Minneapolis Convention Center
The Rev,. Gabriel Banga Mususwa pleads with the General Commission on the General Conference to reconsider its decision to hold the 2028 General Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., and to choose a site in Africa or the Philippines for the global legislative assembly. (Courtesy Photo)
Special to United Methodist Insight | May 20, 2025.
LUANSHYA, ZAMBIA – Congratulations to the people called United Methodists for resilience, perseverance and for standing tall during the time of turbulence, provocation heaped with so many trials. Your love for UMC is on another level and you all deserve a medal.
Thanks to the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table for coming up with a new vision for our church. The vision is timely matching with the season focusing on mission and missional works.
Addressing the elephant in the room, a few days ago the General Commission on the General Conference, the conference organizing committee, decided that the 2028 General Conference would be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, May 8-18, 2028. This decision is regrettable especially for African delegates. The decision undermines the spirit of togetherness and the philosophy of one body, with different African delegates going through a complicated, frustrating process in obtaining United States visas. It’s therefore imperative for the committee to discern more on this important matter.
Honestly speaking, 57 years down the line from the time of Unification of Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church on April 23, 1968, to create what’s known today as The United Methodist Church, all General Conferences have been held within U.S. Jurisdictions. At that time, Central Conferences including those in Africa had few members. But today Africa is second to the jurisdictions in terms of statistics, and perhaps even can surpass the churches in United States due to the turbulence caused by disaffiliation. The United Methodist Church in Africa keeps growing; all it needs is the proper administration that’s open and democratic to accommodate diverse views within the denomination.
Delegates from Africa can attest to this, that leading up to 2019 General conference gathering many encountered visa challenges. The story repeated itself during the 2020/2024 General Conference and I believe the visa hurdles and realities were enough to awake the sleepers. African delegates faced numerous challenges to obtain visas. For how long will our delegates being subjected to visa hurdles?
Let’s look at this issue critically. The New York Times published on March 14 a draft list of countries to face complete travel bans, face additional restrictions by President Donald Trump’s administration by dividing restrictions into three categories: red, orange and yellow. Surprise: over half the countries on the restrictions list are in Africa.
Red list: Libya, Somalia and Sudan.
Orange list: Eritrea, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.
Yellow list: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Zimbabwe.
The United Methodist Church in Africa is growing; the church in Africa is the future. It’s time to show that love, compassion and fairness in our decisions. It’s time to live our newly launched vision, oh, yes, let’s love boldly. Give Africa a chance to host the 2028 General Conference. If not Africa, let Philippines Central Conference host the 2028 General Conference. There’s enough room to prepare. There’s enough time to organize.
If indeed we’re one people who preach love and justice, let’s decentralize the church system from U.S.-centered gatherings. We can’t continue living in a one-size-fits-all era. No. Africa is ready to host. Facilities are ready and enough to accommodate everyone.
To the Council of Bishops, the General Secretary of the General Conference and the organizing committee team, and the Standing Committee on Conference Matters, please I am on my knees asking on behalf of African United Methodists to rescind your decision and for once hold the General Conference outside the United States.
Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa
The Rev. Gabriel Banga Mususwa is a clergy member in the Zambia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. He serves as general secretary of United Methodist Africa Forum and a UMAF Regionalization Strategic Communicator.