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2020 State of the Church Report

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Advocates from the Black Lives Matter movement disrupt the proceedings of the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. The demonstrators marched into the plenary session chanting slogans and gathered around the central communion table. Photo by Maile Bradfield, UMNS.

Persecuted for Christ's sake

United Methodists stand tall in the face of persecution and oppression every day, whether it’s by standing against racism and ethnic violence, or standing up for immigrants and refugees. We stand strong in the knowledge that we are standing with God.

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The Rev. Susanne Nießner-Brose (right) listens while a 27-year-old Sudanese woman who asked that she be called Fatima relates her story of fleeing Sudan to seek religious freedom in Europe. She was taking asylum in 2017 at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen, Germany, where Nießner-Brose is pastor, and was later accepted as a refugee. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
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Social Concerns

A less welcoming place for refugees

As the migration crisis continues, Europe “is becoming a fortress” where desperate people are being turned away, says a United Methodist pastor in Germany.

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Jean Tshomba, coordinator of UMCOR's disaster management office in Eastern Congo, hands over a bag of flour to one of the beneficiaries during the distribution of food in the Lubutu ecclesiastical district at the end of November 2019. The United Methodist Committee on Relief provided humanitarian assistance to war-displaced people in the region. Photo courtesy of UMCOR Disaster Management Office, East Congo.
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Mission and Ministry

Church helps war-displaced families in East Congo

The United Methodist Committee on Relief provided a $100,000 grant to distribute food to more than 5,500 people who fled their homes due to violence.

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Attendees and guests of the Reconciling Ministries Network convocation pray together at the altar at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. LGBTQ United Methodists and their allies expressed hope that a proposal to separate the denomination might pave the way to end what they see as discrimination. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
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General Church

LGBTQ advocates see hope for church future

United Methodists at the Reconciling Ministries Network convocation expect a proposed denominational separation will reduce harm to LGBTQ members and their allies.

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Seeking refuge

Fleeing violence

Longing for inclusion