Support UM News on World Press Freedom Day: Give to help sustain and expand the storytelling capacity of UM News. Your donation today will transform information into inspiration and ensure we can continue sharing stories of God’s work in the world through The UMC. Help us reach our $10,000 goal and keep this vital ministry fair, faithful, trusted and free for all!

May 13 wrap-up: Laity address, State of the Church Report

After several days where General Conference delegates were clearly divided over Robert’s Rules vs. Group Discernment and placards vs. iPads, on Day Four, they were urged repeatedly to work together, and shown examples of the good the church can do when it heeds that advice.

Laity address

Lay members of The United Methodist Church admonished their peers who are delegates to General Conference to remember that they share in the responsibility of making disciples of Jesus Christ in the world.

The May 13 laity address included lay leaders from the Upper New York, Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, Zimbabwe and Great Plains conferences, with each sharing a sense of urgency for the people in local churches around the world to do more to share the love and mercy available to all through Jesus Christ.

“Our ongoing challenge comes from the need to embrace all that discipleship entails,” said Scott Johnson, lay leader from the Upper New York Conference. “Now, it would be wonderful if discipleship was only about the joy, peace and wonder. But we know that following Jesus isn’t all about mountaintop moments, praise songs and potlucks.”

The remainder of the address provided thoughts of how to change the status quo, using a model shared by United Methodist Discipleship Ministries. Components include showing hospitality, offering Christ to others, providing purpose in life and engaging with the world around us.

Morning worship: ‘Go, learn mercy’

During the May 13 morning worship, Bishop Sally Dyck of the Chicago Episcopal Area said she was inspired by Pope Francis’ declaration that this past Advent would be a year of mercy, adding, “I want to be part of a church that has a year of mercy, a decade of mercy, a millennium of mercy.”

Dyck used Matthew 9:9-13, the story of the Pharisees questioning how Jesus could sit down to eat with the tax collectors and sinners, as her text.

“Jesus knew that the Pharisees believed that the tax collectors were incompatible with good Jews,” said Dyck. “And Jesus said to the Pharisees to go, learn mercy.”

Connectional Table, GCFA report on state of the church

Throughout the morning, General Conference delegates heard news that might surprise some: United Methodists together are doing great things that bring God’s reign into the world. Both the Connectional Table, which coordinates the work of church agencies, and the General Council on Finance and Administration, the denomination’s finance agency, gave reports that highlighted the good United Methodists do  when they work and give as a global body.

“What are trying to do is something no other denomination is doing,” said Bishop Christian Alsted, incoming chair of the Connectional Table. “We are trying to be a worldwide church that is also democratic.”

Prayers, paper lanterns at climate vigil

A climate vigil, organized by the Pacific Northwest Conference and backed by a number of church-related sponsors, was held May 12 at the Oregon Convention Center’s outdoor plaza. The twilight event featured decorated paper lanterns lit by small LED lights, music and testimony from United Methodists representing the global church.

The Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, top executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, would like to see a commitment “to act in solidarity with all who struggle daily in the face of a changing climate” shared across the denomination, adding, “I pray and trust that this General Conference will reaffirm our commitment to this important and holy work.”

In other news:

Delegates continued to debate whether to embrace the new electronic queuing system or go “old school” and stick with waving old-fashioned placards to get the presiding bishop’s attention.

United Methodists gathered for a lunchtime witness on May 13 at the Oregon Convention Center plaza, calling on the Barack Obama administration to “stop deportations and keep families together.” Delegates to General Conference 2016 will consider an addition to The United Methodist Church’s Social Principles that says: “We oppose all national immigration policies that separate family members from each other or that include detention of families with children.”

The Rev. Frank Schaefer and his son Tim joined the Rev. Mike Tupper in the tent Tupper has slept in for the past 168 days to symbolize how they say LGBTQ people are kept outside the doors of The United Methodist Church. Both Tupper and Schaefer faced charges for officiating at the same-sex weddings of their children. They are in Portland praying for the denomination to change its stance that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Butler is a multimedia editor/producer for United Methodist Communications. Contact him at [email protected] or 615-742-5470.


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
General Conference
The Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa. Photo courtesy of the author.

An appeal to hold General Conference outside US

The United Methodist Church’s top assembly has never met in the central conferences; the decision to hold the 2028 gathering in Minneapolis should be rescinded.
General Conference
The Minneapolis Convention Center stands in downtown Minneapolis, Minn. United Methodist organizers plan to make good on the original location of the COVID-delayed 2020 General Conference, choosing Minneapolis as the host city for the next legislative assembly scheduled for May 8-18, 2028. Photo by Dan Anderson, courtesy of Meet Minneapolis. (www.minneapolis.org)

Minneapolis chosen for 2028 General Conference

United Methodist organizers plan to make good on the original location of the COVID-delayed 2020 lawmaking assembly. They also hope to make up the budget deficit from earlier sessions.
Human Sexuality
The Rev. Izzy Alvaran (right) and others pray together on May 1 after the 2024 United Methodist General Conference, meeting in Charlotte, N.C., voted to remove the denomination's ban on the ordination of "self-avowed practicing” gay clergy — a prohibition that dated to 1984. Alvaran is on the staff of the Reconciling Ministries Network, which has unveiled a new strategic plan after success at last year’s General Conference. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

LGBTQ advocates aim to build on 2024 gains

Reconciling Ministries Network, after success at last year’s General Conference, hopes to help the emerging United Methodist Church live into a more inclusive future.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved