The global church

Oklahoma gives $50,000 to AU

The 2013 Oklahoma Annual Conference Offering, which totaled $49,964.48, went to Africa University. An AU student choir performed during the conference. In 1988, the General Conference established AU in Zimbabwe. Enrollment today is 1,200 students, from multiple nations. — Holly McCray

Compiled from UMNS

• In Charlotte, N.C., Skyler Nimmons, a self-proclaimed foodie, estimates he usually spends about $25 a day on food. But he is one of the UMs taking the SNAP Challenge — to live on the government program’s allowance for an entire week and be in solidarity with people who rely on food stamps. This amounts to about $4.50 per person per day. Oct. 16 is World Food Day. http://rethinkchurch.org/article/SNAP

• Dating to 1780, Barratt’s Chapel, considered the "mother church" of U.S. Methodism, is showing new signs of life. The first regular worship in decades occurred there, in Frederica, Del., this summer. Attendance grew during the 10-week effort, persuading Peninsula-Delaware Conference to commit to a repeat next year, with a season twice as long.

• Directors of the UM Board of Higher Education & Ministry recently approved a plan to disburse $7 million from the Young Clergy Initiative for innovative projects of all sizes that could attract young people to ordained ministry in the Church. In September, a dream team of young-adult leaders mapped out a timeline, priorities for grants, and funding category recommendations.

• Twenty-seven UM leaders — including bishops, theologians, pastors, and agency executives — met Sept. 30-Oct. 1 to discuss online Communion. Their conversation sparked discussion on Twitter at #onlinecommunion.

• What if a guy wearing tights, a mask, and a matching cape walked into your church service? At New Way UMC in Perry Township, Ohio, Pastor Keith Brown is teaching a youth-ministry series based on Marvel Comics’ superheroes.

• Just days after a woman was elected bishop by the Church of Ireland, the Church of South India appointed Eggoni Pushpalalitha as its first female bishop.

• The UM General Board of Church & Society has condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria and called for a negotiated peace settlement under the auspices of the United Nations. The agency’s board unanimously approved its statement on Sept. 21, the International Day of Prayer for Peace.

www.umc.org