I write this greeting to my brothers and sisters in Christ in a moment of pause from a busy year. Last month I spoke of busy days traveling the world doing the work of the World Methodist Council and as I look out to the rich tapestry of autumnal foliage of Lake Junaluska I feel […]
November 2012
Churches Respond to Hurricane Sandy

Photo Credit: Chris Heckert *By Susan Kim October 31, 2012—The view of just one house in Hoboken, New Jersey, is a microcosm of the incomprehensible magnitude of Sandy’s aftermath. The home, sitting in floodwaters that overwhelmed a fuel oil tank in the basement, is surrounded by thick, black sludge. Behind the garage, chemicals are seeping […]
World Methodist Council Vice-President Sarah Davis attends Synod in Rome

By Junno Arocho Fraternal Delegates from several Christian denominations addressed the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization yesterday afternoon. Among the delegates who spoke were His Eminence Hilarion Alfeyev, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Russia, Rev. Dr. Timothy George who represented the Baptist World Alliance, and Sarah F. Davis, representing the World Methodist Council. Speaking on […]
Concerns rise for Syrian Christians

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom* United Methodists who have had longtime relationships with Christians in the Middle East through ecumenical organizations are concerned about their plight in Syria and other countries. The Rev. Motoe Yamada, senior pastor of the Japanese United Methodist Church in Sacramento, Calif., first become acquainted with Mor Eustathius Matta Roham, […]
Evangelism Summit of The Methodist Movement Africa—Continent of Light

World Methodist Evangelism is bringing together leaders in Evangelism/mission in the Methodist Movement on the Continent of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town and Dakar to Durban, December 1-8, 2012.
Methodist Liaison Office opens in Jerusalem

by Melissa Hinnen With a spirit of ecumenism, the new Methodist Liaison Office opened on October 11 in Jerusalem “to engage the world Methodist family in Christ’s ministry of peace, justice, truth and mercy among all peoples living in this land in partnership with the Palestinian Christian community.” According to the purpose statement, the office […]
People of faith in Malawi work towards an HIV-free world

Despite the contributions made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) towards “zero new infections, zero HIV related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination” there is “more we can do,” said Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri. Phiri, the WCC’s associate general secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia, was speaking at an international conference on the “Global […]
World Methodist Council and Africa University Pledge Cooperation

Citing a need to create further dialogue and to make all voices throughout the global parish heard, representatives from Africa University Development Office met with General Secretary Ivan Abrahams on October 22nd. “We need to start harnessing the new voices of Methodism, the voices in the southern hemisphere,” said Associate Vice-Chair James Salley in the […]
Methodist Youth President visits Auschwitz

The Methodist Youth President, Hayley Moss, will visit a former Nazi extermination camp on Wednesday (7 November) after she was selected to represent the British Youth Council on a one-day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Hayley Moss will be among a group of young people chosen by the British Youth Council to fly out to Poland where […]
Achieving the Vision

In 1881, four hundred delegates from around the world gathered at Wesley’s Chapel in London, England for the First Ecumenical Methodist Conference. In the years since that first gathering, Methodist and Wesleyan people have met at regular intervals and are now known as the World Methodist Conference.