Our mission:

United Methodist News Service is the source of news about the United Methodist Church, providing coverage in all available media. The news service adheres to the highest standards of quality, objectivity and credibility, producing reports that are compelling and timely. It raises the visibility of the church worldwide by providing news to the secular media as well as church communicators and the general public.

Our mandate:

2000 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 1806.1. "It (United Methodist Communications) shall be the official news-gathering and distributing agency for The United Methodist Church and its general agencies. In discharging its responsibilities, in keeping with the historic freedom of the press, it shall operate with editorial freedom as an independent news bureau serving all segments of church life and society, making available to both religious and public news media information concerning the church at large."

Reproducing our news:

The stories, photographs and other material on this Web site are the property of United Methodist News Service.

Print publications may use UMNS stories at no charge, as long as credit is given to United Methodist News Service. Photographs may be used only for editorial purposes in print publications, and UMNS or the appropriate source mentioned in the cutline must be credited.

Web sites interested in reproducing UMNS stories or photos must obtain written permission.

UMNS reserves the right to take legal action if these terms are violated.