Eligible voting members at the 2025 Michigan Annual Conference will vote on several amendments to the United Methodist Constitution, including a package of legislation focused on worldwide regionalization.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
Last year, General Conference delegates, including the eight from the Michigan Conference, voted in favor of four amendments to the core governing document of The United Methodist Church. These proposed changes must now be ratified by each of the annual conferences. Download this FAQ sheet about the ratification process and share it with your congregation.
Eligible lay members and full-member clergy of the Michigan Conference will cast a yes or no vote for each of the four ballots. Each person’s vote will be recorded and then forwarded for inclusion in the final tally, the results of which will not be known until the Council of Bishops meets in early November 2025, after more than 120 annual conferences in Africa, Europe, the Philippines, and the United States have voted. To prepare, voters can visit this web page for more information about the amendments, which have been translated into several languages.
The four proposed amendments are in line with major decisions made at the 2020/2024 General Conference, which called for greater inclusion, reinforced the church’s commitment to anti-racism and building beloved community, and began restructuring the denomination to give equal decision-making authority to The United Methodist Church’s different geographic regions.
The amendment that arguably has the greatest potential impact on the future of The United Methodist Church is Ballot #1, which focuses on the creation of regional conferences with equal power to adapt portions of the Book of Discipline based on their cultural context and ministry needs. This set of amendments, packaged into one ballot, will begin to implement the “regionalization” plan, which was supported by General Conference delegates by a 586 to 164 vote.
If the proposed amendment package is ratified, the United States and each central conference in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines would become regional conferences. Each regional conference would consist of multiple annual conferences, just as is the case now for the United States and each central conference.
Currently, only central conferences have the authority to adapt the Book of Discipline to reflect their missional contexts. The proposed amendment package, reflecting changes to more than 20 paragraphs in the Constitution, not only extends that same authority to the United States but also articulates which portions can be adapted. Core sections of the Book of Discipline, including the Constitution and Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task, are not subject to change or adaptation except by General Conference action.
Among other things, each regional conference will be granted permission to:
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- publish its own hymnal, book of worship, and regional Book of Discipline;
- set requirements for ordination and licensed ministry of pastors;
- set standards for lay membership;
- develop practices around marriage ceremonies, funerals, and other rites in line with understanding of Scripture, cultural contexts, and the laws in each country; and
- work with annual conferences to ensure policies and practices align with the laws in each country (such as U.S.-focused pensions).
Similar proposals for greater equity among annual conferences have been presented in various forms in previous years. The current regionalization plan came about through cooperation among United Methodists around the world. Those who worked on the legislation include the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters, a permanent General Conference committee; the Connectional Table, a council that coordinates denomination-wide ministries; and the Christmas Covenant, a grassroots group of United Methodists in the central conferences who saw regionalization as the best way to promote denominational unity.
The elected delegation from the Michigan Conference, which attended the 2020/2024 General Conference, voted in favor of the four proposed amendments and now endorses them for consideration and approval by the Michigan Annual Conference.
The spirit of the amendment package and the creation of regional conferences is rooted in matters of equity and autonomy, important matters in the denomination’s ongoing work to acknowledge and turn from its painful, racist history associated with the former Central Jurisdiction in the United States. Click to learn more about this part of United Methodist history.
This legislation also hopes to lead to greater unity within The United Methodist Church by honoring and strengthening the bonds with faith siblings worldwide. This move toward unity is complicated as the denomination moves through a transitional period post-disaffiliation and post-General Conference. These events have caused many to mourn the loss of relationships while also living into a new era of contextual ministry and inclusion that is giving renewed life.
Rev. Charles Boayue, the senior pastor of Birmingham: First UMC, is one of the General Conference delegates who voted in favor of the regionalization legislation at the 2020/2024 General Conference. He acknowledges the impact of disaffiliation on the churches in Michigan and around the world. Charles is a native of Liberia and has served on several district, conference, jurisdictional, and general agencies of The United Methodist Church. He recently returned from a visit to Liberia, where he was a guest speaker at the Liberia Annual Conference.
Despite fierce infighting among Methodists and misinformation spread by individuals from the Global Methodist Church in Liberia, Charles believes those Liberians who are staying United Methodist are doing so because they love the denomination. And it is his opinion that there will be an overwhelming affirmation of regionalization throughout Africa. But African United Methodists, he says, are cautious to see how the church, which has become a progressive majority now, will be true to its word and allow for contextual ministry. They hope they will not be forced to accept same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ+ persons at the next general conference in 2028. They hope that each regional conference, as established by the proposed constitutional amendments, will be allowed to decide those specific matters for themselves, as promised.
“The majority of Africa will stay,” Charles believes, “but I think they will stay because they love The United Methodist Church. And Africans are not people who like to cut and run from their own families. But they’re also staying to see whether the United Methodist Church will be true to its creed.”
He adds, “I celebrate the door [of inclusion] opening, but I do not want the pendulum to swing so widely, so quickly that we have more people leaving. God’s grace is available to all, and we should live like we mean it, so that whether you are conservative or progressive, traditional or liberal, you will have a place in this church. Jesus Christ will be what binds us together with cords that cannot be broken. This is my hope for our church.”
Nichea Ver Veer Guy, a lay member of Grand Rapids: Trinity UMC, is another General Conference delegate who is encouraging all eligible voting members of the Michigan Annual Conference to vote yes on Ballot #1 focused on regionalization.
She feels regionalization will lead each annual conference to greater missional effectiveness in their specific contexts. She sees great freedom, given by God, that each global region will have to adapt ministry and mission based on what they believe God is calling them to, while remaining fervently United Methodist at the core.
“When we are true to our divine call in ministry with one another,” says Nichea, “we live into the command to love your neighbor. By lessening the constraints of oppression, we are freed by justice to be our authentic selves. We are finally able to focus on one another and not always battling dysfunctional systems. We can invite our communities to be with us and our authentic selves as United Methodists in order to connect our ties of grounded scriptural direction to our call to love one another. Our unique ways of living into that create a wonderfully creative bond.”
For those unsure about voting yes for Ballot #1, Nichea wants eligible voters to understand that the legislation under consideration was crafted with careful consideration of the global nature of our United Methodist connection.
She explains, “The effort to ratify this amendment package is being made through countless hours of research, dialogue, and examination. Returning to our historical Methodist method of discernment (using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral), we were able to get to this place of respectful understanding as global United Methodists. This has been well-thought-out to make sure as many voices as possible could be at the planning tables. Openness and honesty build trust and faith in future leadership.”
Eligible lay and clergy members are encouraged to carefully review the text of the proposed amendments and supplemental resources on this web page. If there are unanswered questions about any of the amendments, they are welcome to contact the Michigan Conference’s delegation directly via this email address: Delegation@MichiganUMC.org.
Editor’s note: This article includes content from an article by Heather Hahn, assistant news editor for UM News.
Last Updated on April 29, 2025