United Methodist News Service has a nice year-ender on all the doings in their denomination during 2007.

In edition to all the work they do with peace and justice, as well as disaster relief, UMNS noted that the church’s U.S. membership declined by about 1 percent, while worldwide membership, particularly in Africa and Asia, was up.

And way down near the bottom of the article, you find some stuff on issues that many in the mainstream media consider the most “newsworthy,” i.e. the church’s struggle to hammer out a policy that’s both open to LGBT members and traditionalist members. The Drew Phoenix story (you can find my take here) is a particularly fascinating chapter in that ongoing story.

Also, don’t miss the fine year-ender by our editor, Kevin Eckstrom, which ran in WaPo last weekend.