North Carolina Annual Conference

Teens clap and sing during one of two UNITE youth retreats sponsored by the Missouri Conference in July 2025 at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri. United Methodist conferences in the U.S. are seeing growth at annual youth retreats after years of slowdown following the COVID pandemic. File photo by Schaefer Photography.

Conference youth retreats make comeback

Promoting youth involvement in leadership and maintaining yearlong connections beyond the United Methodist events have been keys to success.
Local Church
Corn is harvested from a field next to New Hope Bethel United Methodist Church outside Leipsic, Ohio, in 2010. Rural United Methodist churches are contributing to the economies of their communities up to $735,000 annually per congregation, according to a study funded by The Duke Endowment of rural congregations in North Carolina. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Rural churches fuel economies

Rural churches and their leaders should look beyond the length of the membership rolls and the amount of donations collected to gauge their worth, a new study in North Carolina suggests.
Mission and Ministry
Priscilla Legay Jaiah-Gilayeneh, director of the Ganta Mission Station in Liberia’s Nimba County, displays a pig farming T-shirt during the dedication ceremony of a new butchery plant in Ganta City. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Butchery plant empowers pig farmers in Liberia

Through partnership with the North Carolina Conference, Liberian United Methodists share benefits with their neighbors.
Faith Stories
"Sanhedrin tries Jesus," woodblock print created by Dreama Lovitt for Holy Week Art Walk at West Market Street United Methodist Church. Photo courtesy of West Market Street UMC.

Meeting the sacred in Holy Week Art Walk

When John and Gayle Rose were asked to create a piece of art that reflects their Christian faith, they found themselves at the foot of the cross. They were among the artists who contributed to a new way of interpreting the Stations of the Cross for West Market UMC in Greensboro, N.C.

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