In the middle of the storm circling The United Methodist Church are the pastors, trying to keep their parishioners’ eyes fixed on Jesus despite the tug of wind and waves. The Call pulled five Holston clergy members aside and asked them to share what...
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Pat Newman has attended a lot of funerals in her lifetime, she says, but the most painful funeral of all happened about six years ago. “That one just gored me. It just never left me. I couldn’t get past it. I said, ‘I’ve got to ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- The March 6 deadline for local churches to submit their disaffiliation paperwork and payments came and went in a subdued way, compared to the intensity of the previous few weeks. That’s what some conference and district staff said ...
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Spatulas were flying and hot cakes were hopping in Holston Conference last Tuesday, as diners observed the prelude to a Christian season by dousing their dinners in syrup and gathering around the (sticky) table. Church members from Rural Retreat to...
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Sixty-eight people have received attorney help with their legal issues since a new ministry started almost a year ago at Cokesbury United Methodist Church. Crystal Schrof is happy for those people, but she wants to put a bigger ...
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- It was the “quintessential military exercise,” said one of the organizers, but also, the first “Veterans Benefits Symposium” at Cokesbury United Methodist Church on Jan. 23 was a prime example of United Methodist connectionalism. ...
UMCOR Turkey & Syria Earthquake Initial Response from Global Ministries on Vimeo. FROM UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Update: Feb. 21, 2023 Please join us in prayer for the people impacted by the new earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, ...
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. – A few days after preaching to 4,000 youth and their leaders at Resurrection, the Rev. Stephanie Hand was still in awe of seeing so many young people joyfully worshiping God and responding to his call on their lives. “It filled ...
Shouldn’t churches be the last places to discriminate against persons with disabilities? A Holston Conference group is encouraging their fellow United Methodists to take an “accessibility audit” to determine if their churches are unintentionally ...
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2022 has been gone two weeks now. Do you miss it yet? Before we say goodbye for good, here a last glance with 29 quotes extracted from a year full of stories related to Holston Conference or our people. All stories are from The Call unless otherwise...
Update | 4:30 p.m., Dec. 22: "The primary need now is volunteers," said the Rev. Tim Jackson. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A church that’s already serving people on the margins in East Knoxville is preparing to shelter them over a Christmas weekend ...
JONESVILLE, Va. -- A pickup truck pulled into the parking lot just as Jackie Terry was headed to her car on a recent Wednesday night at First United Methodist Church in Jonesville. “Is it too late to see the nativities?” the driver of the truck ...
BEAN STATION, Tenn. -- Jo Hatfield didn’t have a lot of money. But she was inspired to do something when her pastor preached about his dream of building a church in Zimbabwe. “She came home talking about it. She was really fired up,” remembers her ...
WHITWELL, Tenn. – First United Methodist Church may have lost the building, but they never lost the vision of what their church could be. Across the street from the Dairy Bar -- in a crowded, skinny property that used to be a flower shop -- First ...
In the midst of finals at Duke Divinity School, Taylor Hines took a moment to talk about his United Methodist scholarships. In Germany where she is serving as a social justice missionary, Libby Birhan Dishman took a moment to talk about her United ...
ATHENS, Tenn. -- When Daniel Ferkin walked in to his first day on the job as Holston Conference archivist, he encountered a jumbled room full of piled-up boxes. It looked more like a college student’s move-in day than a venerable collection of ...
Nov. 11 update: This story has been updated to show that worship occurred one week after the fire, according to the Rev. Judy Keller. SPEEDWELL, Tenn. – After a long, hot summer and a six-month absence, Mountain View United Methodist Church was ...
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Several persons with Holston Conference ties were among the leaders and servants at Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference Nov. 2-4 in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina! Here’s the list and their roles: Rev. Susan Arnold: Support staff. Answered ...
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. – Delegates representing Holston Conference wrapped up a week of meetings, balloting, and worship by celebrating the reassignment of Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett as their episcopal leader. Wallace-Padgett’s return to Holston was...
BY JESSICA BRODIE LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina -- One of the realities of life is that our days are numbered, so let’s fill our days with wisdom and a faithful heart. That was the word from Bishop Mary Virginia "Dindy" Taylor, who preached the ...
Update (4:30 p.m., Nov. 1) - Leamon Burl Lawson, lay delegate, also will not be attending Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Because there are no remaining lay alternates available, Holston Conference will be represented by 23 voting delegates ...
Of 62 churches or individuals giving at least $300 to support the United Methodist Appalachian Ministry Network this year, more than half (35) are local churches in Holston Conference – from Riner, Virginia, to Whitwell, Tennesse. Here’s the list. ...
WHEELING, West. Va. -- United Methodists representing Appalachian ministries from New York to Mississippi met Oct. 5-7 to celebrate a half century of mission and to center on “building a beloved community” amid conflict and hardship. Members of the ...
ALCOA, Tenn. -- What do you need? 596 flood buckets? We’re on it. 7,400 food containers? Done. When Holston Conference churches offered to help Florida communities recover from Hurricane Ian, they weren’t kidding. When the requests finally came from...
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