Mainstream UMC Exec Speaks
The Rev. Dr. Mark Holland, co-founder and executive director of Mainstream UMC, talks about its work leading to the 2024 General Conference. With the overwhelming adoption of constitutional amendments including worldwide regionalization, the organization has disbanded. (Great Plains Conference Photo by David Burke)
December 8, 2025
The United Methodist Church on every continent has overwhelmingly voted to ratify the constitutional amendments for worldwide regionalization with 91% support! Because of your faithful dedication and hard work, we have reached all of our goals for General Conference 2024 with broad consensus.
With that, the Board of Mainstream UMC is thrilled to announce that our work is done, and we are officially closing up shop. A big “Thank You” is in order for all of the delegates, donors, and supporters who made this work possible!
Mainstream UMC was never intended to be a longstanding organization. We formed in 2018 as a campaign committee to pass the One Church Plan. After the disastrous 2019 General Conference in St. Louis, we regrouped to take down the mean-spirited Traditional Plan and help move the UMC forward toward a more inclusive future. It has been breathtaking to see our church swing from litigation to grace in a few short years. Wow.
We Are Passing the Torch to Reconciling Ministries Network.
As we conclude our work, we are proud to share that the Mainstream UMC Board members, present in our last meeting, voted unanimously to entrust all of our remaining assets to Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN). As you know, RMN has been instrumental in changing hearts, renewing minds, and transforming the Church in the spirit of Christ’s inclusive love since 1982.
For more than forty years, RMN has embodied the Gospel call to justice—equipping congregations, nurturing courageous leaders, and keeping the movement for full inclusion alive and thriving. RMN has proven that they are built for the long haul.
Removing harmful language from the Book of Discipline is only the beginning. Ordaining women in 1956 did not end sexism. Desegregating the Church in 1968 did not end racism. And the Regionalization vote will not, on its own, ensure equality, representation, or the decolonization of our global connection.
There is still holy work to be done, and RMN is the place where that intersectional justice work continues.
If you believe, as we do, that the Church’s best days are still ahead, we invite you to honor Mainstream UMC’s mission by fueling the future of RMN. Thank you for your generosity!
On behalf of our entire Board at Mainstream UMC,
Rev. Dr. Mark Holland, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Rev. Dr. Nanette Roberts, Co-Founder & President
Tim Crouch, Board Chair
Rev. Lee Johnson, Secretary/Treasurer
Rev. David Livingston, Vice-President
Rev. Dr. Stephen Cady, Executive Board, at-large
Jay Brim, Executive Board, at-large
Rev. Barry Dundas
Rev. Neil Gately
Bishop Ande Emmanuel
Bishop Werner Philipp
Molly McEntire
Rev. Rob Fuquay
Rev. Jerry Rairdon
Derrick Scott III
Rev. Dr. Emanuel Cleaver III
Rev. Dr. Stan Copeland
Rev. Dr. Edgar Bazan
Rev. Edlen Cowley