Worldwide and Contextual
“Integrally holding connectional unity and local freedom, we seek to proclaim and embody the gospel in ways responsible to our specific cultural and social context while maintaining a vital web of interactive relationships.” (Book of Discipline, ¶125)
A key culture shift for The United Methodist Church that the Connectional Table (CT) is engaging in partnership with the Council of Bishops, the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters, general agencies and others, is the shift from a U.S.-centered denomination to one that is more fully worldwide.
The CT organizes its work around a vision for a worldwide church as articulated in ¶125 from the Book of Discipline: “Integrally holding connectional unity and local freedom, we seek to proclaim and embody the gospel in ways responsible to our specific cultural and social context while maintaining a vital web of interactive relationships.” We live into this vision as we fulfill the mission of The UMC.
In 2020, according to the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA), our membership in Africa, the Philippines and Europe is projected to exceeded U.S. membership.
United States Regional Conference
In April 2019, the CT approved bringing a legislative proposal to the 2020 General Conference to create a United States Regional Conference comprising the current U.S. jurisdictional conferences and the geographical boundaries congruent with the territory of U.S. annual conferences. Naming this new structure for U.S. governance a regional conference rather than a central conference acknowledges the painful, racist history and still existing wound associated with the former Central Jurisdiction in the U.S.
Creation of a U.S. Regional Conference will provide an organizational structure for the U.S. to have parity with existing central conferences for doing work on the adaptable portions of The Book of Discipline.
A General Church Council
What will the leadership body of a more authentic worldwide denomination look like? The 2016 General Conference directed the Connectional Table to collaborate with the Council of Bishops to propose the make-up and functions of such a group, which would be the successor leadership body to the CT. This work aligns with the work of the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters (StCCCM) for a General Book of Discipline. The CT and the COB have engaged this work over the past quadrennium and will continue into the next quadrennium in line with the Standing Committee’s continued work on a General Book of Discipline. This collaborative work to design a global leadership body that is inclusive of race, gender, age and geography is anticipated to result in legislation for the 2024 General Conference.
