Mission and Ministry

The Rev. Jonathan Baker and Donna Baker are overwhelmed as water gushes forth from a well in Wembo Nyama, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2016. The local people had been praying for water for decades. New Covenant United Methodist Church in The Villages, Fla., and its Lake Deaton United Methodist Church campus in Wildwood, Fla., raised the money for this first well in the Sankuru Province of Central Congo. Photo by the Rev. Jim Divine.

Calling led couple to ministry in Congo

The Rev. Jonathan Baker, former conference council on ministries director, and registered nurse Donna Baker shared their skills with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is the bedroom the Rev. John Collett and his wife, Rita, rented to a college student. The Colletts say intergenerational home sharing has been a positive experience. Photo by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Couple says intergenerational home sharing works

Senior adults say intergenerational home sharing is “a win-win.”

Church History

The Rev. Ted Campbell edited and published “A Core Methodist Hymnal,” a collection of 126 hymn texts by Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, Fanny Crosby and others. Campbell intends the book as a devotional and teaching resource “to form people today in a Wesleyan and Methodist way of being Christian.” Photo courtesy of the Rev. Ted Campbell.

New attention for old hymn texts

Scholar Ted Campbell has edited a book for devotional reading of early Methodist hymns. Each of the 126 hymn texts is followed by a short commentary from Campbell.

Faith Stories

The Rev. Elaine A. Heath, former dean at Duke Divinity School and abbess at Spring Forest in Hillsborough, N.C., stands amid some of the crops at the farm portion of the 23-acre property that also contains two homes, large outdoor tables for community meals and a stage for entertainment. The monastic community is in stark contrast to Heath’s difficult childhood. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.

Pastor creates the community she longed for as a child

The Rev. Elaine A. Heath overcame a difficult childhood to make a successful career as a church leader and educator. Her latest incarnation is as the abbess of a new kind of Christian community.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now