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Western North Carolina Annual Conference

Human Rights
Timothy "GA" Underwood hugs the Rev. Dustin Mailman in the recently opened coffee shop of the Deep Time ministry in Asheville, N.C. Underwood serves as minister of social enterprise for Deep Time and Mailman is its founding pastor. The program, which seeks to create a spiritual community with people impacted by incarceration, is housed at Trinity United Methodist Church in Asheville.

Coffee fuels a future for former inmates

A new coffee shop located within a United Methodist church doubles as a place where struggling community members can find a job and support as they try to rejoin society.
Social Concerns
United Methodists in North Carolina and beyond say it’s important for Christians with opposing political views to seek common ground. That’s the idea behind the Western North Carolina Conference’s Purple Church Initiative, which aims to foster dialogue between conservative and progressive church members. Church image by Steven Kyle Adair; graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Looking for middle ground in a divisive era

As President Trump returns to office, some United Methodists are preparing to respond to new policies on immigration, while others are hoping common ground is still possible among politically diverse members.
Disaster Relief
Elias Torres (left) and Vinicius Maciel clean up flood damage from Hurricane Helene at Cedar Key (Fla.) United Methodist Church. Church members are beginning the long, slow recovery following Helene’s devastating storm surge and flooding in the southeastern U.S. Conferences are busy supporting survivors. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

United Methodists offer relief after Helene

Church members are beginning the long, slow recovery following Helene’s devastating storm surge and flooding in the southeastern U.S. Conferences are busy supporting survivors.
Local Church
The Rev. Nathan Webb is pastor of Checkpoint Church, which was designed to be exclusively virtual. The church utilizes social media platforms Twitch, Discord and YouTube to build community. Screenshot courtesy of Checkpoint Church via YouTube.

‘Church for nerds’ builds community without a building

As churches in the pandemic era have gotten creative with virtual worship, Checkpoint Church was designed to be exclusively virtual. They don’t even have a building.

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