Teaser:BWC will begin new growth efforts with SBC21BY JOHN W. COLEMAN SPECIAL TO THE UMCONNECTION More than 100 local, regional and churchwide leaders met March 5-6 in North Charleston, S.C., to learn more about new efforts to empower African-American churches for ministry. Among these...
Teaser:Celebrating the arrival of Robert and Elizabeth Strawbridge in America Robert and Elizabeth Strawbridge: Pioneers of faith BY Louis Piel The importance of the ministry of Robert Strawbridge cannot be overstated. At the time of the Christmas Conference in 1784 (three years after...
Teaser:Thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to rally for changes in U.S. immigration policies.BY JOHN W. COLEMAN SPECIAL TO THE UMCONNECTION Baltimore-Washington Conference churches were represented among the tens of thousands of marchers who gathered in the nation’s capital March 21 to...
Teaser:Sunnyside UMC is seeking to take church property with it when it leaves the denomination.BY MELISSA LAUBER UMCONNECTION STAFF A United Methodist congregation in Frederick County, seeking to take the church building and other property with it when it left the denomination, has sought the...
Virginia Mae Mentzer, 89, the wife of J. Franklin Mentzer, a local pastor, died in Quincy, Pa., Feb. 1, after a brief illness. A memorial service was held Feb. 7 in Christ UMC in Waynesboro, Pa., with the Rev. A. Robert Cook officiating. Virginia Mae Stanley and Jacob Franklin Mentzer were...
The Rev. James "Jim" H. Pyke, 94, an Elder who retired in 1983 from his professorship at Wesley Theological Seminary, died in his sleep Jan. 18 at Asbury Village. A private funeral was held. He was the third generation born to missionaries in Changli, China, He served as a missionary with the...
Ruth Stetler, 95, the wife of the late Rev. Roy Stetler and mother to the Rev. Richard E. Stetler, pastor of St. Matthew's UMC in Bowie, died suddenly Jan. 31, at Asbury Village. "She had a good lunch and laid down for a nap," her son said. "In 10 minutes she was gone - just the...
The Rev. Donald M. Smith, 75, died Feb. 18 at Lorien Nursing Home in Mt. Airy where he'd been since 2005. The Rev. Jeff Odom officiated at a funeral service Feb. 22 at Crossroads Community Church in Westminster, assisted by Pastor Reid Robinette. Interment is in the Mt. Olive UMC cemetery in Mt...
The Rev. Harry L. Bennett, 84, died Jan. 10, at Sarah Todd Memorial Home in Carlisle, Pa. A memorial service was held at Otterbein UMC in Carlisle Jan. 14. He was a graduate of Westminster Seminary, now Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. During his 40 years of ministry in the...
Gertrude M. Sorrell Ackerman, 86, the wife of the late Rev. Gerald Ackerman, died Jan. 10. The Rev. Mary Ellen Huzzard officiated at a funeral service Jan. 16 At Ashton UMC. She and Gerald Ackerman were married in 1942 and she accompanied him throughout his ministerial career, which began in...
