Tennessee Annual Conference

The Rev. Birgitte French (second from right) of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference addresses a class at the Mama Lynn Center in Kindu, Congo. The center provides training to vulnerable women and girls. During a visit with other members of a United Methodist delegation from the U.S. in September, French expressed her joy at strengthening the conference’s partnership with eastern Congo. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

Center provides hope for women in Congo

The Mama Lynn Center, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, provides training and spiritual support to women who have suffered sexual violence, helping them regain their dignity and become economically independent.

Local Church

Amy Carmon, a member of Mary’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Bean Station, Tennessee, gets emotional during the dedication ceremony for Dzobo United Methodist Church in rural Zimbabwe. At left is the Rev. Samuel Dzobo, whose dream for a sanctuary in his home village inspired Mary’s Chapel to raise $48,000 to help build the church. At right is the Rev. Gerald Russell, a retired pastor in the Holston Conference and former United Methodist missionary. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UM News.

Like a mustard seed, tiny gift grows into new sanctuary

After a Tennessee United Methodist gave the Rev. Samuel Dzobo one dollar to help build a sanctuary in Zimbabwe, “miraculous things” unfolded.

Faith Stories

The Rev. Tim Holton, a United Methodist pastor, visits family graves at the Simpson Cemetery in Eagleville, Tenn. In 1997, his cousin, Daryl Holton, killed his four children with a military-style rifle and was eventually executed in Tennessee’s electric chair. He is buried beneath the light-colored headstone at left, next to the graves of his children. Tim Holton now serves on the board of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and ministers to death row inmates as a volunteer chaplain at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Pastor’s life shaped by family murders

The Rev. Tim Holton has spent more time than most thinking about the death penalty. He’s against it despite — or perhaps because of — the horrific murder of four Holton children in 1997 by his cousin.

Faith Stories

Sally Ball and Paul Morgan are married at Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Dec. 30, 2023. Photo by Tim Jackson, courtesy of the Holston Conference.

When Paul met Sally: Volunteers find love

Paul Morgan met Sally Ball amid the dusty archives at Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tenn. Almost two years later, after showing up from separate churches to help get the 100-year-old building back on its feet, the two were married in Magnolia Avenue’s sanctuary.

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