Human Rights

Social Concerns
An African Libation service is performed in honor of the late Marcellus Williams during the final day of the biennial National Summit on Mass Incarceration and Social Justice on Oct. 5 in Kansas City, Mo. Williams was put to death on Sept. 24 in the state, while questions about his murder conviction persisted. From left to right are the Rev. Samantha Nyachoto, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Dover, N.J.; the Rev. Kevin Kosh Jr., director and strategist of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century’s National Network of Young Adults; and Nathaniel Callaway, founder of Ebony Excellence. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.

Summit spotlights mass incarceration, redemption

Amid gripping tales from a variety of speakers at the National Summit on Mass Incarceration, the top executive of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century shared how he is personally affected by the justice system.
Human Rights
Great Plains Conference Bishop David Wilson, left, and Eugene Ridgely Jr., a Sand Creek representative of the Northern Arapaho tribe, gather in an Arapaho tipi located at the History Colorado Center in Denver. Both men are part of the United Methodist Responses to the Sand Creek Massacre Team, which met Sept. 20-21 at Iliff School of Theology to formulate next steps in the denomination’s work to atone for its role in the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. Photo by Joey Butler, UM News.

Church restarts response to Sand Creek Massacre

Church leaders and Sand Creek representatives from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes gathered at Iliff School of Theology to identify concrete ways the denomination can continue to work toward repentance.
Human Rights
Amal Nassar shows a visiting delegation of U.S. church activists a trailer that has been moved onto land beside her family farm near Bethlehem. Known as the Tent of Nations, the farm is an educational and environmental center that sits on the last remaining Palestinian hilltop in the middle of the Gush Etzion settlement block near Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. The Christian Palestinian family remains under constant threat from settlers and the Israeli military. The trailer was moved there in May 2024, in what Nassar believes is an attempt to establish justification for expelling the Christian family. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Embattled Christian farmers in Holy Land refuse to hate

Amid increased harassment from Israeli settlers, a Lutheran Palestinian family continues its nonviolent struggle to keep the “Tent of Nations” farm.
Human Rights
The Greetings from Springfield, Ohio, mural has become a landmark of downtown. United Methodists in Ohio and beyond are stepping up to extend a similar welcome and show support for Haitian immigrants in the city. Springfield experienced more than 30 bomb threats after being targeted by anti-immigrant rhetoric based on false claims. Photo courtesy of Greetings Tour; used with permission.

Church leaders stand with Haitian neighbors

As false claims about Haitian migrants have led to bomb threats, United Methodists in Ohio, Pennsylvania and beyond are speaking out. Some of the newcomers are fellow church members.

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