News and Views

As the 2024 General Conference officially approved and adopted a new set of Social Principles, several key leaders in the effort were quietly celebrating.

By Erik Alsgaard Today, May 1, 2024, is the Rev. Leo Yates' wedding anniversary. He and his husband received an anniversary gift today: the removal of some language in the church’s Book of Discipline, from paragraph 304.3, which states in part that “the practice of homosexuality is...

In the play, The Wiz, an adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is working hard to find her way home. When she and her companions reach Emerald City, they find the Wiz, only to learn that he will not help them unless they kill The Wicked Witch of the West. Evillene proves a...

By Erik Alsgaard Sprinkled throughout every General Conference, advocacy groups and coalitions form a part of the legislative process that is central to this meeting. Among those, you can find groups coming together to advocate for a fossil-free United Methodist Church; Mainstream UMC, a group...

By Erik Alsgaard* CHARLOTTE – (April 28) -- As the first week of General Conference wrapped up its first week of work on Saturday, April 27, the Baltimore-Washington Conference delegation co-chairs took a moment to reflect on their efforts and what lies ahead. For both the Rev. Ianther...

  By Melissa Lauber(Watch the recording of the April 25 worship service below) 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...

Walking into a season of newness from Melissa Lauber  – May 3  The “hard work and heart work” was completed and is just beginning. The General Conference closed by passing a budget and with a rapid flurry of voting on diverse matters from approving constitutional...

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...