It's the time of the season for meeting

A UMNS Report By Emily Snell* The North Indiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church meets in this 2007 file photo. A UMNS photo courtesy of Indiana Area Communications. Now that the 2012 General Conference has ended, United Methodist leaders across the nation turn to jurisdictional and annual conferences coming up this summer. The first U.S. annual (regional) conference sessions begin May 17 in the Detroit and Eastern Pennsylvania annual conferences. The annual conference...

Wenner's 'stepping stones' to bishop

A UMNS Feature By Linda Bloom* Bishop Rosemarie Wenner of the Germany Area accepts the gavel from Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster in a “passing of the gavel” ceremony and celebration on April 26 at the Embassy Suites in Tampa, Fla. UMNS photos by Kathleen Barry. Bishop Rosemarie Wenner grew up in a United Methodist congregation so small that she was the only member of her confirmation class. But the 50 or so members of that church in Eppingen, a village in southwestern Germany...

UMTV: Bar Church Serves All

Download: QuickTime (MP4) | Windows Media (WMV) INTRO: A former stand-up comedian and bartender offers an unusual alternative to traditional church. United Methodist pastor Jerry Herships' After Hours Denver holds worship services in bars. Herships believes that in today's world you have to reach people where they are. "Jesus never said, 'If you need me, I'll be in the temple.' Jesus was always out in the world." The congregation makes a commitment to community service their...

Changing the World Changes the Church

By Carrie Madren From The Interpreter Online Corlis Moniz, Clothes to Go director, take a break from sorting coats at Faith Fellowship United Methodist Church. The ministry was key to moving the nearly-closed church to a vibrant congregation. DAVID ARRUDA Four years ago, two women at Faith Fellowship United Methodist Church in Mansfield, Mass., decided to create a free...

Eccumenical Service of Holy Communion: May 12 at St. Paul's Chapel

After several years of conversations, members of the United Methodist Church (New York Annual Conference), the Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will gather to celebrate the Ecumenical Service of Holy Communion on Saturday, May 12th at 4:00 PM at St. Paul’s Chapel on Fulton and Wall Street in lower Manhattan. The bishops from all three denominations, including Bishop Jeremiah Park, will conduct the worship service. Bishop Park would sincerely appreciate a...

GC2012: General Conference Wrap-Up

By Rich Peck* Delegates and visitors fill the plenary hall during the May 1 afternoon celebration of Pan-Methodist Full Communion. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry United Methodists from five continents addressed a wide range of challenging issues, including church structure and human sexuality, and engaged in an Act of Repentance toward indigenous people during their 10-day legislative gathering. Meeting in the Tampa Convention Center, steps away from the waters of Tampa Bay, the 988...

Judicial Council voids Plan UMC

The Judicial Council from 2008-12 poses for a group photo during the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. Seated, from left: Belton Joyner, Jon R. Gray, Susan Henry-Crowe, and Kathi Austin Mahle. Standing from left: Ruben T. Reyes, Dennis Blackwell, Beth Capen, William B. Lawrence and Angela Brown. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry May 4, 2012 By Linda Bloom* TAMPA, Fla. (UMNS) — A compromise restructure plan for The United Methodist Church, adopted earlier this...

GC2012: Bishops urge "communities of love"

By the Rev. Maidstone Mulenga* Bishops Deborah Lieder Kiesey (left) and Marcus Matthews give the benediction during evening worship at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. Hours after delegates at the 2012 General Conference voted to keep the denomination’s stance on homosexuality, two bishops challenged United Methodists to love those who may be outside their boat. Leading the...

General Conference endorses DREAM Act

by Art_McClanahan May 4, 2012 UMNS reporter Kathy Gilbert talks about General Conference support of the DREAM Act. Dream_Act  Listen to our latest story ...

GC2012: Departed leave us "legacy of hope"

By Gerald Wolgemuth* Bishop Jane Allen Middleton presides over the May 2 service at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. Recalling the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, “It is in dying that we are born again into eternal life,” Bishop Jane Allen Middleton of the Harrisburg Episcopal Area opened her sermon for evening worship May 2 at the 2012 General Conference. The...

May 3 wrap: Gay rights protest closes morning session

By Joey Butler* Council of Bishops president Rosemarie Wenner tells dozens of demonstrators for full inclusion of gays and lesbians in The United Methodist Church that the denomination's bishops feel their pain. Several dozen demonstrators took over the plenary floor of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla., on May 3 after the body reaffirmed the church's stance on homosexuality. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. What...

Bishops close, reopen General Conference session

By the Rev. Jay Voorhees and the Rev. Kathy Noble May 3, 2012 Bishops Judith Craig {left}, and Rosemarie Wenner (center) negotiate with the Rev. Amy DeLong, after dozens of demonstrators demanding a more inclusive church took over the floor of a May 3 session of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. The three bishops talked with DeLong in an attempt to resolve the situation without resorting to arrests. A UMNS photo by John Goodwin. TAMPA, Fla. (UMNS) — In a...

Restructuring plan gets tentative OK

A UMNS Report By Heather Hahn and the Rev. Jay Voorhees* M. Garlinda Burton, top staff executive of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women, speaks about proposed church restructuring on May 2 during the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. By a vote of 567 to 384, the 2012 United Methodist General Conference gave tentative approval to a slightly amended version of...

GC2012: May 2 Wrap, Delegates approve new structure

By Rich Peck* Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of the Houston Area presides over a May 2 debate on denominational restructure at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. After several false starts to create a new structure, the May 2 session of the 2012 General Conference approved a modest realignment of the 13 general agencies that serve the 13 million-member United Methodist Church. The Rev....

GC2012: May 1 Wrap

By Rich Peck* Presiding Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the Phoenix Area surveys results of a May 1 vote on reconsidering retaining guaranteed appointments. The guarantee of an annual appointment for elders was eliminated by the 2012 United Methodist General Conference meeting in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. A proposal to end guaranteed appointments was approved on a consent calendar. An effort to reconsider the previously...

GC2012: April 30 wrap

By Rich Peck* Newly commissioned missionaries and deaconesses are presented during a mission celebration on April 29 at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. After a day of non-legislative activities, delegates to the United Methodist General Conference returned to the Tampa Convention Center April 30 to begin five days of processing some of the 1,200 petitions that wove their way through...

GC2012: Guaranteed appointments eliminated

By Kathy Gilbert The Rev. We Hyun Chang, a pastor in Belmont, Mass., and a delegate from the New England annual conference, argues on May 1 for retaining guaranteed appointments for clergy, during a debate at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida. The guarantee of an annual appointment was eliminated by the conference. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey. Many delegates were surprised and even shocked by how quickly a far-reaching proposal that takes away the security of...

GC2012: 4 elected to Judicial Council (including NYAC delegate Beth Capen)

By Linda Bloom* Bishop Robert E. Hayes Jr. takes nominations for the United Methodist Judicial Council during the denomination's General Conference in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. Two Africans were the top vote-getters for open seats on the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court. The United Methodist General Conference conducted elections April 30 for two clergy and two lay positions on the...

GC2012: April 28 wrap: Repentance is life work

A UMNS Report By Rich Peck* A delegate picks up and holds a stone in the center aisle during an April 27 "Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous Peoples" at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. Delegates relived some painful chapters in the lives of Native peoples during an April 27 “Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous...

GC2012: Set-aside bishop proposal fails

By Neil Caldwell* Carlos S. Cao of the Philippines speaks to the issue of a set-aside bishop during floor debate at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin. Click on image to enlarge. View more photos. The General Conference on April 30 decided not to approve a petition that would have created a new full-time role for the president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops. Calendar item 219, Petition 20314, received a simple...