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Jae C. Hong AP
United Methodists React to Uvalde Shooting
United Methodists expressed grief, anger, and frustration at the May 24 school shooting in predominantly Latino Ulvade, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead. Read more
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Matt Rourke AP
Behind Mass Shootings
19 children, 2 adults killed in Texas elementary school shooting – 3 essential reads on America’s relentless gun violence. Read more
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Why Traditionalists Aren’t Traditionalists – and That’s a Good Thing
If the traditionalists want to claim the tradition as their birthright, Tom Fuerst proposes that progressives agree and thereby make traditionalist responsible for the full ramifications of the tradition they so eagerly invoke. Read more
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John Swain
Guidepost Report Documents Pattern of Ignoring, Denying and Deflecting on Sexual Abuse Claims in SBC
A few key leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee repeatedly worked to stall, deny and control information about sexual abuse within the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination, according to an independent investigation. Read more
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Police Make Arrest in Pastor’s Slaying
The Rev. Marita Y. Harrell, a 57-year-old United Methodist pastor in Atlanta, was stabbed to death on or before May 18, police said. Police have arrested a suspect and obtained warrants for murder and arson. Read more
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Ruling Opens Door for Bishop Elections in 2022
The United Methodist Church’s top court says that the Council of Bishops can call jurisdictional conferences to elect and assign new U.S. bishops. However, the ruling also says that the bishops cannot change the date of Sept. 1 to take office. Read more
UMC Future
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Judicial Council Single-handedly Pivots The United Methodist Church
Recent Judicial Council rulings have single-handedly hampered the WCA’s planned exiting of people, property, and resources from The United Methodist Church AND opened the pathway to revolutionizing The UMC. Here’s what can happen next. Read more
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Staying Stuck in UMC Conflict
Conflict can be be a hard habit to break. In the two-and-a-half months since the news broke that General Conference was not meeting until 2024 but the Global Methodist Church was launching this year, the UMC has shown itself to be locked in conflict. Read more
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metamorworks Getty Images/iStockphoto
It is ‘Still Possible’
A support group of United Methodist pastors, mentors, leadership professionals and spiritual guides came up with dozens of possibilities for The United Methodist Church to do and be despite its current turmoil. Read more
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What Do We Mean by Unity?
There must be more to unity than a 50/50 split where we simply coexist. But neither can unity be the erasure of all difference and distinction. Unity is somewhere in the complicated space between, writes the Rev. Paul Seay. Read more
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Our Cul-de-sac of Dreams
So what makes a cul-de-sac of dreams? The moment when public image becomes more important than lived reality. We build houses of cards on cul-de-sacs of dreams when public relations become more important than the truth. Read more
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The Day the Protocol Died
The Wesleyan Covenant Association has abandoned the principles behind the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation by committing to remain in the UMC, contends the Rev. David Livingston. Read more
Crisis Watch
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Mobilizing Methodists: A Movement for Creation Justice Grows in the UMC
Two leaders of the UM Creation Justice movement describe how they came to inspire and organize new momentum around caring for God's world. Read more
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Together WE CAN Make a Difference
As the pandemic seems to ease, more congregations are coming back together. This month’s Tips focus on what the body of Christ can do to effect creation justice. Read more
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Remembering 1 Million Dead from COVID-19
With churches reopened everywhere, it can be hard to remember that we are still in the midst of one of the most devastating health crises the world has ever faced: the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed 1 million American lives. Read more
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Amanda Andrade-Rhoades AP
Churches Advised to Ramp Up Security Ahead of Abortion Ruling
Law enforcement agencies are closely watch social media for threats against Supreme Court justices and clerks, abortion clinics, places of worship and even businesses that have nothing to do with abortion. Read more
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Christian Creation Advocates Encouraged to Counter ‘Ecofascism’
"Ecofascism" -- an ideology that blames immigration and overpopulation for climate change -- apparently played a role in the horrific Buffalo, NY, shooting, and poses a challenge for Christians commanded to "welcome the stranger." Read more
Notable Quotes
“What we’re seeing today among many people is hopelessness. What we are called to do is not to be disabled by that sense of futility, but to transform our moral suffering into wise hope and courageous action.”
– Roshi Joan Halifax, an environmental activist and abbot of the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, N.M., commenting on the self-immolation of Wynn Bruce on Earth Day.
