The VAUMC Connection

We are grateful for great friends and colleagues, great conversation, and a great cup of coffee. This is a new series called "Clergy to Clergy."

Watch this conversation with Rev. Tim Ward & Rev. Dr. Katie Philips as they sit down for conversation and coffee. about parenting while pastoring.

Available on YouTube and in podcast form on Apple and Spotify.

In this episode of Wesleyan Ways, Martha Stokes and Bishop Sue Halpert Johnson engage with Reverend Charlie Baber to explore the identity of United Methodists through the lens of John and Charles Wesley's teachings. They discuss the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ, the role of Scripture, and the necessity of holy living. The conversation emphasizes the Wesleyan tradition of interpreting faith through experience, reason, and community, while also addressing the need for a compassionate understanding of God's love. The episode concludes with a call to reclaim the essence of Jesus in modern contexts and to embody the transformative power of faith in everyday life.

This fall, the Virginia Annual Conference will debut a new web series, Wesleyan Ways: Exploring Our Methodist Roots. Guided by Jim Harnish’s book The Journey to the Center of Faith, the series will take us on a deeper exploration of what it means to live and grow as United Methodists. Watch this promo to the series with Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, Rev. Dr. Jason Stanley, and Jim Harnish.

Find the curriculum and more information at https://vaumc.org/wesleyanways/

We are grateful for great friends and colleagues, great conversation, and a great cup of coffee. This is a new series called "Clergy to Clergy."

Watch this conversation with our two new District Superintendents (Rev. Lindsey Baynham Freeman, Mission Rivers, and Rev. Dr. Kyungsuk Cho, Shenandoah River) as they sit down for conversation and coffee.

Available on YouTube and in podcast form on Apple and Spotify.

Advocacy and justice are central to our life of faith as United Methodist and as Christians whether or not it is an election year. As we continue to prepare for the upcoming election and beyond, VAUMC's Assistant Director of Missional and Community Engagement, Rev. Jo Ann Batteiger sat down for a conversation with Rev. Dr. LaKeisha Cook, Co-Executive Director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and Rev. Katie Gooch, Director of the Pace Center Campus Ministry at VCU and co-chair of VAUMC's Conference Legislative Network to do a deeper dive into the historical role of advocacy through the lens of faith, and consider what the next faithful step that individuals and faith communities can take to fully live into their calling as justice-centered people.

RISC (Richmonders Involved in Strengthening Communities) is a justice ministry organization made of 25+ congregations from around the Richmond area. Their work is centered in people coming together to do justice to make a collective impact and systemic change. RISC is part of a larger network called DART (Direct Action Research Training Center), and their partner organization is IMPACT in Charlottesville. Their congregational involvement and organizational partnerships, however, goes beyond Richmond and Charlottesville proper and involve communities within the surrounding areas. The Missional and Community Engagement Office partners with RISC alongside other community organizing and advocacy groups across the Commonwealth to strengthen the link between the work of mission and the work of justice

As the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election draws nearer, the VAUMC will share resources with the conference on topics ranging from how to have hard conversations to the impact on community organizing and advocacy in light of the current social and political climate, a climate that local churches and individuals must navigate as people of faith. In this conversation, Dr. James C. Howell, Senior Pastor of Myers Park UMC in Charlotte, N.C., talks with Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page, VAUMC DCM for Innovation & Creativity, on the things Christians can be unified on and considering the soul of The United States.

Find more content at www.vaumc.org/votingwhilechristian.

As the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election draws nearer, the VAUMC will share resources with the conference on topics ranging from how to have hard conversations to the impact on community organizing and advocacy in light of the current social and political climate, a climate that local churches and individuals must navigate as people of faith.

In this conversation, Rev. Jacob Alan Cook, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Co-Director of The Shalom Collaboratory at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, talks with Madeline White, VAUMC Director of Communications, on conflict transformatio

Join Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page, Rev. Jeffrey Mickle, and Debbie Cali as they discuss the Legislative Committee on Financial Administration.

In the months leading up to General Conference, Virginia delegates engage in conversation about each Legislative Committee and what they expect and hope for with the upcoming conference.

You can listen to the podcast version here - https://vaumc.org/gc2024/

Join Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page and Rev. Beth Givens as they discuss the Legislative Committee on Judicial Administration.

In the months leading up to General Conference, Virginia delegates engage in conversation about each Legislative Committee and what they expect and hope for with the upcoming conference.