RNS Morning Report: United Methodists vote to restructure worldwide church into four parts

Top Stories United Methodists vote to restructure worldwide church into four parts (RNS) — The plan, called ‘regionalization,’ must now go before each region, called an annual conference, for ratification by the end of 2025.   Brandeis invites Jewish students to transfer in response to campus protests (RNS) — ‘Students elsewhere should know we welcome all — Jews and students from every background — who seek an excellent undergraduate education and an environment striving to be free of harassment and Jew-hatred to apply,’ Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz said.   An anti-Hindutva teach-in spurs debate about Hindu representation on college campuses (RNS) — Hindu student organizations, say advocates, do not always represent the full breadth of thought within the community of young American Hindus.   Church leaders in Kenya give qualified support for plan to close orphanages NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Amid a growing push to reunite orphans with extended family rather than keep children in residential homes, Kenyan authorities are set to adopt a new program that will phase out traditional orphanages over the next decade. RNS Opinion A Jan. 6 antisemite is sent to prison. What do the presidential candidates say? (RNS) — One condemns antisemitism. The other holds former Proud Boys up as victims.   Resisting our ‘new dark age’ (RNS) — In a time of information excess, the need of the moment is more love and more rest. ICYMI At ‘Seder in the Streets,’ protesters in Brooklyn denounce US support to Israel NEW YORK (RNS) — As the Senate voted on an aid package for Israel, participants of a ‘Seder in the Streets’ denounced the death and devastation in Gaza and urged Congress to end military support for the war.   In ‘Rift,’ author Cait West talks breaking free from Christian patriarchy (RNS) — As a stay-at-home daughter, West was told what to wear, whom to court and how to serve her future husband. In Other News ‘Stop The War’: Pope Francis Pleads For Negotiation And Peace In Ukraine, Gaza Wars Metal detectorist finds centuries-old religious artifact once outlawed by emperor   Talk to Us We want your feedback on the RNS Morning Report — what you think we're doing right and what we should be doing differently. Send us an email at Comments@ReligionNews.com Subscribe to other RNS Newsletters. Forward this email to a friend. View the archive of past newsletters. RNS is free to read, but it's not free to produce. If you value our reporting, please consider making a donation today at religionnews.com/donate. If you prefer to mail a donation, please address to: Religion News Foundation, PO Box 1808, Columbia, MO 65205. Yes, I support the work you're doing! Forward this email to a friend

Presbyterians Today - A Time for Healing

Dear Readers, For the next couple of months while Layton is on parental leave, you will be hearing from me. Hi, I am Melody. I am writing to you as I sit on my porch, watching plants push through the wet ground and the gray clouds roll above. April showers bring May flowers, after all. Spring always reminds me that things aren’t necessarily how they appear. Throughout the winter months, the trees and shrubs in my yard have looked dead. But you can’t fool me. I knew all along that life was coursing through those wonderful branches, even though I couldn’t see the evidence. To be willing to look beyond what the physical senses tell us and instead acknowledge as true something we haven’t seen is the purest definition of faith. Spring is a time of rebirth. It’s not only that the trees start blooming again and the leaves, flowers and birds seem to burst into life again after a long period of resting. In the same way, rebirth is also happening in our bodies and our spirits. This is a time when your body is naturally increasing in energy. It’s like the sap is also flowing in our veins — filled with more energy. It is a perfect opportunity to embark on a healing journey. We are launching a new series around the themes of “healing” and “repair.” The first piece addresses the wounds of transphobia and how to minister to those in pain. The journey to healing is a collective one, and that means we must walk it together. You can read the first installment below. The seasons change, and we change. As you go about your day-to-day this spring, how will you be open to change and rejuvenation?

Melody K. Smith Associate Director for Digital and Marketing Communications

Healing the Wounds of Transphobia

Do we heal? Or is it a matter of moving pain around to find a place where it rests a bit easier? Or perhaps a space is carved out — not ease, but intensity. The heart becomes an ocean, holding the strange creatures dwelling at the sea bottom, the fierce storms that tear everything apart, the light on waves — piercingly beautiful. In the religious and legal attacks on our trans siblings, we are experiencing a communal wounding — an indulgence in hatred and contempt whose multiple forms no one can evade.

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PC(USA) delegation begins to right a historic wrong in Juneau, Alaska

A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) contingent comprised of both national and mid council officials visited Juneau, Alaska in August and October 2023 following action by the 225th General Assembly calling on the church to “issue apologies and reparations for the racist closure of Memorial Presbyterian Church” in 1963. The formal apologies were made and responses offered at a worship service on Oct. 8, 2023 at Ḵunéix̱ Hídi Northern Light United Church in Juneau.

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Spreading the Vision of Matthew 25 across the Church

Matthew 25 is a living translation of Jesus Christ — strengthening relationships, transforming your church, and bringing alive your commitment to those who are marginalized or in need in your community and the world around us. Make no mistake, Jesus is calling us to perform ordinary acts of compassion in daily life. But we have also been called to consider the factors that led to these conditions, to confront the causes of inequality, to confess the sin of greed and to correct the problem of poverty — whether in our own nation and neighborhood, or around the world.

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Weekly Outlook - On 'Cowboy Carter' 🐎🇺🇲

Dear Outlook readers,  Today, I pray that you are able to see the Spirit at work all around you — in community, in creation, in the work of the church. Know that God goes with you into all of the unknowns of this time and Christ's grace covers you. In Christ, Rose Schrott Taylor Outlook digital content editor P.S. Curious about church fundraising? Don't miss Jesy Littlejohn's conversation with Laura Strauss — now available for free on our Facebook page.

‘Cowboy Carter’ is complex. So is Beyoncé. So am I. by Chanequa Walker-Barnes Trump’s Bible: Profaning the sacred for profit and politics by Emery J. Cummins Cultivating grace: Lessons from an Amazon employee by Alan Olsen Shedding light on the shadows of abuse: A GA overture advocates for transparency by James S. Evinger In case you missed it... ‘It good’: Hospitality in a hospital waiting room Andrew Taylor-Troutman reflects on the care, life and grief he witnessed as the life of a parishioner came to an end. AI, humanity and the unveiling mirror Artificial intelligence reflects our imperfections, but that is not the whole story, writes Katy Shevel. Trash: A Poor White Journey "'Trash' makes the case that poverty and racism are part of the plan, not unintended by-products of the American experiment. This can be tough to hear, which is, perhaps, why it is often dismissed as misguided 'wokeness' rather than respectfully debated." — Amy Pagliarella Presbyterians seek ways to address anxieties amid a harsh immigration culture  If enacted, the Texas ‘show me your papers’ policy would follow a similar national trend. — Adrian White “Her sounds are welcome” If worship is meant to be a 'work of the people,' how can we welcome everyone, including those who disrupt our expectations? — Rebecca Gresham Two South Carolina presbyteries come together via Zoom to endorse pastors standing for GA co-moderators New Harmony, Charleston Atlantic presbyteries unanimously affirm the Rev. Tony Larson and the Rev. CeCe Armstrong. — Mike Ferguson Beyond the offering plate: Diversifying your church’s fundraising strategy Laura Strauss offers three tips for churches that need help making ends meet.