GLENVIEW, Ill — The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (GCSRW) and the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) today announced the launch of a new monitoring dashboard designed to track and report data on clergy status, gender, and race across the US connection. The dashboard represents a collaborative effort between the two agencies to provide clergy, conference leaders, and church members with accessible, reliable data to support equity and inclusion efforts.
This initial release represents the first phase of the project. Development of a dashboard that will reflect data from the Regional Conferences in Africa, Asia, and Europe is currently underway as the project continues to expand.
The dashboard is currently available at Monitoring Dashboard – GCSRW.
The dashboard, part of GCFA’s UM Analytics, consolidates clergy data, including ordination status, appointment type, gender, and race/ethnicity into a single, user-friendly interface. Conference and denominational leaders will be able to view trends over time, compare data across jurisdictions and conferences, and identify disparities that may require attention.
"Data has the power to tell the truth about where we are and to point us toward where we need to go," said Rev. Stephanie York-Arnold, General Secretary of GCSRW. "This dashboard empowers our denomination with a clear, honest picture of who is serving in ministry and how that reflects, or fails to reflect, the diversity of the church we are called to be."
"GCFA is committed to providing financial and administrative infrastructure that supports transparency and good stewardship," said Caitlin Congdon, General Secretary of GCFA. "Partnering with GCSRW on this dashboard allows us to put reliable data directly into the hands of leaders who are working every day toward a more equitable church."
Key features of the dashboard include:
- Clergy status tracking — data on ordination, provisional, and licensed status across conferences
- Gender representation — visualizations showing the gender composition of clergy at various levels of ministry
- Racial and ethnic demographics — breakdowns of clergy race and ethnicity compared to denominational and national benchmarks
- Historical trend analysis — year-over-year comparisons to track progress over time
- Conference-level filtering — the ability to drill down into specific annual conferences and jurisdictions
The dashboard was developed over the past year through a joint effort between GCSRW's research team and GCFA's data management staff, drawing on existing clergy records maintained by GCFA alongside GCSRW's ongoing research on gender and racial equity within clergy ranks.
Both agencies emphasized that the tool is intended not just to report data, but to catalyze conversation and action at every level of the church, from local conference boards of ordained ministry to general Church leadership.
About GCSRW The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (GCSRW) serves as the denomination’s primary resource for ensuring that every level of the connection from local congregations to general agencies reflects the full participation and dignity of women.
About GCFA The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) serves through financial and administrative ministries that enable the fulfillment of the mission of The United Methodist Church.