Key points:
- Four general agencies — United Methodist Communications, Discipleship Ministries, Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry — are making plans to become one.
- The proposed unification aims to foster better coordination of ministry across The United Methodist Church.
- It will be up to General Conference whether the agencies’ unification takes effect. But in the meantime, agencies are already working on greater alignment.
Four United Methodist general agencies announced April 17 that they plan to unify into a single organization.
At their individual spring meetings, the boards of Discipleship Ministries, Global Ministries, Higher Education and Ministry and United Methodist Communications each unanimously supported a framework to combine their ministries under one structure. United Methodist News is part of United Methodist Communications.
“The unification of these four agencies will allow us to better coordinate our mission and ministry for all levels of The United Methodist Church — from the local church to conferences and general church bodies,” said Dan Krause, the top executive of United Methodist Communications.
“It also allows us to meet the changing needs of the denomination by being more nimble and aligned.”
To go forward, such a union will need the approval of the next General Conference, scheduled May 8-18, 2028, in Minneapolis. If approved, the unification would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2029.
With the four boards’ approval, the agencies can now begin drafting legislation that will go before the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly.
Many details still need to be worked out, including the name of the newly combined agency.
Krause emphasized that what the agencies are proposing is “unification” — not a merger. No agency is absorbing another.
The plan is for the unified agency to work under one board that reflects the denomination’s global diversity. A chief ministries officer, to be named by that board, will head the agency’s day-to-day work. Four advisory boards — each with members from the governing board plus additional members — will work with the new agency’s four units, each focusing on the ministries currently carried out by the agencies. The units’ ministry areas will be:
- Mission, humanitarian relief and health.
- Higher education and ministry.
- Discipleship and spiritual formation.
- Global communication.
The effort to unify the four agencies comes as many in The United Methodist Church are looking for ways to reduce costs, restructure and reclaim the denomination’s evangelistic mission after a season of internal strife and church disaffiliations.
The move also comes after the adoption of the denomination’s new vision statement: “The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.”
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That vision statement informed the agencies’ move toward union, Western Pennsylvania Conference Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball said in a press statement. She is the president of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
The four agencies, she said, “seek to live into our connectional system through intentional and bold collaboration to help the church reflect the unity of Christ in our strategy, structure and mission.”
The four agencies initiated the work toward greater missional cooperation late last year. At the direction of their boards, they formed an inter-agency alignment team consisting of their top executives and designated board members from each agency.
Currently, the denomination has 13 general agencies that provide services and resources for the entire denomination. Three are self-supporting: Wespath Benefits and Investments, United Women in Faith and the United Methodist Publishing House.
The other 10 agencies all rely, to some extent, on apportionments — shares of church giving — from annual conferences, regional bodies consisting of multiple congregations, that in turn receive apportionments from their local churches. The four agencies seeking to unify are the four biggest that receive support through World Service Fund apportionments.
If this unification goes through, the number of United Methodist general agencies supported by apportionments would drop to seven.
The unification of four agencies also will simplify how local church and conference leaders get the support they need.
“Having so many boards and agencies has often been confusing to church leaders,” said the Rev. Jeff Campbell, the top executive of Discipleship Ministries. “Simplifying these four into one, while continuing to center church leaders as our users, should improve the level of service we offer and the ease of navigation for our resources.”
One thing that will not change is The Upper Room, an ecumenical ministry and subsidiary of Discipleship Ministries. The Upper Room does not receive apportionments but receives support through sales of its devotionals and other publications as well as the generosity of donors.
“The unification should strengthen the connection between The Upper Room and United Methodists who utilize its resources for spiritual formation worldwide,” Campbell said.
While finances are a consideration, agency leaders stress that their main focus is improving ministry for a changing United Methodist Church. By bringing together programs, resources and leadership under one organizational structure, the hope is to strengthen support for all stakeholders across the denomination — including regional conferences, annual conferences, local churches, pastors, bishops, seminaries, universities and the denomination’s ethnic plans.
The staff of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry already have the experience of bringing their ministries into more alignment over the past few years. Since July 2024, Roland Fernandes has served as the top executive of both agencies, as well as the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which is part of Global Ministries.
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“We have been operating together with a unified presence and integrated structure — and functioning as if we are one agency,” Fernandes said. “We remain separate agencies, but our boards and committees also meet together.”
He added that four program units already work across the two agencies he leads —mission engagement, multiethnic ministries, scholarships and grants. From an operational standpoint, most administrative functions are merged for both agencies.
“Through our work so far, we have learned that collaboration depends on deep listening — to staff, boards and global partners,” Fernandes said. “Joint consultations, regional listening sessions and phased programmatic alignment have fostered honest conversations that are leading us toward wiser, more sustainable long-term decisions. Global contexts, church structures and funding realities are changing, and that requires ongoing evaluation, adaptation and humility.”
Even as they develop legislation to submit to General Conference, the agencies have plans to increase their cooperation. Already they have adopted a shared privacy policy and plan to share one financial and accounting system.
But for now, staffing levels at all four agencies remain unchanged.
Together, Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry have 150 employees, excluding missionaries. Discipleship has 110 staff, including 55 with The Upper Room. United Methodist Communications has 55 staff in the U.S. as well as 10 staff in the Philippines and across the continent of Africa.
Agency leaders still have not determined where the new agency will be based. Global Ministries is currently based in Atlanta, and the three others are based in Nashville, Tennessee. All four have staff who work remotely across the U.S. and many other countries. United Methodist Communications and Global Ministries share a regional office in Manila, Philippines.
While they expect changes ahead, agency leaders also see a moment to explore new possibilities while seeking to follow where the Holy Spirit is leading.
“Each of the four agencies have unique strengths as they relate to the mission and vision of The United Methodist Church, and unique strengths relating to internal systems and culture,” Campbell said.
“This unification will create an opportunity to take the strengths from each in order to strengthen the whole, for the benefit of those that we serve in The United Methodist Church and beyond.”
Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
