News

Bishops Go to Border 'to Stand for Children of God'

  TIJUANA PORT OF ENTRY, Calif. (UMNS) — "The Forum of Bishops' journey to the border was an outward and visible sign of the deepest desire for the people of God, in this case the Forum of Bishops, to stand for children of God who are separated from those they love," writes Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey of the Louisiana Area. Participants in the Forum of the Active Bishops, meeting in San Diego, went to the U.S.-Mexico border to learn more about the people who live and work...

Bishops Visit U.S.-Mexico Border

BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) — As the U.S. Senate prepares to consider a major bill on immigration policy reform, active United Methodist bishops from the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe visited the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego. Betty Backstrom of the Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference reports that bishops participated in a variety of ministries at the border. Some traveled into Mexico. The bishops closed the rest of their meeting to the news media. Read story here. Al...

Bishop Brown, Mission Agency Representatives on 'Historic' China Trip

By Linda Bloom* NANJING, China (UMNS) — In what is considered a "historic moment," a United Methodist delegation is in China this week to renew old friendships and forge deeper relationships with Chinese Christians.   The trip is a joint effort of the United Methodist Council of Bishops and the Board of Global Ministries. The delegation's co-leaders are San Francisco Area Bishop Warner Brown, the council's president-designate, and North Carolina Bishop Hope Morgan Ward,...

50th Anniversary of King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail

  Last weekend, Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., in his role as president-designate of the denomination's Council of Bishops, participated in the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Some of the commemorative events took place at Saint Paul United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where the march that led to Dr. King's arrest 50 years ago began. Along with Christian Churches Together, responsible...

Bishop Challenges Confirmation Classes to Give God Their Doubts and Questions

By Dr. Larry R. Hygh, Jr. "What is God inviting you to do?" was the question posed to confirmands by Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., resident bishop of the California-Nevada Annual Conference. Brown challenged more than 120 sixth through tenth graders from across the annual conference to give God their doubts and questions and let God help them find the answers. The challenge came during the Bishop's Confirmation Retreat. "For me, it (confirmation) marked the beginning of a life...

Bishop's Award Deadline Fast Approaching-April 3

  Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. will again present a layperson with the Bishop's Award at the annual conference session. This award goes to a layperson that has demonstrated outstanding service both in their local church and beyond the local church. Service beyond the local church may be in the annual conference, the general church, the local community or beyond. The deadline to apply is April 3. Instructions for nominations can be found here.    ...

Bishop's Confirmation Retreats

There is still time to sign up for the Bishop's Confirmation Retreats, March 8 to 9 at Monte Toyon (very limited space available) and April 5 at Lodestar. Go to the website www.cnumc.org/youngpeopleministry for registration details. There will also be an event in October for older confirmation candidates and those who may be discerning living their faith through ministry. Details will come in the future. ...

Bishop's Award Nomination Process

Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. will again present a layperson with the Bishop's Award at the annual conference session. This award goes to a layperson that has demonstrated outstanding service both in their local church and beyond the local church. Service beyond the local church may be in the annual conference, the general church, the local community or beyond. Instructions for nominations can be found here. ...

Council Votes on Bledsoe Assignment

Washington, DC.: The United Methodist Council of Bishops has voted to assign Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe to the Northwest Texas/New Mexico Episcopal Area effective January 1, 2013. The vote by active bishops, conducted via email in accordance with Council bylaws, follows a recommendation by the South Central Jurisdiction (SCJ) College of Bishops to assign Bishop Bledsoe to the Northwest Texas/New Mexico Episcopal Area beginning the first of the year.   The SCJ College of Bishops and...

2013 Bishop's Confirmation Retreat Registration Opens

Registration has opened for the 2013 Bishop's Confirmation Retreats – scheduled March 8-9 at Monte Toyon and April 5-6 at Camp Lodestar. Each retreat is an opportunity for confirmation candidates to engage in a high-energy, hands-on event through worship, workshops, and fellowship with Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. (resident bishop of the California-Nevada Annual Conference), workshop leaders, and other United Methodist youth. This can be a faith-deepening experience before, during, or...

Bishop Stands with People of Connecticut in Wake of Tragic Shooting

Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. expressed shock and sorrow on learning today of the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where some 26 people died, 20 of them children between the ages of 5 and 10. The bishop said his prayers and those of the people of the California-Nevada Annual Conference are with all of the families affected. Where words and understanding fail us, the bishop said, "We must remember that God is present even in the midst of...

Bishop's Advent Letter Posted

Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., resident bishop in the California-Nevada Annual Conference, has posted his 2012 Advent Letter to the Conference website. In the letter, Bishop Brown extends Advent blessings and reports that he currently is in the Philippines, presiding at the Dec. 6-18 Philippines Central Conference Session on behalf of the Council of Bishops. He assures Cal-Nevadans, "I remain fully aware of what's going on in the California-Nevada Conference whether or not I am physically...

Council of Bishops President Writes to United Methodists

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (UMNS) — Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, president of the Council of Bishops, is sharing a letter to all United Methodists, which follows the Council of Bishops' first meeting of the quadrennium, Nov. 4-9. "It was a retreat time of growing spiritually through inspiring worship and engaging Bible study, deepening relationships through community building and exploring accountability, and reorganizing the Council for more fruitful and strategic leadership," Wenner...

Bishops Gather for Closed Retreat

A UMNS Report By Heather Hahn* United Methodist bishops from around the globe are gathered for a private retreat, Nov. 4-9, intended to establish a spiritual grounding for their work together during the next four years.   Among the roughly 125 active and retired bishops who had planned to attend the event at Epworth-by-the Sea on St. Simons Island, Georgia, are the 14 new episcopal leaders, who were elected this summer and fall.   "It is important that we start our journey...

Council President Urges Bishops to Be 'One in Ministry to All the World'

St. Simons Island, Ga. (Nov. 5, 2012)—In the first presidential address of the quadrennium to the Council of Bishops at Epworth-by-the-Sea, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner encouraged the bishops to lead so that "we may be one in ministry to all the world." "Oneness in ministry to all the world is not just a new program or a new structure to become more nimble and more effective. It is not only setting new goals for the new quadrennium. All this is important. But the most...

In New Article, Bishop Brown Calls Us to Make 'Space for Grace'

Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., resident bishop in the California-Nevada Annual Conference, has posted a new article to the Conference website (www.cnumc.org), "Making Space for Grace." The bishop contrasts our human understanding of what is right and just with God's understanding of how we are to live, and calls for us to make space for the transformative power of the Holy Spirit as we respond to the issue of full inclusion so dividing the Church today.   Read Making Space for...

Photo Gallery of Bishop Brown Trip to Tonga Uploaded to Website

A photo gallery has been created on the California-Nevada Annual Conference website, cnumc.org, showing photos of Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., the Rev. Siosifa ("Sifa") Hingano, pastor of Genesis United Methodist Church in San Jose, and other members of the Conference visiting Tonga in early August. During the trip, Hingano officially handed over the keys of an ambulance that was donated by the Sanger and the Fresno Fig Garden Rotary Clubs, to the Tongan Minister of Health, Lord...

Bishop Talbert Accused of Urging Disobedience

A UMNS Report By Heather Hahn* 7:00 P.M. ET Aug. 24, 2012   More than 70 United Methodist clergy and lay people in the United States have sent an open letter to the Council of Bishops accusing retired Bishop Melvin G. Talbert of encouraging disobedience to the denomination's stance on homosexuality.   Specifically, the group's letter takes issue with Talbert's May 4 remarks at a United Methodist gathering outside General Conference, the denomination's top lawmaking body. The...

The Living Water Lives in Us: Attend the Gathering of the Orders, Oct. 2-4

By the Rev. Anne Schlesinger Have you ever completely felt God's love for you? I have. I have told this story often, because it is the story of a moment of transformation in my life, and I feel compelled to share my story with anyone who is interested. Perhaps we are bound to witness to moments of God's transformative power whenever we have them.   Once, while attending Annual Conference Session, all of us took one morning off from the business of the church to do the mission of the...

WJ 2012: Bishop Brown Stays in Cal-Nevada, Hagiya to Serve New Episcopal Area in West

By Greg Nelson Director of Communications for the Oregon-Idaho Conference The Western Jurisdiction has ratified the assignments of its Committee on Episcopacy for five episcopal areas.   Following action of the 2008 General Conference, the jurisdiction has restructured its episcopal areas so that a new Great Northwest Episcopal Area, with episcopal residence in Normandy Park, Washington, will provide leadership for the Alaska United Methodist Conference, Pacific Northwest Annual...