Ask The UMC

New legislation from GBHEM makes clergy formation more accessible, while a series of proposals from the Alabama-West Florida Conference would give more power to annual conferences in setting clergy standards. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Ask the UMC: What's new for GC 2024, Part 3: Clergy Formation

The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry wants to improve access for local pastors, and the Alabama-West Florida Conference wants to center the process of clergy formation in each annual conference.

Church History

The first woman among the Methodists to graduate from seminary, Anna Oliver advocated for full clergy rights for women. Original image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Ask the UMC: Anna Oliver: Methodist scholar, preacher, and advocate

Anna Oliver was not only the first Methodist woman to graduate with the Bachelor of Divinity in America, but a successful pastor and advocate for justice in her time.

Worship

« Oremus et pro perfidis Judaeis » Good Friday prayer for the Jews in Latin and French, from a French Catholic Liturgy. Image courtesy of Wikimedia; edited from original.

Ask The UMC: Three ways to avoid anti-Judaism during Holy Week

Guidance to help United Methodist congregations avoid conscious or unconscious anti-Judaism in Holy Week observances.

Theology and Education

Crowds waving palm branches process through the streets of Port-Bouet, Ivory Coast, on Passion/Palm Sunday. This joyful scene is repeated all over the country by Ivorian United Methodists and Catholics. Photo by Isaac Broune, UM News.

Ask the UMC: Why do we observe Passion/Palm Sunday?

Celebrating Passion/Palm Sunday is part of an ecumenical effort to refocus the whole season of Lent on making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

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