UMC bishops in Africa issue statement on state of the Church
5/9/2024 - Ministries
United Methodist Church bishops who are serving in Africa pose for a group during their annual meeting at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Also in the picture is COB President Bishop Tracy S. Malone and Bishop Patrick Streiff who were guests at the meeting.
Statement of the Africa Colleges of Bishops
September 5, 2024
We, the bishops of The United Methodist Church (UMC) in Africa, make the following statement to our brothers and sisters in Africa and the UMC as a whole.
Isaiah 43:19: “Behold, I am doing a new thing.”
We support the decision of 2020/2024 General Conference to approve the Worldwide Regionalization of the Church, which allows Africa and other areas of the Church to make decisions that will best support outreach and ministry efforts in our own specific settings. Regionalization will allow us to draft and publish our own regional Book of Discipline, hymnals, books of worship and other liturgical resources. Regionalization will allow setting requirements for ordination and licensed ministry with respect to our needs and resources and set standards for lay membership. Regionalization will allow us to develop practices around marriage ceremonies, funerals and other rites that align with cultural contexts and laws in each of our countries in Africa. We, therefore, urge our annual conferences to support Regionalization and ratify the constitutional amendments related to Regionalization.
We call for continued education on Regionalization from our context and as related to our needs and resources. That is why we urge our own people to be key players in conducting the training and providing resources in our languages and perspectives.
We will remain in The United Methodist Church and we urge our members to join us in our stance in staying in The United Methodist Church and will continue to be shepherds of God’s flock in this worldwide denomination. We will continue to do ministry in our context in Africa.
We condemn those who are working for the Global Methodist Church while claiming to be members of the UMC and we urge them to withdraw from the UMC. We call upon them to go in peace and do it respectfully. Our polity does not allow a person to be a member of two denominations. Therefore, we will take disciplinary action on those working against the interests of the UMC. This means but is not limited to being disloyal to the UMC or undermining the ministry of the Church and its leaders.
We also castigate those who come from outside Africa to coerce and harass members of our churches. We chastise groups such as Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA), its related organizations and its Africa Now Initiative for providing misinformation about the UMC. We do not consider WCA as a forum of the UMC in Africa.
We continue to pray for peaceful episcopal elections and smooth transition in the following episcopal areas: East Angola, East Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Congo, Zimbabwe; and the new episcopal areas in Burundi and Congo.
Our God of hope is giving us nine bishops to be elected in Africa in the next few months. We are urging that the nine bishops that will be elected and the continuing bishops to be strong leaders who will stay in The United Methodist Church.
We call upon The United Methodist Church in Africa to move forward and focus on the ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We have a mission field which is rich for evangelism. Matthew 28: 18-20
Approved on this 5th day of September 2024 by bishops who were in attendance during the meeting at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe.
Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa – President of Africa Colleges of Bishops
Bishop Gabriel Unda – President of Congo Central Conference College of Bishops
Bishop Daniel Wandabula – President of the Africa Central Conference College of Bishops
Bishop Warner Brown – Sierra Leone Area (interim)
Bishop Gaspar Joao Domingos – Angola West Area
Bishop Owan Tshibang Kasap – South Congo/Zambia Episcopal Area
Bishop Daniel Lunge – Central Congo Area
Bishop Mande Muyombo – North Katanga-Tanganyika-Tanzania Area
Bishop Joaquina Nhanala – Mozambique Area
Bishop Samuel Jerome Quire – Liberia Area
Bishop David Yemba – Retired – Congo Central Conference
About the Africa Colleges of Bishops:
The three United Methodist Church colleges of bishops in Africa who make up the Africa Colleges of Bishops are: Africa Central Conference College of Bishops, Congo Central Conference College of Bishops and West Africa College of Bishops.
