By Melissa Lauber In many cultures, the color black is a symbol of mourning, an absence of light and hope. But on April 25, General Conference delegates claimed black as a symbol of resistance and resilience, calling attention to rape and violence against women and vowing to end the...
By Melissa Lauber Common Ground: A Postcard Home from Tony Hunt - April 25 As we finish day two General Conference, today has been a long, hard, and yet hopeful day. Bishop Easterling met with our delegation today, and her question to us was, "How are you feeling?"My reflective response is "I'm...
By Melissa Lauber Irance Reddix-McCray is equally at home with a cross or a stethoscope. In fact, as a doctor and an ordained United Methodist pastor, she has discovered that faith and medicine often work best when intertwined. Health care is “not an absence of disease,” the Rev. Dr...
Silver Spring United Methodist Church announced its partners in an effort to build affordable housing in the downtown Silver Spring area at a special service Feb. 7. Enterprise Community Partners — a large affordable housing development firm — was celebrated at the ceremony...
In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation sent a short video each day for 30 days to its Financial Leadership Academy class with a task. The first day’s task for the pastors in the class was to use their imagination: what would they spend $1...
The Baltimore-Washington Conference is an active member of Maryland Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). The church's assistance has been requested to support the 136 foreign nationals residing on the seven ships in the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Key...
Hallelujah! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! There is joy in those words as we enter the sanctuary that we exited on Good Friday, which was then draped in black and is now adorned with lilies and bright colors. It’s exhilarating. The long Lenten journey always culminates in the...
By Melissa LauberGood Friday is a time for deep contemplation as Christians reflect upon Christ’s words as he hung and died upon a cross. But this year, at Northwood-Appold UMC in Baltimore, church leaders challenged United Methodists to let the lessons of Good Friday move beyond the foot...
The Annual Conference Session, May 29-31 at the Hilton Hotel in Baltimore, offers many opportunities for volunteers to give of their time to enable the process of holy conferencing and help the proceedings run smoothly. Highlighters offer radical hospitality and help answer...
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." – Psalm 46:1 As the sun rose this morning it revealed that a tragic accident occurred in Baltimore. As most were asleep, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo vessel. Two...
