Here is a collection of links to Central Conference resolutions, meetings, discussions about the state of the UMC after the 2019 General Conference.
African Bishops Release Statement On Future: No Dissolution, no schism, no homosexuality, but affirm self-determination, "restraint," and "respectful and humane" debate.
Philippines Bishops Outline Their Preferred Outcome: Contextuality, Connectionality, restructuring into a Global church with regional conferences with power to determine their own "witness, mission and ministry."
An important blog is published by UM&Global: The UM & Global "blog is intended to provoke conversations about the global nature of The United Methodist Church. As the church is increasingly an international institution, with members in various parts of the world, United Methodists need to rethink ecclesiology, mission, and ministry on a global scale. To help in that process, this blog seeks to provide unique content reflecting on these questions. UM & Global is a project of the United Methodist Professors of Mission, a group of American United Methodist seminary professors that teach in the areas of mission and evangelism. The blog is curated by Dr. David W. Scott on behalf of the UM Professors of Mission.
Europeans Give More to Central Conferences Than the WCA
Over the past two months, I have done a series of posts on the amount of US financial support for central conferences, central conference internal giving, and the impact of American money on the future of The United Methodist Church as a global denomination. It has been my main intention to provide facts and context for the difficult conversations that are taking place about the future of the UMC as an international body. One area I did not explore in that series was the money that European United Methodists – primarily those from Germany, Switzerland, and Norway – give to mission and other ministries in other central conferences... [read more]
Recommended Viewing: Hilde Marie Movafagh on the Divide over LGBTQ Issues in the UMC in Europe
Rev. Hilde Marie Movafagh, the rector of the United Methodist Seminary in Oslo, made a presentation at the Post-Way-Forward Gathering of UM Scholars last week in Dallas entitled, "The Iron Curtain is Back: The United Methodist Church in Europe in the aftermath of GC2019." The presentation provides an overview of the differences in thinking on the place of LGBTQ persons in the church between Western and Eastern Europe and the resultant tensions within the UMC in Europe. The 15 minute-long presentation is an excellent overview for anyone wanting to better understand how the fallout of GC2019 is affecting United Methodism in Europe.
American Money and the Future of Global United Methodism
Having laid forth in my last post some (possibly) better estimates by region of the level of internal giving and the amount of US support allows for some more specific comparison of funding received by central conferences from the US vs. funding central conferences are able to generate on their own. This comparison then gives a sense of the magnitude of possible decreases in funding that central conferences could face and the scale of the decisions that they would have to make in the face of funding cuts from the US.... [read more]