Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson shares an update about the Appointive Cabinet of the Virginia Annual Conference
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson announces the appointment of two new District Superintendents to serve the Virginia Annual Conference beginning July 1, 2024: Rev. F. Elizabeth (Beth) Givens will serve the Coastal Virginia District, and Rev. Kirk Nave will serve the...
Looking ahead to General Conference next year
By Heather Hahn Dec. 18, 2023 | CHARLOTTE, N.C. (UM News) After a four-year delay, the next General Conference is rapidly approaching in just over four months. With time of the essence, the commission that plans The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly met...
New staff person announced in Connectional Ministries
December 12, 2023 Rev. Amanda Garber will join the Connectional Ministries staff on January 1, 2024 as the new Director of Missional Engagement. Garber served most recently as Lead and Founding Pastor of RISE in Harrisonburg, Va., which began as a new faith community...
First UMC Fox Hill Food Pantry Receives $2,000 Donation from Food Lion
Source: First UMC Fox Hill First United Methodist Church Fox Hill Food Pantry Receives Donation from Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation Feeding the Hungry grant addresses food insecurity; supports nutrition education First United Methodist Church Fox Hill (Hampton,...
Communication of Revised Clergy Housing Policy
Communication of Revised Clergy Housing Policy. 11/30/23 In order to provide greater equity in clergy housing, the Bishop and Cabinet, with input from the Just Compensation Task Force, has approved a revision to the Clergy Housing Policy at their November meeting....
United Methodist Church bishops call for peace in the Holy Land
By: The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church Meeting at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina November 10, 2023 United Methodist Church bishops call for peace in the Holy Land “Give Peace A Chance” Christ’s true disciples must work for peace: build it and not...
Partnering with FAMIL to Help Wounded Heroes
As we approach this Veterans Day weekend, the Virginia Annual Conference recognizes the work of the VAUMC Refugee Response Team. This team shares the following message and opportunity with the membership of the Virginia Annual Conference:Veterans Day is a day to honor...
New Series Focuses on UMC Future
October 22, 2023 The first episode of Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson's new web series "Strength for Today. A Bright Hope For Tomorrow // God's vision for the next chapter of the United Methodist Church" is out now. This is a video and podcast series where Bishop Sue...
Global Ministries Announces Recent EarthKeepers Trainees
Global Ministries EarthKeepers is a program to train and support United Methodist laity and clergy in addressing local environmental concerns and the systemic structures that give rise to those concerns. It is a response to the call to practice social and...
VAUMC shares local church status following last Special Called Annual Conference related to disaffiliation, Paragraph 2553
The Virginia Annual Conference held four Special Called sessions from 2022 to 2023 for churches who followed the disaffiliation process outlined in Paragraph 2553 from the Book of Discipline to be considered for ratification by the Annual Conference body. As a result,...
Becoming a Climate Just Congregation
By: Brian Christoffersen In response to the growing evidence of climate change’s harm to the most vulnerable and creation, our dependence on dirty energy sources, and unjust energy burdens, we are called through God’s love to the transformative work of a Just Energy...
Prayers for Peace in Israel & Palestine
October 9, 2023 At the Special Called Annual Conference on October 7, 2023, Bishop Sue shared the following regarding the erupting war in the Holy Land, "We awoke this morning to news from Israel and our own divisions seem minor compared to the huge strife that some...
Mission Project: McPherson Residence
From: Keith Vernon, PastorProvidence UMC (Patrick)I am pastor at Providence UMC in Patrick County on the Mt. View District. We are currently undertaking a major mission project that is beyond our capacity to complete without the help of the connection. It is our...
Special Called Annual Conference Session Report (October 7, 2023)
October 7, 2023 A Special Called Annual Conference session was held on October 7, 2023 for the Virginia Annual Conference membership to consider the ratification of 120 local churches seeking to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church over matters of human...
Open Enrollment begins Oct. 9 and will end Oct. 31
Open Enrollment for Benefit Plan Elections 2024 will begin on Monday, October 9th and end on Tuesday, October 31st.Open Enrollment is the annual period when all benefits eligible Virginia Conference active clergy, pre-Medicare eligible retired clergy, and lay...
UMC and BSA agreements remain the same from 2022
It is that time of year when your church may consider renewing or establishing agreements with community organizations or ministries, including the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). On December 21, 2022, the conference shared information about BSA and approved agreements...
Skunk on the Table: Episode 4 “Financial Impacts & Next Steps After Disaffiliation”
Skunk on the Table is a video, podcast and article series focused on simple and clear conversations about topics of interest to the conference and denomination. In this episode, David Dommisse, Conference Treasurer, answers questions related to disaffiliation in the...
LA ministry focuses on connection, relationships
“I hopped off a plane at LAX// with a dream and a cardigan.” The immortalized words of MIley Cyrus sang throughout my mind as we waited for our Uber at the Los Angeles airport one Sunday evening in late July 2023. Rev. Dr. LaKeenya Cooper and I made our way out to Los...
Bishop calls for prayer for Christians in Pakistan
August 17, 2023– Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson released a video statement to the Virginia Conference on August 17, 2023 asking the conference to join in prayer for Christians in Pakistan. She shared that 21 churches right now have been burned. “There is disturbing...
Pray for Hawaii
UMCOR is coordinating with the California-Pacific Annual Conference to process an initial grant for emergency supplies such as shelf-stable food, water, hygiene items and tools to help survivors recover belongings as first responders continue to provide initial aid in...
More information to come in September 2023 about Oct. 7 AC
The last Special Called Annual Conference in the Virginia Conference to consider local church disaffiliation under Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline is scheduled for Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 9 a.m. via Zoom webinar. More information will be forthcoming in...
Additional Just Resolution reached in June 2023
A Just Resolution was reached in the complaint pending against Rev. Dr. Rhonda VanDyke and an agreement was signed by all parties on June 14, 2023. In an effort to promote ongoing dialogue and broader reconciliation and healing within the body of Christ, the parties...
Statement from CEMCA co-chairs on end of Affirmative Action
The Commission on Ethnic Minority Concerns and Advocacy (CEMCA) mourns the death of affirmative action, not just in higher education but as an infrastructure for repairing America’s racism. The US Supreme Court’s decision ruling the use of affirmative action as...
New staff announced in Connectional Ministries
New staff announced in Connectional Ministries June 27, 2023 Three new staff will be joining the Connectional Ministries Team in Summer 2023. Rev. Dr. LaKeeyna Cooper will start July 1, 2023 as Director of Missional Engagement. Cooper served most recently as Director...
AC 2023 Report
2023 Virginia Annual Conference: United as One in Mission You can view all the proceedings of AC 2023 by visiting the archived livestream of the 241st session: https://vaumc.org/ac2023/. You can view photos from the event at the conference Flickr page. The 2023-2024...
Joint Statement on Just Resolution
A Just Resolution was reached in the complaint pending against Rev. Andrew Stanton Ensz and an agreement was signed by all parties on June 5, 2023. The complaint against Rev. Ensz was made after he performed a same-gender wedding on September 21, 2019, a ministerial...
Bishop shares call to action following Richmond high school graduation shooting
June 6, 2023--A gunman opened fire on a crowd following Huguenot High School’s graduation at Monroe Park on Tuesday evening in Richmond, Va. The park is on Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus. Two individuals died as a result of their injuries: 18-year-old Shawn...
AC 2023 Mission Opportunities Update
Your Help is needed! We are 9 days away from our gathering in Roanoke, VA, and we need your help! All the Mission opportunities provided through the Conference cannot be completed without the help of our members! Please consider signing up for the following...
THE COMMISSION ON ETHNIC MINORITY CONCERNS AND ADVOCACY (CEMCA) 2023 ANNUAL REPORT
The Commission on Ethnic Minority Concerns and Advocacy (CEMCA) is called to advocate for the full and equal participation of all ethnic and racial constituents in the life and mission of the Virginia Annual Conference, to be a voice to the church for their concerns,...
An Evening with Rev Dr Sergei Nikolaev
On Saturday, February 25th, several members of the Virginia Conference attended a reception and dinner at the Baltimore-Washington Conference headquarters to greet the President of the Moscow Seminary, Rev Dr Sergei Nikolaev. Attending from the Virginia Conference...