Minnesota and Dakotas delegation Dave Nichols, far left, Rev. Carol Zaagsma, Rev. Rebecca Trefz, and Kara Heagel, at General Conference Monday April 29, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. Photo by Larry McCormack, UM News.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (UM News) — After resting on Sunday, General Conference delegates hit the ground running in the legislative assembly’s second week. But as news spread of a mass shooting in Charlotte, just a few miles from where General Conference is taking place, a hectic plenary session was paused as delegates prayed for victims and the community. Joey Butler reports on the day’s happenings.

Church in Africa gets 2 more bishops, new map

The United Methodist Church in Africa is getting two additional bishops, but not the five originally planned by the 2016 General Conference.

Delegates voted 645-96 to add the two African bishops, increasing their number from 13 to 15. They also voted 692-43 to adjust the boundaries of the three central conferences on the continent; starting in 2025, there will be four. 

But debate — especially over the number of bishops to add — took up much of the day both before and after lunch, with many delegates expressing frustration that the number was below the five bishops initially sought. 

Delegates passed two amendments to that legislation, including one aimed at speeding up the addition of more episcopal leaders in the denomination’s fastest-growing region.

Read more 

Dakotas connections

Beata Ferris, reserve lay delegate for the Dakotas Conference to General Conference has been elected secretary to the denomination’s committee that determines the number that need to be elected bishops in the United States. Read more

Kara Togel, lay delegate to General Conference for the Dakotas Conference, shared that African plan to add bishops and another conference helps make the global church function and fullfill the mission. "As the church grows in Africa we need to restructure. It is amazaing how global the United Methodist Church has become. In my legislative committee I communicated with another committee in Google translate," she said. 

The day ended with people from the Dakotas-Minnesota Area at General Conference gathering for dinner and fellowship with Bishop Lanette Plambeck and former bishops of the Dakotas and Minnesota Conferences.

Today's schedule*
*EDT—Eastern Daylight Time
View entire agenda here.  Watch the livestream.
8:00 – 9:30 A.M. – Worship
     Ecumenical Introductions
9:30 – 10:00 A.M. – Plenary Session
     Monitoring Report
     Administrative
     Committee Reports
     Consent Calendars
10:20 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. – Plenary Session
     Calendar Items & Conference Business
1:30 – 3:40 P.M. – Plenary Session
     Recognition of Retiring Bishops and Presentation of New Episcopal Leadership 
     Calendar Items & Conference Business
4:00 – 6:10 P.M. – Plenary Session
     80th Anniversary of UMCOR and Migrant Ministries 
     Calendar Items & Conference Business 

General Conference Resources:
Dakotas Conference articles
Dakotas Conference videos
Dakotas Conference wrap-up videos: April 23, April 24, April 25, April 26
United Methodist News Service photos
Livestream archive
United Methodist Communications wrap-up videos: April 23, April 24, April 25, April 26, April 27 & 28, April 29
General Conference website