North American News & Stories

Tips for preparation and response for your faith community.

Charles Sharper and Kayla Toliver share about the Healthy Youth USA Foundation, promoting youth development through after school programming, sports, recreation and other activities. Through the provision of a $99,616.00 grant, the Global Health Unit was able to provide scholarships for 38-50 children and cover administrative costs for additional staff.

A new study on water access in the U.S., produced by DigDeep and the U.S. Water Alliance and supported by UMCOR and other partners, reveals that 2 million people in the United States lack access to indoor plumbing, safe drinking water and adequate wastewater sanitation.

The Rev. Jenny Phillips, senior technical advisor for environmental sustainability, explores how the impact of climate change on natural disasters, global migration, health and agriculture intersects with God’s creation and our understanding of abundance and scarcity.

Serving at Sunnyside United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Emily Burns works to combat issues of food insecurity in her community as a Global Mission Fellow and EarthKeeper by supporting and developing a community garden and food pantry.

Church of the Reconciler UMC in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, uses an EarthKeepers grant to test the viability of increasing community plastic recycling and employment opportunities with a small-scale recycle business within the church.

Thomas Kemper announces intention to not seek reelection to the executive post he assumed in 2010.

Even though Hurricane Harvey hit Texas over two years ago, there is still much work to do. Long-term recovery efforts are going strong thanks to the disaster response team in the Rio Texas Conference. Staff like Austin, Vicki and Nikki continue to be a reliable and compassionate presence in Harvey’s aftermath. To be most effective, they see the importance of building and strengthening relationships. Whether it is relationships with partner agencies, churches, community members, or even among the staff themselves, the Rio Texas Conference has seen great impact and progress in recovery by working together and supporting one other.

After a dozen years of a conference-to-conference In Mission Together connection between the Eurasia and Baltimore-Washington episcopal areas, relationships grow stronger and faith grows deeper roots as they develop ways to reach more people with Christ’s love.

Cohosted by Global Ministries, the General Commission on Religion and Race, and Candler School of Theology, the November 2019 “Facilitating Mutuality: Dialogue Across Differences” conference equipped participants to facilitate conversations in the midst of the divisive climate of The United Methodist Church.

Devotional by Angela A. Reed | Fourth week of Advent

Mertarvik, Alaska, the relocation site for Newtok, a Yu’pik village that lost much of its land to rising sea levels and eroding coastline, receives its first residents in newly built houses, complete with UMCOR-funded PASS sanitation units in each home.