Philadelphia Episcopal Area

The Rev. Joseph M. De Castro is the pastor at First United Methodist Church in Dubai. His congregation of mostly migrant workers and others who live in the United Arab Emirates and surrounding countries have been caught in the middle of war. Photo courtesy of the TFUMC Dubai Media Team.

Middle East United Methodists feel brunt of war

Filipino United Methodists who work and worship along the Arabian Peninsula have been caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

Bishops

Retired Bishop José Gamboa Jr. served as the first resident bishop of the Davao Episcopal Area in the southern Philippines. He died Dec. 22 at age 97. Photo courtesy of Union Theological Seminary Philippines.

Bishop Gamboa remembered as humble shepherd

e educator and trailblazing United Methodist leader pioneered mission in the Philippines’ Davao Episcopal Area. Gamboa died Dec. 22 at age 97.

Human Rights

United Methodist deaconesses Norma Dollaga (right) and Rubylin Litao talk with Bienvenido and Estrella Nonay in Caloocan, Philippines. The Nonays’ son Bernardo was assassinated in 2018, one of thousands of extrajudicial killings carried out as part of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial "war on drugs." The deaconesses are founders of Rise Up for Life and for Rights, which unites family and friends of victims and advocates in demanding an end to the violence and punishment for those responsible. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

United Methodists react to Duterte arrest

Church leaders and justice advocates in the Philippines say the arrest of the former president is a step toward justice for the thousands who died during his war on drugs.

General Conference

The Rev. Jonathan Ulanday, a clergy delegate from the East Mindanao Conference in the Philippines, speaks April 25 on the floor of the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. Ulanday said regionalization legislation allows the spirituality of The United Methodist Church to grow in a different context. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Regionalization passage a ‘kairos moment’ for Filipinos

Filipino delegates say a regional system is a way to keep traditionalists and progressives connected, and relieves central conferences from having to decide on primarily U.S. concerns.

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