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GLOBAL CHURCH NEWS
Embracing resilience in ministry
African bishops issue statement on State of the Church
(Editor’s note: Registration for the Embracing Resilience two-day workshops for laity and clergy continue through Oct. 4. Here, Dr. Camisha Chambers and Reba Collins, the facilitators for these workshops, talk about the goal of trauma-informed healing for resilience.) BY DR. CAMISHA CHAMBERS AND REBA COLLINS
lived experiences even worse. Domestic violence soared. We lost a lot of loved ones and could not mourn their passing in traditional ways. This compounded our grief as we were not able to be with our loved ones in their final suffering. Like more “normal” life experiences, if not processed and repaired, we cannot be transformed into witnesses for Christ because the fruit of our spirit cannot ripen into the fruit of the Spirit,” reflects Reba Collins. If you are in need of some good ol’ TLC… If you are looking for some time-tested tools for processing your own pain and suffering… If you are yearning to experience peace, joy, and hope again… If you are being called by life circumstance or God’s conviction to bring healing and hope to loved ones and neighbors… The Embrace Resilience: A Transformative Workshop on Trauma Healing is for you. “Jesus’ story reflected so much of our everyday lives. He was surrounded by and encountered deeply traumatic situations and highly traumatized people. And if we dare to be involved in ministry work, it’s safe to conclude that experiencing some form of trauma is inevitable. However, there is hope for us all. A resurrected person is a resilient person. Jesus IS alive, and because we are resurrected with Christ, we, too, can live a resilient life. As we launch another season of ministry, I invite us all to fall forward into resilience,” says Dr. Chambers. “In the Apostle Paul’s travels, he endured so many lived experiences that were traumatic and caused him and his co-laborers significant suffering. Yet, Paul persevered. Not only did he keep going; he was fruitful in his times of trouble. He witnessed. He planted new Christian communities. He spread joy. He was able to harvest because he didn’t do it alone. He had Christian community support and co-laborers. The Embrace Resilience Retreat is designed to be your community support. The participants will become your co-laborers. Our hope and pray is that you gift yourself this time to rejuvenate your spirit in ways that you didn’t know you needed and leave more whole and restored, so you, too can be fruitful as you remain faithful,” states Reba Collins. Register for the Oct. 9-10 Clergy Resilience workshop by visiting: https://igrc-reg.brtapp.cEmbraceResilience ATransformativeWorkshoponTraumaHealingfor ClergyPastors Register for the Oct. 11-12 Laity Resilience workshop by visiting: https://igrc-reg.brtapp.com/EmbraceResilience ATransformativeWorkshoponTraumaHealingforLaity
MUTARE, ZIMBABWE – We, the bishops of The United Methodist Church (UMC) in Africa, make the following statement to our brothers and sisters in Africa and the UMC as a whole. Isaiah 43:19: “Behold, I am doing a new thing.” • We support the decision of 2020/2024 General Conference to approve the World- wide Regionalization of the Church, which allows Africa and other areas of the Church to make decisions that will best support outreach and ministry efforts in our own specific settings. Regionalization will allow us to draft and publish our own re- gional Book of Discipline, hymnals, books of worship and other liturgical resources. Regionalization will allow setting requirements for ordination and licensed ministry with respect to our needs and resources and set standards for lay membership. Re- gionalization will allow us to develop practices around marriage ceremonies, funer- als and other rites that align with cultural contexts and laws in each of our countries in Africa. We, therefore, urge our annual conferences to support Regionalization and ratify the constitutional amendments related to Regionalization. • We call for continued education on Regionalization from our context and as related to our needs and resources. That is why we urge our own people to be key players in conducting the training and providing resources in our languages and perspectives. • We will remain in The United Methodist Church and we urge our members to join us in our stance in staying in The United Methodist Church and will continue to be shepherds of God’s flock in this worldwide denomination. We will continue to do ministry in our context in Africa. • We condemn those who are working for the Global Methodist Church while claiming to be members of the UMC and we urge them to withdraw from the UMC. We call upon them to go in peace and do it respectfully. Our polity does not allow a person to be a member of two denominations. Therefore, we will take disciplinary action on those working against the interests of the UMC. This means but is not limited to be- ing disloyal to the UMC or undermining the ministry of the Church and its leaders. • We also castigate those who come from outside Africa to coerce and harass mem- bers of our churches. We chastise groups such as Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA), its related organizations and its Africa Now Initiative for providing misinfor- mation about the UMC. We do not consider WCA as a forum of the UMC in Africa. • We continue to pray for peaceful episcopal elections and smooth transition in the following episcopal areas: East Angola, East Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Le- one, South Congo, Zimbabwe; and the new episcopal areas in Burundi and Congo. • Our God of hope is giving us nine bishops to be elected in Africa in the next few months. We are urging that the nine bishops that will be elected and the continu- ing bishops to be strong leaders who will stay in The United Methodist Church. • We call upon The United Methodist Church in Africa to move forward and focus on the ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
As people living into our ministry call of peacemakers, healers and reconcilers, our faithfulness has not totally insulated or inoculated us against our own pain and suffering or taking in the human harm the world serves up each and every day. “Ministry and life remains uncertain, and sometimes, even volatile. Though our faith protects and sustains us through tough seasons, life continues to throw us curve balls we didn’t see coming and position
We have a mission field which is rich for evangelism. Matthew 28: 18-20 Approved on this 5th day of September 2024 by bishops who were in attendance dur- ing the meeting at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa – President of Africa Colleges of Bishops Bishop Gabriel Unda – President of Congo Central Conference College of Bishops Bishop Daniel Wandabula – President of the Africa Central Conference College of Bishops Photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops United Methodist Church bishops who are serving in Africa pose for a group during their annual meeting at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Also in the picture is COB President Bishop Tracy S. Malone and Bishop Patrick Streiff who were guests at the meeting.
Photo provided by Andy Black Chaplain (1st Lt.) Sam Cha of the New York Annual Conference and Chaplain (1st Lt.) Andy Black of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference pause a moment before taking part in a training exercise at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. Both chaplains completed Officer Training School at Maxwell and graduated Sept. 27. Black will report for his first assignment at Hill AFB, north of Salt Lake City, Utah Oct. 3.
us to walk with people in their suffering even when we are suffering ourselves. Living life can feel tedious at times, however, we are so thankful to be connected to a denomination that supports an individual walking in their call. We are equally grateful that the denomination is adamant about individuals living well-balanced lives,” reflects Dr. Camisha Chambers “I remember as a kid in the 80’s a nightly news story reporting a new study that found 50% of American couples were divorced. In my class, I had several classmates with divorced parents, but there was still a bit of social stigma around divorce at that time. It was one of those things “we didn’t talk about.” Today, divorce has become so normalized that we often don’t recognize the pain and harm it causes those going through it. People just “get over it” and move on. The problem is that they don’t. At least, not without support. By not addressing the social and emotional stuff hidden underneath, it doesn’t go away. It compounds forward into other relationships. Fast forward to 2019 - pre-pandemic - when another national study caught my attention on the nightly news. A study be Cornell University and FWD.org found that 46% of American families have or have had an immediate family member experience arrested or incarceration. Nearly 50% of American families, as a result, are currently living through shame, social isolation and stigma, economic insecurity, basic needs insecurity, mental health challenges, substance use disorder, and other social, emotional, physical, and, yes, spiritual challenges that heighten stressors sometime to the point of traumatization. The COVID pandemic only made our “less than blessed”
Bishop Warner Brown – Sierra Leone Area (interim) Bishop Gaspar Joao Domingos – Angola West Area Bishop Owan Tshibang Kasap – South Congo/Zambia Episcopal Area Bishop Daniel Lunge – Central Congo Area Bishop Mande Muyombo – North Katanga-Tanganyika-Tanzania Area Bishop Joaquina Nhanala – Mozambique Area Bishop Samuel Jerome Quire – Liberia Area Bishop David Yemba – Retired – Congo Central Conference About the Africa Colleges of Bishops
The three United Methodist Church colleges of bishops in Africa who make up the Africa Colleges of Bishops are: Africa Central Conference College of Bishops, Congo Central Conference College of Bishops and West Africa College of Bishops.
UMRC UNITED MEDIA RESOURCE CENTER
Council of Bishops announces Leadership Gathering in April/May 2026 Meeting will take the place of special called session of General Conference
The UMRC is located at Kumler Outreach Ministries, a ministry of the Kumler United Methodist Church in Springfield. The new mailing address is: Kumler Outreach Ministries, Attn: United Media Resource Center 303 E North Grand Ave, Springfield IL 62702 Questions, comments? Contact us at umrc@igrc.org If you are interested in volunteering at the UMRC during weekday hours, please call 217-523-2269 and ask for Sharon Brown or leave a message including your name and church name. #820180 Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus by J. T. English #820078 Discipleship Path: Guiding Congregations to Connect with Jesus by Quincy Brown #820157 Foundations: An Introduction to Christian Practices by Phil Maynard #820116 From Social Media to Social Ministry: A Guide to Digital Discipleship by Nona Jones #822000 Lifelong Faith: Formation for All Ages and Generations by John Roberto Books on Faith Formation available to borrow from The United Media Resource Center! Items can be sent to your church or home address and can be requested from the online catalog: www.igrc.org/umrc or by email: umrc@igrc.org No rental fee – the only cost to churches is return postage.
WASHINGTON, D. C. – The Council of Bishops (COB) of The United Methodist Church (UMC) is announcing a Leadership Gathering for 2026 that will advance the positive momentum of the 2020/24 General Conference and prepare the denomination for the 2028 General Conference. The bishops will hold the Leadership Gathering instead of calling a Special Session of General Conference as it was earlier announced. “The Council of Bishops determined that a Leadership Gathering is the best arena for building on the good work and progress made at the General Conference and it allows for greater collaboration with leaders across the denomination as we move forward together,” said COB President Bishop Tracy S. Malone. At the 2024 Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference, members voted to hold elections in 2025 for delegates to a called special session. Since the Council has moved to a Leadership Gathering rather than call a Special Session, elections will not be necessary until 2027 when the Annual Conference will elect delegates to the 2028 General Conference.
The purpose of the Leadership Gathering will be threefold. • To maintain momentum regarding implementation of the various components of the regionalization legislation. This could include developing adaptive strategies to respond to ratification results as they become known. • To gather hope, vision, and imagination for the future of the UMC from across the connectional landscape. • To initiate preparations for the 2028 General Conference by identifying programmatic, financial and structural adaptations that may need to be considered in order to maintain momentum. This should include consultation/collaboration with the Commission on General Conference regarding the design of the General Conference. The Leadership Gathering participants will include all active bishops and COB officers; three leaders from each Episcopal Area selected by the bishop in consultation with the lay and clergy leadership of the Episcopal Area; and the general secretaries. Approximately 50 additional leaders from across the denomination will be invited by the COB. This group will include emerging young leaders, theologians, innovative
leaders, missional champions and retired bishops with particular experience or expertise. The Leadership Gathering will be a five-day event held in April or May 2026. Bishop Malone will appoint a Design Team to implement the Gathering. Specific dates and the venue will be announced at a later date. “God continues to be on the move through The United Methodist Church. There is a renewed spirit and a renewed hope grounded in the recent decisions of the General Conference and in what the future holds for the next vital expression of our denomination,” Bishop Malone said. She added: “This leadership gathering will provide the discernment space where intergenerational and interdisciplinary spiritual leaders will assemble to do generative, missional, innovative and strategic thinking together. This will be an intentional space to reimagine a more agile and efficient church, a more diverse and inclusive church, a more contextually relevant church and a more evangelistic church that maintains its focus on our core mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Five students completed the required License to Preach School in August, enabling them to receive a local pastor’s license upon appointment by the bishop and Cabinet. Those graduates pictured include, from left, Tim Cook, serving at Carmi First, South District; Lindsey Young, pastor at Midland UMC, Central District; David Zanton, serving at Salem UMC near Toledo, East District; Austin “Bo” Fields, currently not appointed; and Allen Williams, serving at New Baden UMC, Central District.
Photo courtesy of Haley Hausman
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