On October 20, The Ohio Council of Churches will hold its 4th Annual Anti-Racism Sunday. This worship experience is a time for individuals and congregations to gather in Christ’s love and with a shared vision of unity and progress toward justice.
Under the theme, "Dismantling Racism—Building Community." – you can participate in worship live on the Ohio Council of Churches Facebook page or at a participating congregation throughout the state.
The Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) is a partnership of 18 Christian denominations throughout Ohio committed to unity, justice and peace.
For more information, click here.
MTSO Offers Immersive Experience to Cultivate Racial Resilience
The Methodist Theological School in Ohio is presenting a course entitled, Cultivating Racial Resilience; An immersive experience of implementing anti-racist practices in mind, body, spirit, and community.
Racial Resilience is an intensive anti-racism training method that helps individuals develop an anti-racist conscience and act as change agents within their institutions to help them develop an anti-racist ethos. This project will connect congregational clergy, lay leaders, and youth with training around anti-racism and justice, and will present these principles as core to their churches and communities.
MTSO is currently accepting applications for 10-15 appointed clergy and ministry leaders (i.e. people whose full- or part-time work is in a ministry context) eager to learn more about anti-racism from a theological perspective and desire to apply these principles to an existing or new ministry project. Applications are being accepted through March 10.
To learn more, click here.
The East Ohio Conference Anti-Racism Team invites the West Ohio Conference as they welcome author John Elford to discuss his book, "Our Hearts Were Strangely Lukewarm: The American Methodist Church and it's Struggle with White Supremacy".
Event will be Saturday, September 21 9:30 AM-2:30 PM at Ashland First UMC, 220 Sandusky St, Ashland OH 44805.
The day will consist of fellowship, a plenary sessions with John Elford, table discussion, and a panel discussion. Come and explore the power of story and the story of our own United Methodist struggle with racism.
Lunch and light refreshments throughout the day will be provided. The suggested donation is $10 per person. All funds raised beyond the cost of the event will be used for the third anti-racism strategy:repair and reinvestment.Suggested donation of $10 per person.
All funds raised beyond the cost of the event will be used for the third Anti-Racism Strategy: Repair and Reinvestment.
Click here for more information and registration.
On Saturday, July 12, 2025, more than 50 United Methodists from across our East and West Ohio Conferences – along with community partners – participated in a full-day pilgrimage to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. Organized by the Multicultural Ministries Office of both Conferences, this wasmuch more than a simple museum visit. It was an act of collective remembrance, a journey of faith, and a public declaration that the Church must reckon with the past to be faithful in the present.
This event was rooted in our shared Anti-Racism Strategy, specifically the first pillar: Re-telling. In the face of whitewashed textbooks, banned books, and sanitized histories, the Church must have the courage to speak the truth. Re-telling is about lifting-up the stories of enslaved people and freedom seekers, but also confronting how systems – economic, political, theological – have long been complicit in racial injustice. This pilgrimage was a sacred step in doing just that.
The bus trip began early in the day, departing from Medina United Methodist Church and stopping in Worthington to pick-up participants at the West Ohio Conference office. Along the way, snacks and sack lunches were provided thanks to Wellington UMC. The destination was the Freedom Center, a space that tells the story of slavery in America and the fight for liberation through interactive exhibits, historical artifacts, and powerful narrative interpretation.
Participants came from congregations across Ohio, as well as groups like Racial Equity Buddies and Sisters Embracing Oneness (SEO). The event was intentionally intergenerational, with pricing structured to attendance by youth and college students at the suggestion of Wellington UMC Youth Pastor Katie Woods. Participants of all ages explored the museum halls, absorbed the history, and reflected together in community.
“When Will first told me that he was planning a trip to the Underground Railroad Museum and Freedom Center, I knew I had to go – and I had to invite my Sisters Embracing Oneness group too,” said Betty Anderson, a SEO member. “We’re a Jesus-loving, racial-justice-seeking, intelligent, diverse and inclusive cadre of Black and white sisters. This trip was organized and thoughtful. Dr. Miller’s facilitation helped bring both the facts and the emotional weight of this history to life. The tapestry in the main hall especially struck me: that one woman would fill that fabric with her story for the benefit of us all. Even though much of the information wasn’t new to me, I was reminded how important it is to keep this history real and fresh in our minds.”
The tour and post-visit debrief were led by Christopher Miller, a nationally respected public historian with over two decades of experience curating history for transformation. His work at the African American Museum in Philadelphia and as senior director at the Freedom Center has made him a trusted voice in public memory, equity, and justice. Miller guided the group through key exhibits and then facilitated a powerful community dialogue at New Vision UMC, a historic Black congregation that hosted the group for a catered dinner.
One of the day’s most impactful experiences was the special exhibit titled Faith & (in)Justice. Running through December 2025, the exhibit explores how religious traditions – particularly Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – have shaped America’s understanding of justice and injustice. The exhibit does not shy away from the contradictions: scripture used to justify enslavement, clergy who marched for justice, congregations that resisted desegregation, and believers who chose courageous compassion.
Tammy Palmero, pastor of Children & Family Ministries at Mentor UMC, reflected:
“After viewing the Faith & (in)Justice exhibit, my Deacon heart was bursting. I appreciated it deeply from my vocational lens – serving the world through compassion and justice. I only wish there was a book of the exhibit to share with others. There’s so much division in our country right now, and I’m doing all I can to help people see how important it is that we love God and love one another as we love ourselves.”
Indeed, the tension between faith and complicity was a recurring theme throughout the day. The Church has not only been absent from justice work – it has often stood in the way. But the Underground Railroad reminds us of another tradition: the Underground Church – communities of faith who resisted unjust laws, offered shelter to freedom seekers, and lived as if the Gospel really meant liberation.
During the debrief after the visit Quentin Smith, from Racial Equity Buddies, said, “You see the I.C.E. raids. You see people trying to protect human beings who are only trying to live a decent, good life. As I’m looking at the Underground Railroad Museum it says to me, ‘What is my role today?’”
That question echoed across the circle at New Vision UMC – a sanctuary not just of worship, but of truth-telling and fellowship. Over plates of chicken, green beans, lemonade, and cheesecake, conversations unfolded about identity, resistance, solidarity, and the way forward. For many, it was a holy meal.
This pilgrimage was not a stand-alone event. It is part of a larger spiritual formation process across both East and West Ohio Conferences of The United Methodist Church – one that links Re-telling, Relationships, and Repair & Reinvestment. We cannot heal what we are unwilling to name. We cannot repair what we are unwilling to remember. And we cannot build Beloved community without forming disciples who are willing to walk together into hard places.
As we continue our anti-racism work, this trip stands as a reminder that truth is a spiritual discipline; that memory is a form of resistance; and that the Church must be willing to confront its past to be a credible witness in the present.
Learn more about the Faith & (in)Justice exhibit.
Connect with ongoing anti-racism work in the East Ohio Conference.
Connect with ongoing anti-racism work in the West Ohio Conference.
*Written by Will Fenton-Jones, director of Multicultural Ministries for the Ohio Episcopal Area consisting of the East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences of The United Methodist Church.
Last month, friends from East and West Ohio Conferences traveled to Montgomery, Alabama for the “Micah 6:8 Love Your Neighbor Tour.” The group toured The Legacy Museum for an immersive journey through American history viewing it from the perspective of black and brown sisters and brothers.
In reflection on this tour, Rev. Kathy Dickriede, Director of Missions and Community Engagement for the East Ohio Conference, shares her experience and the actionable steps the group is committed to taking in response to this journey.
Micah 6:8 Love Your Neighbor Tour
It all began on March 11, 2024, when the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church (UMC) hosted Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) during one of Bishop Gregory Palmer’s Leadership Clinics. After the clinic, many were committed to learning more about racial injustice issues. In June 2024, a group of students journeyed the “Long Arc of Justice”, a cross-cultural immersion course through the American South at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO). Add All In Community - add Ohio UM restorative Justice Network - and the Holy Spirit into the mix, and the Micah 6:8 “Love Your Neighbor” Tour was born.
A cohort of 39 people from the East and West Ohio Conferences traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, to the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Site Museums and the Troy University Rosa Parks Museum on September 24-27, 2024.
Before the journey, the Micah 6:8 cohort read How to Fight Racism by Jemar Tisby, met three times virtually to get to know one another, and participated in listening circles. There was also a sharing of firsthand experiences with racism. The group was diverse racially and geographically and included laity and clergy. Attendees traveled with spouses, parents, and children. We came with our individual stories and life experiences. While traveling to Montgomery, we watched the movie Just Mercy for a deeper introduction to Bryan Stevenson and his justice work. We also reviewed Bishop Palmer’s conversation with Stevenson during the Leadership Clinic.
The Legacy Museum is an immersive experience to be seen, felt, and heard, through images that transport you back in time. Together our tour began with the year 1619, the start of the Atlantic slave trade in the U.S. and through the modern-day systemic mass incarceration of Black people across our country. We journeyed through the Civil War, Reconstruction, terroristic lynchings, Segregation and Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and Mass Incarceration. Afterwards, we spent time sharing our emotions in response to the tour.
That afternoon was spent at the National Memorial for Peace & Justice. This was a striking site commemorating the locations and lives lost through the more than 4,700 lynchings that have taken place in the U.S. We saw large casket-like, hanging, and stacked sculptures engraved with names and locations of those killed by lynching. Another representation of tragic loss was presented at the Legacy Museum through large mason jars filled with dirt from lynching sites. These honor the Black men and women wrongly accused, tortured, and unjustly murdered. While the majority of lynchings occurred in the southern states, these markers make clear these horrific lynchings occurred all over the country.
Day two of the tour took us to the outdoor Freedom Monument Sculpture Park along the Alabama River. Its location reminds visitors that because of its proximity to the Alabama River, the slave trade led to Montgomery’s thriving. The enslaved built the railroad to expedite the slave trade, facilitating future enslaved persons chained together, jammed into railroad cars, and transported to auction blocks in the center of the city. Trafficked Africans were treated like cattle and sold. Enslaved families were separated and likely never found each other again. The slave trade fueled the economy in Montogomery as well as other major cities including Charleston, New York City, Richmond, Boston, New Orleans, Newport, Wilmington, and Savannah. The Legacy Museum and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park are located where Montgomery’s slave market and slave warehouse once stood.
The following day our group met with staff from EJI to learn more about their work. EJI works to exonerate those wrongfully placed on death row, commute excessive prison sentencing, fight the conditions stemming from poverty, investigate lynchings to honor the lives of those who have been lost, and have these locations marked as historical sites, EJI also addresses the incarceration of children within the adult population. These are a few of the ways EJI is committed to transforming the justice system in each state.
Our final stop was the Troy University Rosa Parks Museum where we were transported back to December 1, 1955; the formal “launch” of the American Civil Rights Movement. We learned of the magnitude and power of social change that can occur from the determination of a few people and left challenged to consider our power to make a difference in the world.
Acknowledging and telling stories about the horrors of America’s racial injustices is the beginning of justice work. Information is power. For me, it was humbling to realize I have lived 53 years and did not know the details of these atrocities. Humility is necessary to be open up to learn new discoveries, confessing and lamenting. Mercy is the result of listening with compassion and believing. Healing is worship, prayer, and anointing. Making disciples ---of ourselves and others for the transformation of the world. Each of our lives have been forever transformed by this Micah 6:8 Tour.
What will we do? Will Micah 6:8 be more than the title of our journey and the words on the back of our T-shirt? Below are actionable items we can bring back to our ministry contexts and lives.
· Converse with our family and friends
· Lead a journey to civil rights and historic sites in Ohio.
· Visit The Legacy Museum Sites with family.
· Talk with our state justice leaders to find out what is happening in our state for our BIPOC community.
· Research the criminal cases of those who might have been wrongly accused or tried.
· Find out about your state’s death row policies and the system practices that perpetuate death row convictions.
· Look into systemic issues that affect poverty and criminal justice involvement.
· Talk to our pastors and congregations about our experience.
· Continuing learning and providing resources for others
· Join an anti-racism cohort to do anti-racism work.
Comments from other attendees on the Love Your Neighbor Tour
“We came to this experience as a group of 39 individuals. Each individual has the power to make an impact with our choices every day, just like Bryan Stevenson and Rosa Parks. We are a part of a wider culture where it will take groups of people to generate power to make systemic change. We aren’t in this alone. We cannot do this work alone. We must do this in community. Even Bryan Stephenson had Eva Ansley from the beginning of this journey. We have God and each other. And with God, all things are possible. Amen. I was taken with Bryan Stephenson's description of being “proximate” to suffering so we can understand the experiences of those who suffer from inequality. Micah 6:8 asks us "What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I believe being proximate to those who struggle is something we all can do as we seek justice in this world and walk humbly with God. Learning about mass incarceration, visiting the prisoner, and advocating for restored citizens as they return to society from prison are all practical and achievable. I think the church can be a beacon to this work by focusing on being proximate and close to those who endure injustice.”
-Tammey Wilden, East Ohio Conference
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“For those moved and called to justice work, Micah 6:8 is a command. When the opportunity presented itself to “love my neighbor(s)” by traveling to the Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama, I felt it was a big, necessary, and right next step toward advancing the anti-racism work of the United Methodist Church in Ohio. Then, when in his conversation with former West Ohio resident Bishop Gregory Palmer, during an installment of Bishop Palmer’s Leadership Clinic, Bryan Stevenson made clear that doing justice work requires proximity, making this trip, coming again, with others, so painfully close to the horrific truths of slavery and mass incarceration, was further validated. It brought me and my son together with over thirty other like-minded and like-hearted individuals, to see, hear, and feel the many years, the many ways, the depth and breadth of racist acts, indoctrination, and custom to be undone, and the many anti-Black systems to be dismantled to bring about racial justice. It is going to take years and many acts of God, like this trip. For the love of mercy and for the sake of doing justice, I’m glad we went.”
-Tracy Chambers, West Ohio Conference
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“Brian Stevenson believes that we could change the tide of racism in a generation or two if those in the United States would learn and own our history. This gives me hope and stirs a commitment to be a part of that process. I was powerfully struck by the manner in which racism in “America” was born in the U.S. Church and is today perpetuated by us. That is a convicting realization.”
-Annette Dimond, East Ohio Conference
This commentary was written by Rev. Kathy Dickriede, Missions & Community Engagement Director for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.
The North Central Jurisdiction Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) and the Commission on Religion & Race (CORR) held their joint annual meetings in the East Ohio Conference October 3-5.
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, resident bishop of the new Ohio Episcopal Area consisting of the East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences was unable to attend but offered greetings via video during the opening worship service at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Warrensville Heights.
“I have always believed that the African American United Methodist Church plays a significant role in our time and continues to play a prophetic role in creating a Church that is the beloved community,” Bishop Jung shared. “In being newly appointed to the Ohio Episcopal Area I have thought about many pioneers in United Methodism from African American ancestors: Bishop James Thomas, Bishop Ezel Ammons, Bishop Woodie White, Bishop Charles Jordan, Bishop Jonathan Keaton, Bishop Linda Lee, Bishop Julius Trimble, Bishop Frank Beard, and the deep emotion of joining in holy ministry following Bishop Gregory Palmer, who has just retired, and Bishop Tracy Malone, who went to Indiana. The North Central Jurisdiction raised amazing leaders from BMCR. We express our gratitude by pledging to continue to work together in solidarity and to renew our Church together.”
The theme of this year’s meeting, “Self-Actualization: Our Faith, Our Family, Our Future”, was grounded in the words of Nehemiah 4:1-14.
“The community pictured in our passage in Nehemiah was a post-exilic community. They had returned from exile, rebuilt the temple, their place of worship, the place where they could meet their God. And in this passage, they were busy rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. This wall was important not just for protection but because it signaled the restoration of God’s people. It pointed to their future as a restored people,” said Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai, resident bishop of the Iowa Conference and co-resident bishop of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference with Bishop David Bard. “These post-exilic Israelites were building a wall as part of their self-actualization in God, the self-actualization of their faith, their families, and their futures.”
In his message during the opening worship service Rev. Cornelius Davis, Jr. of the Michigan Area of The United Methodist Church said of BMCR, “We have got to live into, ‘if you can’t help me, don’t try to stop me’ because God’s favor is on me, and I am a precious one of God. Yes, we have gone through disaffiliation. Yes, we have gone through things like the way the world is right now. Yes, we’re experiencing things where truth is being made into lies and lies are being made into truth. If you can’t help me, please don’t stop me. Move out of my way don’t try to block me because I’m going to move onto my self-actualization. I’m going to move on protecting my family. I’m going to move on doing what I’ve got to do and just like it was did back then it can be did now.”
BMCR Past, Present, and Future
Will Fenton-Jones, director of Multicultural Ministries in the East Ohio Conference Connectional Ministries office shared that in moving forward it’s important to recognize and learn from the past.
“The history of BMCR is important for every United Methodist to know and understand. When the United Methodist Church was formed, a major question at the center was around the desegregation of the Church and BMCR was formed to advocate for the rights and place of Black United Methodists in the Church,” he said. “As a recognized racial ethnic caucus, BMCR plays an important role in training, equipping, and supporting the Black Church. Each year, BMCR gathers as the NCJ alongside CORR, to worship, have conversation, and celebrate this important ministry together. For us here in East Ohio it’s part of our anti-racism strategy: re-telling the stories of BMCR, being in relationship with our racial ethnic caucuses and jurisdictional board and seeking how we repair and reinvest in our churches and communities.”
During the three-day meetings, NCJ BMCR at Aldersgate UMC and NCJ CORR at the Embassy Suites in Beachwood, each group selected its new leadership. CORR is creating a team to discern how it can most effectively do its work across the jurisdiction and BMCR elected Rev. Dawan Buie, pastor of Aldersgate UMC in East Ohio, as the new president of its leadership board.
The Service of Holy Communion
Rev. Buie’s sermon during the Service of Holy Communion was titled “The Detractors of Progress”.
“As we build, brothers and sisters, be reminded that Nehemiah and the people built the wall with the detractors there. The detractors we face are not going to leave. But let me remind you that we serve an awesome God, a mighty God, a magnificent God, a way-making God, a transforming God and God is bigger than those detractors. If you have God and 50 detractors, you’re going to win. Let’s build church and let’s keep on building,” he said.
The offering collected during that service will be used to provide scholarships for North Central Jurisdiction youth to be able to attend the SEJ Black Methodists for Church Renewal’s Youth Harambee in 2025. Held at a Historically Black College and University, the four-day event offers youth a time of leadership, spiritual growth and training.
Spiritual growth and leadership development were central pieces of the annual NCJ BMCR meeting, too.
BMCR Annual Meeting Workshops
During her presentation on “Addressing Our Haters” Rev. Angela Lewis, superintendent of the Northern Waters District in the East Ohio Conference said, “We need each other to get to where we want to go. We can’t be so sensitive that we can’t be corrected.”
She continued, “Conflict resolution is not about finding out rights and wrongs. Conflict resolution is discovering clear and transparent communication so that everyone can be on the same page.”
Rev. James Fielder, pastor of Moline Riverside UMC in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference spoke on the topic “Removing Obstacles”, which addressed not letting others impede a church’s progress.
“When we are called to a place, we are called to lead. Leadership is not call and response. The church today needs leaders, and it takes courage to lead,” he said adding that Jesus focused on teaching instead of listening to detractors. “Jesus was committed to the disciples. He kept teaching. He kept leading.”
Pastor Marc Tibbs of Akron Centenary UMC in the East Ohio Conference shared his experiences on the topic “Rebuilding the Wall”.
“The level where we are lacking as a Church is solidarity, and solidarity is when we are standing shoulder to shoulder with somebody. When they hurt, we hurt. When they rejoice, we rejoice. You only can build solidarity if you’ve got a relationship, and you can’t relate, you can’t build a relationship if all you have and all you are doing is charity,” he said.
Additional workshops were scheduled on “Passionate Worship”, to offer insight on best practices for utilizing music ministries to engage congregations, and “The Shift After General Conference”, to share ideas for how progressives and conservatives can recognize their theological differences while working together to move the Church forward.
NCJ BMCR & NCJ CORR Celebration Banquet
The final evening of the BMCR and CORR meetings featured a joint Celebration Banquet at which Bishop Bigham-Tsai was the keynote speaker.
“This is what I came to tell you tonight: if generational trauma is real, and it is, then so is generational resilience. The Israelites of Nehemiah’s time were a resilient people despite the trauma of war and exile. Their trauma was real, yet the text says that the people still had the mind to work. They were still building that wall. They were still going about their ministry. They were still restoring the land. They had the trauma, but they still had a mind to self-actualize their faith, their families, and their futures,” she said. “BMCR, we must draw upon the generational and spiritual resilience that has been bequeathed to us by the great cloud of witnesses to our faith because the struggle is not over.”
During the banquet, attendees commemorated the life and ministry of Rev. Dennis M. Oglesby, Jr. who joined the Church Triumphant in June. Oglesby was a member of the Northern Illinois Conference who had transferred to the Minnesota Conference and was serving as pastor of Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church.
The West Ohio Conference BMCR caucus received the Attendance Award for having the most members registered for the annual meeting, and Elsie Turner of the East Ohio Conference caucus received the Michael Johnson Award for Social Justice.
“Elsie Turner has dedicated her life to BMCR and East Ohio Conference BMCR would not be here if it wasn’t for her. Thank you, Mrs. Turner, for being a mentor, a shepherd, a friend, and a mother,” said Tina Johnson of the East Ohio Conference in presenting the award.
Bishop Bigham-Tsai closed her message with these words of instructions for all: “We cannot stop working to self-actualize our families, our faith, our futures, and our churches. We must stay as the Church, as The United Methodist Church, in the struggle because our future, the future of our children and grandchildren, depends on us staying in the struggle. Our future is in this struggle just like it has always been in the past. This struggle is the actualization of hope.”
Written by Rick Wolcott, Executive Director of Communications for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Bringing a word on staying who “God needs us to be” in spite of the ever-changing noise of this world, Bishop L. Jonathan Holston of the South Carolina Conference delivered the Council of Bishops’ Episcopal Address to kick off Day 2 of The United Methodist Church’s 2020 General Conference.
“When things are happening all around us, God uses the church to make a difference,” Holston proclaimed before the crowd of delegates, observers and volunteers gathered at the Charlotte Convention Center April 24. “The church was never built for our pleasure. The church is built for God’s purpose.”
Holston was selected by the Council of Bishops to deliver the address on their behalf. The council comprises 59 bishops presiding over conferences and episcopal areas across the globe, as well as retired bishops.
Holston opened the address with a prayer calling on God to create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within United Methodists as they strive to put love first.
“When the world shouts hate, help us to love,” Holston prayed. “When the past won’t let go, help us to love. When we feel broken, betrayed or rejected, help us to love. Even when it seems impossible or doesn’t make sense, help us to love.”
He shared how so much has happened since an episcopal address was last delivered at General Conference 2016, eight years ago.
Citing wisdom from former United States ambassador and pastor Andrew Young, Holston noted the paradox of humanity can be described in this way: “We live in the tension of who we are, who we say we are and who we want to be.”
As a lengthy montage displayed examples onscreen, Holston reviewed the changes that have occurred in the church and the world since General Conference last met — the highs and lows, the opportunities and challenges, the tensions as people of faith pivot between the best and the worst of human nature.
“Since 2016, TikTok launched, Saudi Arabia legalized women driving, the northern white rhino became extinct, Notre Dame burned, ChatGPT was created, elephants are being studied to treat cancer,” Holston said.
The list goes on: Elections. Natural disasters. Terrorist attacks. Good things and bad.
Yet amid what Holston called this “noisy backdrop of world events,” God’s people still did what they could across the world to be God’s church.
He lifted up numerous examples of this, from baptisms and new churches rising up to powerful mission work done in the name of the Lord to fight trafficking, provide economic opportunity and deliver desperately needed medical care in remote areas.
“We fall short,” Holston said. “Yet even in our shortcomings as imperfect humans, we strive for who we want to be — holding before us the vision of God’s kingdom built, the hope of Christ fulfilled, as we move toward that vision with courage. All of this because we know that God prevails — the victory has already been won in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
He urged delegates and other United Methodists to keep their focus on what is important as they tune out the noise.
“Friends, this is who God needs for us to be,” Holston said, urging all gathered to continue God’s work in the midst of divisive, joyful and sometimes terrible situations.
Striving to be who God needs us to be should be the only priority, he said.
Glancing backward is fine, but the focus must be the future, he said. “There’s a reason that rearview mirror is so much smaller than the windshield itself. We are only meant to glance backward. We are meant to fix our gaze ahead, following where Christ leads.”
Where Christ leads is God’s kingdom, Holston said, and it’s being built now. And even though church members may be uncertain about exactly what this looks like, they must press on, surrendering to God’s will in the busy circumstances surrounding them.
“We sometimes fall into thinking that if we have God’s peace, then there will be no tension, no conflict, no issues to face,” Holston said.
But this world will always have tension and conflict. And just as pilots must train to fly the plane in spite of what they face in the sky, “They have to fly the plane, set their bearings and don’t lose sight … There is no room for fear or doubt when the plane is in the air.”
General Conference photos
UM News has photographers on the plenary floor of General Conference 2024 and at special events and meetings throughout the session. View photos from each day on Flickr.See photos
As he brought his address to a close, Holston reminded the body that the church must keep one thing clear: “It is about this and only this: How do we become who God needs us to be?”
He encouraged those gathered to love the Lord and their neighbor, to embrace disciple-making, peace-making and anti-racism, and to build up and not tear down.
“We embrace the radical, world-transforming love given so freely by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Holston said.
“Are you ready to be the people that God needs for us to be? Let’s go!” Holston proclaimed. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”
Holston’s address commenced a full morning of General Conference business, including an overview of the first full-scale revision of the Social Principles since 1972, the Young People’s Address and a report on the financial state of the church.
Just prior to Holston’s address, Michigan Area Bishop David A. Bard led the morning’s worship service and delegates heard a liturgy penned by Eric Park as Williamson's Chapel UMC & Friends welcomed all to Day 2 of General Conference, lifting up the day’s theme, “In the hoping … know that I am God.”
All of the daily themes tie into the conference’s overall theme, “Know that I am God,” from Psalm 46:10.
The Scripture for the morning worship came from Romans 5:1-5, emphasizing the peace Christians experience through Jesus and how all they bear — affliction, and endurance through that affliction — lead to genuine hope.
Used from UM News
The second day of General Conference shifted from the celebratory opening worship to getting down to the business of the church, as delegates began working in their legislative committees and electing their chairs.
Leaders presented a sober picture of United Methodist finances, including the need to reduce bishops. At the same time, delegates heard hope for the denomination to pivot from church exits to revitalization.
Against a backdrop of past conflicts and division, both the Episcopal and Young People’s addresses offered hope for the denomination that will go forward from this gathering.
Bishop Holston: Become ‘who God needs us to be’
Bishop L. Jonathan Holston gives the Episcopal Address during the United Methodist General Conference April 24 in Charlotte, N.C. Holston, who leads the South Carolina Conference, encouraged delegates to tune out the noise and focus on God’s work. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Bringing a word on staying who “God needs us to be” in spite of the ever-changing noise of this world, Bishop L. Jonathan Holston of the South Carolina Conference delivered the Council of Bishops’ Episcopal Address to kick off Day 2 of The United Methodist Church’s 2020 General Conference.
“When things are happening all around us, God uses the church to make a difference,” Holston proclaimed before the crowd of delegates, observers and volunteers gathered at the Charlotte Convention Center April 24. “The church was never built for our pleasure. The church is built for God’s purpose.”
He encouraged those gathered to love the Lord and their neighbor, to embrace disciple-making, peace-making and anti-racism, and to build up and not tear down.
Striving to be “who God needs us to be” should be the only priority, he said.
Holston was selected by the Council of Bishops to deliver the address on their behalf. The council comprises 59 bishops presiding over conferences and episcopal areas across the globe, as well as retired bishops.
Young people share fears, hopes for future church
Alejandra Salemi of the Florida Conference and Senesie T.A. Rogers of the Sierra Leone Conference delivered the Young People’s Address — one in person and one remotely.
To thunderous applause, Salemi said the General Conference is being held “in the midst of what feels like an emotional whirlpool that only something like divorce proceedings can stir up.”
“When time and money and energy go towards a divorce, it has to get subtracted from somewhere else, and I believe that our young people and local congregations are paying that price while resources go toward settling disagreements,” she said.
Salemi said what is happening in the church is a microcosm of what is happening in the rest of the world, and the most difficult thing to hear in an echo chamber is the quiet, knowing voice of the truth: God’s loving whisper that reminds us “to be still and know.”
“If you can’t have hope right now, that is OK, I will have enough hope for the both of us,” she said. “The kin’dom is out there waiting to be built.”
Rogers, who was unable to get a visa to travel to the U.S., delivered his recorded address, reminding delegates that splits were normal in the Methodist Church — all the way back to the first General Conference in 1792.
Because of that history, he said, it is pointless to worry about splits and their effects when we already know that splits and Methodism are intertwined.
“Do you know that there is something else that is part of our tradition? Indeed. Reconciliation and coming together is part of our tradition. We must be more about uniting than dividing at this point,” Rogers said.
Salemi and Rogers were selected by the Division on Ministries with Young People at Discipleship Ministries, which organizes the Young People’s Address as an opportunity for young United Methodists to witness about the church’s impact on their own lives and the lives of others.
Delegates urged to ‘restart church’ with less
At the first gathering of the policymaking body since a quarter of the denomination’s U.S. churches left, the delegates heard sobering news about the financial state of The United Methodist Church.
Before the delegates is a proposed denomination-wide budget that would be The United Methodist Church’s lowest in 40 years. It also represents the biggest budget drop in the denomination’s history.
“This is a General Conference that must send clear signals to the local church,” said incoming Council of Bishops President Tracy Malone, “that we are keenly aware that the loss of membership and the decline of sustainability has a direct influence on the amount of funds available to support ministry.”
The proposed 2025-2028 denominational budget coming before delegates is $353.1 million — a 42% reduction from the budget delegates approved at the 2016 General Conference, the assembly’s last regular session. Under that budget proposal, about $347 million would come from the U.S. and $6.1 million from the central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.
The Rev. Moses Kumar, the top executive of the General Council on Finance and Administration, emphasized that the budget includes cutting the number of bishops in the U.S. and adding only two bishops in Africa, rather than the initially planned five. The budget would reduce the number of bishops from a total of 66 funded in 2016 to a total of 54.
“I want to emphasize, GCFA has no authority to control the number of bishops elected,” he said. “It is our role to communicate what we can and cannot afford.”
A vision of the future
“The Pathway for our Next Expression,” a presentation by members of the Connectional Table and Council of Bishops, urged delegates to envision what The United Methodist Church will become. Acknowledging the need to refashion the church going forward and adapt to reductions in resources, the presenters encouraged a renewed commitment to discerning how to carry out the mission and ministry of the church.
Judi Kenaston, chief connectional ministries officer of the Connectional Table, said there has probably not been a General Conference that is more highly anticipated than this one.
“The quadrennium that never wants to end has been long and filled with events that influence and shape everything that we will do this week,” she said. “The United Methodist Church that many of us have known for a lifetime suddenly looks far different than we have ever seen.”
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, outgoing president of the Council of Bishops, called for a pivot away from disaffiliation and toward mission and ministry.
“This is a General Conference that is being called to act strategically in the short-term so that we can act relevantly in the long-term,” he said.
Revised Social Principles, General Book of Discipline
Delegates heard proposals that would alter two of the denomination’s bedrock documents.
The Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters gave an update on work toward a General Book of Discipline. That work entails the standing committee — a permanent committee on General Conference — proposing what parts of the Book of Discipline’s Part VI apply to all regions and what they can adapt. Part VI, the Discipline’s largest section, deals with organization and administration.
The goal is to have a shorter, more globally relevant Book of Discipline. Whatever the new General Book of Discipline no longer includes will be subject to adaptation at the regional level.
John Hill, interim top executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, presented a report on the proposed revised Social Principles, which he called “a love letter to our church … to inspire us to be the beautiful beloved community of God.” During a short presentation, he asked delegates to “prayerfully consider” the changes, a goodly amount of which involve the ongoing conversation around the role of LGBTQ people in the church.
General Conference photos
UM News has photographers on the plenary floor of General Conference 2024 and at special events and meetings throughout the session. View photos from each day on Flickr.See photos
In other news
- A yoga symbol featured on the General Conference platform was removed after an Asian American caucus stated that it was offensive. The New Federation of Asian American United Methodists penned an open letter to Bishop Thomas Bickerton, outgoing president of the Council of Bishops, expressing frustration at the inclusion of the symbol, which is also utilized by the Hindu Nationalist government to persecute religious minorities in India. The group asked for a “deep understanding of the rise of forces that are offensive to fellow Christians in other parts of the world.”
- A group of United Methodist clergy and laity in Congo organized themselves to track the progress of General Conference online. Jimmy Kasongo, the Kivu Conference youth president, said he has seen all the proceedings on his phone. “Today, even though I haven’t left, I am aware of everything that is happening, which is something new compared to the General Conferences of previous years,” he said. Mwaidi Jolie, secretary of United Methodist Women in the South Kivu Conference, thanked the church for the innovations in communication. “Today is my first time to see the bishops’ procession live,” she said, “and I was greatly edified by the sermon of Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton during the opening worship.”
Used from United Methodist News