News

California-Nevada, Peace with Justice Sunday, May 26th

Peace with Justice Sunday is May 26. This denominational Special Sunday offering benefits peace-related ministries in the California-Nevada Annual Conference through the General Board of Church and Society. These California-Nevada ministries have been awarded grants so far this year: Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco, Pastor Karen Oliveto, for the "Tenderloin Neighborhood Focus: Advocacy for Social Justice" program, $750; The First United Methodist...

Peace with Justice Sunday is May 26

May 26 is Peace with Justice Sunday, one of the six United Methodist Special Sundays with offering. Peace with Justice Sunday gifts change lives in places where the joy of knowing Christ is mixed with the tragedy of violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bishop Nkulu Ntanda Ntambo assumed his post as a brutal civil war began in 1996. After nearly eight years of war, he helped to broker a peace settlement at a conference where 250 fighters committed not to fight again. United...

Hymns & Songs for Earth Day

New hymns and songs for Earth Day and Festival of God's Creation are available to download from the Center for Worship Resourcing at the General Board of Discipleship Worship website. Earth Day and the Festival of God's Creation is on Sunday, April 21, 2013.    ...

ABC to Broadcast United Methodist Easter Service

NEW YORK (UMNS) — ABC-TV will broadcast an Easter Sunday service on March 31 taped at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. Check local listings for broadcast time. The service, featuring the church's choir and orchestra, includes a message, "Your Defining Story," by the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor. Hamilton, a denominational leader and the author of 13 books, delivered the 2013 National Prayer Service message following the Inauguration of...

$24,000 Awarded in Human Relations Day Grants

Strengthen United Methodist outreach to communities, encouraging social justice and work with at-risk youths. WASHINGTON, D.C. — Directors of the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) awarded nearly $24,000 in Human Relations Day grants during their spring meeting here.   Human Relations Day is one of The United Methodist Church's six Special Sundays with offering. Human Relations Day strengthens United Methodist outreach to communities, encouraging social...

One Great Hour of Sharing (UMCOR)

For more than 50 years, United Methodist congregations have been taking part in a special One Great Hour of Sharing offering, laying the foundation for UMCOR's ministry of relief and hope. The One Great Hour of Sharing is Sunday, March 10.   Donations UMCOR receives through this offering, along with other undesignated gifts made throughout the year, cover their costs of doing business. They make it possible for UMCOR to use 100% of all other contributions on the projects their donors...

One Great Hour of Sharing is March 10

Changing the world, one life at a time. One Great Hour of Sharing is just weeks away, so now is the time to order your free offering resources. This year One Great Hour of Sharing will be celebrated on Sunday, March 10.   Use the links below to promote this year's offering, which supports the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) so that it may respond immediately and effectively to emergencies around the world. Order materials Give online now When you...

Human Relations Day Gifts Aid Recovery

A UMNS Feature By Barbara Dunlap-Berg* During Easter Sunday worship in 1992, three young men were gunned down about eight blocks from Theressa Hoover United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark.   Back then, drugs and gangs were rampant in the midtown neighborhood, near the historic Central High School.   "Something needed to be done," recalled the Rev. William H. Robinson Jr. (in photo below), the church's former pastor who now serves as executive director of Better...

Jan. 10 Deadline to Apply for Peace with Justice and Human Relations Day Grants

Funding targets ministries that witness 'to God's demands for a faithful, just, disarmed, and secure world.' WASHINGTON, D.C.—January 10 is the deadline to apply for a Peace with Justice grant from the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS).   Funding for this program is generated through the Peace with Justice Special Sunday offering of The United Methodist Church. One of six Special Sundays in the denomination, Peace with Justice "witnesses to God's...

Honor UM Students in Your Congregation on Nov. 25

Order your free resources now to promote United Methodist Student Day on Sunday, Nov. 25. Your gifts on United Methodist Student Day help pave the way for UM students to pursue higher education. Aspiring nurses, doctors, teachers, counselors, clergy and others receive the support of the Church they love when you give to this special offering.   Meredith Leigh Paul, recipient of the Rev. Dr. Karen Layman Gift of Hope Scholarship, is eager to help developmentally challenged children...

World Communion Sunday, Oct. 7: Making Dreams Come True

World Communion Sunday is scheduled to be observed in just a few weeks – on Oct. 7. Your participation in this Special Sunday is vital to developing United Methodist leaders. Your gifts provide scholarships for graduate and undergraduate students who might not be able to pursue higher education without your support. (Learn more.) Julie Fleurinor is an example. When she was just 6 years old, Fleurinor and her family fled Haiti for Miami to escape oppression and poverty. Today, she is...

Order Resources Now for Peace with Justice Sunday on June 3

Peace with Justice Sunday is just a bit more than one week away. Be sure to order your free offering resources for this June 3 offering that supports ministries that advocate for peace and justice. Up to 50 percent of the offering is retained by our Annual Conference to support local peace and justice programs. Your gifts support programs such as Conway Cradle Care (CCC) in Arkansas, which helps teen mothers complete their education. This program supports the young moms' own academic and...

Celebrate Native American Sunday This Week, Prepare for Peace with Justice Sunday in June

Please help your church celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday, one of the six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings, this weekend or at another time of the year. The special offering provides scholarships for Native Americans who plan to be ordained as clergy in The United Methodist Church, and who are attending UM schools of theology and other schools approved by the University Senate of The UMC. This year, Native American Ministries Sunday falls on April 22, but the special offering...

Observe Native American Ministries Sunday on April 22

Celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday – one of the six Churchwide Special Sundays with offerings – on Sunday, April 22. This special offering provides scholarships for Native Americans who plan to be ordained as clergy in the United Methodist Church and are attending United Methodist schools of theology and other schools approved by the University Senate of The United Methodist Church.   If you cannot celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday on April 22, receive...

Order Free Offering Resources for April 22 Native American Ministries Sunday

Native American Ministries Sunday is just weeks away. Be sure to order your free offering resources for this April 22 offering now. The offering supports scholarships for Native Americans attending United Methodist schools of theology, and ministries that reach out to Native Americans. Your gifts to Native American Ministries Sunday help Native American students get the education they need to pursue God's call in their lives.   Prentis Harris is one such person. He can recall the...

One Great Hour of Sharing Is March 18

It's time to prepare for One Great Hour of Sharing, March 18 – one of six Special Sundays of The United Methodist Church, celebrated with a special offering. One Great Hour of Sharing supports the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). When you give to One Great Hour of Sharing, you underwrite UMCOR's "costs of doing business." This ensures that UMCOR is able to keep its promise that 100 percent of every donation made to a specific UMCOR project will be spent on that...

Support UMCOR Through One Great Hour of Sharing, March 18

This year One Great Hour of Sharing will be celebrated on March 18. Order your free offering resources to use on this special Sunday, today! Plan to promote this special offering, which supports the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), so that UMCOR may respond immediately and effectively to emergencies around the world. Order materials Give on line now UMCOR Armenia's Prevention and Control program   "Oh my poor children, they will become orphans...

Order One Great Hour of Sharing Resources Now

One Great Hour of Sharing is just a few weeks away, so now is the time to order your free offering resources. This year One Great Hour of Sharing will be celebrated on March 18. Use the links below and plan to promote this offering, which supports the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) so that it may respond immediately and effectively to emergencies around the world. Order materials Give online now When you give to One Great Hour of Sharing, you help to...

Plan Now for Human Relations Day, Jan. 15

Even though Advent has just gotten underway, it's time to make plans to observe Human Relations Day on Jan. 15 – one of the six Special Sundays observed in The United Methodist Church with a special offering. The Human Relations Day offering supports ministries that advocate for those who often are on the margins of society.   The video at right highlights the Fountain of Youth Foundations in New Orleans, a grassroots organization helped by the General Board of Global Ministries'...

GBHEM Awards Loans and Scholarships to 40 Cal-Nev Students

GBHEM's Office of Loans and Scholarships will be awarding more than 2,600 students a total of $5.3 million in award money for 2011 – including nearly $75,000 distributed among 40 students in the California-Nevada Annual Conference. Pastors received certificates for their congregants to acknowledge these recipients on Student Day, November 27, 2011.   Overall, of those awarded, nearly 2,300 were under the age of 35, and more than 500 are enrolled in seminary pursuing a Masters of...