The Committee to Study the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church just completed several days of meeting and listening in the Philippines, where we heard from United Methodists and affiliated and autonomous Methodists.

Just after the meeting ended, the Council of Bishops released the results from voting on 23 constitutional amendments approved by the 2008 General Conference. Every annual conference voted on the amendments. They were part of a plan to reorganize and realign our organizational structures around the world. They failed to receive the votes needed to become part of the constitution.

What does this result mean for our work? What does it mean for the future of The United Methodist Church?

Here is our response, which we released following the bishops’ announcement of the vote:

As members of the committee studying the worldwide nature of The United Methodist Church, we have great appreciation for all those who participated in the voting on amendments to our denomination’s Constitution.

In rejecting the amendments related to the worldwide nature of the UMC, we believe members of annual conferences around the world are sending a strong message that this specific vehicle for change was flawed. It left many issues open to broad interpretation. It was unclear how the changes, if approved, would have been implemented.

To some, the proposals were theologically suspect. To others the process seemed overly complicated.

These votes do not alter the fact that the focus of our church is moving from North America to other parts of the world. The 2008 General Conference gave us the task to discern how the church can better do its work – making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world – in this changing context. We pray our work results in clear, biblically-and-Wesleyan-focused strategies and a new unity among United Methodists around the world.

As we observed the voting process in 2009, it was clear to us no matter how the voting turned out, there were many lessons to be learned.

As we do our work, we are listening before acting. That is why we have endeavored to be transparent, and to seek out the views of United Methodists of varying theological perspectives, ethnic, racial, and geographic backgrounds. We are circling the globe in our effort to focus on the worldwide nature of United Methodist ministry.

We just returned from meeting with United Methodist and affiliated, autonomous Methodists in the Philippines. We learned things in these meetings that we would not have learned anywhere else. Our brothers and sisters from the Philippines showed us the vital importance of Methodism’s unique connectional nature, but also their need to be able to make decisions that factor in local conditions and traditions.

Over the summer, we will be gathering information from our sisters and brothers across Africa. After conducting listening posts in several African countries, we will meet in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

As we begin to frame our report, be assured we will take into serious consideration the messages from the vote on the 2008 constitutional amendments.

Please keep us, and every group seeking God’s guidance for The United Methodist Church, in your prayers.

Posted by Stephen Drachler, communications consultant to the committee