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UMNS Photo by Mike DuBose
Ecumenical Worship
The Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit gives the sermon during evening worship on May 1, Ecumenical Day at the 2012 General Conference. Tveit is general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
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UMNS Photo by Kathleen Barry
Pan-Methodist Full Communion Celebrated
Delegates and visitors fill the plenary hall during the May 1 afternoon celebration of Pan-Methodist Full Communion. The agreement, approved April 30 by General Conference, marks a historic covenant between the predominantly white UMC and five historically black churches.
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UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin
Pension Plan Changes
Barbara A. Boigegrain, General Secretary of the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits speaks May 1 about changes in the types of pension plans for United Methodist clergy and lay employees of general agencies.
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UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey
Ministry With the Poor Event
Lawrence Wilson delivers box lunches to participants in a May 1 celebration of Ministry With the Poor at a park near the site of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. The meal was provided by Inside the Box Catering, a project of Metropolitan Ministries' Social Entrepreneurship Initiative.
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UMNS Photo by Kathleen Barry
Tweet That iPad
Visitor Janet Gollery McKeithen uses her iPad to record images of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. McKeithen is from Santa Monica, CA.
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UMNS Photo by John C. Goodwin
A Red-Letter Speech
Tony Campolo, author and professor of sociology at Eastern University, addresses the Church and Society Banquet on May 1. By turns humorous and critical, Campolo drew shouts and applause as he urged people to become "red-letter Christians" who passionate follow Jesus' teachings.
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Restructuring debate
Christine Dodson, delegate from North Carolina Annual Conference, addresses church restructuring during during the May 2 morning plenary. (UMNS Photo by Mike DuBose)
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UMNS Photo by Mike DuBose
Justice for Women
M. Garlinda Burton, top staff executive of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women, speaks about proposed church restructuring. Her agency was eliminated, and then restored, by structure votes at General Conference.
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UMNS photo by Mike DuBose
I Can See Clearly Now
Bishop William Boyd Grove uses opera glasses to view a delegate speaking at a distant microphone during the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla. Presiding bishops often had difficulty seeing delegates at the back of the hall.
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UMNS Photo by Kathleen Barry
Whittling Away
Jim Bickerton carves a pelican out of bass wood as part of a Noah's ark set while also serving as a marshal at the 2012 General Conference. He is the father of Western Pennsylvania Bishop Thomas Bickerton.