We see a worldwide United Methodist Church driven to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. To live more fully into this vision, we are working toward deeper connections throughout the church, greater local authority, and more equitable sharing of power and representation around the world.
Worldwide UMC Committee Offers Steps for 2012 General Conference;
Global Book of Discipline, Worldwide Covenant Among Key Proposals
The 2012 United Methodist General Conference is being challenged to more fully embrace the denomination’s expanding worldwide presence and ministry.
After seeking input around the world, an international panel has completed its proposals for the April-May 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla.
The 20-member Committee to Study the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church is offering legislation to:
“Members of the committee met with church leaders on every continent where a United Methodist annual conference is located,” said Bishop Scott J. Jones of Wichita, Kan., chair of the committee. The Connectional Table and the Council of Bishops following the 2008 General Conference named the committee.
“We believe our church must move forward to more clearly reflect its worldwide presence. That includes moving from being centered on the United States to being centered on ministry around the world. After all, John Wesley looked upon all the world as his parish,” Jones added.
The committee will have two opportunities to present its findings to the General Conference. One will be as a report on the day that the Episcopal and Laity addresses are made. The other opportunity will occur during plenary time before the 13 General Conference committees begin their detailed work.
The committee plans to create an interactive presentation for the full General Conference involving live and videotaped presentations, and guided small-group conversations about the existing worldwide nature of the denomination and how it can move forward in unity.
In its report, the committee reached a number of conclusions based on input from United Methodist individuals and church-related organizations in the United States, Africa, Europe, and the Philippines. “United Methodists in the Central Conferences outside the United States are proud to be part of a worldwide United Methodist Church,” the committee said.
Through its work, it concluded United Methodists around the world:
That commitment to unity and desire for equity around the world led the committee to look at its charge from the 2008 General Conference, and create a series of action/policy steps that served as the foundation for the recommendations to the 2012 General Conference.
United Methodists, the committee said, need to move forward by:
Continuing the conversation for future changes by setting in motion a process for discussion of a new structural model for a worldwide church.
The committee’s full report has been submitted for inclusion in the Advance Christian Daily Advocate.
Contact: Stephen Drachler, communications consultant to the committee. sedrachler@gmail.com or 717.926.7240
A UMNS Report By Heather Hahn*
5:00 P.M. EST June 1, 2011 An international panel of United Methodist leaders is offering three ways to make the denomination less U.S.-centric and strengthen its worldwide connection.
The group’s suggestions include:
Urging General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body, in 2012 to adopt “A Covenant for the Church as a Worldwide Church.”
Streamlining the Book of Discipline so that the denomination’s law book focuses on law and doctrine that applies to the entire global church rather than dealing with predominantly U.S. issues.
Renewing conversation about restructuring the denomination so that General Conference can concentrate solely on issues that affect the church worldwide.
The committee does not expect any action on its suggested structural changes until the 2016 General Conference at the earliest.
The 20-member Committee to Study the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church seeks feedback to its ideas by June 15 at its website or by email at response@worldwideumc.org.
The committee plans to release a full report in July ahead of the 2012 General Conference.
“We believe that living more fully into our worldwide nature is a long process,” said Kansas Area Bishop Scott J. Jones, the chair of the committee. “We’re wanting to help the church take the next steps.”
Serving a changing church
The United Methodist Church has nearly 40,000 congregations in the United States, Africa, Europe and the Philippines. In 2010, the denomination reported more than 12 million members worldwide.
For more than 40 years, the denomination’s U.S. membership has been declining, even as the church in Africa and the Philippines has been growing. Today, about 7.8 million United Methodists live in the United States.
The denomination’s Council of Bishops and Connectional Table named Jones’ committee in 2009 to study the denomination’s changing demographics and take recommendations to General Conference.
For the past three years, the committee has been holding listening sessions with United Methodists around the world.
Committee members have learned that United Methodists in most regions have no desire to be autonomous. “They want to belong to a worldwide church,” said the Rev. Forbes Matonga, a committee member in Harare, Zimbabwe. “That was very clear. But it was clear also that the current structure gives domination to the U.S. part of the church over other regions.” That needs to change, Matonga said.
In 2012, the committee’s main emphasis will be the General Conference’s adoption of the covenant as a statement of intent. Such adoption will require a majority vote by delegates.
“United Methodist churches throughout the world are bound together in a connectional covenant in which we support and hold each other accountable for faithful discipleship and mission,” the committee declares in the covenant’s current draft. “Through a worldwide covenant relationship, we also carry out our missional calling beyond national and regional boundaries.”
The committee has requested an hour of plenary time at the 2012 General Conference for conversation on the proposed covenant. Matonga hopes the covenant will “move the church from legalistic engagement to connectional engagement where it is our common faith that brings us together.”
Clarifying the Book of Discipline
Jones said the petition to slim down the Book of Discipline is more of a clarification than a dramatic change at this point. “The (denomination’s) constitution says you can adapt the Book of Discipline, but nobody knows which parts are adaptable and which aren’t,” he said. “The crucial question here is what questions belong to the unity of the church and must be kept at the General Conference level and what things are appropriately decided by regions or annual conferences.”
The committee’s proposed legislation to the 2012 General Conference specifies which parts of the Discipline are bedrock and global in nature. These include the denomination’s constitution, doctrinal standards, Social Principles, standards of ordained ministry, rules on church property and the organization of various church institutions, among other matters.
In contrast, Jones pointed to theological education as an example of an area where the church should welcome more diversity. Accepting the legislation by majority vote would open the door to have a more streamlined Book of Discipline in the future, Jones said, but the committee is not seeking such a change immediately.
Church restructuring
The committee’s third proposal regarding church restructuring will have a familiar ring to many United Methodists. The group calls for church members to discuss creating “Continental Conferences,” new regional bodies in North America, Africa, Asia and Europe/Eurasia to focus on regional church issues. Under such restructuring, General Conference would still meet every four years, but its role would narrow to include only issues of global relevance.
In 2009 and early 2010, voters at annual (regional) conferences rejected constitutional amendments that would have formed similar regional structures. “A number of people voted against this simply because they did not understand (what it would do),” Matonga said. “They did not want to give a blank check to something when they really don’t understand the consequences.” The debate about restructuring the church also got caught up in discussions of homosexuality, an issue that surfaces at each General Conference. Some voters feared that decisions regarding the denomination’s ban on self-avowed, practicing gay clergy would be left up to individual regions.
To address these concerns, the committee agreed in 2010 to keep doctrinal and ministerial qualifications under the umbrella of the worldwide church and in the Book of Discipline that applies to the entire church. That means that issues related to homosexuality would remain the province of the General Conference. “What the study committee is doing is inviting people into more conversation,” Jones said. “We think that the defeat of the constitutional amendments was not the end of the story. ... What we heard during the constitutional-amendment discussion is that people want more details. The Book of Discipline legislation provides more details.”
Restructuring is something the church will need to consider strongly as it prepares for the next century, Matonga said. “The center of Christianity is shifting from the Western world to the so-called Third World,” he said. “Therefore, if we want to be sensitive to the future of Christianity, we will have to recognize the shift, especially to the African continent.”
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
African Churches Desire Equal Voice
African United Methodists desire a greater voice, more sharing of power and the ability to adapt some church rules to local contexts.
And a study committee exploring the global nature of the denomination is listening.
After meeting with church leaders throughout the continent, the Committee to Study the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church decided to work toward goals that include defining the covenant that unites the global church, promoting greater regional connections, exploring how the denomination’s Book of Discipline can be adapted for local needs and examining the U.S. and international roles of general agencies.
Throughout their visit, committee leaders were encouraged by the church in Africa’s great commitment to and desire to serve The United Methodist Church.
“We understood over and over again that it was a vision to not only serve the needs of people in this country, but also to be engaged in worldwide ministries,” said Bishop Scott Jones, study committee chair.
Hearing global perspectives
The committee studying the global nature of the church visited Africa in August as part of its mission to hear representative voices throughout the denomination before it makes its recommendations to the 2012 General Conference, the church’s top legislative body.
The Revs. Forbes Matonga and Bruce Robbins share ideas.
A UMNS photo by Isaac Broune.
Divided in four groups, study committee members listened to church representatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe from August 14 to 17.
The committee asked three basic questions: “How is God at work in your church to accomplish the mission of The United Methodist Church? What are the things that are working well? If you could change one thing in The United Methodist Church, what would you change?”
The whole committee then met in Abidjan on Aug. 19-22, where members shared their experiences and heard from leaders of the Côte d’Ivoire Annual (regional) Conference.
After listening to African leaders speak of their desire to be of greater service to the denomination, the study committee assigned four goals to subcommittees.
The first goal is to develop a covenant that helps the church express its theology in ways — including multiple translations of resources — that serve the global church. As United Methodists think more globally, Jones said, “They understand cultural differences in relating to each other.”
Another subcommittee will look at ways to provide greater regional connections. “In Africa, there are three central conferences. How often do people from all parts of Africa meet to talk about things like theological education and other issues related to them?” Jones asked.
A third subcommittee will prepare recommendations on adaptations that can be made to the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s book of rules and bylaws, to meet local needs. A fourth will study general agencies to determine whether they are global agencies or U.S. agencies.
Voices of hope
“Coming to Africa to hear the voice of the church is something that we need to celebrate,” Bishop Benjamin Boni of Côte d’Ivoire said in his welcoming words to the committee.
That optimism extended throughout the consultation.
Bishop John Innis of Liberia, a study committee member, said the African visit promises “great things for the church by the time the committee complete its work.”
Boni also expects a lot from the study. He said the denomination needs to advance into “the deep waters of evangelization” and social action with efficient policies that bring forth the glory of God to the world.
“African realities are different from those of Asia or America. The study committee’s concern to hear all parties involved in the global church needs to be praised, all the more so since we all have certain features in common as well as specificities,” Boni said. “We must continue to live the global dimension of the denomination while taking into account our specific characteristics. This is extremely important.”
*Broune is a United Methodist communicator based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
News media contact: David Briggs, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Group defers gay issue to 2012 (United Methodist News Service article on Manila meeting of Study Committee) http://tinyurl.com/2d3qtov
Twenty United Methodists from across the globe have been named to a committee to develop recommendations related to the worldwide nature of The United Methodist Church.
The committee members, named by Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops and Bishop John Hopkins, chairperson of the Connectional Table, will study the denomination’s changing worldwide demographics as well as its structural needs and take recommendations to the 2012 General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body.
Last May, the 2008 General Conference made a cautious step toward reorganizing the 11.5 million-member United Methodist Church so it does not appear to be a U.S. church with satellite locations in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Delegates voted to consider recommendations proposed by a study group that submitted 23 petitions to amend the church’s constitution to allow for the creation of a regional conference for the United States. The recommendations include the possibility of making the United States a “central conference” similar to other conferences elsewhere in the world.
The 2008 delegates requested that the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table create a 20-member committee to consider the study group’s recommendations, and they suggested that the six members of the early study be included in the new committee. The new group also will consider the financial implications of proposed changes in structure and report in 2012.
“The General Conference has asked this committee to do work that will lead the church in thinking about its future shape and practice,” Palmer said. “ I pray and trust that they will do their work with deep faith, enormous sensitivity and an eye only to the glory of God and the mission of the church … making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Joint nominating committee
The Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table appointed a joint nominating committee at their respective meetings last November and received nominations from their bodies for the study committee’s membership.
“The Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table have appointed a diverse group of gifted United Methodists from all geographical regions to continue the conversation of the worldwide nature of our church,” Hopkins said. “We need to surround the members of this study committee with prayer as they draft the next chapter of God’s worldwide mission for United Methodists.”
The members of the committee are David Beckley (Mississippi Conference), Elisabeth Englund (Sweden Conference), the Rev. Ruby-Nell Estrella (Philippines Conference), Sandra Ferguson (Baltimore-Washington Conference), Richard Grounds (Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference), Bishop John Innis (Liberia Conference) and Bishop Scott Jones (Kansas Area).
Also, the Rev. Ilunga Kandolo Kasolwa (North Katanga Conference), Matthew Laferty (East Ohio Conference), the Rev. Forbes Matonga (Zimbabwe Conference), the Rev. Timothy McClendon (South Carolina Conference), Bishop Ruediger Minor (Germany Central Conference), Christine Mlambo (Zimbabwe East Conference) and the Rev. Lyssette Pérez (Greater New Jersey Conference).
Also, the Rev. Joon Sik-Park (West Ohio Conference), the Rev. Bruce Robbins (Minnesota Conference), Bishop Leo Soriano (Davao Area Conference), the Rev. Cathy Stengel (Western New York Conference), Marjorie Suchocki (California-Pacific Conference) and Monalisa Tuitahi (California-Pacific Conference).
Bishop Scott Jones was named chairperson of the committee by the Council of Bishops.
For more information about the Worldwide Nature of the Church Study Committee, contact Jones by e-mail at kansasbishop@kwestumc.org or by calling (316) 686-0600.
In January 2008, the Pre General Conference briefing designated a plenary to discuss the 2008 proposal. Click here to read an account of that discussion.
Bishops Seek Younger Church Membership by 2019 Click to view story from United Methodist News Service http://tinyurl.com/ykc68rt
Connectional Table Okays New Plan to Study Church Click to view story from United Methodist News Service http://tinyurl.com/yd4z2zs