UM Newss

Advocates for the early release of some prisoners say COVID-19 has exposed the broken and unjust prison systems where 2.2 million people — disproportionally people of color — live in overcrowded cells without proper protection and testing for the disease.

UMCOR has awarded $1.56 million to help vulnerable communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants enable churches to respond to issues of food insecurity, sanitation and hygiene, and other financial needs.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief and other global United Methodists are intervening in the church’s COVID-19 fight in Liberia.

As grant requests continue to pour in from the U.S. and around the world, UMCOR has awarded $966,069 in grants in four weeks. Global Ministries has supplemented those funds, bringing the total amount of COVID-19 assistance to $1.3 million.

Two days of discussions centered on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding formalizes the transition of Cameroon and Senegal to the leadership of the Cote d’Ivoire Episcopal Area, outlining the partnership of Global Ministries and Côte d’Ivoire as they expand the mission field for the gospel in these new areas.

Across time zones, directors of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries made a virtual trip to Atlanta for their spring meeting.

From local congregations to general agencies, United Methodists in the U.S. and around the world are taking significant precautions in light of the spread of coronavirus.

A delegation from Global Ministries met with two mission initiatives — in Senegal and Cameroon — and announced these initiatives will become districts attached to the Côte d'Ivoire Conference.

Through small grants, the Encounter with Christ fund has nurtured Methodist mission and relationships in 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

As Hurricane Dorian continued to threaten the U.S. east coast, United Methodists were connecting with Methodists in the Bahamas to start relief efforts.

United Methodist leaders added their voices to the World Health Organization’s warning that with the spread of Ebola to Goma, the outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern.