UM & Global announces new format

I am excited to announce a new format for UM & Global.  This new format involves several elements:

1. Visual redesign - As regular readers will have recognized by now, we've updated the look and feel of the blog.  We've added a distinctive logo, changed the color scheme accordingly, and moved to a three-column format.

2. Regular contributors - For most of the blog's history, we've featured a series of guest posts on the UMC's mission theology, Grace Upon Grace, and occasionally on other topics.  We're transitioning to a format that will include regular contributions by a list of select authors.  This list will increasingly include writers from outside the US as we try to provide a more globally representative selection of UMC views.  You can find the list of regular contributors on the right-hand side of the blog.  This list will continue to expand as new contributors are added.

3. Main topic categories - To help readers better navigate the content of UM & Global, we've identified six main topics covered by the blog - mission, global ecclesiology, global social issues, culture and diversity, international partnerships, and ecumenical and inter-religious relationships.  These topics reflect both the historic content of the blog and our foci for future posts.  You can find links to blogs on these topics on the right-hand side of the blog.

4. Global UMC news tweets - To better integrate the blog and the associated Twitter account, @globalumc, which has also been visually redesigned to better match the blog, tweets and re-tweets from that account with links to stories relevant to the global UMC now appear in the left-hand side of the blog.  This will supplement the online paper United Methodist Globe that compiles tweets from the @globalumc Twitter account and other accounts.

It's our hope at UM & Global that these changes will continue to make UM & Global an important source for news and views that help foster conversations about the global nature of The United Methodist Church.