Tomorrow begins the Season of Creation, the yearly time for ecumenical prayer and action on behalf of the environment. As these two recent articles make clear, the need for Christians to act on creation care has never been as pressing. Climate change is nothing something that will happen if we do not take action. It is something that is already happening and will get much, much worse without significant action.
To participate in the Season of Creation, see the following resources:
The Season of Creation website
The WCC announcement about the Season of Creation
The WCC 2020 Season of Creation Celebration Guide
Details about a global ecumenical prayer service for the Season of Creation that will be held tomorrow, Sept. 1st
For United Methodist-specific resources about climate care, see the following:
Creation Care resources from umc.org
Climate Justice resources from UMW
UMC Creation Justice Movement
UMC Caretakers of God's Creation
Dedicated to fostering conversations about the global nature of The United Methodist Church
Monday, August 31, 2020
Friday, August 28, 2020
Recommended Readings: UMVIM Virtual Mission Trips
For those interested in learning more about virtual mission experiences after reading Karen DiStefano's piece describing them, here are a few more resources to help you do so:
The UMVIM website has a page describing virtual mission with links to specific virtual mission opportunities, including upcoming and on-going opportunities.
The UMVIM Facebook page has posts and pictures from recent virtual mission experiences, including those to Honduras, Tanzania, and Mexico.
The UMVIM website has a page describing virtual mission with links to specific virtual mission opportunities, including upcoming and on-going opportunities.
The UMVIM Facebook page has posts and pictures from recent virtual mission experiences, including those to Honduras, Tanzania, and Mexico.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Karen Distefano: Virtual Missions
Today's post is by Karen Distefano. Distefano is South Central Jurisdiction UMVIM and Disaster Response Director.
The Virtual Mission program, implemented in April, emerged from the very real need to maintain the connection between United Methodist mission sites around the world and Volunteers In Mission teams during times of quarantine and shelter in place.
The Virtual Mission is based on the traditional VIM team model, with a team leader working closely with the mission site host to understand the ministry and to help the site achieve its goals. Our first Virtual Mission was with the program “Give Ye Them To Eat” (GYTTE) in Puebla, Mexico, run by Global Ministries missionaries Nan McCurdy and Miguel Mairena. Working with Nan, we set the objectives of the mission: to introduce the team to the work GYTTE did and to encourage VIM teams to return to Puebla once the pandemic was over.
Our team consisted of 25 people from across the US, most of whom had never heard of GYTTE before. Like a traditional VIM team, we assigned people to different team “tasks”: construction, meals, devotionals, cultural research, safety, photography, social media, and fundraising. Their task would be very different than if we were on the ground, but still allowed for team members to be able to contribute to the mission. For example, the Meals Group would research the types of food eaten in the area and share recipes that we could make at home. The Construction Group looked at the types of housing that are typical of the area and how much a house might cost. The Photography Group searched for photos and videos of either the geographical area or from the mission site itself (many of the pictures came from GYTTE’s website and Facebook page) and then compiled a team video at the end.
The majority of the virtual mission content, though, was intentionally set by the GYTTE staff. Nan and Miguel, along with two staff members, shared pictures of their ministries and explained what they were doing in the community to empower and improve the lives of area residents. Another crucial piece of the mission was our discussions on videos and readings recommended by GYTTE. The Zoom platform allowed for our team to go into Breakout Rooms to discuss the information we had read or watched. Each Breakout Room was hosted by a GYTTE staff to allow for meaningful dialogue through questions and answers. By the end of the 3-day mission, team members unanimously agreed that they had had a true missional experience, in spite of the fact that we never left home. We forged a relational connection with our hosts and the GYTTE staff that will most likely lead to future teams visiting the Puebla mission.
One of the other intentional parts to the Virtual Mission is what we call the “Local Involvement” component. Team members were challenged to each come up with one idea of how they could continue the ministry(ies) of GYTTE in their own local community. For example, GYTTE has programs in the areas of agriculture and livestock development, water and sanitation, affordable housing, and community health. Suggestions for local mission work in our own communities could be partnering with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, setting up a food pantry, volunteering at a local free clinic, working with migrants, or teaching ESL.
The Virtual Mission can be a powerful evangelism and discipleship tool because it allows more people to explore God’s call on their lives and to see how their gifts and talents are valuable. The virtual model can incorporate people from a broad spectrum of age and life experiences into the body of Christ and allow them the opportunity to explore the gifts and talents God has given them.
The Virtual Mission will look differently for each mission context. It may even be a different experience for each team that goes to the same site. But what remains constant for each Virtual Mission experience is the refocusing on mission itself. Once the excitement of travel is taken out of the picture, team members are forced to see mission for what it truly is. The focus of the mission no longer is about the airline tickets, team t-shirts, and souvenir shopping. It is about the ministry that God has called us to and learning how we can be a part of it.
The Virtual Mission program, implemented in April, emerged from the very real need to maintain the connection between United Methodist mission sites around the world and Volunteers In Mission teams during times of quarantine and shelter in place.
The Virtual Mission is based on the traditional VIM team model, with a team leader working closely with the mission site host to understand the ministry and to help the site achieve its goals. Our first Virtual Mission was with the program “Give Ye Them To Eat” (GYTTE) in Puebla, Mexico, run by Global Ministries missionaries Nan McCurdy and Miguel Mairena. Working with Nan, we set the objectives of the mission: to introduce the team to the work GYTTE did and to encourage VIM teams to return to Puebla once the pandemic was over.
Our team consisted of 25 people from across the US, most of whom had never heard of GYTTE before. Like a traditional VIM team, we assigned people to different team “tasks”: construction, meals, devotionals, cultural research, safety, photography, social media, and fundraising. Their task would be very different than if we were on the ground, but still allowed for team members to be able to contribute to the mission. For example, the Meals Group would research the types of food eaten in the area and share recipes that we could make at home. The Construction Group looked at the types of housing that are typical of the area and how much a house might cost. The Photography Group searched for photos and videos of either the geographical area or from the mission site itself (many of the pictures came from GYTTE’s website and Facebook page) and then compiled a team video at the end.
The majority of the virtual mission content, though, was intentionally set by the GYTTE staff. Nan and Miguel, along with two staff members, shared pictures of their ministries and explained what they were doing in the community to empower and improve the lives of area residents. Another crucial piece of the mission was our discussions on videos and readings recommended by GYTTE. The Zoom platform allowed for our team to go into Breakout Rooms to discuss the information we had read or watched. Each Breakout Room was hosted by a GYTTE staff to allow for meaningful dialogue through questions and answers. By the end of the 3-day mission, team members unanimously agreed that they had had a true missional experience, in spite of the fact that we never left home. We forged a relational connection with our hosts and the GYTTE staff that will most likely lead to future teams visiting the Puebla mission.
One of the other intentional parts to the Virtual Mission is what we call the “Local Involvement” component. Team members were challenged to each come up with one idea of how they could continue the ministry(ies) of GYTTE in their own local community. For example, GYTTE has programs in the areas of agriculture and livestock development, water and sanitation, affordable housing, and community health. Suggestions for local mission work in our own communities could be partnering with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, setting up a food pantry, volunteering at a local free clinic, working with migrants, or teaching ESL.
The Virtual Mission can be a powerful evangelism and discipleship tool because it allows more people to explore God’s call on their lives and to see how their gifts and talents are valuable. The virtual model can incorporate people from a broad spectrum of age and life experiences into the body of Christ and allow them the opportunity to explore the gifts and talents God has given them.
The Virtual Mission will look differently for each mission context. It may even be a different experience for each team that goes to the same site. But what remains constant for each Virtual Mission experience is the refocusing on mission itself. Once the excitement of travel is taken out of the picture, team members are forced to see mission for what it truly is. The focus of the mission no longer is about the airline tickets, team t-shirts, and souvenir shopping. It is about the ministry that God has called us to and learning how we can be a part of it.
Monday, August 24, 2020
UMC Ecumenical Partnerships: Why They Matter Today
Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Mission Theologian at the General Board of Global Ministries. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries.
Over the past month, I have done a deep dive into the extent, nature, and history of UMC ecumenical partnerships, both those with other Methodist denominations and those with Christian denominations from other traditions. In part, I have done this work because I thought that United Methodists do not know enough about these relationships, even though ecumenism is a long-standing part of the Methodist tradition, and I wanted to help educate the church.
In addition, though, I think knowledge about our ecumenical partnerships, past and present, is particularly relevant for The United Methodist Church at this juncture in its history. With the delayed General Conference meeting just a year from now, it seems likely that The United Methodist Church is headed toward some sort of break up or reconfiguration.
A breakup of The United Methodist Church will certainly come with a great deal of pain, difficulty, and internal focus. But there are also opportunities included in such a process.
One of those opportunities is for all successor denominations to rethink what type of ecumenical relationships they want to cultivate. Certainly, an important part of that process is figuring out what (if any) ecumenical relationships those successor denominations want to have with each other. But the question of future ecumenical relationships applies to other Methodist/Wesleyan denominations and other Christian denominations broadly.
As the range of current options reviewed in previous posts and the historical overview provided in a previous post show, there are many options for how to structure ecumenical relationships. Successor denominations may decide that they prefer less-direct, multilateral relationships such as those provided through the World Methodist Council and World Council of Churches. Or successor denominations may decide that bilateral relationships are important, and then will have to choose whether to focus on collaborative ministries or on recognition of sacraments.
Successor denominations will have to choose whether to continue to recognize the current range of ecumenical partnerships maintained by the UMC. Perhaps a Traditionalist denomination will invest more into the Wesleyan Holiness Connection but less into the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do with the Pan-Methodist Commission or affiliated church relationships.
As successor denominations look to their ecumenical futures, it is important to remember that the emphasis in ecumenical relationships has changed over time. Relationships between the UMC and affiliated churches, for instance, have gone from emphasizing missionaries and ministries to emphasizing recognition of members and ministers to exchange of fraternal delegates. Recent UMC ecumenical efforts have prioritized full communion relationships, especially with churches in the US. Some things may have been lost along the way and others gained, but the point is that successor denominations to the UMC will need to figure out what matters most to them about ecumenical relationships at this moment in history.
In reviewing some of the notes, reports, and General Conference speeches about the UMC’s ecumenical relationships, I saw one question raised repeatedly, and I hope it is a question that all successor denominations take seriously as they reflect on their ecumenical relationships: How can ecumenical relationships be structured so as to reflect relationships of equality and mutuality between parts of God’s church?
The United Methodist Church tends towards US-centrism, triumphalism, and in recent years, an internal focus. None of these are healthy habits. But serious attention to ecumenical relationships with churches around the world is an opportunity to counter these trends by taking intentional steps to create relationships of mutual support and sharing.
Ecumenism as a spiritual practice recognizes that no denomination is the entirety of God’s church. In this way, all denominations are incomplete and need the gifts that other denominations bring to the table. Moreover, when the question is phrased about ecumenical relationships globally, it reinforces that no one part of the church, no matter how powerful the nation in which it is located, is the church all by itself. We are all dependent upon one another for a fuller understanding of God’s grace and God’s action in the world.
Thus, I hope that those who are currently United Methodist take the opportunity presented by the next couple of years to reflect seriously about the nature of the ecumenical relationships they intend to retain or cultivate, even after the UMC as we know it is no more. This is an opportunity for greater spiritual and theological depth in how we think about the nature of God’s church.
Friday, August 21, 2020
Jack Amick: The Downward Stickiness of Fear
Today's post is by Rev. Jack Amick, Director of Global Migration and Interim Team Lead for International Disaster Response, UMCOR.
Many years ago, before I became a clergy person, I studied economics. One concept I recall is the downward stickiness of prices. Prices are downwardly sticky. Yes, sticky is a term of economics. Prices, in theory, rise and fall in response to supply and demand. And yet, prices do not adjust downward very quickly, for a variety of reasons.
I think the same could be said about fear. When we are afraid of something, we take a lot of convincing that those fears are false or no longer relevant. If we once saw a bear in the woods while camping, it is hard not to maintain a nagging fear of bears every time we camp.
In the face of COVID-19, countries have closed borders to prevent the spread of the virus. One of the first steps the U.S. government took was to close the U.S.-Mexico border to nearly all asylum seekers. In the name of public health, those fearing their lives were left to live in close proximity in makeshift camps without adequate water and sanitation facilities – a sure formula for spreading the disease, but keeping it just on the other side of the border.
Similarly, people in detention were deported to prevent the spread of disease in the U.S. In Greece, people are being “pushed back” to the maritime border with Turkey. Even some asylum seekers who have landed are being carried out and dropped off in lifeboats at that watery boundary.
A fear of foreigners, especially black and brown-skinned foreigners, was mixed with a fear of a new mysterious disease to justify implementation of racist and xenophobic immigration policies that some in the administration of the U.S. and other governments have been seeking for years. These policies and practices are being “hardened.”
For instance, in the middle of the pandemic, the U.S. government is raising filing fees for asylum applications to $50, a price prohibitive for many applicants, and all while officers have been instructed to dramatically reduce approvals for fee waivers. Meanwhile, people who process visa applications in the U.S. are being furloughed, because there are no longer enough visa applications for them to process.
Once in place, these policies and practices that are harmful to immigrants who seek safety in a new country will be virtually unnoticed by the rest of us. And once they are a part of our fabric of fear that insulates us from those we consider “illegal,” coming to America “the legal way” will be nearly impossible for most. We will be reluctant and slow to dismantle the policies created to protect us from our fears, as unrealistic as those fears may be.
One of the concerns that watchers of U.S. migration have right now is that the policies that protect countries from COVID through transmission across national borders will become “sticky.” This is because the COVID excuse is the razor wire crowning the policy that has been building during this administration.
Many nations, including the U.S., have already pre-ordered untested vaccines. As always, the poor in this world will be the last to receive (or will be the least able to afford) the vaccine. We have already seen examples of how shunned refugees, migrants, and displaced persons are relegated to camps where they have little or no access to medical support and no way to earn a living. We have seen those who migrated decades ago to urban centers (such as Mumbai, India) walking back hundreds of miles to their home villages, only to be rejected there.
The economic impact of COVID on migrants is tremendous. First, many immigrants work in sectors of the economy that have experienced significant layoffs. Secondly, many immigrants, depending on their legal status, may not be eligible for certain unemployment or other relief benefits. Consequently, the global level of remittances—people sending money back “home”—is predicted by the UN to drop this year by as much as 20%. (International foreign direct assistance is historically less than remittances globally. For some countries, such as the Philippines or Nepal, remittances are a major portion of GDP.) In many countries, foreign workers are being fired and sent home, without much, if any, compensation.
Proceedings in immigration courts in the U.S. have slowed dramatically. Those filing inside the U.S. for asylum are now being assigned court cases in 2023. These cases are slow in the best of circumstances, but this is as bad as it has been. Refugee resettlement is all but shut down, except for Special Immigrant Visas, such as translators for the US military seeking refuge in the US.
Migrants are bearing the negative burden of COVID and are tied intrinsically to how we address (or do not address) other global issues collectively. Conflict transformation and reconciliation, disaster response and mitigation, and climate change are all issues that have profound impact on migratory flows. And yet, the nations who, collectively, were seemingly so eager to collaborate for the greater good in the mid-20th century have either shunned recent compacts and talks or have failed to comply with previous understandings, or both.
In recent years, there has been a major erosion of international understandings of how nations are supposed to behave and the shared responsibilities we have for the most vulnerable. It is sad that some of the things the U.S. pushed so hard for with the international community in the 1940s and 1950s, for instance, the Refugee Convention, are no longer adhered to (at least vis-a-vis asylum seekers), even by the U.S.
Given that context, when a need to protect citizens from a disease comes along and borders can be closed to asylum seekers and refugees fleeing harm’s way and seeking a new life, we seem eager to close the doors of hope and safety.
As Methodists, we need to do no harm and continue to work for global cooperation on peacemaking, climate change mitigation, and migration in a way that ensures that the methods we use to combat COVID do no harm and do not unfairly shift the burden of this disease to the poor. As Christians, if we close borders, we also need to advocate for finding ways to open them as soon as possible, so that we can get back to our calling of welcoming the stranger.
We need to make sure that Christianity doesn’t inadvertently undergird the “us first” mentality that goes hand in hand with nationalist, xenophobic, and racist agendas and policies that end up excluding. We need to offer constant reminders to these forces that we are so much better off with the diversity of migrants in our nation, our communities, and our churches. 50% of those employed in the agricultural sector in the U.S. are immigrants. Immigrants account for 20% of all U.S. health care workers. Immigrants are an important part of our communities in many ways. Immigrants make the U.S., and the world, function well.
The church has an important role to play to call everyone back to the table so we can move forward in positive ways in these arenas and not get stuck in our fear. Simultaneously, the church is called to welcome the stranger. It is time for the church to boldly proclaim that message that appears 82 times in the Bible: “Fear Not!” If the church can show people, through small actions, that it is not only safe, but beneficial, and consistent with our faith, to truly welcome into our lives people who speak differently, look differently, and maybe even think differently, we may be able to reverse the sticky downward descent into fear.
Many years ago, before I became a clergy person, I studied economics. One concept I recall is the downward stickiness of prices. Prices are downwardly sticky. Yes, sticky is a term of economics. Prices, in theory, rise and fall in response to supply and demand. And yet, prices do not adjust downward very quickly, for a variety of reasons.
I think the same could be said about fear. When we are afraid of something, we take a lot of convincing that those fears are false or no longer relevant. If we once saw a bear in the woods while camping, it is hard not to maintain a nagging fear of bears every time we camp.
In the face of COVID-19, countries have closed borders to prevent the spread of the virus. One of the first steps the U.S. government took was to close the U.S.-Mexico border to nearly all asylum seekers. In the name of public health, those fearing their lives were left to live in close proximity in makeshift camps without adequate water and sanitation facilities – a sure formula for spreading the disease, but keeping it just on the other side of the border.
Similarly, people in detention were deported to prevent the spread of disease in the U.S. In Greece, people are being “pushed back” to the maritime border with Turkey. Even some asylum seekers who have landed are being carried out and dropped off in lifeboats at that watery boundary.
A fear of foreigners, especially black and brown-skinned foreigners, was mixed with a fear of a new mysterious disease to justify implementation of racist and xenophobic immigration policies that some in the administration of the U.S. and other governments have been seeking for years. These policies and practices are being “hardened.”
For instance, in the middle of the pandemic, the U.S. government is raising filing fees for asylum applications to $50, a price prohibitive for many applicants, and all while officers have been instructed to dramatically reduce approvals for fee waivers. Meanwhile, people who process visa applications in the U.S. are being furloughed, because there are no longer enough visa applications for them to process.
Once in place, these policies and practices that are harmful to immigrants who seek safety in a new country will be virtually unnoticed by the rest of us. And once they are a part of our fabric of fear that insulates us from those we consider “illegal,” coming to America “the legal way” will be nearly impossible for most. We will be reluctant and slow to dismantle the policies created to protect us from our fears, as unrealistic as those fears may be.
One of the concerns that watchers of U.S. migration have right now is that the policies that protect countries from COVID through transmission across national borders will become “sticky.” This is because the COVID excuse is the razor wire crowning the policy that has been building during this administration.
Many nations, including the U.S., have already pre-ordered untested vaccines. As always, the poor in this world will be the last to receive (or will be the least able to afford) the vaccine. We have already seen examples of how shunned refugees, migrants, and displaced persons are relegated to camps where they have little or no access to medical support and no way to earn a living. We have seen those who migrated decades ago to urban centers (such as Mumbai, India) walking back hundreds of miles to their home villages, only to be rejected there.
The economic impact of COVID on migrants is tremendous. First, many immigrants work in sectors of the economy that have experienced significant layoffs. Secondly, many immigrants, depending on their legal status, may not be eligible for certain unemployment or other relief benefits. Consequently, the global level of remittances—people sending money back “home”—is predicted by the UN to drop this year by as much as 20%. (International foreign direct assistance is historically less than remittances globally. For some countries, such as the Philippines or Nepal, remittances are a major portion of GDP.) In many countries, foreign workers are being fired and sent home, without much, if any, compensation.
Proceedings in immigration courts in the U.S. have slowed dramatically. Those filing inside the U.S. for asylum are now being assigned court cases in 2023. These cases are slow in the best of circumstances, but this is as bad as it has been. Refugee resettlement is all but shut down, except for Special Immigrant Visas, such as translators for the US military seeking refuge in the US.
Migrants are bearing the negative burden of COVID and are tied intrinsically to how we address (or do not address) other global issues collectively. Conflict transformation and reconciliation, disaster response and mitigation, and climate change are all issues that have profound impact on migratory flows. And yet, the nations who, collectively, were seemingly so eager to collaborate for the greater good in the mid-20th century have either shunned recent compacts and talks or have failed to comply with previous understandings, or both.
In recent years, there has been a major erosion of international understandings of how nations are supposed to behave and the shared responsibilities we have for the most vulnerable. It is sad that some of the things the U.S. pushed so hard for with the international community in the 1940s and 1950s, for instance, the Refugee Convention, are no longer adhered to (at least vis-a-vis asylum seekers), even by the U.S.
Given that context, when a need to protect citizens from a disease comes along and borders can be closed to asylum seekers and refugees fleeing harm’s way and seeking a new life, we seem eager to close the doors of hope and safety.
As Methodists, we need to do no harm and continue to work for global cooperation on peacemaking, climate change mitigation, and migration in a way that ensures that the methods we use to combat COVID do no harm and do not unfairly shift the burden of this disease to the poor. As Christians, if we close borders, we also need to advocate for finding ways to open them as soon as possible, so that we can get back to our calling of welcoming the stranger.
We need to make sure that Christianity doesn’t inadvertently undergird the “us first” mentality that goes hand in hand with nationalist, xenophobic, and racist agendas and policies that end up excluding. We need to offer constant reminders to these forces that we are so much better off with the diversity of migrants in our nation, our communities, and our churches. 50% of those employed in the agricultural sector in the U.S. are immigrants. Immigrants account for 20% of all U.S. health care workers. Immigrants are an important part of our communities in many ways. Immigrants make the U.S., and the world, function well.
The church has an important role to play to call everyone back to the table so we can move forward in positive ways in these arenas and not get stuck in our fear. Simultaneously, the church is called to welcome the stranger. It is time for the church to boldly proclaim that message that appears 82 times in the Bible: “Fear Not!” If the church can show people, through small actions, that it is not only safe, but beneficial, and consistent with our faith, to truly welcome into our lives people who speak differently, look differently, and maybe even think differently, we may be able to reverse the sticky downward descent into fear.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Introducing UM & Global Collections: Collections on Race, Mission, and American Christianity
Today, UM & Global is debuting something new: UM & Global Collections. These are compilations of multiple posts on the same or similar topics packaged into a PDF for convenient reading. The goal of these Collections is to make the content of UM & Global more easily accessible for use in classroom discussions, mission training events, church study groups, and other venues. Rather than having to click through and try to find related posts, a bundle of posts is presented together for easy viewing.
The PDFs include a table of contents; the posts, including the original URL, date published, title, attribution, content, and tags; and some discussion questions about the Collection as a whole. Other than reformatting hyperlinks and a typographical correction here or there, the posts are not edited from their original format. The length of the Collections will vary somewhat based on the topic, but most will be 30-40 pages.
The first two Collections both deal with the topic of race:
Race and Mission: A UM & Global Collection
Race, American Christianity, and the Global Church: A UM & Global Collection
In the coming weeks, additional collections will be posted on short-term mission; commentaries on the UMC's official mission document, Grace Upon Grace; UMC assets; the global nature of the UMC; and other topics. If there are specific topics that you would find helpful in your teaching or church work, please note them in the comments below, and I (David) will try to prioritize these as I put together future Collections.
The PDFs include a table of contents; the posts, including the original URL, date published, title, attribution, content, and tags; and some discussion questions about the Collection as a whole. Other than reformatting hyperlinks and a typographical correction here or there, the posts are not edited from their original format. The length of the Collections will vary somewhat based on the topic, but most will be 30-40 pages.
The first two Collections both deal with the topic of race:
Race and Mission: A UM & Global Collection
Race, American Christianity, and the Global Church: A UM & Global Collection
In the coming weeks, additional collections will be posted on short-term mission; commentaries on the UMC's official mission document, Grace Upon Grace; UMC assets; the global nature of the UMC; and other topics. If there are specific topics that you would find helpful in your teaching or church work, please note them in the comments below, and I (David) will try to prioritize these as I put together future Collections.
Monday, August 17, 2020
UMC Ecumenical Partnerships: A Brief Historical Timeline
Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Mission Theologian at the General Board of Global Ministries. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries.
Having provided an overview of the bilateral and multilateral ecumenical relationships maintained by The United Methodist Church, I thought it would also be helpful to provide a timeline of significant developments within United Methodist (and predecessor) ecumenical relationships.
1881 – The first World Methodist Conference, which brought together 400 delegates from 30 Methodist bodies around the world, was held in London, England.
1908 – The Federal Council of Churches in America is formed, primarily to unite churches’ voices on labor issues. The Evangelical Association, Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS), Methodist Protestant Church, and United Brethren in Christ are all founding members. The new council adopts a social creed based on the Methodist example written by Frank North, and MEC Bishop E. R. Hendrix is elected the organization’s first president.
1909 – The Methodist Church in Japan becomes the first church body associated with American Methodism to become autonomous. It does so as part of a merger of MEC, MECS, and Canadian Methodist Church mission work. Missionaries from all three bodies continue to play a part in the life of the Methodist Church in Japan.
1910 – The World Missionary Conference is held in Edinburgh. It is chaired by US Methodist layman John R. Mott. Mott, with the help of others, uses the conference to launch a number of regional and mission-focused ecumenical organizations that would be the forerunners of the World Council of Churches.
1930 – The Methodist Church in Brazil, Methodist Church in Korea, and Methodist Church in Mexico become autonomous from the MEC and MECS. For Korea and Mexico, autonomy includes a merger of MEC and MECS work in those countries. The MEC and MECS adopt provisions into their Doctrines and Disciplines about their relationship to autonomous affiliated churches, with specific reference to Japan, Brazil, Korea, and Mexico. Affiliation is seen as a function of continued missionary presence and collaboration with the Board of Missions.
1931 – The World Methodist Conference agrees to organize a council to oversee work in between its decennial meetings.
1939 – The Methodist Church is formed through the ecumenical merger of the MEC, MECS, and Methodist Protestant Church.
1941 – The Methodist Church in Japan is forcibly merged into the United Church of Christ in Japan by the Japanese government. The Methodist Church (US) continues its relationship to the new denomination through the Board of Foreign Missions. The category of affiliated united church is subsequently created to recognize Japan’s new status.
1946 – The Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church is formed through the ecumenical merger of the Evangelical Church and the United Brethren in Christ.
1948 – The World Council of Churches is founded. John Mott is elected honorary president.
1950 – The Federal Council of Churches in America is reorganized as the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, or NCC for short, carrying out expanded forms of ecumenical collaboration.
1951 – The World Methodist Conference officially changes its name to the World Methodist Council, and conferences begin to be held every five years.
1960 to 1968 – A formal process is developed and spelled out in the Book of Discipline for an annual conference of the Methodist Church/UMC to become an affiliated autonomous or affiliated united church. That process involves central conference permission and coordination with COSMOS (the Commission on the Status of Methodism Overseas, later replaced by the Commission on Central Conference Affairs and then the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters).
1964 to 1972 – A wave of annual conferences outside the United States, especially in Asia and Latin America, become autonomous from The Methodist Church, the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB), and The United Methodist Church. For former annual conferences of the EUB, these moves to autonomy are the result of an intentional mission strategy. For former Methodist annual conferences, these moves to autonomy acknowledge the wave of decolonization sweeping much of the world. These newly autonomous churches sign agreements to maintain relationships as affiliated autonomous or affiliated united churches.
1968 – The United Methodist Church is formed through the ecumenical merger of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Talks with the Methodist Church in Britain produce a concordat between the two churches. Although the concordat is discussed at the UMC’s General Conference, it is not clear from the Daily Christian Advocate how much of the concordat is formally approved by the General Conference. A process for developing further concordats is later laid out in the UMC’s Book of Discipline (BOD) based on the work with the Methodist Church in Britain.
1972 – The affiliated autonomous relationship is redefined based on mutual recognition of members and ministers as part of a clarified “covenant relationship.” Thus, affiliation is no longer a function of missionary placement or relationship with the Board of Global Ministries. In addition, a process for previously autonomous bodies to join the UMC is added to the BOD.
1976 – Concordats with the Methodist Church in Mexico and the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas are approved. General Conference approves extending an invitation to other Methodist churches to consider concordat relationships.
1980 – The Methodist Church in India becomes autonomous. The previously autonomous churches in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, once part of the EUB, rejoin the UMC. A distinction is made in the BOD between autonomous churches and affiliated autonomous churches.
1985 – The Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation, which brings together the UMC and historically African-American denominations, is formed. The Methodist Church in Kenya, which comes from a British background and does not have historical ties to the UMC, enquires about becoming a concordat church. This request and other similar ones set of a re-examination of the UMC’s intra-Methodist ecumenical relationships.
1988 to 1992 – First in the Book of Resolutions (1988) and then in the Book of Discipline (1992), a new definition of and process for becoming a “covenanting church” is adopted. The initial intention was that both affiliated and non-affiliated churches could become covenanting churches as an alternative to concordat relationships. Primary responsibility for such covenanting relationships is clarified as belonging to the Council of Bishops, not Global Ministries. At least ten denominations would go on to sign covenants, the majority not previously affiliated.
1992 – The Methodist Church of Puerto Rico becomes autonomous and signs a concordat with the UMC that guarantees continued representation on UMC boards and agencies.
1992 to 2000 – As a result of a 1992 study committee, a Commission on Union is established in 1996 to explore union between the UMC and historically black Methodist churches. In 2000, this Commission is merged with the Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation to create the Pan-Methodist Commission.
2000 to 2001 – A number of Methodist churches that are not affiliated are invited to General Conference 2000 as affiliated churches. A follow-up committee develops a list of official affiliated autonomous and affiliated united churches in 2001, that list apparently having previously been lost.
2000 to 2008 – The BOD definitions of affiliated autonomous and affiliated united churches shift away from historical language about how these bodies were established to geographic language about their existence outside the boundaries of the jurisdictions (but not outside the boundaries of the central conferences, as some central conferences and affiliated churches overlap). BOD language also shifts from emphasizing mutual recognition of membership and ordination, mutual visitation, and cooperation in mission to emphasizing exchange of General Conference delegates (though the prior concerns are not deleted, just de-emphasized by rearranging the language). Specific mention of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas and the Methodist Church in Mexico is added to the section on concordat churches. No mention of the Methodist Church in Puerto Rico is made in this section, though mention of MCPR continues to be made in the section on boards and agencies.
2008 to 2009 – A full-communion agreement between the UMC and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is ratified, first by the UMC General Conference and then by the ELCA.
2011 to 2015 – The Equmeniakyrkan (The Uniting Church in Sweden) is formed in 2011 through a merger of The United Methodist Church in Sweden, The Swedish Covenant Church, and The Baptist Union of Sweden. In 2012, The Uniting Church in Sweden is recognized as an affiliated united church, and in 2015, the UMC and The Uniting Church sign a full communion agreement.
2012 – A full-communion agreement among the members of the Pan-Methodist Commission is ratified.
2016 to 2018 – A full-communion agreement between the UMC and the Moravian Church (Northern and Southern Provinces) is ratified, first by the UMC General Conference and then by the Moravians.
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