Welcome back from General Conference! Thank you to all our delegates and members of Upper Midwest Churches that attended! I know we will hear from our delegation all that they experience and accomplished. There is so many reasons to rejoice. General Conference announced that we are a family of 7250 churches spread over 50 annual conferences. We continue to grow! The General Conference passed a unified Articles of Faith. We know who we are, what we believe and how we act in th

In The Cost of Discipleship (1937), Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed that "Jesus calls us not to a new religion, but to new life." My name is Rev. Angie Vertz, and I serve at Hazen Methodist Church in Hazen, North Dakota—a wonderful, close-knit rural community of 2,200 people. Before coming here, I served in Kansas and Nebraska after graduating from Saint Paul School of Theology. As a single mother of three grown children, and today I live with my fourth "child"—a spunky longhair

For the past several months, I have used this space to work through a Wesleyan understanding of grace and salvation. Throughout that journey, I have done two things: First, I used the traditional theological language (prevenient, sanctification, etc.). This was to introduce the terms to anyone who might not already be familiar with them, and to make it clear how these discussions might show up in other places. The other thing I did on purpose, though it is up to the reader to

“Call to Me, and I will answer you and Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” - Jeremiah 33:3 Praise God for the incredible milestone we are celebrating: the birth of our Conference's first new church plant, 1927 Church, under the leadership of Pastor Cam Scott. I believe many of you are already aware that on Sunday, September 27, at the 10:00 AM worship service, 1927 Church will officially launch its public ministry in

For generations, a barn raising brought a community together to help a family build something they could not easily build alone. Everyone brought what they could - labor, tools, materials, experience, and encouragement - and together they prepared for the work and harvest ahead. That concept gave rise to the Barn Raising Initiative - a practical way to live into our vision for the Upper Midwest to be a Conference where Every Church Plants. When a church plant is preparing for

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 NIV We are grateful for all of you who support Women’s Ministry in your local churches and in our wonderful Upper Midwest Conference! This month we check in again with Joy Ministry from Clarinda Methodist Church. They recently celebrated 5 years of serving the Lord with gladness. What began as a small God-given idea has led to delivering Joy to church family and others in the community. Monthly visits