As 2026 dawns, The United Methodist Church enters a new era much like a chasing dog that caught a passing car: Now that they’ve got it, what do they do with it? The UMC changed radically on Nov. 5, 2025,…
Advent messages urge United Methodists to defend immigrants
As President Donald Trump’s administration has pursued immigration enforcement aggressively this year, The United Methodist Church has intensified multiple avenues of immigrant support. Now United Methodist leaders are using their Advent messages to urge pastors and church members to protect…
Six free online Advent resources for individuals and families
Not only is this week Thanksgiving in America, it’s also the beginning of the Advent season for most Christians in the United States. That means a variety of online devotional resources are popping up for the season ahead. “Advent” is…
United Methodists ratify new global structure
After a five-year effort that began outside the United States, United Methodists have overwhelmingly approved four constitutional amendments that make the worldwide denomination into a global network of co-equal regions devoted to including all people in the church no matter…
Methodists jump to action with food ministries
Even as the Trump administration announced it would restore federal food benefits at half their usual levels, United Methodists across the United States rallied to feed hungry people while the U.S. government shutdown continues. Two federal judges ordered the restoration…
This is a book that shouldn’t have been published
Editor’s note: As the article below indicates, BNG previously published an article the author here took extreme issue with. In fairness, we hear his perspective on the larger issue at hand. Our intent is to illustrate the great differences of…
United Methodists’ commitment to overcoming racism still rising
Five years ago, on the historic holiday known as Juneteenth, the United Methodist Council of Bishops unveiled a churchwide initiative called “Dismantling Racism.” The bishops were responding to the series of high-profile killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George…
UMC’s racial monitoring agency awards undisclosed grants to immigration ministries
The United Methodist Church’s racial monitoring agency is awarding grants to what it calls “bold ministries” aiding immigrants. But it’s not telling who’s getting the money to protect the safety of the ministries and their locations. The UMC’s Washington, D.C.-based…
Fundamentalism and biblical inerrancy lite in the Global Methodist Church
When, on May 1, 2022, the Global Methodist Church announced itself to the world, more than 2,000 churches already had taken advantage of the disaffiliation process to break with the United Methodist Church. At the time of the announcement, I…
UMC immigration webinar gives facts, cautions and hope
More than 2,100 participants logged in July 17 to a United Methodist-sponsored webinar that gave 90 minutes of spiritual encouragement, prayer and information — but not legal counsel — on birthright citizenship and immigration enforcement. United Methodist leaders organized the…
UMC can sue SMU over governance, Texas high court says
The Texas Supreme Court says the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church has legal standing to sue Southern Methodist University over changed bylaws that deprived the regional body of its right to govern the church-owned university located in…
Indiana attorney general targets DePauw and Butler over DEI
United Methodists in Indiana have officially backed UMC-related DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., for its continued support of diversity and inclusion in the face of a threat from the state’s attorney general to strip its nonprofit status unless it complies…