United Methodist Bishop Bruce Ough gives the sermon during opening worship at the 2020 Pre-General Conference Briefing in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

“I think General Conference will be tense, full of debates, a life-changing experience and event. Some people are coming in strong ready to divide or dissolve the church to create something new, and others are coming in just as strong not wanting the church to divide, but at the same time don’t want to make any changes to legislation so that there is a compromise,” says Kara Togel, Dakotas Conference lay delegate who participated in the Pre-General Conference Briefing. 

Nearly 500 United Methodists from across the globe gathered in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Pre-General Conference briefing to worship, learn about legislation, and ask questions in preparation for the 2020 General Conference to be held May 5-15, 2020 in Minneapolis. Kara Togel, lay delegate and head of the Dakotas Conference delegation, participated along with Rev. Rebecca Trefz, Dakotas Conference clergy delegate, and Doreen Gosmire, director of communication for the Dakotas Conference.

Bishop Bruce R. Ough, resident bishop for the Dakotas-Minnesota Area, preached at opening worship and called those present to share the living water. “A fundamental spiritual question confronts everyone in this room, every delegate to the 2020 General Conference, every person who will assist in leading or hosting or administering or communicating about the General Conference; will you – will we – say “yes” to God’s command to “go on ahead of the people … and strike the rock … so that the people may drink” of God’s life-giving, life-altering, life-sustaining, life-resurrecting mercy, justice, and love. God is commanding you – commanding us – just as he did Joshua when he anointed him to take the Hebrew tribes across the Jordan. And, the command, the commission, the plea is this: ‘Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go.’” Read Ough’s full message here. 

Held every four years, the briefing is designed to help delegates and communicators prepare for General Conference. Informational sessions, featuring expert speakers, addressed key topics that General Conference will consider when it meets in Minneapolis in May. 

Participants listened to presentations from five different groups proposing legislation related to the future structure of the church: New Denominations of Methodism—The Indianapolis Plan, New Expressions Worldwide—U.M. Forward, Next Generation UMC—UMC Next, Protocol of Grace & Reconciliation Through Separation, U.S. Regional Conference—Connectional Table proposal. 

“The legislation that stood out most to me was that which related to the structure of the church. There are pros and cons of each plan, but what I found fascinating is that each plan, or those presenting the plans, seemed to support the Protocol of Grace and Separation Through Separation and the Connectional Table’s Regionalization Plan. The Protocol and Regionalization Plans are, I think, by far, the most prominent legislations for GC 2020,” says Togel.

Members of a discussion panel wait for questions during the 2020 Pre-General Conference Briefing in Nashville, Tenn. From left are: the Rev. Junius Dotson, Lonnie Chafin, the Revs. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai, Kent Millard and Jay Williams. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Rev. Kent Millard, who serves as president at United Theological Seminary and Rev. Darren Cushman Wood, senior pastor at North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, shared with participants legislation that would involve dividing the current denomination into three—progressives, centrists, and traditionalists. The Indianapolis Plan maps out the reasons for division and also provides a plan for agencies across all three of the denominations. Millard and Cushman Wood expressed support for the Protocol of Grace & Reconciliation Through Separation. Read more here. 

Participants heard about a call for a Transitional Council that would create a plan for separation and a new global Methodist denomination. The N.E. W (New Expressions Worldwide) Plan calls for the dissolution of the current United Methodist Church and asks for a new denomination to be formed that frees all people and provides just equitable treatment for all. Rev. Alka Lyall, Pastor, who serves Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago, Rev. Jonah Overton, lead pastor, at Zao MKE Church, in Milwaukee, Rev. Alex da Silva Souto, who serves as the pastor at the United Methodist Church in New Milford, Connecticut, and Rev. Dr. Jay Williams, who is the lead pastor, Union UMC in Boston were the presenters. Read the details here.  

Lonnie Chafin, who serves as the treasurer for the Northern Illinois Conference, and Rev. Jasmine Smothers, who serves as the pastor at First United Methodist Church in Atlanta, outlined details for those present of the Next Generation UMC legislative proposal. The legislation calls for greater regional autonomy, a way for churches to leave the denomination, and repealing the Traditional Plan. The Next Generation UMC proposal calls for a 2023 Special Session of General Conference, supports the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation, and supports the Connectional Table’s proposal for the United States as a Regional Conference. Read the details here. 

Rev. Keith Boyette, who serves as the president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, Rev. Junius Dotson, who serves as the general secretary and CEO for Discipleship Ministries, Jan Lawrence, who serves as the executive director for the Reconciling Ministries Network presented information about the Protocol of Grace & Reconciliation Through Separation. The legislation details a process for a new traditional denomination to form, with funding. The plan also calls for funding and support to strengthen ministries by and for Asian, black, Hispanic-Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander communities, the full participation of historically marginalized communities. Specific legislative language is still being drafted and has not been placed into a committee or the GC agenda for consideration. That will require approval by the 2020 General Conference. The Protocol supports the Connectional Table’s proposal for a U.S. Regional Conference. Read the details here.

Participants at the Pre-General Conference briefing heard from Rev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai, who serves as the chief Connection Ministries Officer for the Connectional Table, and from Barbara Boiegegrain, who serves as the general secretary for Wespath Benefits and Investments regarding the Connectional Table's legislative proposal to the GC 2020 to create a United States Regional Conference. The U.S. Conference would comprise the current U.S. jurisdictional conferences and the geographical boundaries congruent with the territory of the U.S. annual conferences. This new structure for U. S. allows for legislation that pertains mostly or exclusively to the UMC in the U.S. to be considered by this organizational structure. The U.S. Regional Conference would convene following GC 2024. Read more here. 

Togel says, “In the UM Forward presentation, one presenter said, ‘This debate is not about plans and procedures. This is about people. We want to be part of a church that sees us as full Christians and full human beings.’ I think this is true for what most delegates are thinking while heading into General Conference. It is especially true for me. What I experienced at GC 2019, as a spectator, was business done as usual, with a lot of focus on plans and procedures, forgetting that we were talking about people, and every decision that is made affects people, each in a different way. My hope is that this is not the case at GC 2020 and that the discussions and decisions will be made out of love for people.”

The Rev. Jim Haun brings greetings from the Dakotas-Minnesota Host Committee to attendees at the 2020 Pre-General Conference Briefing in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Participants also heard from the denomination’s chancellors about the legal considerations for legislation and the role of the judicial council. The General Council on Finance and Administration shared details regarding the 2021-2024 budget. Wespath shared their G.C. 2020 legislative focus for governance, services, benefit plan changes, and investments.

The United Methodist Church’s ethnic initiatives shared how the church is engaging people for Christ and building community across cultural boundaries during a luncheon program.

Communicators and delegates learned about the specifics of sharing the story of the General Conference and were welcomed to Minneapolis by the Host Team. View important information here.  

The Advance Daily Christian Advocate (ADCA) contains the agenda, rules, delegate listings, petitions, reports from the general agencies/commissions and study committees, information for delegates, and codes of conduct for the General Conference. Download or view legislation here. 

In May, 862 delegates from around the world and thousands of visitors will gather at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the 2020 General Conference. Togel, a member of First UMC in Watertown and a second-year seminary student at Wesley United Seminary in Washington, D.C. , will serve as the Dakotas Conference one lay delegate. Rev. Rebecca Trev, who serves as the director of ministries and Southwest District Superintendent for the Dakotas Conference, will serve as the clergy delegate.  Beata Ferris, a member of First UMC in Pierre, South Dakota, is the reserve lay delegate. Rev. Sara Nelson, who serves First UMC in Watertown, South Dakota, is the reserve clergy delegate.