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Sam Hodges

Sam Hodges writes for United Methodist News Service.

Methodist woman donates 25 acres for Arkansas bird sanctuary

Betty Hinshaw had always lived in cities when her husband decided, in 1956, that they should move to rural Northwest Arkansas. She made him promise there wouldn’t be snakes....

July 25, 2022

News

UMC pastor honors Black church with Simon of Cyrene musical

Henry Masters has a thing for Simon of Cyrene....

April 18, 2022

News

Claremont School of Theology ordered to offer land to neighboring colleges

According to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Claremont School of Theology must offer its Claremont, California, campus for sale to the Claremont Colleges, a neighboring consortium of schools...

February 7, 2022

News

UMC to pay $30 million in historic Boy Scout settlement

Negotiators for the United Methodist Church have reached a settlement for the denomination to pay $30 million as part of the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy reorganization plan....

January 10, 2022

News

Video of UM church incident goes viral, causes fallout

Canceled worship services. Closed Facebook accounts. Extra security at churches....

November 29, 2021

People

Influential UMC bibliographer Kenneth Rowe dies at 84

Kenneth Rowe, a historian who was known as the leading United Methodist bibliographer, died on October 8. He was 84....

November 1, 2021

News

United Methodist Publishing House sells campus for $24.5 million

The United Methodist Publishing House announced on October 4 that the sale of its Nashville property has been completed, at a price of $24.5 million....

October 18, 2021

People

Beverly Shamana, pioneering Methodist bishop, dies at 81

Beverly Shamana, the second Black woman to become a bishop in the United Methodist Church, died August 1....

August 23, 2021

News

United Methodist minister takes on QAnon through podcast

Derek Kubilus is no cookie-cutter United Methodist minister....

April 19, 2021

News

Planned traditionalist Methodist denomination gets name

Traditionalists committed to leaving the United Methodist Church have chosen “Global Methodist Church” as the name for the denomination they plan to launch....

March 22, 2021

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Deaf ministries flourish with virtual worship

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the array of worship services offered by Lovers Lane United Methodist Church included one in American Sign Language....

September 7, 2020

News

UMC musician’s protest hymn goes viral

Many United Methodist clergy gave Pentecost Sunday sermons on the scourge of racism, prompted by the latest high-profile killing of a black man in police custody....

June 15, 2020

People

UMC pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell resumes preaching following guilty wire fraud plea

Kirbyjon Caldwell, the former senior pastor of Houston’s Windsor Village United Methodist Church—the denomination’s largest in membership—surrendered his clergy credentials weeks before pleadi...

April 20, 2020

News

At UM-Forward gathering, United Methodists consider a new “Liberation Methodist Church”

Some came wanting a new denomination. Others said they prefer, for now, to keep working within the United Methodist Church....

March 23, 2020

News

United Methodists plan a split over LGBTQ differences

A diverse 16-member group of United Methodist bishops and other leaders has offered a proposal that would preserve the United Methodist Church while allowing traditionalist-minded congregations to ...

January 13, 2020

People

Wilmot Collins, who came to U.S. as a refugee, begins work as mayor of Helena, Montana

“He feels he can make a difference, and I think he can,” said a fellow member of Covenant United Methodist Church.

January 9, 2018