General Conference Charlotte

Read more about what happened at General Conference and how it affects you.

Watch the daily wrap-up videos from General Conference on the WNCC YouTube channel.

Watch the recordings from General Conference worship & plenary sessions on the United Methodist Videos YouTube channel.

Watch Bishop Carter, Rev. Kim Ingram, and Jennifer Davis walk us through all that happened during the General Conference in Charlotte.

Join Bishop Carter, Rev. Kim Ingram, and Jennifer Davis on Tuesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. as they walk us through all that happened during the General Conference in Charlotte. Questions for the panel may be submitted in advance.

Coffee that was served this week outside General Conference in Charlotte, part of sustaining the Spirit-led work of Holy Conferencing. Partnering across the multi-layered connection of the missions and ministry of The United Methodist Church, the coffee brewed by solar energy was roasted and served by Deep Time, a ministry of the Western North Carolina Conference. Deep Time is a Fresh Expression ministry, working with the goal of reducing recidivism in Buncombe County by 25%, by addressing the markers of social determinants of health.

Recalling the people who nurtured and encouraged his faith, United Methodism’s first Native American bishop said, “My friends, we have much more in common than not.” Wilson, who often shares the way Indigenous cultures look far into the future as they consider decisions, this time closed with a story from the six tribes that make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in the northeastern United States.

Newly passed legislation guarantees at least five bishops per jurisdiction. General Conference 2016 created the Jurisdictional Study Committee to examine the number, boundaries and missional priorities of the jurisdictions.

The United Methodist Church approved full communion with the Episcopal Church, leaving a similar move by the Episcopalians needed to clinch the deal. Retired Bishop Sally Dyck, the ecumenical officer of the Council of Bishops, said another ecumenical relationship also deepened, this one with the Moravian Church. The Rev. Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, delivered the sermon during morning worship centered on the day’s ecumenical theme.

General Conference delegates approved a new retirement plan for United Methodist clergy in the U.S. Called Compass, it is a defined contribution plan rather than the defined benefit plan that historically has been offered.