Worldwide Regionalization

Nov 16

Moving toward a more equitable era

United Methodist leaders are bringing legislative proposals before the General Conference to create new regional conferences that will each have equal power to pass legislation within their prospective regions.

View the video explanation from the Rev. Anne Detjen of the Germany Central Conference about how regionalization will provide for more equitable decision-making and contextualized ministries across the entire denomination.

The regionalization proposal aims to address what many United Methodists see as a longstanding problem limiting the denomination’s missional effectiveness — namely that the church in the U.S. and the central conferences have unequal standing in decision-making.

Under the proposed plan, there will be four regional conferences — Africa, Europe, Philippines and the U.S. — all possessing the same duties and powers to pass legislation for greater missional impact in their respective regions.

The goal is to empower each region to act more nimbly in reaching people for Christ — without waiting for General Conference, which typically meets every four years.

The legislation will be presented and voted on at the postponed 2020 United Methodist General Conference to be held April 23 – May 3, 2024, at Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.