Key points:
- After 18 months at the helm of General Conference planning, the Rev. Aleze Fulbright said she feels called to return to the local ministry context.
- She plans to conclude her role as General Conference secretary on June 30.
- The Council of Bishops will name her successor. Meanwhile planning for the international lawmaking assembly continues.
In a highly unusual development, General Conference is seeing a change in leadership between sessions.
The Rev. Aleze M. Fulbright is stepping away from her role as General Conference secretary to take a new appointment in her home Indiana Conference. She will conclude her service with General Conference on June 30 and begin her new appointment as the executive assistant to Indiana Conference Bishop Tracy S. Malone, effective July 1.
“I am fully committed to serve during this transition period and remain in service afterwards,” Fulbright said.
The 2024 General Conference delegates elected Fulbright — on the recommendation of the Council of Bishops — to lead the complicated planning required for The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly. The gathering, typically held every four years, draws delegates from four continents who come together for two weeks to pray, worship and make decisions that affect millions of United Methodists for years to come.
Fulbright, who has served multiple posts in church leadership, said she was honored to take on the secretary role.
“However, for the last several months, I have been paying more attention to the understanding of call, and God’s call for me specifically, knowing that my connection to the local context of ministry is where I am most faithful,” she said.
After prayer and consultation with her bishop, Fulbright said she has “a heart at peace” as she returns to a local ministry context.
Under the General Conference’s rules of organization, the Council of Bishops has the responsibility of electing Fulbright’s successor, who will serve as secretary until the next General Conference.
“We are committed to doing so in a timely manner,” said Bishop Tracy S. Malone, who also is president of the Council of Bishops.
As Indiana Conference bishop, Malone also fixes the appointments of Indiana clergy including Fulbright.
The bishop told United Methodist News that Fullbright brings a variety of gifts and graces to her new appointment as executive assistant.
“Rev. Dr. Aleze Fulbright brings exceptional administrative acumen and multiple executive leadership certifications,” Malone said. “She is credentialed in project management, a certified coach and an active member of the National Association of Parliamentarians. Her breadth of knowledge and experience, grounded in a deep love for Jesus Christ and The United Methodist Church, makes her uniquely gifted and missionally well-suited for this role.”
While Fulbright’s 18-month tenure as General Conference secretary has been brief, it has already been momentous.
She administered the ratification process that last year saw annual conference voters around the globe ratify multiple amendments to the denomination’s constitution. The new amendments in effect include regionalization — a major restructuring that aims to give the denomination’s different geographical regions equal decision-making authority.
With her support, the Commission on the General Conference selected Minneapolis as the site for the next legislative assembly scheduled May 8-18, 2028.
Fulbright also retired the old Conference and Legislation Management System and began the process to develop a new computer system to connect the denomination’s whole legislative process.
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In November, she guided the commission in setting the delegate count for the next General Conference, which for the first time in the denomination’s history will have a majority of delegates from outside the U.S. She also announced how many delegates each of the denomination’s more than 130 annual conferences can elect.
Most recently, on Jan. 15, Fulbright released an update on General Conference planning. The update included the new logo chosen for the 2028 gathering, the opening of applications for the assembly’s worship director and the notice that the General Conference team continues to monitor the potential bans and bonds on travel to the U.S.
All told, the coming General Conference is set to have 708 delegates with 46% from the U.S. and 54% from Africa, the Philippines, Europe and concordat churches that have close ties to The United Methodist Church.
Planning for the coming General Conference will continue with the commission already considering scenarios to enable full participation in the event of travel restrictions to the U.S.
As she concludes her service as General Conference secretary, Fulbright said she wants “nothing more than God’s best for the Commission to continue working toward GC2028, and the actual experience to be God-honoring.”
Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
