Corning United Methodist Church

08/23/2026

The church service today

08/16/2026

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, God turns wounds into witness, Pastor Pierre Omadjela

08/02/2026

10th Sunday after Pentecost, “Blessed Through the Struggle” Genesis 32:22–31, Pastor Pierre Omadjela.

07/11/2026

We have new shirts. If you want to order, please contact the church or Amber Tye.

(Ignore the July 10th deadline)

07/07/2026

⛪️📖🎉Vacation Bible School Volunteers

Tuesday July 7th there will be a VBS meeting for all those wanting to help at 5pm

06/24/2026

This Thursday, join us at the church for an onboarding potluck to welcome Pastor Pierre! We hope you can make it and look forward to gathering together!

06/15/2026

06/14/2026

❤️Annual Conference Day 3❤️

Today began with some legislative work as we voted on Action Item #601 a Resolution opposing conversion or reparative therapy and legislation permitting it. This piece of legislation was submitted by the LGBTQ+ Full Inclusion Committee of the Iowa Conference and before voting began one of the authors of the resolution shared his story as a survivor of conversion therapy. The action item was passed.

Following our first piece of legislation we voted on the resolution for the approval of local church closures. This year we voted on and honored the faithful communities of:
Carter Lake
Cedar Rapids, Sharon
Davenport, Faith
Des Moines, Christ
Des Moines, Jordan
Duncombe
Indianola, Farmers Chapel
Norway
Oxford
Turin
Woolstock

Following a break we had a learning session on Building Beloved Community when Christian Nationalism was on the rise. Presenters included: Rev. Heecheon Jeong, Dr. Jeff Anderson (IAUMC Legislative Advocate), Rev. Dr. Lydia Esther Muñoz, and Rev. Jonathan Heifner.

Today the laity voted on their delegates to General and North Central Jurisdictional Conference, and were able to complete their voting in one vote!! Four laity were elected, with the same number for alternate and reserve delegates. The elected delegates include:
Nitza Dovenspike
Lindsay Drake
Angela Hansen-Abbas
Judi Calhoon
Kade Rogers (Alternate)
Ronald Peeler (Alternate)
Blessing Cunigan (Alternate)
Myah Ford (Alternate)
Shannon Meister (Reserve)
Erica Shannon Stueve (Reserve)
Kae Trittle (Reserve)
Kathleen A Mitchell (Reserve)

Mid-day we had a memorial service in which we honored clergy and clergy spouses who have gone on to glory within the last year.

Following the memorial service we voted on two more pieces of legislation:
Action Item #603 -Resolution Encouraging a May Date for Annual Conference. This resolution was not passed.
Action Item #604 - Resolution for Voting Rights Protections. This resolution was passed.

We ended our day with an address from our Conference Lay Leader, Angela Hansen-Abbas and Laity Session in which we celebrated the good work laity all across the Iowa Conference have engaged in!

For more information regarding this year’s Annual Conference visit: https://www.iaumc.org/AC2026

06/13/2026

❤️Annual Conference Day 2❤️

Today we received several reports from various ministries and agencies including:
- General Board of Global Ministries and General Board of Higher Education who shared about the good work that UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) has been doing over the past year in thanks to faithful giving on the part of local churches as they reported that last year $377,700 was given to advance specials!
- Catie Newman the Disaster Response Coordinator for the Conference reported that 101 tornadoes have occurred in Iowa since January 1, 2026! She also shared how local churches can help communities who have been impacted by severe weather.
- New Communities of Faith shared about new communities of faith that have formed in the last year (from new churches to Bible studies to small groups) and encouraged each church to believe in their ability to begin a new community of faith!

The bulk of our day was focused on electing clergy delegates for General Conference (May 8-16, 2028 in Minneapolis, MN) and the North Central Jurisdicitional Conference (July 12-15, 2028 at the West Ohio Conference). Four clergy are elected, with the same number for alternate and reserve delegates. All delegation members engage in preparation for these conferences.
The elected delegates include:
Rev. Katie Dawson
Rev. LaTonya Calderon
Rev. Ron Carlson
Rev. Heecheon Jean
Rev. Michel Lundula (Alternate)
Rev. Andrea Kraushaar (Alternate)
Rev. Nate Nims (Alternate)
Rev. Brian Milford (Alternate)
Rev. Tim Bonney (Reserve)
Rev. Gregory Neal (Reserve)
Rev. Brian Oliver (Reserve)
Rev. LeAnn Robine (Reserve)

Tomorrow the laity will vote on the lay delegation for these two conferences.

Following the clergy delegation vote we took part in some legislation including:
- Voting on the consideration of a registration fee for future Annual Conferences. This piece of legislation was not passed through.
- Voting on a proposal regarding developing new communities of faith. This was voted to return to committee for some editorial changes.
- The biggest piece of legislation voted on and discussed today was in regard to consider the selling the Conference Center in Des Moines. It was reported that it currently costs $200,000 yearly to keep the building operational and there are an estimated $1 million in needed repairs. The Conference Board of Trustees are seeking permission to investigate the viability of the sale of the building that is estimated to be worth $3-4 million. If the building were to be sold that money would be invested with the Iowa United Methodist Foundation and interest would be used to offset the Conference budget. After much discussion it was voted to grant the Conference Trustees to investigate this matter further.

We concluded our day with a celebration of ministries with the theme of “Kingdom Cup” in honor of the World Cup!

Pastor Pierre also stopped by and greeted Pastor LeAnn and Monica! Be in prayer for Pastor Pierre as he prepares for Licensing School next week!

For more information regarding this year’s Annual Conference visit: https://www.iaumc.org/AC2026