News Stories from May 2016
GC2016 Celebrates Africa University
May 17, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
As Africa University approaches its 25th anniversary, delegates to the 2016 General Conference took a few moments Monday afternoon to celebrate one of the best things this denomination has ever done. With an enrollment of more than 1,500 full-time students and 800 part-time students, Africa University, located in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe, today boasts more than 6,100 graduates from 32 African countries. More than half of the students (53 percent) are female — more than double other …more
May 16 wrap-up: Week Two begins with elections, celebrations, protests
May 17, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
Before tackling the pile of petitions before them, delegates to General Conference 2016 voted to fill vacancies in key positions on the Judicial Council, the University Senate and the Commission on General Conference. And then, voting officially began. Opening worship “God is the host for our “banquet,” be it General Conference or God’s “kingdom on earth,” BishopCynthia Fierro Harvey said in her sermon on …more
May 14 wrap-up: Young ambassadors share hope, committee work finishes
May 16, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
Worship, an address by young people and a silent protest for LGBTQ inclusion began Day Five of General Conference 2016, which ended with final legislative committee meetings. Young people’s address inspires While only two young people spoke on the General Conference stage Saturday morning, thousands more stood with them. Chelsea Spyres of Detroit and Peter Cibuabua of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, began their witness by …more
Preparing for General Conference – Interviews with United Methodist Women Delegates
May 13, 2016 / By Originally published on United Methodist Women (UMW), featuring Carmen Vianese - UNY Delegate
Being a delegate at General Conference is hard—and important—work. The United Methodist Church General Conference is held every four years to re-examine church law and to add or amend resolutions to the Book of Discipline. Some 1,000 delegates travel to General Conference from around the world to examine and discuss these proposed changes. The delegates are instrumental when it comes to deciding which resolutions are to be …more
The State of the Church Series: Reasons for hope
May 13, 2016 / By Scott Johnson, Conference Lay Leader
Upper New York Conference Lay Leader helped to lead the Laity Report at the 2016 General Conference session. Here he has shared some of the reasons he sees for hope, just as reasons for hope would be shared in the laity report. Article originally was published in the Interpreter Magazine found here: http://www.interpretermagazine.org/topics/reasons-for-hope. It is difficult to assess the state of the church at this …more
May 12 wrap-up: Rule 44 voted down
May 13, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
After a roller coaster of “will-they-or-won’t-they” episodes usually reserved for love interests in a romantic comedy, delegates finally decided their relationship with Rule 44: They won’t. Over the past three days, the United Methodist General Conference also has offered a live demonstration of just how difficult following its rules of order can be. The final tally on the much-debated Rule 44 — a proposed Group …more
May 11 wrap-up: Episcopal address, more Rule 44 debate
May 12, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
A day after the celebratory tone of opening worship came a reminder that General Conference is one big, long meeting. As delegates got down to business, debate over one of the Rules of Order will stretch into a third day while the episcopal address urged United Methodists to “trust God and go.” In the episcopal address on May 11, Bishop Gregory V. Palmer laid out a path …more
Bishop Palmer: Trust God’s promise and go forth
May 12, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
Bishop Gregory V. Palmer laid out a path for the 2016 United Methodist General Conference: humility, humility, humility. “Everyone here is a child of God. Any behavior to the contrary of that truth undermines the gospel and is a choice to live beneath our privilege,” Palmer, who serves the West Ohio Episcopal Area, said in the episcopal address on May 11. The Council of Bishops chose Palmer to deliver this …more
At GC2016, Rule 44 still a question mark
May 12, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
Whether General Conference delegates adopt a new way of dealing with tough issues remains to be seen. For a second time, a vote on the much-debated Rule 44 — a proposed Group Discernment Process — has been deferred a day. The delay this time is to allow the lawmaking assembly’s Rules Committee to make recommendations regarding five amendments that came from the floor. The Rules Committee …more
GC2016: May 10 wrap-up: Opening worship, rules debate
May 11, 2016 / By United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
With a drum welcome from indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, United Methodists gathered for the 2016 General Conference, the top legislative body of the denomination, joined in a cacophony of “alleluias” in many languages during opening worship. Meeting May 10-20 at the Oregon Convention Center, the 864 delegates will consider 1,000 petitions that will determine how the 12.3-million-member denomination orders its ministry, structures its agencies and addresses social justice …more