Key points:
- United Methodist episcopal leaders celebrated how regionalization is enabling them to practice mission and ministry in their own culture and context.
- In addressing the church’s growth in Africa, the bishops highlighted plans for the December election of a fourth bishop for the West Africa Regional Conference.
- Bishop Mande Muyombo, president of the African colleges of bishops, said the gathering in Liberia was an expression of the African bishops’ commitment to ecumenical relationships in the face of crucial challenges.
United Methodist bishops in Africa are celebrating the continued growth of the church on the continent, implementation of regionalization and enhanced ecumenical relationships that strengthen the mission and ministry of The United Methodist Church.
The 18 active and retired episcopal leaders gathered for the Aug. 31-Sept. 4 annual meeting of the Africa colleges of bishops also discussed the upcoming 2028 General Conference, stewardship, sustainability and other issues affecting the church in Africa. The meeting was themed “Deepening Ecumenical Engagement, Expanding Continental Influence and Strengthening Institutional Sustainability.”
“Regionalization is now working on the continent, enabling us to practice mission and ministry in our own context,” the bishops said in a statement at the close of the meeting. “We are living in it and in the process of updating our regional books of Discipline and establishing judicial courts.”
In addressing the church’s growth in Africa, the bishops highlighted the planned December election of a new bishop for the West Africa Regional Conference, filling the gap created when the Côte d’Ivoire Conference voted to separate from The United Methodist Church in 2024. The new episcopal leader will be appointed to Nigeria to help manage that large geographical area and church membership that now numbers around 1 million.
After hearing an update from the Commission on the General Conference about the 2028 legislative assembly, the bishops noted their appreciation for the commitment to ensure that African delegates will be able to participate fully and effectively. They encouraged the commission to consider organizing General Conference 2032 in Africa to alleviate the issues African delegates often face obtaining visas for conferences outside the continent.
The bishops’ meeting, which was held in Liberia for the first time, was attended by leaders of United Methodist general agencies and strategic partners, including the General Council on Finance and Administration, the boards of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, United Methodist Communications, the commissions on Religion and Race and the Status and Role of Women, the Connectional Table, Wespath, United Methodist Men, United Women in Faith and Africa University.
N. Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s outgoing Justice Minister and the first non-U.S. president of the United Methodist Judicial Council, led a discussion on judicial courts and other regional polity matters.
This year’s meeting was attended by the Rev. Samuel B. Reeves, president of the Liberia Council of Churches and a Baptist pastor, and keynote speaker Roman Catholic Archbishop Gabriel Blamo Snosio Jubwe and the Rt. Rev. James Bombo Sellee, bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia.
Reeves said the guiding text from Isaiah 54:2, “Enlarge the place of your tent,” was relevant to the people of his country.
“Liberia knows what it means to survive history,” he said. “This land has known conflict, loss, rebuilding, courage, patience and hope. Liberia reminds us that yesterday can wound us without having the authority to define tomorrow.”
He called on the church to “enlarge, engage and endure.”
“The question is no longer whether God is at work across Africa,” Reeves said. “The evidence is everywhere. The question is whether our vision is large enough to recognize what God is doing.
“Africa is not merely receiving Christianity’s future; it is helping shape it,” he said. “African bishops have perspectives that belong in conversations shaping Christianity’s future and our churches possess experiences of faith, suffering, reconciliation, resilience and hope that the wider church needs to hear.”
Reeves encouraged the church to enlarge its vision, theological imagination, opportunities for emerging leaders, participation of women, collaboration among institutions and the church contribution to education, health, entrepreneurship, peace building, governance and human development.
Bishop Mande Muyombo, who leads the North Katanga and Tanzania conferences and is president of the Africa College of Bishops, said as Africa’s ecumenical movement looks to the future, it must also learn from the past to address the harms of colonialism and other negative influences affecting African societies.
Muyombo, who is also president-designate of the Council of Bishops, said ecumenical relationships are a key part of United Methodist law.
“As part of the church universal, The United Methodist Church affirms that the Lord calls Christians everywhere to seek unity and commits the denomination to pray, pursue and work for unity at local, national and global levels. The provision also identifies key forms of this work, including relationships with other Methodist and united churches, participation in councils of churches, plans of union and covenantal relationships with churches in Methodist and other traditions.”
The African bishops affirmed the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Muyombo described the vision crafted by the continental body of 55 member states in response to Africa’s political and developmental realities as “a holistic, sustainable and inclusive framework for socio-economic transformation.”
He noted that the agenda is rooted in Pan-African philosophy and the African Renaissance.
“Agenda 2063 supports decolonization and provides a shared vision and action plan for advancing Africa’s economic growth, political stability and social prosperity.”
Muyombo told UM News that the gathering in Liberia was an expression of the African bishops’ commitment to ecumenical relationships in the face of crucial challenges.
“The United Methodist continental influence can be lived through forming disciples of Jesus Christ who love boldly, serve joyfully and lead courageously,” he said, referring to The United Methodist Church’s new vision statement.
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“Returning to Liberia, which is the cradle of Methodism on the continent of Africa, was a pilgrimage and connection with Methodist ancestors who had called us to embrace the concept of Africa as an ideal; an Africa that reflects critically on its role and commits to move with faithful leadership towards institutional capacity and sustainability.”
Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. of the Liberia Conference said the conference was privileged to host the African bishops meeting for the first time.
“Hosting this gathering has been a wonderful experience of fellowship, reflection and connection. It has brought together bishops from across Africa to share experiences, strengthen relationships and renew our commitment to the mission of the church,” he said.
“For Liberia, this is a historic and meaningful moment. We are proud to welcome our African Methodist family and to share our rich United Methodist heritage while looking toward a stronger and more united future for the Church in Africa.”
Bishop Rubén Saenz Jr., Council of Bishops president, met the African bishops in their own environment for the first time.
“It has been a very rich experience,” Saenz said. “We hear stories about the work that is going on in Africa, but one of the most enlightening experiences that I had here was hearing the reports about the work that is going on in the various episcopal areas and to see how the bishops are involved in conversations that affect the lives of the people.
“The resiliency and the faith that is carrying Africa forward is just ... it’s amazing. Until you get close up to it and you see it, you really do not appreciate it,” he said.
“To United Methodists in Africa, your work and your faith has an impact beyond the continent. As you are raising leaders, as you’re leading the way in evangelism, new church planting, the integration of care and compassion with faith is a model that all churches can learn from. And your voice is needed within the whole denomination to help shape the church that we’re yet to be.
“I’m taking back to the U.S. a warm heart and a lot of stories to tell that need to be heard. And I’m taking back deeper relationships with my African colleagues and a deep appreciation for the United Methodist work that has been going on here for centuries. I’m really proud of how the church is changing lives and really transforming the world for Jesus Christ.”
The 2027 Africa colleges of bishops meeting will be held at Africa University in Zimbabwe.
Chikwanah is a UM News correspondent based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer at newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
