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General Church
Delegates attend opening worship at the 2019 United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis in February. Given escalating conflict in the denomination over LGBTQ inclusion, two bishops are pushing a plan to create two or three self-governing church groups, with The United Methodist Church remaining as an umbrella organization. File photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

2 bishops offer plan for denomination’s future
To deal with schism-threatening conflict over homosexuality, Bishops Bard and Jones favor making The United Methodist Church an umbrella for self-governing church groups.
General Church
The Rev. Nyenda Okoko (center), a district superintendent, leads a procession of church members as they welcome visitors to Oye United Methodist Church, south of Kindu, Congo, in October 2015. Providing exact membership numbers is difficult in a denomination that spans multiple countries, languages and cultural understandings of church membership. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

How accurate are church membership numbers?
Denominational membership data comes with uncertainty. There are very good reasons why.
Central Conferences
The Rev. John Pena Auta (foreground), provost of Banyan Theological Seminary, works on a computer in the new communications center in Jalingo, Nigeria. Seated next to him is Dan Krause, top staff executive of United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn. In the background are Tafadzwa Mudambanuki (left) from United Methodist Communications and Bishop John Wesley Yohanna of the Nigeria Episcopal Area. Photo by Danny Mai, United Methodist Communications.

New communication center aids learning in Nigeria
More effective global and local communication for United Methodist in Nigeria is the goal of new communications center.
General Church
The Rev Alan Masimba Gurupira, administrative assistant to Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa, sits next to South Congo Bishop Owan Kasap at a farewell dinner at Bouche Camp in Lubumbashi, Congo. A delegation of 12 lay and clergy members from the Zimbabwe Episcopal Area traveled to South Congo to exchange ministry ideas and strategies for church growth. Photo by Chenayi Kumuterera, UM News.

Episcopal areas unite to grow church in Africa
Zimbabwe lay and clergy members travel to South Congo to exchange ministry ideas and strategies for church growth.

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