Prayers for the People
from the Baltimore-Washington Conference e-connection of June 5, 2023:
We pray for the Rev. Rodney Hudson, Ames Memorial UMC, Ames Shalom Community, Inc., and the Resurrection Sandtown project as they prepare to publicly announce an extraordinary new ministry on June 8 at 2:30 p.m. on the corner of N. Carey and Baker Streets in Baltimore.
Members of Silver Spring UMC recently voted to begin the process of developing affordable housing on its campus at 8900 Georgia Ave. The congregation also approved the formation of a “Building Beloved Community Committee. “Our congregation has historically benefitted from the centralization of white economic wealth and power because of unjust and racist housing policies, and today’s decision moves us from repentance to reparation. Not only is it our response to the deep need for affordable family and workforce housing in Montgomery County, it allows us to continue confronting – and dismantling – the historic, systemic racism driving the housing crisis in Montgomery County and our nation.” said the Rev. Will Ed Green.
We pray for our affiliation partners in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, who will hold their annual conference June 8-10.
Articles from UM News Daily Digest for May 2nd, 2023
I call your attention to the articles on use of church buildings for health clinics, and to the African concern to “decolonize” their United Methodist experience with missionaries and establish more flexibility for modern-day ministries.
Please and pray.
Dan Gleckler
Global Ministries
Relationship restored with East Africa
ATLANTA — The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and East Africa Episcopal Area have reached an agreement to restore their relationship and make possible the placement of missionaries in East Africa and the resumption of programs and ministries in humanitarian aid, agriculture, global health and church revitalization. The confidential agreement follows a decade-long freeze on distribution of church and mission funds after internal audits raised questions about the episcopal area’s use of certain funds.
Texas Conference
Church-based medical clinic hits stride
HOUSTON — The University of Houston College of Nursing Health Clinic has found a happy home at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. The clinic, open since 2021, offers free basic medical care to unsheltered people and the working poor. The number served has gradually grown and services have expanded. Lindsay Peyton has the story, with photos by Annie Mulligan.
Articles from UM News Daily Digest for April 28th, 2023
Read and pray over the articles on becoming “lighthouse churches” welcoming those who intend to remain United Methodist, and the article on Hal Recinos’s poetry … he’s a longtime professor at SMU/Perkins School of Theology, from which I graduated in 1962.
Blessings,
Dan Gleckler
Mississippi Conference
Safe harbor for staying United Methodist
JACKSON, Miss. — In an effort to create safe places for those committing to remain United Methodist, the Mississippi Conference is designating Lighthouse Congregations. They are United Methodist churches that are specifically equipped to welcome anyone whose church has closed or disaffiliated, or anyone simply looking for a place to belong. Jasmine Haynes reports.
Read story
UM News: Lighthouse Congregations offer hope amid schism
Poetry helps seminary professor ‘stay awake in the gospel’
DALLAS (UM News) — The Rev. Harold “Hal” Recinos, a longtime United Methodist elder and faculty member at Perkins School of Theology, started reading poetry while growing up in a New York City barrio and is a published poet himself. His verse addresses such themes as dispossession, faith and border crossing, and he credits poetry with helping him “stay awake in the gospel.” For a National Poetry Month feature, Recinos answered questions from UM News’ Vernon Jordan and Sam Hodges.
The Ever-Expansive Spirit of God: For All Who Feel Left Out
from Carol Berman:
On Sunday, May 7th, from 7:00 to 8:15 PM, an online celebration of the recently published book The Ever-Expansive Spirit of God: For All Who Feel Left Out will be held. The author, longtime United Methodist pastor and bishop Peggy A. Johnson, will attend to discuss the book and respond to questions from attendees. Her spouse, Mary (the former Rev. Michael Johnson), will also attend to participate in the discussion. This event is sponsored by the Reconciling Committee of Grace United Methodist Church, Baltimore. RSVP your intention to attend to gandhiman@comcast.net in order to receive the Zoom link needed for admission to the gathering.
The Ever-Expansive Spirit of God can be purchased from Amazon, and from the publisher at www.actapublications.com. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf, which the author pastored for many years.
ARTICLE FROM UM NEWS DAILY DIGEST FOR MARCH 31ST, 2023
This is a weighty issue, and deserves our prayerful perusal.
The Bishop’s address, the gun violence report, and the report on trans rights from a church in Mesquite, Texas, are especially powerful. It might be wise to see that copies of these are printed and made available to the congregation. I leave it to you all to achieve that.
Please read and consider, and pray.
Dan Gleckler
Hollering for Change’ with Bishop Easterling
SEVERNA PARK, Md. (UM News) — As Women’s History Month comes to a close, the Rev. Tori Butler speaks with Bishop LaTrelle Easterling of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware conferences. Easterling talks about the influence of strong women leaders in her life like her mother and grandmother. “I didn’t need to find my voice so much because the women in my life have been so outspoken, never cowered,” she said. The video is the latest installment in Butler’s “Hollering for Change” series for UM News.
Watch video and see previous installments
Helping kids heal from trauma of gun violence
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — After the terror of the mass shooting at Covenant School, nearby Calvary United Methodist Church is sharing resources on how adults can comfort the young people in their lives. Patti van Eys, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and longtime church member, offered advice in an information session. Heather Hahn reports.
See Calvary United Methodist Church resources
Ways United Methodists can take a stand
St. Stephen United Methodist Church
Texas churchgoers take stand for trans rights
MESQUITE, Texas — An ad hoc group of more than 650 United Methodist clergy and laity from across the state have published an “Open Letter to the People of Texas” supporting International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. The Rev. Geoffrey C. Moore, lead pastor of St. Stephen United Methodist Church, said the letter responds to anti-trans bills working their way through Texas and other state legislatures.
Churches sue BWC over disaffiliation
Dear Clergy and Laity of the Baltimore-Washington Conference:
I greet you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. It is with sadness that The Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church informs you that the Conference has been sued by 38 churches demanding immediate separation from The United Methodist Church. We are deeply grieved by this as we seek to be a church united in love and in mission. Pursuant to our protocol, we do not comment on ongoing litigation. However, the issues raised are not novel. Here are some broad, important thoughts to keep in mind:
article from UM News Daily Digest for March 13th, 2023
Get ready to spend some time … read James Lawson’s account: “We started the public desegregation of the nation, and we did it without hating anybody..”
Dan Gleckler
No Small Endeavor
Rev. Lawson talks about America’s past, present
LOS ANGELES — The Rev. James Lawson recalls how the civil rights movement was shaped by principles of nonviolence, and in the latest episode of “No Small Endeavor,” he discusses his lifelong commitment to peace as well as his close friendship with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “We started the public desegregation of the nation, and we did it without hating anybody,” Lawson says. Lee Camp conducts the interview.