionalization support hardly unanimous
MUREWA, Zimbabwe (UM News) — The Rev. Forbes Matonga says the regionalization proposal going to General Conference will not get anything like unanimous support from African delegates, despite reports from the recent United Methodist Africa Forum gathering in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Matonga notes that the Africa Initiative, to which he belongs, opposes regionalization for The United Methodist Church.
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United Methodists in Africa can do their own thinking
LUANSHYA, Zambia (UM News) — With General Conference looming, traditionalists have been calling for African United Methodists to oppose regionalization proposals and support extending disaffiliation opportunities to their continent. But the Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa, general secretary of the United Methodist African Forum, says Africans can decide for themselves on such issues.
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RESOURCES
New England Conference
Prayer vigil organized for Choctaw student
METHUEN, Mass. — The New England Conference, Conference Committee on Native American Ministries and Native American International Caucus are hosting an online prayer vigil for Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old nonbinary member of the Choctaw Nation who died Feb. 8, after a physical altercation inside a school bathroom in Oklahoma. The vigil will be at 8 p.m. U.S. Eastern time on March 10.
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Monday, March 11
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Monday, March 11-Friday, March 22
Awe and Wonder: The Arts in Worship
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