Justice Profiles: This is the seventh story in a series. SWEETWATER, Tenn. -- Cam Belk has an African-American mother and a white father. He works in a Mexican restaurant where he speaks Spanish most of the day. At age 21, Belk is a United ...
Youth group photos requested 'RezYouth' app is now live Register at ResurrectionYouth.com After 35 years of evangelizing thousands of youth and youth leaders over action-packed weekends in the Smoky Mountains, Resurrection has been recreated as a ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Resurrection recreated! Now that the annual youth ministry event has adapted to pandemic times, a new app and other ideas could help expand Resurrection into the future. A ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Let it begin with me We invited readers to help us write a prayer for our nation. The peace prayer started on Tuesday, the day before protesters breached the Capitol in ...
On January 5, The Call invited church members to join in a prayer for the nation on social media. The call for prayer was made while anticipating division as Congress prepared to attempt certification of votes for U.S. president. We did not know ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- The Alcoa Center will remain closed until at least Feb. 1, when Holston Conference leaders will again assess whether it is advisable to resume regular office activities amid surging coronavirus deaths. Staff were informed the Holston...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Bygone days A year ago, we were fretting over the denomination's future. Maybe we still are, but our heads seem to be a lot more crowded these days with crises and concerns, all ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Baby, it's you In the season when we celebrate the infant who came to save our world, we appreciate the small church making a big difference for babies in low-income ...
CEDAR BLUFF, Va. – Two-year-old Lorelai is wearing pink Santa Claus pajamas. The church floors are cold, but the toddler’s feet seem well-insulated inside the footed part of her pajamas. Lorelai’s mother, age 20, seems stressed as she balances a ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Protection in East Africa Last summer, we saw photos of children in Uganda wearing homemade cardboard masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With the help of a grant ...
More than 2,500 people in East Africa now have some protection from spreading COVID-19, due to a United Methodist effort to distribute face masks, sanitizer and gloves through pastors. Jaka Joice, mission supervisor for the United Methodist Church ...
RADFORD, Va. -- The Community Thanksgiving Meal is a long-held tradition at Grove United Methodist Church. For 16 years, the church’s missions board has provided free meals to the community on Thanksgiving Day with funds raised through donations by ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Hiwassee property sold Eighteen months after Hiwassee College was closed, the 284-acre property has been sold to Bruderhof, an international Christian communal ...
MADISONVILLE, Tenn. -- Eighteen months after Hiwassee College was closed, the 284-acre property has been sold to Bruderhof, an international Christian communal organization. The purchase was finalized Nov. 30 for an undisclosed sum, said the Rev. ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. No-contact November If clicks are votes, the following stories and reports were the most-read by our subscribers in this past month's weekly editions of The Call. ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- An initial two-week closure of the Alcoa Conference Center has been extended until after the holidays. In a Nov. 30 email to conference staff, the Rev. Tim Jones announced the office building would remain closed until Jan. 4. "After...
BISHOP, Va. -- Christmas came early in Bishop, Virginia. It started with checks that came in the mail and online donations arriving through the Holston Conference website. The holiday spirit came early when a woman in Abingdon donated 360 pounds...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Best Thanksgiving ever A year ago, a little church in Bishop, Virginia, was in danger of being closed. Then a story about Alexander Memorial United Methodist's meal ...
When the pandemic was first declared in March 2020, maybe you didn’t know anybody with COVID-19. Over the summer, as the virus prowled and claimed more victims, maybe the illness passed over your family and friends. This week, the United States ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. 5 lessons from survivors As the nation topped 250,000 deaths from COVID-19, we talked to five Holston Conference members who know firsthand what it's like to confront the virus -- ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- The Alcoa Conference Center is closed until November 30, after a staff member received notification of a positive COVID-19 test today. An email from Lori Sluder, assistant to Bishop Dindy Taylor, announced the closure to staff ...
GALAX, Va. – Hannah Snow had a plan. She wanted to help Holston Conference collect cleaning supplies for people experiencing disasters at home or afar. At a time when floods, tornadoes, and fires seem more common, a massive delivery of detergent, ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. 1 student, 24 buckets Hannah Snow had a plan to help families recover from disasters, but she was discouraged when local business managers said they "don't give to churches." ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- The Holston Foundation announced today it will give $150,000 to help Holston Conference Camp and Retreat Ministries, the largest gift to any ministry during the foundation's 40-year history. The grant from the Holston Foundation will...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Lifting the light for camp The Holston Foundation announced today it will give $150,000 to help Holston Conference Camp and Retreat Ministries, the largest gift to any ministry ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Oh, October If clicks are votes, the following stories and reports were the most-read by our subscribers in this past month's weekly editions of The Call. 1. Pastor's fever leads to bright ...
Justice Profiles: This is the sixth story in a series. CEDAR BLUFF, Va. – When the Rev. Annette Warren was appointed to Cedar Bluff United Methodist Church nine years ago, she did not know she was going to a white church in a community that was 99 ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Special Issue: Blessed are the peacemakers Followers of the Prince of the Peace, the world needs you. In these anxious days, The Call asked readers to share how they model and ...
A bitter election. A deadly virus. Unrelenting racism. Economic, environmental, and social crises. Followers of the Prince of Peace, the world needs you. Your community needs your witness and calming presence. In these anxious days, The Call asked ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- Checking the latest number of coronavirus cases has become a new routine for some people, but not for Seth Charles and Matt Hall. Their routine is to check the latest number of overdose deaths. “That’s our people. That could be me,” ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Recovery interrupted While congregations throughout Holston Conference have resumed in-person gatherings within the last few weeks, some recovery leaders are still agonizing over damage caused ...
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- When MaKenzie Mosby learned about her mother’s latest election, she surprised her with a celebratory spray of confetti. "In case you haven’t heard, my mama was just elected as the FIRST BLACK president of Holston Conference’s ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. First Black president You're going to see a lot more of Donna Mosby in 2021. On Sept. 26, she was elected first Black president of the Holston Conference United Methodist Women. Last...
SALTVILLE, Va. -- In August, the Rev. Lisa Bryant woke up with a head cold and a fever. She quickly got a COVID-19 test and quarantined herself. While she waited for the test results, she came up with a new idea for online worship at Madam Russell ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Preaching in secret In August, the Rev. Lisa Bryant woke up with a head cold and fever. She quickly got a COVID-19 test and quarantined herself. While she waited for the test results, she came up...
En español PULASKI, Va. – The pews are stadium seats. The congregation is not looking up to the pulpit, but looking down on the field where the pastor wears a ball cap. The choir sits in the dugout. First United Methodist Church of Pulaski has not...
The Rev. Jake Herron and his congregation were “really thankful” when allowed to go inside their church building effective Sept. 20, but not because they wanted to immediately return to the sanctuary for worship. “Our biggest concern was having an ...
The Rev. Roy Howard was not only a friend. He was an expert on the publication to which I've devoted 20 years of my life. He dropped by my office to visit at least annually and shared suggestions for good stories, too. In 2008, I asked another ...
The Rev. Harry Howe delivered 304 buckets full of cleaning supplies to Theodore United Methodist Church in Alabama yesterday, where residents are recovering from Hurricane Sally and bracing for Tropical Storm Beta. Howe and his fellow traveler, ...
Sign up for a free weekly subscription to The Call. Can we come in? When Holston churches received a Sept. 16 edict allowing them to meet indoors after months of closures caused by rising coronavirus cases, many congregations ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Struggling to survive The Rev. Daniel Bradley gets up in the morning knowing there’s less than $100 left in the church banking account, and the next insurance payment could finally...
In English Perfiles de justicia: Esta es la quinta historia en una serie. MORRISTOWN, Tenn. - Cuando Rita Castañon observa a la gente enfrentarse por cuestiones relacionadas con el racismo, ella ve oportunidades para que las personas de raza negra ...
En español Justice Profiles: This is the fifth story in a series. MORRISTOWN, Tenn. -- When Rita Castañon observes people clashing over issues around racism, she sees opportunities for Black and Brown people to unite and help build bridges for ...
BISHOP, Va. – The Rev. Daniel Bradley often gets up in the morning knowing there’s less than $100 left in the church banking account, and the next insurance payment could finally crush Alexander Memorial United Methodist. But on Thursdays, the ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Take It Outside If clicks are votes, the following stories and reports were the most-read by our subscribers in this past month's weekly editions of The Call. 1. Alarm over rising insurance ...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Home run for outdoor worship First United Methodist Church of Pulaski has not opened its doors to in-person worship since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in mid-March. However, ...
Part 2 begins August 30 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Concord United Methodist Church wants to share a newly created resource with other congregations wishing to join the work of dismantling racism in 2020. “Building Bridges: Combatting Racial Injustice” is a...
Sign up for a free weekly email subscription. Pause on ordination Nine Holston clergy were slated for ordination this summer, until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down one major event after another. The ordinands range in age ...
The Rev. Kaye Seay has watched many others go before her in the ordination services that happen every June in Holston Conference. After years of working toward the finish line, Seay looked forward to her own ceremony. “It’s a holy moment. You can’t ...
The Rev. Sharon Wright was ecstatic when she saw the announcement from Bishop Dindy Taylor in her inbox last week. “Read your email!” she texted the Rev. David Jackson, her co-pastor at Emory United Methodist Church. After months of uncertainty ...