United Methodist News Service

The Korean Association of The United Methodist Church announced a bold commitment to adopt and financially support 140 United Methodist global missionaries.

Some have celebrated the decisions, while others have stressed to their conferences the limits of the decisions, including that they don’t require clergy to officiate at same-sex weddings.

Delegates added a host of fresh faces to the groups that make important decisions for The United Methodist Church.

General Conference delegates supported a revision of the Social Principles that deletes the phrase “the practice of homosexuality… is incompatible with Christian teaching.” That phrase has been part of church teachings since 1972.

Delegates have access to 10 languages as they decide the future of The United Methodist Church.

A source of heated, often painful, division at General Conference for the past 40 years was removed without debate: The denomination’s ban on ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” has been lifted.

A source of heated, often painful, division at General Conference for the past 40 years was removed without debate: The denomination’s ban on ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” has been lifted.

General Conference delegates deleted the church disaffiliation policy, passed the last of the regionalization petitions and required annual conferences to set a reaffiliation plan for churches that want to return.

General Conference normally holds staggered elections for the church court’s lay and clergy membership, but the pandemic has thrown off that schedule and required a reset.

There was a slight strain of sadness among the jubilant United Methodists celebrating in a courtyard of the Charlotte Convention Center after the ban on gay clergy was lifted. Those whose potential contributions to the church are forever lost were also remembered.

General Conference delegates have supported the request by Wespath, The United Methodist Church’s pension and benefits agency, to move to a defined contribution retirement plan for U.S. clergy.

Resolution addresses racial-ethnic discrimination and gender-based violence in the Asian American context.

Recalling the people who nurtured and encouraged his faith, United Methodism’s first Native American bishop said, “My friends, we have much more in common than not.”

Newly passed legislation guarantees at least five bishops per jurisdiction.

The Mobile Solar Power Station, a solar-powered, self-sustaining trailer, launched in October 2023 as a new ministry of the North Georgia Conference.

In an emotional morning, General Conference has eliminated the ban on “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy. Following the vote at break, delegates and observers sang hymns in joy.

Katika siku ya pili ya Conférence Générale, wajumbe walitumika kwa haraka kupitia calendrier ya consentement.

On the second full day of General Conference voting, delegates fast-tracked a large number of items via consent calendar.

After vigorous debate, delegates voted to reduce the base rate — a key component used in calculating requested annual-conference apportionments.

After business came to a close on April 29, delegates, church officials and observers gathered outdoors on a terrace of the Charlotte Convention Center to lament the damage done by sexual abusers associated with the church and the institution’s complicity.