"He'll turn my touch lamps on for me. If I'm in a sleep and I'm having a nightmare he'll come and stick his cold, wet nose in my eye." - Chris Crawford, veteran, on the difference his dog, Wolfgang, has made for him in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
UMTV: Therapy dogs heal troops
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (UMNS) - Veterans dealing with PTSD say training a canine companion "provides a one-time fee for a dog, instead of a lifetime of medication."
Watch video
United Methodist resource for veterans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Ahead of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, United Methodist Communications' Rethink Church offers "Welcome Home: A Veterans Day Worship Packet." The free packet includes sermon starters, prayers, worship graphics, bulletin covers and other resources churches can use in including the contributions of veterans and active-duty military in the service.
To download resources
Bishops speak out on same-sex wedding
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UMNS) - Retired Bishop Melvin Talbert and Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, episcopal leader of the North Alabama Annual (regional) Conference, have released statements about a pending wedding between two gay men. Bishop Talbert will officiate at the Oct. 26 wedding in Birmingham. Wallace-Padgett asked Talbert not to officiate because the wedding violates the denomination's law book.
Read Wallace-Padgett's statement
Read Talbert's statement
Lowery celebrates 92nd birthday
ATLANTA (UMNS) - The Rev. Joseph Lowery and his late wife, Evelyn Gibson Lowery, were honored during a star-studded 92nd birthday celebration held for Lowery at Morehouse College on Oct. 6. Mrs. Lowery died Sept. 26. Chris Tucker, Jamie Foxx and Tyler Perry attended the celebration. Lowery presented Perry with the inaugural Joseph E. Lowery Agent of Change Award.
Read and watch WSB-TV story
Church moves from dying to dynamic
TRASKWOOD, Ark. (UMNS) - As recently as the summer of 2012, Traskwood United Methodist Church had an average attendance of half a dozen people each Sunday, and members wondered how much longer the church could stay open. By December - only six months later - it was averaging 25 each Sunday, a 400 percent turnaround. Dennis Schick of the Arkansas Annual (regional) Conference shows how the rural church with prayer and determination is growing again.
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Pension board schedules listening session
GLENVIEW, Ill. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits invites interested plan participants and other constituents to address the board of directors during a listening session on Thursday, Nov. 7, in Chapel Hill, N.C. To place your name and topic on the agenda and for specific presentation requirements, please call Colette Nies by Oct. 16 at 1-800-269-2244, ext. 4296, or e-mail Colette at [email protected].
Read news release
History of Hymns: 'O Church of God, United'
DALLAS (UMNS) - Originally composed and submitted for a hymn-writing contest sponsored by The Hymn Society in 1953, "O Church of God, United" reflects the optimism and enthusiasm of the post-war 20th-century church in North America. Its author was born in Canada, educated at Syracuse University and Boston School of Theology, and ordained a Methodist minister, serving in New York and New Jersey. C. Michael Hawn has the story.
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