Annual Conferences

Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church has been called one of the sites all United Methodists should see because it has been a Methodist house of worship continually since 1769. Video image by Jess Warnock, courtesy of United Methodist Communications.

Ask The UMC: Where was the first Methodist annual conference in America?

The first annual conference in America was held in 1773 at a church that is still in existence today.

Themes for United Methodist annual conferences in 2021 include (clockwise, from top) “A Continuing Journey of Faith (conferences in the Manila Episcopal Area), “It’s Time to Get Up” (Sierra Leone), “Story” (Louisiana), “Building Bridges” (Western Virginia), and “Connected in Christ” (Iowa). Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Annual conferences plan online, hybrid events

Some annual conferences will do a portion of their 2021 meetings in person as the coronavirus threat subsides. Resolutions on issues including sexuality and race will be considered.

General Church

An excerpt from the full-page ad placed in the May 9 issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution by a group of North Georgia Conference laity. The ad was an open letter to Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson seeking answers around the appointment dispute at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, LGBTQ inclusion and the future of the church. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Georgia group questions bishop in full-page ad

The advertisement in the Sunday Atlanta Journal-Constitution seeks transparency from the North Georgia bishop on disputes around a pastoral appointment, LGBTQ inclusion and the future of the church.

Annual Conferences

Nathan Jans, bundled up for the cold, assists with a recent food distribution at First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, S.D. With economic distress accompanying high COVID-19 numbers in the state, the church has become a partner with the nonprofit Feeding South Dakota. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Sara Nelson.

Dakotas Conference feels pain of COVID-19

United Methodist churches in North and South Dakota step up ministry even as clergy and members join ranks of those infected.

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