“I was so disoriented when I came in. For a while, I couldn’t tell where the front of the room was, where I was, where I needed to go… The bishop asked me if I wanted to say anything, and I said I couldn’t.” — The Rev. Beth Stroud, on being welcomed back by the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference after having her clergy credentials reinstated.
NEWS AND FEATURES
Defrocked pastor reinstated after LGBTQ bans lifted
WILDWOOD, N.J. (UM News) — During the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference, about 200 ordained clergy voted overwhelmingly to readmit former clergywoman Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud as a full member of its body. Stroud’s ministerial orders as an elder were removed in 2004 after she admitted to being in a committed relationship with another woman. Her reinstatement comes after General Conference delegates voted earlier this month to end decades-old bans on the ordination of “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy and pastors' officiating of same-sex weddings. John W. Coleman reports.
Read story
Read UM News coverage of General Conference
Iowa, Michigan conferences
Helping tornado victims
DES MOINES, Iowa — Tornadoes and strong winds damaged six communities in Iowa on May 21, with Greenfield the hardest hit. The Iowa Conference said all available resources, including housing, floor space and Sunday school rooms, are being used to house and help survivors. In Michigan, the Disaster Response Team also is working to help victims of May 7 tornadoes. Donations, clean-up buckets and hygiene kits are appreciated. Iowa and Michigan conference staff report.
Read Iowa story
Read Michigan story
Donate to Iowa
Donate to Michigan
South Georgia Conference
Game Church shares Jesus with D&D fans
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Rev. Matt Stout, pastor of Garden City United Methodist Church, has started a new ministry: Game Church. Born out of his love for Dungeons & Dragons, this bi-monthly gathering fosters a space where faith and gaming converge. The Rev. Stephanie Smith has the story.
Read story
Mississippi Conference
Bishop explains why she is staying
JACKSON, Miss. — In the weeks since General Conference’s conclusion, Mississippi Conference Bishop Sharma D. Lewis and others in the largely traditionalist conference, hard-hit by disaffiliations, have been processing and praying over the changes the legislative assembly made. In a video, Lewis shares why she has decided to stay with The United Methodist Church. “Neither disaffiliation nor anything that came out of General Conference will be the end of discipleship-making,” she says.
Watch video
Duke Divinity School
Duke Divinity keeps faith with prison studies
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke Divinity School, a United Methodist seminary, has for 15 years offered students a chance to study the prison system and meet with incarcerated persons. Rebekah Ramlow reports on the role retired Bishop Kenneth Carder and others played in establishing such a program at Duke.
Read story
COMMENTARIES
UM News includes in the Digest 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.
‘I want my church to accept them’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — In 2019, Tom Lee received a letter from a former pastor who acknowledged his role in crafting the 1984 legislation barring gay clergy in The United Methodist Church. He said he had come to change his stance and regret his actions. As a delegate in 2024, Lee participated in fulfilling his pastor’s dying wish to eliminate that passage. “His church — our church — accepts everyone,” Lee writes. “The circle is wider still.”
Read commentary
The Christian Century
Retired bishop sees missed opportunities at GC
CHICAGO — General Conference made some good advances, but there are issues about the future of The United Methodist Church that weren’t addressed adequately, writes retired Bishop William H. Willimon. “Some of us had hoped that The UMC’s grim financial realities might prod the General Conference into honest reckoning, self-reflection and thoughtful reorganization and strategizing,” Willimon says. “Hope is not a strategy. Positive thinking is not a plan.”
Read commentary
RECENT HEADLINES
Renowned Zimbabwean evangelist, funeral chaplain dies
Seeing God’s presence in journey to all 50 states
EVENTS
Wednesday, May 29-Saturday, June 1
West Ohio Annual Conference
Thursday, May 30-Saturday, June 1
North Alabama Annual Conference
Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.