UMC's Online Gatherings Are the Place to Be

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If the great global coronavirus pandemic accomplished anything good, its enforced quarantine taught The United Methodist Church how to use online gatherings more effectively. Hardly any local church or regional unit meeting lacks an online component, whether interactive webinars, livestream events or recorded training sessions.

Oct. 16 will be particularly challenging, as four major meetings are scheduled for the same day. Here are some of the online presentations scheduled through year's end.

Western Methodist Justice Movement, an unofficial caucus of social-justice-minded United Methodists in the western US, will hold a webinar at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time Wednesday, Oct. 16 on Global Regionalization. Scheduled speakers include

  • Emily Allen, a staff member of the General Commission on Status and Role of Women;
  • Giovanni Arroyo, top executive of the General Commission on Religion and Race;
  • Judi Kenaston, top executive of the Connectional Table, the UMC's missional planning agency;
  • Ande I. Emmanuel of the Southern Nigeria Annual Conference.

Global Regionalization was described as a reorganization intended to decentralize focus on U.S. church concerns and grant regions outside the United States greater autonomy to set their own operational standards according to their respective cultural contexts. Critics argued that regionalization was a tool to do away with the UMC's anti-LGBTQ policies by allowing international regions to set their own standards on ordained ministry and marriage. However, conservative factions in annual conferences, particularly in Africa, have actively resisted regionalization, alleging that churches will be forced to ordain LGBTQ clergy and conduct same-sex marriages.

The reorganization adopted in May by the 2024 General Conference includes several constitutional amendments that must be approved by all annual (regional) conferences worldwide before the plan becomes effective. The UMC uses a supermajority formula for approving constitutional amendments; it requires two-thirds approval by those voting in each annual conference and then approval by two-thirds of the annual conferences in the entire worldwide 11-million-member denomination.

United Methodist Creation Justice Movement will hold its monthly "Climate Cafe" session at 12 noon (CT) on Oct. 16. This month's session will feature updates on curriculum and climate actions from United Methodist seminaries, universities and colleges. The UMC currently has official ties with 109 educational institutions, including 13 seminaries. Popular climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, an evangelical Christians, has lobbied for courses in climate awareness to be part of both public and private education, so the pressure is on denominations like the UMC that have official stances on climate to put their words into action.

The General Board of Church and Society plans one of its "Justice Talks" webinars at 3 p.m. (ET) Oct. 16 when the social-action agency's new top executive, retired bishop Julius C. Trimble, will lead a discussion on "the importance of civic engagement and our responsibility as people of faith to participate in the public square," says a press release. "Participants will hear specifics regarding the separation of church and state, what it means to maintain hope in the midst of heightened divisiveness, and how to be an advocate for justice beyond the ballot," the release said. Joining Trimble will be Aimee Hong, assistant general secretary for program, and Kendal McBroom, director of civil and human rights.

The General Council on Finance and Administration will hold a "UMC Support" webinar at 1:00 p.m. (CT) Oct. 16 on the topic of "IT scams." The sign-up page says the session will cover how these scams operate, how to spot them, and, most importantly, how to protect yourself and your organization. This session is designed to empower you with practical tips and actionable strategies to safeguard your digital life."

United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women) will hold a webinar, "Immigration Detention and Incarceration: Migrants Speak," at 7 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, Oct. 29. Following up on a previous webinar on climate and migration, the Oct. 29 session will feature migrants sharing their personal experiences of detention and incarceration in the United States. The discussion will focus on migrants' challenges in the detention system, the impact on migrants lives and what UWF's press release calls "the urgent need for reform." Currently more than 40,000 immigrants are held daily in U.S. detention facilities, says the agency.

Local and regional bodies also have discovered the convenience and audience potential of online presentations.

Wesley UMC in Yakima, Wash., will hold a session, "Christian Nationalism, the Religious Right and Modern American Politics" at 6 p.m. Oct. 17. Washington State University historian Matthew A. Sutton will examine how American evangelicals "have interpreted societal changes as signs of biblical prophecy, shaping the formation of the Religious Right and their support for modern political figures," says a press release. The event will be livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel.

Annual conferences in Iowa and southern Illinois will sponsor an Advent Study led by resident bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai at 7 p.m. (CT) on successive Tuesdays, Dec. 3, 10 and 17. The study will focus on "Migration, Immigration and Beloved Community," examining the current phenomenon of global migration caused by economic insecurity, climate change and armed conflict. The study also will look at the internal American population shift known as the Great Migration, when more than six million African Americans moved from the South to northern, midwestern, and western states to escape racial oppression.

For those who can't make scheduled webinars or livestreams, the denomination's Resource UMC, a unit of United Methodist Communications, offers several pre-recorded webinars on church-related topics. Among these are instruction for churches on email marketing, Instagram, YouTube, and social media.

Veteran religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle, Editor and Founder of United Methodist Insight, has reported on The United Methodist Church since 1988.