GCFA

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.

General Church

Washington Street United Methodist Church in Petersburg, Va., is back open after closing for two weeks in January as it searched for new insurance coverage. Washington Street was among the United Methodist churches that got higher premium notices just before Christmas from United Methodist Insurance, a subsidiary of the denomination's General Council on Finance and Administration. Photo courtesy of Washington Street United Methodist Church.

Premium hikes have churches scrambling

Churches and conferences are unhappy about higher premium notices from United Methodist Insurance that arrived just before Christmas.

Mission and Ministry

A Sunday collection is taken up at the Tongan United Methodist Church in West Valley City, Utah. Twenty-six U.S. conferences in 2018 paid full apportionments, including the Tongan congregation’s home conference. Photo by Kathleen Barry, UMNS.

After record giving, mixed news in 2018

A lower number of conferences paid 100 percent of requested giving, but the general church received a slightly higher amount of total dollars.

General Church

United Methodist missionary Tawanda Chandiwana (left foreground) is embraced by Thomas Kemper, head of the denomination’s Board of Global Ministries, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines, after Chandiwana was released from a detention center and allowed to leave the country in July, 2018. The 13 agencies of The United Methodist Church are pursuing further accomplishments in 2019. File photo courtesy of Thomas Kemper, GBGM.

United Methodist agencies: 2018 was productive year

The denomination’s agencies also share priorities for 2019.

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