Regionalization a Key Question for Africans

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March 11, 2024 | HARARE, Zimbabwe (UM News) 

Key points:

  • Regionalism aims to put the U.S. and the current central conferences at par, and ensure General Conference would only debate issues affecting the whole denomination.
  • Proponents say regionalization would allow the church in Africa to focus on its core business — to makes disciples of Jesus Christ and devote more time to solving local challenges of disease and poverty.
  • Opponents of the proposed legislation say it would be used to accept practices that they see as against Scripture, such as homosexuality.

As The United Methodist Church counts down to this year’s much-awaited  General Conference, regionalization proposals are topmost on the minds of African leaders and delegates to the Charlotte, North Carolina, meeting.

While most African bishops and other leaders have embraced regionalization, some members and leaders of advocacy groups expressed their reservations, saying it is not in the best interests of the church in Africa.

Both proponents and opponents of the legislation see African votes as key in determining whether regionalization becomes reality.

Western Angola Bishop Gaspar Joao Domingos said regionalization would strike a balance of power between the United States, where The United Methodist Church originated, and central conferences, which were established as mission areas. Central conferences are church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.

“We do not need to take our cultural problems to the General Conference,” he said. “It would be the same with America; they won’t need to bring their local issues to be discussed by other continents.”

Instead, he said, regionalization would allow the denomination’s top policymaking body to focus solely on issues that affect the whole United Methodist Church — including matters of doctrine, church growth and evangelization.

“To maintain the current state of the church is a kind of colonization where ideas come from one point, which feels like the older brother who will solve all our problems,” Domingos said.

The goal of regionalization is to empower each region to adapt its ministries and practices to best respond to its unique regional needs. Groups have submitted legislation for three regionalization plans to the coming General Conference.

  • The Connectional Table — a leadership body that coordinates denomination-wide ministries —  submitted a plan to create a U.S. Regional Conference to handle U.S.-centric church issues.
  • Building on the Connectional Table’s work, a group of United Methodists in the Philippines, Africa and Europe created the Christmas Covenant. That legislation would make not just the church in the U.S., but also each central conference into a regional conference.   
  • Working with both Connectional Table members and Christmas Covenant developers, the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters — a permanent committee of General Conference — also has submitted a Worldwide Regionalization plan. Both Connectional Table and most Christmas Covenant supporters have endorsed the standing committee’s legislation, which spells out in detail what authority the regions would have.

The Christmas Covenant and Worldwide Regionalization plans also include the Connectional Table’s original legislation in its entirety.

Zimbabwe Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa said regionalism has been in existence for some time.

“It’s a matter of how we see it. To me regionalization is contextualization; to do things in a given context, which we have been doing. It’s not a new term, really,” Nhiwatiwa said. “In the Book of Discipline, they even write that our church has to abide by the laws of a given country. It’s a clear recognition that we don’t operate in the same environment.”

The United Methodist Church’s constitution already gives central conferences the authority to make “such changes and adaptations” to the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s policy book, as missional needs and differing legal contexts require. Central conferences are already exercising that authority in various ways.

To review legislation

Legislation for the Christmas Covenant and Worldwide Regionalization are both online and available in English, French, Portuguese and Kiswahili.

Learn more about the Christmas Covenant.

Learn more about Worldwide Regionalization.

In the meantime, only the full General Conference can decide matters that solely affect the U.S. church — leading to the frequent complaint that General Conference is too U.S. centric.

When regionalization is fleshed out at General Conference, Nhiwatiwa said, it will be a bigger structure that leaves room to match the needs of a given area.

However, passing any of the regionalization plans requires amending the denomination’s constitution — a high bar. To be ratified, amendments to the denomination’s constitution require a two-thirds vote of the General Conference followed by a two-thirds aggregate vote of the lay and clergy members present and voting in annual conferences, the denomination’s regional bodies.

Bishops preside at both General Conference and annual conference sessions, but they do not have a vote.

Still, other African United Methodists object to regionalization, seeing it as a way to allow more permissive policies related to homosexuality.

“Regionalization does not go far enough to assure Africans that their position against the affirmation of same-gender relationships will not be compromised under the so-called big-tent theological umbrella,” said the Rev. Forbes Matonga, head of the West Zimbabwe delegation to the General Conference. He is also a leader in the Africa Initiative, an unofficial traditionalist advocacy group.

He noted that while elected in different regions, United Methodist bishops serve the whole church. That means, he said, that a gay bishop elected in the U.S. also is a bishop for Zimbabwe, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.S. Western Jurisdiction has elected two openly gay and married bishops in recent years.

“For as long as the Council of Bishops itself is not regionalized, then this whole talk of regionalization is a smokescreen,” Matonga said.

Currently, the denomination’s Social Principles — part of the Book of Discipline that deals with the church’s social witness — defines marriage as between a man and a woman and describes the practice of homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Another part of the Book of Discipline bans “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy and same-sex weddings.

Under the regionalization plans, the Social Principles would continue to apply to the whole denomination — with only General Conference authorized to vote on any revisions.

But regionalization would enable all regions including the U.S. to adapt parts of church administration and procedures within their own cultural and legal contexts. Already, central conferences adapt clergy ordination requirements based on their needs.

Some African delegates have made clear that they, too, support regionalization.

George K. Weagba, a veteran General Conference delegate from Liberia, said he knows some people conflate regionalization with homosexuality, but he does not see that as the case.

He said he believes regionalization would be good for the future of The United Methodist Church as it is something the church already practiced. He cited, as an example, that ordination requirements in Africa were different from that of the U.S.

“Regionalization primarily advocates for equity,” he said. “I want to see the church in Africa benefit equally from the resources of the general church. If it means an agency of the general church is placed in Africa, another in Asia, Europe and then the U.S., we will be on course with things.”

East Africa Bishop Daniel Wandabula said the church is currently at a crossroads and a lot of misinformation is being spread.

“It is not true that The United Methodist Church supports homosexuality. In Africa, we believe that marriage is between one man and one wife. Our cultures, our traditions and even our governments cannot allow homosexuality,” said Wandabula. His episcopal area covers Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Sudan and Rwanda.

“We realize some of the people bringing the issue of homosexuality to Africa want to remove our focus from the main thing — that of making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

He added that he sees regionalization as the best solution for the church — not only in Africa but also other parts of the world such as America, Europe and the Philippines.

“It would enable us to focus on the main thing,” he said, “which is preaching the Gospel and taking care of our urgent needs such as poverty and address disease and illiteracy, which are still a big problem in Africa.”

Church advocacy groups operating in Africa have taken different stands. The traditionalist Africa Initiative and the likeminded Wesleyan Covenant Association and Good News have all come out against regionalization. Those groups seek to make it easier for annual conferences in the central conferences and individual churches to leave The United Methodist Church for the new traditionalist Global Methodist Church, which launched in 2022.

Simon Mafunda, who lives in Zimbabwe, is the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s vice president for Africa strategy and also part of the Africa Initiative. He said the regionalization plan is not an option for Africa.

“I personally refer to it as a segregation plan designed to muzzle the voices of Africa, which is fast dominating the GC floor,” he said. “It gives even more powers and control to America.”

Mafunda, a longtime lay leader and former member of the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters, noted that he has repeatedly asked why the regionalization plans leaves the five U.S. jurisdictions intact. That would give the United States four administrative layers, compared to three in other regions, he said.

The standing committee’s Worldwide Regionalization legislation does mandate a study to examine whether the U.S. should continue to have jurisdictions. Unlike central conferences, jurisdictions do not have authority to adapt the Discipline.

“Regionalization is a sure way of dismantling the unity that should actually bind us together as a denomination,” Mafunda said. “We cannot regionalize the Bible, especially when it comes to the issue of human sexuality. I believe my voice here represents many voices in Africa, who are saying ‘no’ to regionalization.”

The Africa Initiative is not the only advocacy group for African United Methodists. The newly formed United Methodist Africa Forum held a January meeting of African delegates that both endorsed regionalization and insisted that the church continue to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

The Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa, United Methodist Africa Forum, said the church should remain united in Africa and denounced calls for disaffiliation.

“Regionalization will enable believers in different locations not only to worship God in their own languages, but also bring their own cultural traditions in their practice of Christianity and use the resources of theology to speak to the issues around them,” he said.

Mususwa reiterated there was need for each region to deal with issues affecting them without heading to General Conference.

“If we are honest to each other and faithful to God’s work, we may genuinely agree that delegates to the General Conference outside the USA finds themselves discussing on U.S.-centered issues. It’s rare African or Philippine issues are discussed at the General Conference, very rare.”

The regionalization question has dominated African United Methodist gatherings. On Feb. 10, the church in South Congo held a special session to hear different views on the issue. The meeting, which drew 800 church leaders, was intended to enable them to gain better understanding of the issue.

Retired Congo Central Bishop David Yemba said regionalization would allow United Methodists to concentrate and focus on issues of interest in their region.

“We need to improve what we already have in the central conferences,” he said, “not just change the name but give content to this concept.”

Eveline Chikwanah is a correspondent for UM News based in Harare, Zimbabwe.