church vitality

The Rev. Ken Suhr, director of leadership and congregational vitality for the California-Pacific Conference, delivers the keynote address on the “DNA of Growing Churches” during the 2026 Growing Church Conference at First United Methodist Church of San Diego. Photo by the Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Growing Church Conference calls leaders back to discipleship

The gathering has evolved from a jurisdictional initiative into a nationwide event, now welcoming pastors serving cross-racial and cross-cultural appointments.

Local Church

Brick by brick, persistent pastor builds own church

After decades worshipping under a tree in Zimbabwe, United Methodist congregation gets permanent sanctuary constructed by local pastor and his family.

General Church

Ongoing financial challenges, made worse by the pandemic, have prompted big changes for the United Methodist Publishing House. The self-supporting agency has sold its Nashville, Tennessee, campus (pictured here) to a Chicago real estate firm, and has transferred the assets and management of a pension fund to Wespath Benefits and Investments. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Publishing House moves pension plan, sells campus

The United Methodist Publishing House, hard hit by the pandemic, has finalized some planned changes, including the sale of its Nashville property and transfer of a pension plan to Wespath.

Local Church

Rick Reinhard. Photo by Valerie Smallwood.

A call to examine United Methodist real estate

As more houses of worship close or seek to redevelop their property, individual congregations must collect and assess data to determine their future.

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