Technology

Tina Boone shares the joy of Sunday worship with homebound and distant participants through the conference phone at Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. The program, started during the COVID-19 pandemic, allows people who don’t have a computer or internet access to dial in and hear the entire service through their telephone. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Church members dial in for fellowship

Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, provides Sunday worship service through the church’s conference phone line so participants who can’t attend in person can stay connected.

Church Growth

Violet Crown City Church, a United Methodist congregation in Austin, Texas, did an experiment in September when it used artificial intelligence to plan a worship service, complete with an original song and sermon written based on prompts from the pastor and information on the internet. Motherboard image by OpenClipart-Vectors, courtesy of Pixabay; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Artificial intelligence and church

The promise and problems around artificial intelligence are touching the religion world, with a United Methodist pastor in Texas using AI to craft a worship service, including the sermon and an original song.

Social Concerns

Munashe Bhero checks on the solar system he installed at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. Bhero attends a different United Methodist church but got the job through the church’s WhatsApp business group, which connects church members around the region. Photo by Priscilla Muzerengwa, UM News.

Church WhatsApp group fosters business collaboration

United Methodists use social media tool to promote each other’s companies and services and offer other support.

Discipleship

Disciple Bible Study participants meet online during a small group session. The women are alpha testers for the new BeADisciple Study App. Beta testing of the app begins Aug. 1, with a full rollout scheduled for 2024. Photo courtesy of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship.

Disciple Bible Study goes digital

Since its launch in 1987, Disciple Bible Study has drawn more than 3 million participants.

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