Rev. Zenro Hirota was a pioneer among Japanese American Methodists, serving for 45 years, often facing great difficulties, alongside his colleagues in the California Conference in a variety of settings (mission, local church, school, publishing, mission society leadership).
William Apess was the first Native American licensed to preach among American Methodists and the leading advocate for Native American rights in the first half of the 19th century.
The recent move by United Methodists in Bulgaria and Romania to leave the denomination is the latest in a history of separations within the Methodist tradition.
