by Steve | Jul 28, 2023 | Jul-Aug 2023, Magazine Articles
“Beyond These Walls” Propels Missions —
By Lindsey Corley and Steve Beard —
“I believe God is doing a new thing, and I want to be a part of that new thing,” proclaimed the Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah of Liberia during his opening plenary address at the “Beyond These Walls” missions conference in late April. “And I trust that you, too, can be a part of it, in Jesus’ name…”
Kulah serves as Dean of the Bishop Innis Graduate School of Theology, and Vice President for Graduate and Professional Studies at the United Methodist University in Monrovia, Liberia.
With more than 600 participants from the United States, Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America, the event was held at The Woodlands Methodist Church outside of Houston. The primary sponsor of the event was The Global Methodist Church – with more than a dozen mission agencies also supporting the event.
In his address, Kulah recalled the final words of John Wesley before his death on March, 2, 1791. Surrounded by friends and family and having completed his mission here on Earth, Wesley stated, “the best of all, God is with us.”
“As I reflected upon John Wesley’s parting words, I became deeply motivated,” said Kulah. “One of my motivations for speaking here tonight is the fact that despite all that the church of Jesus Christ has gone through, is going through, and may go through, God is with us.”
Kulah challenged the assembly: “Our task is to take the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ beyond the walls of the local church to our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to the ends of the earth… We do this so that every tribe, every language, every people group, every race, every color, every creed, every social or cultural background, every gender might hear the word of God and have an opportunity to say yes to Jesus.”
With worship led by Mark Swayze – known for his leadership at New Room events – and other musicians from The Woodlands congregation, the globally-focused conference included a series of talks and workshops that dealt with subjects as diverse as evangelism, church planting, discipleship, and community development from international practitioners.
In his keynote sermon, the Rev. Dr. David Platt taught on the scene in the gospel of Mark when Jesus overturns the tables of the money changers and those selling offerings and accuses them of being a den of robbers. Despite the activity surrounding the temple, Platt pointed out, the people were missing the fear, reverence, and awe of God.
A nationally-known pastor in metro Washington, D.C., Platt earned his Ph.D. at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of Radical, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
Platt pointed out that there are many similarities to what Christian believers face today and the scene with the money changers. “They had people, the Word, worship, and religious activity… Is it possible for us to have all of these things, and miss the point? Is it possible for us, like them, to have all these things and miss God?” Answering his own question, he said, “Absolutely, it is.”
Platt challenged the assembly to keep an eye on God. “For people who gather every week before the holy, holy, holy God of the universe, could it be that we’re missing fear and reverence and awe before God?” He declared that “the call today is not to get all the nations to come to a temple. We are the temple. We have the Holy Spirit. It’s not nations come to the temple; it’s temples go to the nations.”
Seminars dealt with numerous topics: “The Relationship Between Wesleyan Theology and Mission,” “Moving Into the City and Serving the Urban Poor,” “Holistic Economic And Community Development,” “Wesleyan Discipleship,” “How You Can Make a Mission Trip More than A Bucket List Experience,” “A Wesleyan Understanding of Evangelism,” “How to Raise Up Great Mission Leaders in Your Congregation,” and “Medical Mission and Christian Ministry Integration.”
In her closing address, Danielle Strickland focused on the way that God utilized women in unexpected ways in the ministry of Paul in the Book of Acts and to expose injustice and oppression. Paul’s casting a demon out of the slave girl disrupted the status quo of the culture – “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar” (16:20) – and resulted in Paul’s imprisonment.
“When Paul sacrifices himself, when Paul sacrifices the success even of the gospel,” Strickland said, “when Paul sacrifices his life and his freedom, when Paul willingly gives up his life for an enemy – for a slave girl – you are witnessing the power of God.”
Based in Toronto, Strickland has truly made the world her parish. In addition to her preaching ministry, she has endeavored to combat global human-trafficking. Her podcast has a global audience and her latest book is entitled Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future.
Strickland spoke about the need for disruption. She said that we need to be willing to go into a situation with nothing but the gospel to offer and be open to the unexpected. That same power that Paul utilized to cast out the demon, she said, is “a power that is fueled by love. And love is demonstrated by giving our lives, using our power and privilege in solidarity … placing people over every other aim.”
Strickland concluded her time by leading the assembly in a time of confession and honesty before God. She encouraged the participants to pray aloud for God to open their hands and lives in a “posture of surrender and generosity.”
“That’s what the world’s longing for,” she said. “Would we be open? Would we be open? Would we be open?”
Hearing and responding to the call to world missions was one of the motivating factors behind the “Beyond These Walls” event.
“The conference was just a taste of what the Global Methodist Church aspires to be,” said Cara Nicklas, Chairwoman of the GM Church’s Transitional Leadership Council. “The blend of different languages, cultures, and the challenging speakers made this one of those conferences that will continue to pierce our hearts and fire our imaginations for years to come.”
Lindsey Corley is the editorial assistant at Good News. Steve Beard is the editor of Good News. Photo: The Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah preaches the opening plenary sermon at the “Beyond These Walls” missions event held at The Woodlands Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Photo by Justin Owens, Media Manager, International Leadership Institute.
by Steve | Jul 28, 2023 | Jul-Aug 2023, Magazine Articles
Young People Drive Church Growth in Kyrgyzstan —
By Tim Tanton, KARA-BALTA, Kyrgyzstan (UM News) —
A mighty sound emanates from the small sanctuary where about 60 people, mostly youth and young adults, are praising God. They are packed shoulder-to-shoulder, lifting their voices exuberantly to the beat of a praise band.
The Holy Spirit is in this place, and songs will be sung, testimonies shared and a sermon preached over the course of the next two hours. The one-story building is home to the largest United Methodist congregation in Kyrgyzstan. Towering next to it is the frame for a two-story structure that will accommodate 200 or more people for worship on Sundays when it is complete in the fall.
For Alex Kutsov, 21, Livespring United Methodist Church in Kara-Balta is more than a place to worship.
“It’s my family,” he says. “… I love this church. I see every day how God blesses me and my family in this church.” He has been involved since childhood and plays drums in the worship band. “It is my service and my calling,” he says.
About 60 to 70 people are meeting at Livespring United Methodist Church, says the Rev. Artyom Golov, pastor. While the congregation is age diverse, at least half of the members are young people.
After the worship service, Kutsov and about 70 other young people from the church and community will drive to the nearby mountains to go sliding in the snow, sitting on empty pet food bags and other slick-surfaced items. Then they will grill chicken over a charcoal fire, hear a faith-sharing message, and continue the fun with archery and shooting.
The United Methodist Church is growing in Kyrgyzstan largely through its emphasis on young people. The denomination has six congregations in the Central Asian country, and it operates or ecumenically supports other ministries, such as a residence home for young men leaving orphanages, sports clubs and a computer club, and a gym where young people can work out and hear about faith.
Combined with six congregations in neighboring Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyzstan churches form the Central Asia District, overseen by the Rev. Dmitrii Lysin. The 12 churches and Bible groups comprise about 280 members. A visitor gets a sense of close-knit community among the members, as well as the spirit of a growing movement.
“All of our churches in Eurasia started after 1990,” says Bishop Eduard Khegay, whose Eurasia Episcopal Area includes Central Asia.
The churches do much with limited resources, in some cases even using their sanctuaries as dining areas, and members are hands-on when it comes to improving their space.
At Kainda United Methodist Church, for example, Lysin’s handiwork is evident in pews that he has worked on, as well as electrical wiring and even a refurbished billiards table. Villagers were puzzled by his decision to plant grass instead of potatoes in the church yard, but he had a bigger vision for providing recreational space for young people. He brings creative ideas to his work, having started a magazine for the district three years ago and now working on obtaining equipment for doing videos and podcasts featuring Methodist pastors.
Government rules limit the churches’ ability to share the gospel with local people and invite them to worship. “This is a Muslim culture,” Lysin says. Proselytizing is discouraged. “This is very hard.”
However, they can invite people to youth camps and other activities, and those interactions provide a foundation for building relationships. An annual English forum draws about 70 people and usually results in two or three baptisms, Lysin says. It’s like an evangelical camp, and nonbelievers are invited.
The church also holds seminars for Christian youth in the conference and three to four other camps for nonbelievers that attract about 120 people. A person can attend a camp and form relationships, and over time they may decide to attend a church service.
Lysin says that he came into the church through one of the camps 15 years ago. He and his wife, Elena, are first-generation Christians, as are the other members at Kainda United Methodist Church, he says.
The church has about 20 adults and 20 children on average, with more on holidays, says Elena Lysina, who helps lead the church and also works as a physical education teacher.
Kainda United Methodist Church grew out of an outreach to kids several years ago. Fyodor Seriakov, a lay person with a passion for youth ministry, began hosting gatherings of young people, many of whom came from difficult family situations. He gathered them for social and recreational activities, and the gatherings led to the start of church meetings.
Three of those young people are now adult members of the Kainda church women’s group, which Elena convened on a recent Saturday. Gathered in a semicircle, the women discuss prayer concerns and joys as well as relate news of their families.
The church’s work is generating favorable buzz in the community. It had once received negative feedback about being a sect, but now people are saying it’s a positive place and good for kids, says Olga Solomkina, a women’s group member. “We are really confident that God is helping us and that God is on our side,” she says.
“We have a very good church,” she adds. She is grateful for Dmitrii and Elena because they attract a lot of young people, many of whom have nowhere to go.
In nearby Bishkek, Anton Sharopin and his wife, Nadiya Sharopina, provide a ministry for young people who similarly have nowhere to go. Their program is for young men ages 18 to 23 who have left orphanages and need somewhere to stay as they transition into society. Most of the men come through referrals and, typically, a young person will stay for a year.
Last year, the couple hosted 11 kids, the maximum number they can accommodate in three rooms with bunk beds. Not all of the residents behaved ethically, and things were stolen, Sharopin says.
The men don’t have skills to live in society, he says, explaining that the orphanage system leaves them helpless because everything is done for them. Nadiya Sharopina says the young men need training to change their linens, take showers and even to read and write. Socialization is also an important part of the program.
“We do birthday parties for them,” she says. “We gather together and teach them how to wish each other well and sing a song.”
Sharopin says he and Nadiya don’t force them to go to church, but they give them Christ and hope they find a church.
Setting an example by faith is a common theme among pastors and leaders in the church in Kyrgyzstan. With the government restrictions, Lysin says he tries to witness through how he lives. He says people can see his life and he can tell them, “This is my faith.”
The personal witness can be powerful. Many church members and pastors share stories of transformative experiences that have become part of their witness to others.
Golov dedicated his life to God when he was 17. He had finished 11th grade and was working in an ice-cream factory when he nearly suffered an on-the-job injury. He was helping move iron gates and saw that one of the large gates was falling on top of him. He felt that he was pulled back by a strong hand, but when he looked back, he didn’t see anyone. The next day, he fell sick for a month and spent much of the time thinking about what had happened. One evening, as he was praying, he saw a light with mist fill his room.
He heard a voice filling his body: “Artyom, your life [was] finished that day. You must serve me.”
“I will,” Artyom replied. “I don’t know how, but I will.” The next day, he was healed, he says.
He went on to become a teacher — he teaches astronomy and geography at a nearby Christian school — and answered the call to ministry in 2009. He and his wife, Amina Golova, have a multifaceted ministry that includes not only working with young people but also helping teen girls in need. Amina herself was raised in a children’s home and came to Christ at age 16.
“I never dreamed to be a pastor,” Golov says. But, he says, “always in my heart, I want to serve God. I have in my heart a calling from God. … I can be a light here.”
Golov inspired Seriakov to pursue ministry with young people. Now 36, Seriakov has been working with young people for 18 years. He realized that if kids serve in church, they stay in church, and if they stay in church, they will love the church, he says.
It has not always been easy. Seriakov has been physically threatened for his work with young people, and at one point he had to meet with government officials in response to a complaint by a Muslim policeman who was upset about his son’s involvement in the church. But he says God has given him a heart for youth. “I really love to evangelize,” he says.
That is a calling that resonates with others also, such as Max Abramov, a young adult and leader at Kara-Balta United Methodist Church.
“I really love this church,” he says. “I love my pastor, brothers, sisters, every person here.”
He wants to work with young people, who account for half or more of the people in the church.
“I want young people to really love God and go after Him, go after Jesus,” Abramov says. “I want young people to dedicate their life to Jesus.”
Tim Tanton is chief news officer of United Methodist Communications and director of UM News. Photo: Eugenia Tachieva (left) and Irina Tachieva raise their hands in praise during worship at Livespring United Methodist Church in Kara-Balta, Kyrgyzstan. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
by Steve | Jul 28, 2023 | Jul-Aug 2023, Magazine Articles
Praying for Camels —
By Jenifer Jones —
For a couple of TMS Global cross-cultural witnesses (CCWs), part of ministry includes praying for camels – by name.
Richard Brown* and his wife Pam* serve an area of North Africa that hasn’t had much exposure to the gospel. At least not for the past 1,000 years or so.
This part of the world is home to Bedouin tribes. These nomadic people groups have traditionally viewed camels as a cornerstone of their way of life.
Richard Brown says a colleague with a Bedouin background told him, “Anything of value in nomadic communities must come on the back of a camel. If the gospel does not come on the back of a camel, our people see it as something foreign and Western. It has no value because it does not belong to their culture.”
So a couple of years ago, Brown and his team launched a camel ministry. We helped people who had previously been nomad herders for the wealthy and ruling class to purchase their own camels. We helped them to establish small scale trading among the nomads.
This year six people have come to faith in Christ through camel evangelism.
Camel trading is an important part of Bedouin society. Camel evangelists travel as part of a caravan and connect with specific communities repeatedly. Because they now own their own camels, these Christ followers can determine where they go and who they communicate with on their own schedule. They pray for collective conversion. They want to see groups of people come to faith in Christ at the same time.
In Bedouin society, collective identity is vitally important. If a person comes to faith in Christ, he or she may be the only person in their family, clan, or community who is following Jesus.
“To be the only one is a frightful, frightful thing,” Brown says.
Loss of family and identity aren’t the only challenges for people in this region. Following Christ can also lead to prison or death.
“Right up front, we share the cost,” Brown says. “This can cost you your life.”
But in the gospel, Brown says, Bedouins are seeing an alternative hope for their people – and a means of bringing reconciliation and grace.
“Years ago I met a chief who told me his previous faith had no resources to bring peace to his people,” Brown says. “It was his search for a source of reconciliation and peace that led him to faith in Christ and embracing the gospel. He now functions as an evangelical pastor in his own community. Because in the gospel, he found resources for peace and reconciliation.”
Brown says people in this region may also see the gospel as a point of connection with who their people used to be, many centuries ago. After all, the great Christian theologian of the early Church, Augustine, was born in North Africa and served there.
Because of security issues Brown and his teammates cannot name the evangelists bringing the gospel on the backs of camels. But they can share the names of the camels.
“We circulate the names and images to connect our people with prayer,” Brown says.
We encourage you to pray for the people of North Africa, that they would come to know Jesus as Lord. And even though, for security reasons, Brown can’t give us names of people to pray for, he can give us the names of camels. Consider praying for The Traveler, The Gazelle, and The Rocket. Pray for protection and boldness for their riders, and that the Bedouin people would be receptive to the message the camels carry.
Jenifer Jones is a communicator for TMS Global (tms-global.org).
* Pseudonyms are used for security reasons. Photo: Camel in Merzouga, Morocco. Photo by Megan Schultz (Unsplash.com).
by Steve | Jul 28, 2023 | Jul-Aug 2023, Magazine Articles
The God Who Sews —
By BJ Funk —
God just made creation, gives man the opportunity to name all of the animals, places restrictions on which tree was prohibited for food, and watches Adam and his wife attempting to cover their naked bodies with makeshift clothes. Leaf clothes using leaves that started to die before Adam’s sin hit the front page of Eden’s Times.
Then God comes down. “Where are you?” God calls, more for the couple’s admission of disobedience than for their actual place in the garden. Adam admits his fear because he disobeyed their Creator. He feels guilt and embarrassment and ushers in mankind’s response to shame.
“The woman you put here with me – she gave it to me, and I ate.” God turned to the woman. “What have you done?” She follows Adam’s answer and blames the serpent. “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Quickly God gives his penalty to the snake, the woman, and the man. We’re only into the third chapter of the first book in the Bible, and God’s plan for mankind is thwarted. He offers them grace on a silver platter; they offer him a paper plate carrying dead leaves that cover fruit seeds they had just spit out of their mouths.
His heart feels a short current of pain as he thought of the many roads in front of his children. He knows Satan will pounce on them again. His plan – his perfect plan – is that this first family stay in the Garden and enjoy its beauty forever. The rest of us would inherit the same. That won’t work now.
He calls his Son to join him. Sitting down at the edge of a bubbling spring, God kills an animal. Maybe a pig, goat, or a sheep. As the blood runs, God says to his Son somberly, “Remember this day. This is the first day of sacrifice. Blood will form the basis for the forgiveness of sin. And, as you already know, our ultimate plan calls for the shedding of your blood. The final sacrifice.”
As the blood flows, God takes out his needle and thread and makes new coverings for Adam and Eve. “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). These coverings are so much better. Adam and Eve almost forget they are being punished as they admire God’s handwork.
Centuries pass. Psalms are written, and one in particular dances out of the pages of history prompting God to pick up his knitting needles. This psalm lets us know that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-seeing. He gives each of us a wrapped gift when we are born. It says, “I will always be for you. I will never be against you.”
“You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). Not only does God choose the shape of your nose and the height of your body. He also decides your smile, your hair color, and the placement of your organs. Then he grabs a stapler and connects a tag under your skin. Your expiration date. We all come into the world with one. No one can read that date but God.
“Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).
Next, he staples a valentine to your heart with the words, “I’m yours. Will you be mine?” That’s all God ever wanted – to be close to you. To have an intimate walk of love with you. For you to call on him and take him into your daily life. To present you with the greatest gift he has, that of allowing you to know him.
Verses 1-4 of Psalm 139 paint a picture of an intimacy you never imagined. If you stand up, he knows. When you sit, he knows. He even knows when you go out and when you lie down. He knows what you are thinking.
Our mighty God who sews wants to live inside your heart. And if you mess up really badly, he will make a new covering for you.
Oh wait. He already has. Jesus Christ, your covering and mine when we decide to taste the fruit from the forbidden tree.
B.J. Funk is Good News’ long-time devotional columnist and author of It’s A Good Day for Grace, available on Amazon. Photo: Pexels.
by Steve | Jul 25, 2023 | In the News, Perspective / News
What the Regionalization Agenda Tells Us about the Future of the UMC, Part 1 —
By Thomas Lambrecht —
In a recent article, Mainstream UMC (a centrist advocacy group within The United Methodist Church) outlines the case for the regionalization of the church. They consider the article important, calling it “an important baseline and reference point for where we are as a church.” It advocates for a plan that would set the UM Church in the U.S. as its own regional conference, with wide latitude to “adapt” the Book of Discipline according to the views of U.S. delegates and different from how other regions of the church might position themselves.
The most prominent issue motivating the push toward regionalization is differences over the definition of marriage and the ordination of practicing LGBT persons. Regionalization would allow the U.S. and Western Europe to adopt one definition of marriage that would allow same-sex marriage and the ordination of partnered LGBT persons, while Africa and Eastern Europe could maintain the current definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, while continuing to refuse ordination to practicing gays and lesbians. This strategy is seen by some as an attempt to allow the U.S. to have its own way on these issues, while keeping Africa in the United Methodist fold.
Going beyond the individual issues, however, the article’s rhetoric gives some hints as to the bigger picture implications of moving forward with the regionalization plan.
Culture Vs. Scripture
The Mainstream UMC article frames the regionalization proposal as a way to accommodate differences in culture. The article speaks of the ability “to adapt portions of the rules to fit their cultural contexts.” It goes on to say, “If the structure does not change, cultural values will continue to be imposed upon one region of the world by another.” In fact, the word “culture” or “cultural” appears seven times in the article.
Mainstream UMC apparently sees the definition of marriage as a cultural issue. The main reason for adopting a non-traditional view of marriage given in the piece is because, according to the Pew Research Center, “back in 2014 60 percent of U.S. Methodists supported same-sex marriage. They note that ‘Americans’ views about homosexuality have shifted further since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.’”
Most traditionalists, however, see the definition of marriage as a moral and Scriptural issue. Jesus defines marriage in Matthew 19:4-6, quoting Genesis 2:24). Throughout Scripture, marriage is defined as between male and female, and the New Testament clarifies that marriage ought to be monogamous, not polygamous.
The larger implication from this difference of perspective is that the future UM Church is more likely to adapt to the surrounding culture than live differently, no matter what Scripture says. It appears the church may take its cues on moral decisions from what is culturally acceptable, rather than from what the Bible teaches.
This is a dangerous approach to setting moral standards of behavior. Scripture repeatedly urges us not to go along with what a godless world does but to stand against it to live the Jesus way. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2). “So, you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires” (I Peter 1:14). “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (Philippians 2:15).
Backtracking on Being a Global Church?
The article makes the astounding claim that The United Methodist Church is “not really a global church.” The article says that United Methodists make up “only about 30 percent of all Methodists in the world and just above 50 percent of the Methodist family in the US.” Apparently in Mainstream’s view, because United Methodism does not make up the vast majority of global Methodists, it is not a global church, despite the fact that it has congregations on four continents and dozens of countries.
What Mainstream is arguing is that United Methodism is governed in a different way from many other Methodist bodies in the world. Most other Methodist denominations are country-based or allow the church in each country to be at least somewhat autonomous, governing its own affairs. Uniquely, United Methodism over the years has striven to be a truly global church, where Methodists from many different countries determine together how they will live out the Christian faith.
Now, Mainstream apparently wants to backtrack on that unique commitment. It wants to let each part of the UM Church govern itself, with much less connection and foreclosing the influence of other parts of the global church. Coincidentally, this push for regional autonomy comes at a time when the church in Africa is poised to exercise greater influence on the direction of the UM Church. While the U.S. was in the clear majority and could call the shots, Mainstream had no problem being part of a global church. But now that the U.S. is moving toward being a minority of the General Conference delegates, Mainstream wants to back down from being a global church and adopt a regional autonomy model.
This move toward regional autonomy has the potential of weakening the international connection between various parts of The United Methodist Church. It is the equivalent of the eye saying to the hand, “I don’t need you.” Or the head saying to the feet, “I don’t need you” (I Corinthians 12:21). While it is understandable that Methodists who do not agree on foundational issues might choose to govern themselves separately, it seems to reflect a hypocritical attitude to say, “We want to be all part of the same church, but we don’t want you to influence our decisions on how to be church.”
In any case, the regionalization proposal seems to reflect a renunciation of the attempt for the UM Church to be a global denomination, and it moves the church toward being a confederation of regional or national churches.
A Faulty Understanding of the Globalization of United Methodism
Mainstream UMC portrays the growth of international United Methodism as the result of decisions made by General Conference to “absorb global annual conferences” beginning in the 1990s. However, that is only true of the Cote d’Ivoire Annual Conference in Africa. Its 677,000 members at the time were admitted by the 2004 General Conference for partial representation at the 2008 General Conference and for full representation at the 2012 General Conference.
When the UM Church was formed in 1968, annual conferences outside the U.S. were given the choice of whether to become autonomous Methodist churches or remain in the UM Church. The Board of Global Ministries actively encouraged conferences to choose to be autonomous. All of the annual conferences in Latin America and most in Asia chose that status. The small conferences in Europe and in Africa (at the time) chose to remain United Methodist.
Then what accounts for the shift in the percentage of delegates from being almost entirely U.S. to being more evenly divided? As Mainstream documents, General Conference delegates from outside the U.S. accounted for only 8 percent of the total in 1980, while it has grown to 44 percent today.
The first reason is the decline in U.S. membership. When the UM Church was formed in 1968, it had over 11 million U.S. members. Currently, it has declined to less than 6 million U.S. members even before disaffiliation began. Through disaffiliations, the U.S. church stands to lose an additional 1 million members. If growth of the U.S. church had kept up with the growth in U.S. population over that time, there would now be 18.7 million U.S. members, over 70 percent of total UM membership.
The second reason is the dramatic growth of members in Africa. Just as an illustration, while Cote d’Ivoire had 677,000 members in 2004 when it was received into the UM Church, it now has double that number at 1.2 million. In 2005, the Congo Central Conference had 1.2 million members in 12 annual conferences. It currently has 3.7 million members in 14 annual conferences. Many other African annual conferences have also experienced exponential growth. The UM Church has usually seen that growth as something to celebrate. Mainstream seems to view it as a threat to U.S. dominance and a reason to separate the U.S. as its own regional governing structure.
The third reason for the shifting imbalance is the provision in our Constitution that gives every annual conference at least 2 delegates, one clergy and one lay. This has resulted in an imbalanced representation from Europe and the Philippines. The 20 European annual conferences have 40 delegates, which gives them one vote for every 1,300 members. This is far above the churchwide average of one vote for every 14,500 members. (Note that Mainstream’s chart of delegates dates from the 2016 General Conference. I am using the more recent 2020 numbers.)
Similarly, the Philippines has intentionally taken advantage of this system to multiply the number of annual conferences there. They have 26 annual conferences, giving them 52 delegates, or one vote for every 2,700 members.
Mainstream UMC tends to focus on Africa, however, since their 278 delegates dwarf the 92 other international delegates. The African delegates also tend to vote in a much more uniformly conservative direction, while Europe and the Philippines have been more evenly divided between conservatives and progressives. However, Africa is actually underrepresented for General Conference delegates, at one vote for every 19,000 members. If Africa were fairly represented based only on professing lay membership, it would have 42 percent of the delegates, rather than the 32 percent it currently has.
Mainstream portrays the allocation of delegates at General Conference as a “growing imbalance.” What they really mean is that the U.S. is receiving a shrinking percentage of the delegates. This is hardly an imbalance, but rather reflects the shifting membership in the global UM Church. The overrepresentation of Europe and the Philippines could be corrected by changing the formula allocating at least two delegates per annual conference to two delegates per episcopal area. But the root issue is the long-term and increasing decline of U.S. membership. The only way for the U.S. to maintain its percentage of the General Conference delegates is for the U.S. part of the church to start growing, which it has not done since the 1950s.
Relying on a faulty understanding of the growing globalization of the UM Church leads to “blaming” General Conference decisions for increasing international membership. This in turn leads to searching for a General Conference solution to the shifting representation, namely regionalization. It is a mechanism for the U.S. church to maintain its governance status quo without addressing the root issue of its 55-year membership decline. It is adopting a bureaucratic solution to a missional problem. Such an approach sustains the decades-long denominational ineffectiveness and holds no promise for a quick turnaround to growth in the future UM Church.
This Perspective has observed that, to the extent that Mainstream UMC speaks for the broad center of United Methodism, the future UM Church is likely to adapt to cultural trends, rather than maintain biblical distinctiveness. It is likely to weaken its global nature and connection. And it is unlikely to address its membership decline in the U.S.
Next week’s Perspective will examine more implications of the Mainstream UMC regionalization proposal.
Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson and vice president of Good News.
