Church Restructuring
Delegate Joan Carter-Rimbach urges delegates to reconsider the elimination of the United Methodist Commissions on Religion and Race and the Status and Role of Women during floor debate at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. "Who will speak for me as a woman of color?," she asked. (UMNS Photo by Mike DuBose.)
A month ago, we ran a piece by Glory Dharmaraj on "Gender and General Conference." Given the interest in that piece, I want to refer readers to three additional pieces from the General Commission on the States and Role of Women (GCSRW) that elaborate on some of the data and themes from Dr. Dharmaraj's piece. GCSRW published a three-part series:
"Women by the Numbers: Who is At the Decision-Making Table?" provides an overview of women's representation at General Conference
"Women by the Numbers: Who from the Central Conferences Is at the Decision-Making Table?" provides the data for Central Conferences delegates
"Women by the Numbers: Who from the Jurisdictions Is at the Decision-Making Table?" provides the data for delegates from the US Jurisdictions
United Methodist layman David W. Scott serves as assistant professor of religion at Ripon College in Ripon, Wis. He curates the collaborative blog UM & Global on behalf of United Methodist Professors of Mission. This post is reprinted with the author's permission.