COSROW

Church Leadership
The Rev. Jee Hae Song’s son Joshua, 5, dances at her 2023 ordination during the Upper New York Annual Conference in Syracuse, N.Y. Song presented legislation to the 2024 Upper New York Annual Conference to enact a parental leave policy for United Methodists of Upper New York. The legislation would guarantee 13 paid weeks of leave for clergy and church workers whose family are expanding by birth, adoption or foster placement. Photo courtesy of the Upper New York Conference.

Parental leave efforts gaining momentum

Clergy deserve 13 weeks of paid leave when they are caring for a new baby, according to members of a grassroots effort to make that the United Methodist standard.
Bishops
Bishop Minerva Carcaño presides over a May 19 session of the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. The United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women is asking to serve as a monitor in the church complaint process involving Carcaño, who has been suspended for more than a year. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Agency seeks role in complaint against bishop

The United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women is asking to serve as a monitor in the church complaint process involving Bishop Minerva Carcaño, who has been suspended for more than a year.
General Agencies
Dawn Wiggins Hare (right), top executive of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women, becomes emotional as she and Harriett Jane Olson, United Methodist Women (now United Women in Faith) chief executive officer, lament the failure of two amendments to the church's constitution focused on equality in the church for women and girls during the United Methodist Women Assembly 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Commission on the Status and Role of Women is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Women’s commission at 50, still a long way to go

The top executive of the agency advocating for women’s equality in the church reflects on how far they’ve come and what work still remains.

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